Adaptogens : Immune Supporters that are readily available
as Fish, Soup and self Care
by Margo Belton 5/9/2020
In the history of disease, a warm broth at least Feels like it is soothing your pipes as you spoon it in.
Since wellness has a lot to do with addressing your psychological state – Making a soup can change your mood in a moment. Enjoying the ingredients is just as important to maintaining a ready immune system as Flattening The Curve.
Chicken Soup may be good for your soul, and has been scientifically proven to lessen the severity of a cold. https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/qa/does-chicken-soup-help-fight-colds But with cold germs or flu viruses , the best offense is to be better than average in allowing the different elements of your immune system to be at their best. This is not the typical Western Approach.
The Typical Western Approach is to assume that a pill/ shot fixes it. In light of what we are dealing here- a Novel Virus- let us admit that a pill or shot may lessen the severity of this thing we call COVID 19; but the best offensive move is to have a well enough body to have No Comorbidity.
If you can say you take no medications at all- that is a start. You say YOU cannot even check off anything on those questionnaires they give you at the doctors office? You are THAT healthy? WOW. This may sound extreme but think – when the doctor inquires if you take any pills and all you can reply with is the following:
Hey Doc- I take Vitamins like Vitamin D complex in recommended amounts
Hey Doc -I put some herbs in my smoothies
Hey Doc- I avoid alcohol or drink no more than the gender recommended protocol
and finally
Hey Doc- I tend to eat more fish than red meat or chicken as a protein source
Hey Doc – even my allergies are not requiring any over the counter medication...
The Doctor will think you are definitely some one to get a blood draw on!
You have also shown NO comorbidity.
So why does the doctor want a blood test?? Your blood is a tissue that holds onto things. Your immune system uses it as a conduit to fight any bad actors like a cold germ or a flu virus or an element that causes an allergic reaction. So if you have taken extra iron (Not a good idea) it will show up in your blood stream.
Nothing Wrong? Your blood will tell the doctor if you actually have been this healthy for at least the last 4 months. Example: If you have a low grade infection – something that has you feeling draggy, your blood should show markers for it- evidence that you have been trying to fight an infection.
Western Modern medicine meets Ancient non Western Medicine
Can the blood workup (western medicine) tell the doctor that you have been eating a fish broth with turmeric?
Yes. Can you body feel like it Is Ready To Fight by using Adaptogens? (non Western Medicine) Of course. What is an adaptogen? The Intro in the link below explains something that non Western societies have known for thousands of years. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6240259 It has been summarized below.
According to the primary definition of adaptogens, these substances must meet three criteria:
Adaptogens must be non-specific and must assist the human body in resisting a wide range of adverse conditions, such as physical, chemical or biological stress. These may include environmental pollution, climate change, radiation, infectious diseases, and interpersonal disharmony.
Second, adaptogens must maintain homeostasis in humans, that is, these substances can offset or resist physical disorders caused by external stress.
Third, adaptogens must not harm the normal functions of the human body.
Look at the adaptogens you can either cook with or put in a smoothie
Adaptogen#1 -Turmeric
Turmeric aka the main component in curry, lowers systemic inflammation in small doses when consistently cooked in liquid. (pill form is actually problematic- turmeric absorption is better when cooked/heated). So Curry can show Lowered Systemic Inflammation? Not quite, but the main ingredient of many a curried dish- turmeric used consistently in 2 or 3 daily meals- builds up! This can be a good thing if you have an overactive immune response -arthritis is an overactive immune response which causes heightened systemic inflammation.Turmeric in the blood stream has been shown to attenuate inflammation (active ingredient Curcumin) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664031/
Your blood has markers for inflammation- which tells the doctor if your immune system is fighting something he/she is not aware of yet. That is why any inflammation marker presence means further testing in light of your answers to the wellness questionnaire.
Is it cancer? or your arthritic knee? that has raised the presence of inflammatory markers in your bloodstream? Its not that simple. But lets try to help our bodies keep it simple – Bad Guys OUT!
Now consider that you can also get your immune system to have more effective soldiers around. You make defenses while you sleep. You have an army to keep the Bad Guys OUT. You make defenses in your liver with the help of vitamins like D2 and D3. A healthy liver that is not processing alcohol can concentrate on using the foods you eat to facilitate manufacturing of immune systems components. It gets complicated – Again keeping it simple- with a new threat out there you want an advantage.
Here is a basic list of your fighters – Your #1 Advantage are the antibody classes they tend to check on in a blood sample. You will be hearing a lot more about antibodies because COVID 19 presence may be detected by special anti-COVID antibodies... This is starting to sound like tracking all the different Star War Movies isn’t it?
The antibody classes in your bloodstream - Your Soldiers
Immunoglobulin G (IgG) [subclass IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4]
Immunoglobulin A (IgA) [subclass IgA1, IgA2]
Immunoglobulin M (IgM)
Immunoglobulin D (IgD)
Immunoglobulin E (IgE)
How To Fight
Your Immune system makes 5 classes of soldiers that are normally in the blood stream and some cells. They are called immunoglobulins. You may know them as Antibodies. If antibodies are detected in abnormal numbers it tells the doctor you have been putting up a fight. The more of these antibodies you make the more of a fight you may be winning or losing. If these antibodies are too low you have a lowered immunity and are more susceptible to infections -bacterial or viral.
Adaptogen #2 -Garlic
So does putting garlic in my soup help my immune system have enough Navy Seals? For we know you can not just put in extra antibodies from other people cheaply just to boost the immune system. But you can gradually get your own system in good shape. Your food, your sleep, your overall environment (STAY @ HOME) is what your Navy Seals Immune system lives with until they are called up. When
garlic is a part of your soup on a regular basis- this is the list of immune system components that benefit.
