Tag Archives: Ashley Beeton

How Cardiovascular Disease Connects To Inflammation

May 25, 2022 The Silo 3 Comments

I bet we all have someone near and dear to our heart, who has been touched by cardiovascular disease.

Public health and agencies such as Heart and Stroke Society have done an excellent job highlighting some of the key factors that are risk factors to cardiovascular disease. These risk factors can include hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, alcohol, smoking, and stress.

An overarching factor that exists within all of these risk factors is; inflammation.

Inflammation can be defined as “the body’s attempt at self-protection; the aim being to remove harmful stimuli, including damaged cells, irritants, or pathogens – and begin the healing process.” The symptoms of inflammation are represented as heat, redness, swelling and pain.

There have been links made between chronic inflammation and some cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, periodontitis and hay fever.

One of the key modifiable factors affecting inflammation that has been researched is diet. Meals that are contain excess calories and inflammatory fats have been linked to causing spikes in c-reactive protein, a measureable maker of inflammation. The Standard American Diet has been linked to higher inflammation rates due to the higher intake of omega 6 fatty acids compared to omega 3. In contrast the Mediterranean Diet has been linked to lower inflammation levels due to higher content of omega 3 fatty acids, low glycemic foods, higher amounts of carotenoids and flavonoids found abundantly in fruits and vegetables.

Excess body fat is also a component of inflammation as it a factory for inflammatory cytokines within the body, resulting in higher levels of inflammation. A study of postmenopausal women who where overweight or obese who lost 5% or more of their body weight had measurable decreases to their inflammation levels.

Type 2 diabetes, the result of insulin resistance also has its roots deep in inflammation. Again research has shown that more fat cells in the body result in a cascade of cellular signalling within the immune cells that results in inflammation.

In the case of acute inflammation such a healing cut finger, physical symptoms would be typical; heat, swelling, redness and pain. Chronic inflammation does not display these same symptoms, instead havoc on the cardiovascular system can go undetected. The process of atherosclerosis, the origin of cardiovascular disease is a result of the activation of the immune system during inflammation leading deposition and accumulation of cholesterol and tissue along the cardiovascular system.

From a preventative health standpoint it is important to combine the current treatment of cardiovascular health treatment with strategies to reduce inflammation.

Naturopathic Medicine as a preventative form of treatment has many options available to decrease overall inflammation within the body and can be used alongside conventional medical treatments. For the Silo, Ashley Beeton.

Culture

Identify Toxic Cosmetics

January 30, 2019 The Silo Leave a comment

What does the ingredients list above represent? It’s taken from the label of a popular name brand soap advertised with fresh faces, and as leaving no residue on the skin. Would it surprise you? Perhaps you recognized it, but thought well it’s being sold in stores so it must be safe.

The good news is that since 2006, Canadians have been provided with mandatory labeling on personal care products. Health Canada has even gone a step further providing a “hotlist” or list of prohibited or restricted chemicals . This is a huge step above our neighbours to the south, whom currently have minimal regulation on personal care products. Canada is on the right track, but is still a few steps behind the European Union, where personal care products are held to stringent guidelines.

The bad news is that even though there are guidelines set of by Health Canada, some of the products on the market today still contain chemicals, with similar structures to those chemicals that have been restricted. And if something shares a similar structure it is likely to interact with the human body in a similar fashion, thus causing similar health concerns.

What at can you do? The good folks at the David Suzuki Foundation performed a Survey of Canadians and their use of personal care products, and from this developed a “dirty dozen” of chemicals to avoid. Results of their survey demonstrated that 80% of products contained at least one ingredient on the list, and only 20% did not contain any. By visiting the www.davidsuzuki.org and searching “What’s Inside? That Counts,” you can download your own copy of the list, or even visit the mobile site when you are out shopping.

Why does this all matter? Many of the chemicals that are found in personal care products can bio-accumulate, meaning they can increase in concentration over time, and be passed on to our next generations. There is also well documented evidence of effects within the human body caused chemicals affecting the endocrine system. Within the human body endocrine disruptors have been implicated in neurological diseases, reproductive disorders, thyroid dysfunction, immune and metabolic disorders. Cancer is also another health concern that has been linked to many of the chemicals found in personal care products.

