The media is full of information on omega-3 fish oils reducing cholesterol, but nothing on how they do the job. One thing that is misleading though is the idea that plant sources of omega-3 fats work as well as fish oils, but this simply is not true.

A Little Preliminary Biochemical Info (Simplified)

Cell walls are a bit like soap bubbles only made from fat. If that were all there was to them they would be way to fluid for the body to stay upright, we’d be more of a puddle than a firm body. Cholesterol is used to give the cell walls more substance.

Trans fats are very bad for the body. One reason is that they don’t have the same structure as healthy fats. When they go into the cell walls they cause more stiffening as they replace the healthy fats. This causes the cell walls to become more stiff and firm. As a result, the body pulls the cholesterol out of the cell to try to maintain the correct cellular structure. The released cholesterol goes into the blood stream causing high serum cholesterol levels.

Taking fish oils gives the body the right building blocks for for cell walls. They will naturally replace the trans fats in the cell walls. As the good fats move in the cell structure is weakened and in need of cholesterol to stiffen the walls. So, cholesterol is moved from the blood stream to the cell walls which results in lowering its content in the blood.

Of course, there are other things that omega-3s do for the body. This is just one of them.

The problem with plant source omega-3s is that they need to go through a lot more steps before they become the usable form DHA and EPA. As a result they are almost all used as fuel before they reach the final step. Fish oils on the other hand only have a very few steps to take for the conversion. Additionally, other fats compete for this chemical reaction which pushes the omega-3s out of the process.

A good combination of fats is essential for good health. Taking fish oils and limiting plant oils in food are enough for most people. There are many good sources of fish oils, the key is purity. In todays toxic environment we need to check to see if toxins have been filtered out of the final product or that the oils come from small fish from deep and relatively unpolluted waters.

I have been looking at different fish oils, and found a decent looking one. I have to be honest and say that I only researched the oils themselves which are of excellent quality. I have no experience with this company, and I don’t know how they handle their customer service, but they are reputable. They offer a free sample if you’d like to try this brand out. There may be an automatic re-billing and shipping of future supplements, so be sure to cancel if there is and you’re not interested. You can get them here. There is a limited quantity available, I’ll try to find another similar offer and replace it when it runs out. Let me know if you can’t get in!

Edit: I recently released two free reports on the adrenal glands. The first one is an expansion on 30 Symptoms Of Adrenal Fatigue. There are now 50 symptoms in this free report. And, there is an article on what you can do to help your adrenal glands come to full health. This report is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine. You can get both these reports and more free information on adrenal fatigue at the link.

Here it is, the day after Christmas, the day of more adrenal fatigue than pretty much any other day of the year. After the New Year there is a lot too. Basically, holistic healers in the know about adrenal fatigue symptoms are stocked up with adrenal supplements for their clients next week.

It’s all the partying and sugar that causes the problem for many this time of year. Alcohol plays a big part as does the stress of staying up late and playing hard.

A hang over has a component of adrenal stress involved, as does most fatigue and generally feeling like s*** that comes from drug use.

There was this young woman who took my yoga classes for a few years. She would walk over from work and was usually early, so we would talk. Eventually she started asking me about how she felt after a party weekend. I won’t talk about the drug preferred, but it took a pretty serious toll.

That was when I was using a lot of whole desiccated adrenal to kick start clients adrenal glands. Still do, but not all the time, only for the most intense cases of adrenal fatigue. But, I gave her a bottle one time. After that, she would often ask for a refill before one of her monthly or so party nights, and show up for Tuesdays class feeling just fine.

Of course, I don’t recommend this type of lifestyle. She knew better too, and only played like that for a short time. She was young after all.

Anyway, if you’re feeling it this weekend, whether it was from overeating like me, or partying a little too heartily, there are things you can do to help yourself out.

You might have a bottle of B vitamins lying around somewhere, they are some of your best little helpers for that hangover. Plenty of water helps just about everything. A nice sweat can help too, a sauna or a very hot bath for 20 or 30 minutes. Exercise is one of the better things you can do for yourself.

One of the most important B vitamins for dealing with the day after is B12. A shot of it can really help, either a double dose under the tongue, or an intramuscular shot in the hip if you happen to know a doctor.

There are other things too, vitamin C can help. Herbs for the adrenal glands are good as well, and there are many of those that usually have a noticeable effect. Astragalus, Tribulus, just a little bit of Korean ginseng (it doesn’t take much) or licorice root, just to name a few.

The problem with herbs is quality. That is why I recommend only MediHerb, they have tinctures and tablets. Kroeger Herbs also have an excellent reputation. If you get the little bottles of tincture at the health food store, you probably need between a half and a full bottle to get any benefit at all. Whole ground herbs like you might find in capsules are usually much better. Making a tea is okay for some herbs, but boiling damages a lot of the useful components.

So, if you find yourself dealing with adrenal fatigue symptoms the day after, either today or next week, check the cabinets and see what you have that might help. Of course, I highly recommend that you take care of yourself year round, but we are human after all, and what is life if we don’t have a little fun?

