Food represents the most important chronic offending agent. Even good foods activate a defensive response scientists call “post prandial leukocytosis” (post meal white blood cells proliferation). The intestine is packed with responsive immune system cells that can initiate inflammatory chemistry. When activated chronically as a result of repeated ingestion of triggering foods, the net result can be a permanent inflammatory condition and a breakdown in the digestive lining or “Leaky Gut”.

Once food particles sneak through the broken down intestinal barrier and enter into the circulation, a defensive reaction within the blood is initiated. The circulatory system is the sacred space of the body and kept secure by traveling immune system “scout” cells. When these cells spot an invader, a reaction is initiated that includes the formation of inflammatory factors. As these protective molecules proliferate and circulate and form complexes with food particles, eventually they contact various organs, ultimately resulting in the symptoms of disease.

In less than two minutes, Pharmacist Ben Fuchs explains this digestive detergent and it's role in digestion and detoxification support.

Shrimp and lobsters make their own anti-inflammatory molecules, and that has scientists very excited. In a press release posted last week by the College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University, officials announced that they had received a $380,000 National Institute of Health grant to investigate just how the marine medicine could be used to eliminate inflammatory diseases in humans.

The crabby chemical that is the center of attention is called a chitin, and it’s a key constituent of the shells of various oceans animals including crayfish, shrimp, krill, and barnacles, and is one of the most abundant molecules in all of nature, second only to cellulose. And, as it turns out, in addition to being abundant (and cheap), chitin has powerful anti -inflammatory properties. Properties that are so impressive, that the natural molecule found in so many crust critters is being studied in hope of finding a pharmaceutical treatment for inflammatory diseases including Irritable Bowel Syndrome, arthritis, and heart disease. And it’s not just shellfish that contain this fascinating medicinal molecule. You can find chitin in the hard shells of insects as well as in the cell walls of most fungi and algae.

Human beings around the world are sick and are getting sicker. We are immersed in a silent epidemic of chronic degenerative diseases (CDDs) that is gradually enveloping the planet’s population. According to the World Health Organization, from a projected total of 58 million worldwide deaths from all causes in 2009, it is estimated that CDDs, physical ailments whose course worsens over time, account for 38 million or over 60 percent.

Here in the United States, CDD’s impact on mortality is even more significant with 3 out of 4 deaths resulting from long term degenerative illnesses and nearly 50% of Americans having at least one. The elderly are especially susceptible; approximately 80% of all persons older than 65 years have at least one chronic condition, and 50% have at least two. And all that misery doesn’t come cheap. Of the nearly three trillion dollars Americans spend every year on health care, it is estimated that 75 percent of it can be attributed to the costs of chronic degenerative disease. That's over 2 trillion dollars!

Fatty nutrients are tricky. On the one hand, essential fats such as EFAs, Vitamin D, E, A and K, in addition to plant nutrients, are super-important. They’re particularly significant for long-term kinds of biological process such as building muscle and bone, for fertility, baby building and even stress management. On the other hand, they’re complex and sticky molecules that are difficult for the digestive system to process and require a lot of energy to be extracted from foods.

In the world of sports performance you’re not going to find a more popular and important anabolic strength-boosting supplement than glutamine, an extremely well-researched therapeutic nutrient that does a lot more than build muscle.

Glutamine is said to be a “conditionally essential amino acid”.  The “amino acid” part refers to the fact that among other things the body uses it to create proteins, while “conditionally essential” means you may not absolutely need to. It’s probably a good idea to dose with it daily via foods or supplementation.

All of this is to say, glutamine is important stuff! While there are over twenty different amino acids in the body, nearly 60 percent of the free floating ones are glutamine and 5 to 6 percent of the ones used in various proteins are glutamine.

Glutamine’s reputation as a go-to building nutrient is well-deserved and it’s been used as such by body builders and weight lifters for decades.  It can also help athletes after prolonged strenuous exercise by decreasing infections and preventing the breakdown of muscle.  And that’s not all! Glutamine also has a buffering effect on acid and other chemicals that can cause fatigue during intense exercise. By reducing the impact of these biochemical by-products, workout warriors can pump out more reps and get stronger faster.

As functional as glutamine is for athletes, you don’t have to be a gym rat to enjoy its anabolic body building benefits. Breast feeding infants depend on it as a growth inducing element and up to half of the amino acids in mother’s milk are glutamine.