Frankincense: One of Several Anti-Inflammatory Nutrients
Gold. Frankincense. Myrrh. Three gifts mentioned around the holidays often are neglected the rest of the year…except gold. We do hear a lot about gold! Well, frankincense is one of various nutrients and phytonutrients getting more attention for its anti-inflammatory traits. Patients at Johnson Chiropractic hear us chatter on about inflammation and its role in Richmond back pain and neck pain very often, so anti-inflammatory supplements with anti-inflammatory nutrients are well received!
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY NUTRIENTS
A new narrative review of medical literature regarding the effects of certain nutrients and phytonutrients on immune system function and on the reduction of inflammation determined 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 contributing factor to chronic disease as well as acute illness. The review got into specifics like how supplements impacted inflammatory and immune factors - whose names you may not know very well but play a role in your health - like interferon-g, nuclear factor-Kappa B, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-a, and CD4+ T cells, and others. Studies like these are getting much attention today as the need to prevent chronic illness and decrease the severity of acute illnesses of all types that people globally are dealing with. (1) Johnson Chiropractic is excited to see these developments in the more natural approaches to health evolve!
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY FRANKINCENSE
You’ll notice that frankincense was one of the nutrients talked about above. A new study featured the benefits of its supplementation. Frankincense is an oil extract extracted from the Boswellia tree. It’s 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 components 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 Johnson Chiropractic, frankincense needs to be gifted year-round and not just during the holidays! Nutritional findings like this are just so interesting, particularly when we realize that inflammation has a role in spine-related pain that we treat every day. Let’s talk about our anti-inflammatory nutritional supplement at your next Richmond chiropractic visit.
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
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 describes the communication between the immune system and inflammation as well as how spinal manipulation can positively affect the immune system.
Schedule your Richmond chiropractic appointment today 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 have in managing inflammation!