…garlic appears to enhance the functioning of the immune system by stimulating certain cell types, such as macrophages, lymphocytes, natural killer (NK) cells, dendritic cells, and eosinophils, by mechanisms including modulation of cytokine secretion, immunoglobulin production, phagocytosis, and macrophage activation... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25961060
Adaptogen #3 -Vitamin D complex https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3166406/ They used to call Vitamin D the Sunshine Vitamin. You needed to get some sunlight to make it work in the body. Where does Vitamin D work in the body? Vitamin D works in your liver. SO if you are expecting your liver to process several beers or glasses of wine a day and still keep making immune system soldiers You have now created a possible Co Morbidity- a sluggish Immune System.
You would be wise to limit your drinking to moderate level which is dependent on the percent alcohol. For example a beer is 5.6% alcohol. Therefore one 12 oz beer is it per day for women / Men get to have 2 beers.
As for wine ,the size limit is five ounces of @12% alcohol- for females. (males can double it.) A female should take 5 days to kill a bottle of 750 ml / a male can get 2.5 days of 5 ounces each. Regardless of gender your liver has a chance to process the alcohol during the day and fix your immune system at night. Seriously -Cut the drinking 4 hours before bed to give yourself Quality Sleep – Otherwise the Immune System Suffers. In light of how Vitamin D has co-factors D2 and D3 and the RDA of Vitamin D probably has to be re-visited- err on the healthy side: your doctor if proactive - has probably already increased your Vitamin D dosage if you are over 50. Also-the more melanin in your skin- the less vitamin D you have. And if you are fair-skinned how much sun can you get in 30 degree weather? How much suntan lotion do you use? What age is your liver?
How difficult is it to decide no alcohol until there is an effective COVID-19 Vaccine? Let Vitamin D complex develop your defense. Just do not put it in your soup -Vitamin D is not heat stable
The liver and where the adaptogens act in making your immune system Stronger
Adaptogen #4- Eleuthero
Eleuthero, also called American Ginseng has a tuber like root that resembles ginger. Don't confuse eleuthero with other types of ginseng. Eleuthero is not the same herb as American or Panax ginseng. It is not easy to find but when you open the capsule (standardized to have 3% of the active ingredient in the root) or use the powder in a smoothie, it gradually builds up in your body. People on other medications Must check with the Doctor first/ See the link here. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-985/eleuthero
According to Swedish research
Eleuthero in combination in a popular over the counter pill called Kan Jang, which is the most researched herbal combination product on the market – a bestseller in Scandinavia during the long cold/ flu season is the best immune system booster – But Europeans are more inclined to refer to Herbal/eastern/ancient medical traditions
Journal of Medical Herbalism, Vol. 21, No. 2, 2009: 32-37. Availability:[cited 10 May 20]. https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=877923427329979;res=IELHEA
In the United States -the research states that eleuthero slows down medications you may already be on.
It is RARE to have a medical doctor, Western trained, who is even aware of alternatives that are herbal ,therefore eleuthero solo use and eleuthero combinations is an example of how herbal medicine only should be evaluated for use with Absolutely No -Comorbidity- Completely- Healthy -People not on any medications at all! Why? Medical schools rarely require any classes on Complementary Medicine which means combining both Western and Non Traditions.
Conclusion
Eleuthero- the #4 Adaptogen in this article is not for everyone. But if you can in your situation, safely put it in your daily smoothies, you will have an edge along with your Turmeric based, Garlic infused fish soup. Just do not forget your Vitamin D complex and drink more Water /less alcohol.
Why science is something complicated -but cooking is not...
Unfortunately too many good Pharmaceuticals work on the same site (liver) differently. So adding a herb like Eleuthero can cause more problems.The situation is similar to having two armies fight over who is in charge. Fortunately without having to learn chemistry to stay well- just look at the picture of Immune Functions covered by some of the adaptogens mentioned in this article, and lets get ready to cook.
Get your Grouper/ Roughy/ Cod for this recipe here: Pictured :Grouper with garnish
Fish Dumplings in Turmeric Sauce
Ingredients: (Serves 4)
2 lbs. cod or grouper (orange roughy)* fillets
(ask for heads and bones to make the 4 cups stock)
1 small onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 c matzoh meal or crumbled crackers or stovetop stuffing
oil for deep frying Olive oil blend ok
Make Stock Bring stock to boil in 1 or 2 large saucepans, add lemon juice, turmeric and tomato paste. Bring to slow simmer.
4 cups fish stock from parts
* orange roughy breaks up so this is perfect for creamy stock
2 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp turmeric
3 T tomato paste
Final Touch
Italian parsley for garnish or cilantro
Directions: Cut fish into 1″ cubes. Process until smooth in food processor along with onion, garlic, cumin, cayenne, egg, salt and pepper. Add matzoh meal or crushed crackers or stove top stufffing and process until incorporated. Shape fish mixture into plump ovals about 3″ long.
Heat oil for deep frying to 375 degrees in deep fryer, saucepan or wok. Fry fish rolls until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Bring stock to boil in 1 or 2 large saucepans, add lemon juice, turmeric and tomato paste. Bring to slow simmer. Drop drained fish rolls into simmering broth and cook slowly, uncovered. Rolls should be single layer. Simmer until broth has reduced and thickened, about 40 minutes. Serve warm, garnished with parsley or cilantro.
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