Frankincense: One of Several Anti-Inflammatory Nutrients
Gold. Frankincense. Myrrh. Three gifts talked about throughout the holidays often are overlooked the rest of the year…except gold. We do hear a lot about gold! Well, frankincense is one of several nutrients and phytonutrients receiving more attention for its anti-inflammatory factors. Patients at Vancouver Disc Centers hear us talk about inflammation and its role in Vancouver back pain and neck pain a lot, so anti-inflammatory supplements with anti-inflammatory nutrients are welcome!
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY NUTRIENTS
A new narrative review of medical literature about the effects of certain nutrients and phytonutrients on immune system function and on the reduction of inflammation concluded that patients with all sorts of health issues, minor to severe, may well get some advantage from daily supplementation of acetyl-L-carnitine, Vitamin C, Aloe vera polysaccharides, Vitamin B12, beta-glucans, bilberry, black seed oil, coenzyme Q10, curcumin (turmeric), garlic, resveratrol, ginger, hydrolyzed rice bran, lipoic acid, mistletoe, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin E (d-alpha- and gamma-tocopherol), selenium, shiitake mushroom and its derivatives, isoflavones, Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), zinc, and frankincense. Such supplementation may be added to conventional medications and medical therapies. The goal of said supplementation is to decrease inflammation which is regulated by the immune system and which is a contributor to chronic disease in addition to acute illness. The review covered many specifics like how supplements affected inflammatory and immune factors - whose names you may not hear much about yet play a role in your health - like interferon-g, nuclear factor-Kappa B, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-a, and CD4+ T cells, among others. Studies like these are getting much attention today as the need to prevent chronic illness and reduce the severity of acute illnesses of all sorts that people globally are dealing with. (1) Vancouver Disc Centers is eager to see these developments in the more natural approaches to health come about!
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY FRANKINCENSE
You’ll notice that frankincense was one of the nutrients listed above. A new study featured the benefits of its supplementation. Frankincense is an oil extract extracted from the Boswellia tree. It has been utilized in anti-inflammatory folk remedies for a long time. Using bowellic acids like the 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-βBA (AKBA) are unique anti-inflammatory factors of frankincense. Combined with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosahexaenoic acid (EPA), it stimulated lipid mediator change of innate immune cells from pro-inflammatory to enhanced anti-inflammatory action of frankincense from Boswellic acid. (2) For Vancouver Disc Centers, frankincense needs to be gifted year-round and not just at the holidays! Nutritional findings like this are just so interesting, especially when we realize that inflammation plays a role in spine-related pain that we treat every day. Let’s talk about our anti-inflammatory nutritional supplement at your next Vancouver chiropractic appointment.
CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox, developer of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management, on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates the communication between the immune system and inflammation as well as how spinal manipulation can beneficially impact the immune system.
Make your Vancouver chiropractic appointment soon to see us! Though we’re not sure when myrrh will get its due, we’ll be happy to see that frankincense is getting its due for the role it may play in reducing inflammation!
