Trauma Training Tip
We are moving into Fall and the Metal element, but I want to take one more newsletter to speak about the Earth and Late Summer because of their critical role in managing our inflammatory response.
Our whole world and too many people in it are experiencing inflammation: There are forest fires on the West Coast of North America, the Taliban has over-taken Afghanistan, and the Delta variant of CoVid 19 is sending us backwards in our longing for safe social engagement, to name a few.
The organs that house the functions of the Earth are the Stomach and Spleen. The Stomach and its associated GI tract, including the Small and Large Intestines, are lined with the gut biome and wow is it fascinating and important for our health. It is instrumental in producing neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine – meaning it’s critical for our mental health. It’s also critical for the production of T-Cells – meaning it is oh-so-very important for the function of our immune system. It also helps us register our interoceptive sense of things – that “I knew it in my guts” kind of embodied truth.
If we experienced too much arousal when we were infants, the function of our digestive tract may have been compromised. We may have an “irritable” bowel, or our body may not assimilate certain nutrients well, our immune system may get easily confused and attack the wrong things – causing auto-immune illness or allergies. We may not convert food and drink into blood and qi readily – and instead pack weight on around our middle – and feel like our obesity is a reason for shame instead of compassion.
Inflammation is part of the body’s natural healing system. It helps fight injury and infection. When our gut biome isn’t working so well – sometimes because of pre- or peri-natal trauma – the signals for stimulation of our immune system occur without an injury or infection to fight. Since there’s nothing to heal, the immune system cells that normally protect us may instead fight or compromise the function of our arteries, organs, and joints. Left unchecked, this “false arousal” can contribute to chronic illness, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, pain, and more.
When we nourish our body’s gut biome and digestive functions, we contribute to reducing the inflammation in ourselves and thus in our world. Here’s some things you can do:
- Practice gratitude – Think of one thing or person you’re grateful for when you wake up in the morning and before you go to sleep at night. Research has demonstrated that it can enhance your health and your happiness.
- Enjoy an anti-inflammatory diet – eat more tomatoes, olive oil, green leafy vegetables, nuts like almonds and walnuts, fatty fish, fermented foods, grapes, celery, blueberries, garlic, olive oil, tea, and some spices (ginger, rosemary, and turmeric).
- Reduce red meat, trans fats, processed foods, sugar, and especially corn syrup.
- Make time for 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic exercise and 10 to 25 minutes of weight or resistance training at least four to five times per week.
Your gut will thank you – and so will your mental health and your immune health!
Here’s an article in Nature Magazine if you’re interested in more.
Alaine’s Two Cents
Some scholars are looking at the gut biome as an “organ” – with whole body-mind influence.
Here is Elaine Hsiao speaking at TEDxCalTech on: Mind-altering microbes: how the microbiome affects brain and behavior.
Elaine Hsiao is a postdoctoral fellow in chemistry and biology at Caltech. She studies neuroimmune mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders and the role of the gut biome in regulating autism-related behaviors, metabolism, and intestinal physiology.
Check This Out!
Too many people are suffering with “long tail” symptoms of Covid 19 infection. Diverse organs can be affected, with a wide range of complaints, most commonly fatigue.
In “Part 2” of this series, Jane Grissmer, Co-Director of Crossings Healing and Wellness in Silver Spring, MD, explores two case studies of long-tail CoVid through the lens of 5 Element acupuncture – and demonstrates how people with the same Western diagnosis may have distinctly different diagnoses and treatment plans through the 5 Element lens of Chinese Medicine. Acupuncturists have so much to offer!
Part 2 – Acupuncture for Covid Long-Haulers, Part 2 – Case Studies
Part 1 appeared in the August News ‘n Views. In case you missed it, here’s the link.
Clinical Curiosity
Where is your clinical curiosity carrying you?
Send me a question or two and I will explore them with readers in this corner next month.
Q.
My patient is in her mid-60’s. Her main complaint is fatigue. While she says most of her life she was over-weight, her BMI is now low/normal. She is frequently constipated. She was born by C-Section and reports that her mother was narcissistic and that she “never loved my mother and she never loved me.” Got some good advice for her care?
A.
Your patient started out with a challenged micro-biome. Our biome gets “seeded” by our mother’s biome on its way through the birth canal. Many forward-thinking obstetricians who deliver a baby by c-section will now rub the baby all over with their mother’s vaginal secretions at birth to help establish a healthy and dynamic gut biome. It is common practice in some cases to put a C-section baby on antibiotics, further suppressing their gut biome.
Her whole viscera continued to be challenged by that tragic experience of not feeling loved or cared for by her primary caregiver. Infants need the parasympathetic function of their caregiver to help them feel safe and secure. If they don’t have that, they will resort to more primitive internal parasympathetic functions to mitigate the arousal they experience – and that includes compromising peristalsis in their guts.
She would do well to have a functional nutritionist or naturopath to help evaluate the specific needs of her gut biome and support her with tailor-made probiotics.
Your work with her autonomic nervous system – and especially her Stomach and Spleen – will help establish a “nest” for the probiotics to take root in. She needs both the energetic health in her gut and the probiotic support to bring her into regulation. All good wishes!