Do you have an autoimmune disease like Lupus or Hashimoto’s? Do you regularly ingest substances like Echinacea, green tea, or curry spices? You could be heading off a cliff. Many people suffering with Autoimmune disorders can benefit from a visit to their Plantation Florida Chiropractor, Dr. Lisa Owen.
There are many new revolutionary ways to treat autoimmune disease. Here is one of the most important.
THE 2 MAIN PARTS OF YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM ARE OUT OF BALANCE:
Your immune system has two parts, two ways to respond to invaders. One is the Th1 system of handling invaders and the other is the Th2. One designed to respond more to viruses and the other bacteria.
Think of your TH1 immune response as the Marines, the Special Forces that use killer cytotoxic T cells. They are the guys that take care of cell-mediated responses, primarily taking care of viruses and certain bacteria. They are pro-inflammatory.
Think of TH2 as the Air Force, using B cells and antibodies to mount the attack. This side of the immune system deals with bacteria, allergens, and toxins. This is known as humoral mediated immunity.
An autoimmune attack is like friendly fire, where one of these divisions has gotten confused in battle and is now shooting at everything. If we know which one of these systems is shooting at everything, then the rest is easy. Tests show that several substances have a profound effect on stimulating one of these divisions of your immune system into “friendly fire” mode.
TH1 STIMULATING COMPOUNDS:
- Astragalus
- Echinacea
- Medicinal Mushrooms (Maitake and Beta-Glucan are common)
- Glycyrrhiza (found in licorice)
- Melissa Oficinalis (Lemon balm)
- Panax Ginseng
- Chlorella
- Grape Seed Extract
TH2 STIMULATING COMPOUNDS:
- Caffeine
- Green Tea Extract
- Pine Bark Extract
- White Willow Bark
- Lycopene (found in tomatoes and other red fruits excluding strawberries and cherries)
- Resveratrol (found in grape skin, sprouted peanuts, and cocoa)
- Pycnogenol (found in the extract of the French maritime pine bark and apples)
- Curcumin (found in turmeric)
- Genistin (found in soybeans)
- Quercitin (a flavonoid found in many fruits and vegetables, such as onions, berries and kale)
Everyone with an autoimmune disease is either Th1 or Th2 dominant. If you are a Th1 dominant and you are having a flair up, you take some Th2 stimulating foods and voila! Your condition begins to reverse. If you are Th2 dominant you do the opposite.
How Can You Find Out Which One You Are?
- The best way is a lab test called a Th1/Th2 cytokine blood panel. You doctor can order it for you, or you can just plain skip the middle man with your cash and go to “Any Lab Test Now” and order what you want. This test is quite expensive $700-$1,500.Most functional medicine providers like myself can get you a product that is chocked full of the most Th1 or Th2 stimulating substances you can find. They are specially made to treat the problem, if you are TH1 dominant, you take the Th2 stimulating nutritional pack, and if you are Th2, you take the Th1 stimulating nutritional pack. If you don’t know, there are a couple of more risky ways to find out. One is called the challenge test. Though I don’t recommend it, not knowing is the most risky behavior of all. Sooner or later you are going to take the wrong advice and severely challenge your immune system unwittingly anyway. Another option is that a trained Applied Clinical Kinesiologist, like myself can muscle test you to see which will work best. Though,Here are some additional hints:Although there are exceptions to the rule, the following table shows the conditions that are most commonly associated with a Th1 or Th2 dominant state:
TH1 DOMINANT CONDITIONS:
- Type I diabetes
- Multiple sclerosis
- Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
- Grave’s Disease
- Crohn’s Disease
- Psoriasis
- Sjoren’s Syndrome
- Celiac Disease
- Lichen Planus
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Chronic viral infections
- TH2 DOMINANT CONDITIONS:
- Lupus
- Allergic Dermatitis
- Scleroderma
- Atopic Eczema
- Sinusitis
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Asthma
- Allergies
- Cancer
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Multiple chemical sensitivity
- Other factors that can have a profound impact on your autoimmune condition are wheat allergies, toxicity, glutathione and Vitamin D status. If you have questions, please contact your Plantation, FL, Chiropractor,West for assistance and support with your health challenges at (954)745-8380. Please share this information with as many immune challenged people as possible.