Sciatica is one of the most common back pain complaints there is. Back pain relief can be elusive if the cause is not found and treated. This article is about the primary causes and what you can do to eliminate the problem.

There are two main causes of sciatica. They usually have to happen at the same time for the problem to develop. One is structural, the other has to do with a difference in bodies.

The sciatic nerve is a long nerve that runs from the lower back and down the back of leg. In some people, it moves through a hip flexer that can swell and press on the nerve causing the pain known as sciatica.

This muscle is the piriformis which wraps around near the top of the hip in back. If this muscle swells for some reason, sciatica pain often results. This is the most obvious cause of the pain. However, there are reasons this happens in the first place.

One of the main reasons has to do with a misalignment in the sacrum and the hip joints. In some people, this misalignment itself causes the pressure on the nerve. In others, the misalignment causes the piriformis to become inflamed which causes pressure on the nerve.

This misalignment can be corrected by mechanical means such as a chiropractic adjustment, or by adjusting yourself using Self Adjusting Technique. However, there is often a complication present, the root cause of the misalignment in the first place.

Many chronic misalignments have a root cause that has to do with a weakness in the ligaments and tendons in the area. Most often, this weakness is caused by a systemic weakness that develops from a poor diet, toxic environment, stress or a combination of these three factors.

The body easily deals with these issues if they are short term and don’t happen often, but that is rarely the case in this modern world. The ready availability of processed foods makes right diet difficult for many. Emotional stress is just around the corner pretty much no mater what you do. And, toxins are in the environment from pole to pole, nowhere is completely safe anymore.

These issues are all dealt with in similar ways. Toxins less so than emotional or dietary stress, but still requiring the same intervention by the body. Nutrients are used up as the body works to return to balance from these assaults. Many of the nutrients that are used to keep this balance are the same ones that the ligaments and tendons use to maintain their strength. Keeping systemic balance is more important to immediate survival, so the connective tissue is neglected.

The best way to prevent and cure sciatica is to avoid the stress that causes the problem in the first place. There are short term methods that can help, but cleaning up the diet, avoiding stress — or at least releasing it, and a program of detoxification are the best ways to have back pain relief from sciatica.

Tomorrow I’ll post some yoga stretches that can help with temporary relief from sciatica.

Edit: I recently released two free reports on the adrenal glands. The first one is an expansion on 30 Symptoms Of Adrenal Fatigue. There are now 50 symptoms in this free report. And, there is an article on what you can do to help your adrenal glands come to full health. This report is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine. You can get both these reports and more free information on the adrenal fatigue at the link.

Many people go to an acupuncturist for fatigue because they often deliver results. What most people don’t realize is that very often they are being treated for adrenal fatigue which traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) calls weak kidney chi. This isn’t the whole story behind what they call weak kidney chi, but it will do for this discussion.

The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys, which is why this energy is said to be related to the kidneys. Weak kidney chi doesn’t usually have to do with the kidneys directly as in kidney failure, but there is a relationship between the kidneys and the adrenal glands.

TCM is great for reaching deep into the body and affecting a change. This is often obvious from of how good people often feel after an acupuncture treatment or taking the proscribed herbs. It really is good work that can have a positive affect on peoples’ energy.

One problem with TCM, especially if the doctor is Chinese, is that they often won’t tell the patient what they need to do to keep from losing kidney chi and developing adrenal fatigue. One reason is they don’t think westerners will follow dietary and other restrictions, so why bother? Unfortunately, for the most part they are right. However, if even one client can be helped, why not give some guidelines?

TCM considers the kidney chi to be the root energy of the body. There are many ways to damage kidney chi. Many Taoist practices are designed to stop the drain on the kidney chi, and to help develop more of it.

One guideline that is given is to limit sexual activity. One of the adrenal hormones is DHEA which is the precursor for both testosterone and estrogens. More sex means the adrenals have to produce more DHEA. More they work, more tired they get, and so does the body.

Another restriction is to avoid sugar. Sugar is a direct stressor on the adrenal glands because of the hormonal nightmare it causes. The body works furiously to balance this sugar induced catastrophe, usually successfully. The adrenals produce hormones that affect the levels of sugar in the blood to create this balance. This is okay from time to time, but many people consume a lot of sugar throughout the day causing a constant imbalance. This attempt at balance usually leads to adrenal fatigue because several of the hormones they produce are directly involved in sugar handling. With high sugar levels, they have to work extra hard causing adrenal stress and therefore fatigue.

Another thing an acupuncturist recommends when the kidney chi is low is to avoid cold and raw foods. The reason for this has to do with how they look at digestion. They see the stomach as a cooking pot. When cold or raw foods are added, extra energy is needed to heat the pot so the food can be cooked — digested. Physiologically, there is something to this. It does take more digestive enzymes and more time to digest these foods.

While getting acupuncture may do a lot of good, try these dietary restrictions for two or three weeks in conjunction with your treatments and herbs. See if it makes a difference, you may be surprised at how much faster you recover from adrenal fatigue.