What about my health? As a naturopathic doctor I am always thinking from a preventative medicine point of view. The more I learn, I continue to look for natural/chemical free personal care products. Also important is optimizing your body’s innate ability to remove build up of chemicals through organs such as liver, skin, and kidneys. As always, prevention is the best medicine, and becoming a savvy consumer involves reading labels and asking questions. For the Silo, Ashley Beeton Bsc. ND.

Sci-Tech

Acupuncture Found Everywhere In Nature

November 7, 2018 The Silo 1 Comment

acupuncture1web — Hoy Chi Master Mike Mah and the Developer of the Hoy Chi Technique has successfully used acupuncture to treat stroke recovery patients.

Acupuncture, a word that literally means, “puncture with needle”, has been practiced around the world for over 2500 years. The historical origins of acupuncture are rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and one of key fundamental is the intrinsic balance of energy or “qi” within the body. The best way to visualize this balance is by looking at the well-known yin yang symbol.

Yin [According to urbandictionary.com ying-yang is an erroneous spelling CP] and yang are found everywhere in nature, as complementary opposites, neither exist without the other. Humans are always in a dynamic balance, and optimal health requires the body to be able to adapt to various internal and external changes. Illness arises when this balance is disrupted, and homeostasis is now longer intact.

Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners found they were able to access the vital energy of the body through the insertion of acupuncture needles into points along the 12 different energetic meridians within the body. These “points of insertion” or “where the needle goes” have been developed over many years of pattern recognition and diagnosis. The goal of acupuncture is to restore normal functions by stimulating certain points on the meridians to restore the body’s flow of energy.

Contemporary evidence- based medicine looks to understand the acupuncture from the reductionist perspective focusing on determining the mechanism of the concern, and diagnosing a neurological dysfunction in the individual. This new type of clinical knowledge has made acupuncture increasingly popular within the western medicine.

Physiotherapists and chiropractors commonly use acupuncture for musculoskeletal problems. This type of acupunctures needling induce a chain of events that results in the release of neurotransmitters and neurohormones resulting in widespread and measurable effects on pain, and tissue healing.

In addition, clinical studies have demonstrated efficacy [the capacity to produce an effect ] for treatment of irritable bowel disorder, insomnia, fertility and support with assisted conception.

While the use of acupuncture has been increasing in popularity, it is important to continue to respect the vast amount of clinical knowledge Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture point indications are based in.
Naturopathic Doctors are a wealth of knowledge regarding use of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. We are trained from the Traditional Chinese Medicine background, but embrace the modern scientific explanations of acupuncture to treat a variety of conditions. Training for Naturopathic Doctors incorporates understanding Traditional Chinese Medicine, clinical case taking, and hands on clinical practice utilizing various acupuncture needling techniques. For the Silo, Ashley Beeton ND.

Earth

Fight Stress With Shinrin Yoku Forest Bathing

July 27, 2013 The Silo 1 Comment

Stress is ever present in current society, both personal stress and workplace stress contribute to the well documented link, between stress and chronic conditions. The most recent data available from Statistic Canada’s – National Population Health Survey, demonstrates that personal stress is predictive of the development of a chronic health condition over the next four years (Statistics Canada, 2003). The long term impact of these chronic health conditions can result in significant activity limitation from heart attack, diabetes, migraine, or arthritis or back problems. Even more daunting is the higher predictive value of death for individuals suffering from cancer, bronchitis/emphysema, heart disease or diabetes.

The practice of forest bathing itself is not a new concept. Prior to the industrial revolution being “in nature” was part of everyday life. The Japanese term Shinrin-yoku meaning “taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing” was officially coined by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in 1982. (Park et al. 2010)

This novel practice of being in nature, demonstrates a wide variety of health benefits from which individuals in modern society can stand to gain. With the increasing amount of individuals living in urban settings the exposure to nature is diminishing.

Field studies performed in Japan measured salivary cortisol levels (more commonly known as “stress hormone”) in university individuals. The students were divided into two groups, one to spend a day in a forest setting, the other in a city setting. Lower levels of stress hormone, as well as lower blood pressure and pulse rate was found in individuals in forest location. (Park et al. 2010)

Further evidence has been documented to the demonstrate the reduction of stress resulting from forest bathing, through the improvement immune function with exposure to the natural environment. Given that immune function is key in the prevention of chronic diseases this evidence is exciting. Natural killer cells as they are ingeniously named are cells within the immune system which kill tumours or virus infected cells, through the release of enzymes which break down the cells. In research studies natural killer cells have been found to be elevated for seven days after the forest bathing trip (Qing, 2010). This seven day window of improved immune function is great news for the weekend warrior in all of us.

