Protecting Your Brain - Quercetin, Toxins & Inflammation

Protecting Your Brain- Quercetin, Toxins & Inflammation
Dr. Michael Ruscio

“Hi this is Dr. Ruscio and I wanted to talk with you briefly about the toxin PCB and if that toxin could be damaging your brain. Now PCBs have been proven to cause cancer, brain damage, and mutations. PCBs are a family of toxins that because of this have been banned. They were banned in 1979.

They were used in a lot of manufacturing, heating, cooling, PVC pipe, piping, as a plasticizer for certain paints and because of their wide spread use they were able to infiltrate a lot of the environment and to this day still cause a lot of environmental pollution. They still contaminate our water, our oceans, and our soil so people are still being exposed to PCB so doing whatever you can do to limit the damage associated with this exposure can be helpful.

Now, a group or researchers asked the question “Could we do something to protect from exposure to PCBs?”  They took a group of rats, and they injected some rats with PCB, and then some rats with PCB and an antioxidant called quercetin. What they found was that the rats that were injected with the toxin PCB and the quercetin actually had a relative decrease in brain inflammation.

So essentially what these researchers found was that the antioxidant quercetin can help protect your brain from the damage and inflammation that can occur from exposure to PCB which we’re all exposed to in varying levels. Quercetin is an antioxidant found in apples, onions, citrus fruits, parsley, red wine, tea, just to name a few, so a healthy diet is certainly going to be the foundation of achieving this.

Now, I myself take a broad spectrum antioxidant supplement that contains quercetin in it, because I want my brain to be functioning for as long as I can. I try to take extra steps to protect myself, my brain specifically, from all the environmental toxins that unfortunately we’re exposed to every day. So the take home is a diet high in antioxidants and also maybe some additional supplementation with antioxidants can help protect your valuable, precious brain tissue from the inflammation that can be caused by some of the toxins that we’re all exposed to.

This is Dr. Ruscio, I hope you found this helpful.”

Quercetin & Brain Inflammation Study

Under attack from toxin chemicals? Learn how to protect yourself

Do you feel toxic chemicals are out to get you? Studies link many chronic illnesses with toxic chemicals in our everyday environment. Man-made chemicals, pesticides, pollution, plastics, heavy metals, and artificial food additives are a normal part of life now. Even radiation fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan is now on the list of health concerns for many Americans.

Toxic chemicals are associated with such conditions as autoimmune disease, obesity and insulin resistance, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, cancer, migraines, depression, and hormonal imbalances.

Although we can minimize our exposure to toxic chemicals, we cannot completely escape them. So, short of wearing a non-toxic spacesuit (living in a plastic bubble is out because it will off-gas toxic chemicals), how can we protect ourselves?

Good toxic chemical defense starts with the diet

A variety of herbs and nutrients have been shown to protect the body from toxic chemicals and boost the liver’s detoxification abilities. However, those compounds can’t do their job if your diet is even more toxic than your environment. You can kick-start your defense system with an anti-inflammatory diet that cuts out sweet, starchy, and pro-inflammatory foods.

Also, ditching food intolerances is vital for boosting your defenses against toxic chemicals, so take this issue seriously. Going gluten-free is necessary for many, and you may find you need to eliminate other foods as well.

Beyond that, studies have found a number of natural compounds that buffer the damage caused by environmental chemicals. These compounds work to tame inflammation, boost our antioxidant status, and support liver detoxification.

Resveratrol and curcumin for toxic inflammation

Toxins do their damage by setting off inflammatory cascades throughout the body that can be difficult to unwind. Studies have shown high doses of trans-resveratrol and curcumin, especially when taken together, can put the brakes on toxin-induced inflammation. Ask my office about a high-dose, liposomal form of these compounds, which have been shown to be highly effective.

Boost your body's defenses against toxic chemicals

Glutathione is our master antioxidant, taking the bullet from toxins to protect cells from damage. When your glutathione levels drop, you open yourself up to toxin-induced health problems. Nutrients that boost glutathione levels in your cells include n-acetyl-cysteine, cordyceps, Gotu Kola, milk thistle, L-glutamine, and alpha lipoic acid.

Turn your body into a detox machine

Another defense is to turn your body into an efficient detoxing machine. Although the liver was not designed to process many man-made chemicals, it still needs support in the face of toxic chemicals. When toxic chemicals overburden the body, they create inflammation and damage, which taxes the liver. As a result, it may not be able to properly metabolize many compounds from both inside and outside the body. This adds to the body's toxic load and makes it more vulnerable to environmental chemicals.

In addition to taming inflammation and boosting your antioxidant status, you may also need to support the different detoxification pathways in your liver. Nutrients that support these pathways include methyl B12, selenium, molybdenum, dandelion root, milk thistle, trimethylglycine, Panax ginseng, and MSM. Be sure to also ask my office about effective liver support.

Are Toxins Making You Fat?

By Michael Ruscio

www.IntegrativeHC.com

A recent study published in Obesity Reviews sheds some light on the question of why some people cant lose weight (Obes Rev. 2003 Feb;4(1):17-24). This study scientifically validates what many in healthcare have noted for years; detoxification can aid in weight loss.

This study examined the impact of organochlorines (found in some insecticides and in DDT) and PCBs (found in plastics, ink, rubber and electrical tubing) on fat mass and ability/inability to lose weight. The results; fat mass and BMI were directly related to blood levels of these toxins.

Below: the more toxic a subject was, the more they weighed.

Below: the more toxic a subject the more fat they stored.

Below: the reason some people can't lose weight may be because fat cells store these toxins. As you try to burn fat, these toxins are released causing your metabolism to slow making almost impossible to lose weight. This suggest one has to rid the fat cells of toxins before weight loss will be possible (the "OC" in the diagram stand for organochlorines, a type of toxin).

So what can you do?

I think its obvious at this point, detox. Most detoxes are safe and easy to do. Supplements needed can be purchased at your local health food store. If you have questions on how to get started feel free to email or call or office. (413) 374-0077 office@IntegrativeHC.com

You should also;

• opt for organic produce & meats
• avoid storing foods in plastics whenever possible
• consider a glass or metal water bottle instead of plastic