Many of us who live in Brant-Halidmand-Norfolk are blessed with exposure to forest just outside our doorsteps. This being said it doesn’t mean we always take advantage of it, between commuting to work, family and social commitments, going from the house to the car may be the norm. For the Silo, Ashley Beeton.

References

Park, B.J., Tsunetsugu, Y., Kasetani, T., Kagawa, T., & Miyazaki, Y. (2010) The physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing): evidence from field experiments in 24 forests across Japan. Environ Health Prev Med, 15,18–26.

Statistics Canada. (2003) Stress and Well-being (No 82-003). Retrieved from http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/access_acces/alternative_alternatif.action?l=eng&loc=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-003-x/2000003/article/5626-eng.pdf&t=Stress%20and%20well-being

Qing, Li. (2010) Effect of forest bathing trips on human immune function. Environ Health Prev Med, 15,9–17.

Culture

81 GMO’s Made By Gene Splicing Not Labeled In Canada

February 2, 2013 The Silo Leave a comment

There are no legally mandated requirements for GMO labelling in Canada. That means you might be eating genetically modified organisms and not know about it. These labels are being used by some Canadian producers to differentiate their products from GMO's. — There are no legally mandated requirements for GMO labelling in Canada. That means you might be eating genetically modified organisms and not know about it. These labels are being used by some Canadian producers to differentiate their products from GMO’s.

It is worth noting that South of the border an important proposition was recently defeated. Proposition 37 as it was named, was a vote given to residents of California, for mandatory labelling of genetically modified food products. Given the distance between here and California you may wonder, what is the relevance?

Since 1996, 81 genetically modified organisms have been approved for market in Canada, and there is currently no requirement on labelling.
GMOs (or “genetically modified organisms”) are organisms that have been created through the gene-splicing techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering, or GE). This relatively new science allows DNA from one species to be injected into another species in a laboratory, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.

In order to understand both sides of the GMO argument it is important to consider that these organisms were first engineered to increase plant yields and reduce the use of insecticides. With the growing world population it is also key to consider the benefits of higher crop yields and plants that contain higher amounts of vitamins and minerals for use in third world countries. Genetically modified foods can be found worldwide, there are varying levels of acceptance ranging from approval, mandatory labelling, to complete ban on foods.

Some of the inherent dangers of GMO foods include exploring the long term effects these foods are having on the individuals consuming them. Over the past few years GMOs have come under fire due to negative research. These studies have linked consumption of GMOs to increase in food allergies, sterility, organ and digestive system damage.

With wheat and apples up next for introduction as Canada’s next GMO foods, long term studies will help to contribute to learning more about GMO affects on health. Until then perhaps knowledge can be considered as power, mandatory labelling would allow consumers to make an informed choice. As consumers we can support campaigns that focus on mandatory labelling of GMO foods such as the NonGMO Project. Additional ways to avoid GMO foods include:
1. Choosing organic products, or ones that have been given the NonGMO symbol
2. Plant a garden at home using heritage seeds, not subjected to genetic modification
3. Drink lots of filtered water to help your body to continually detoxify
4. Eat locally grown foods that are GMO free
5. Choose pastured meats that are not fed GMO grains
For the Silo, Ashley Beeton.

References:
1. Yum, H.Y., Lee, S.Y., Lee, K.E., Sohn, M.H., Kim, K.E. 2005. Genetically modified and wild soybeans: an immunologic comparison. Allergy and Asthma Proc 26, 210–6.
2. Verma, C., Nanda, S., Singh, R.K. 2011. A Review on Impacts of Genetically Modified Food on Human Health. The Open Nutraceuticals Journal, 4, 3-11
3. Health Canada. Frequently Asked Questions: Biotechnology and Genetically Modified Foods. http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/gmf-agm/index-eng.php. Accessed 3 December 2012.

Supplemental- Groups including organic fruit growers oppose Okanagan GMO apple.

Horticulturist Art Drysdale on Okanagan GMO fruits

I bet we all have someone near and dear to our heart, who has been touched by cardiovascular disease.

An overarching factor that exists within all of these risk factors is; inflammation.

From a preventative health standpoint it is important to combine the current treatment of cardiovascular health treatment with strategies to reduce inflammation.

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