Image by Gerd Altmann 

From the moment of conception, the human body builds two waste processing systems. Recycling happens for cells that are dying or cells that have waste prod­ucts that are positioned in a place in the body with no obvious pathway out of the body.

The skeletal system is a recycling center par excellence. It can take certain waste products during both anabolism and catabolism and use them to make bones. Bones, of course, require other metabolites and micronutrients (the fourth category of the basic components of Real Food along with carbs, fats, and pro­teins). The inside of the heart is partially built from recycled cells embryonically.

When the body has obvious pathways for waste removal, then natural elimi­nation can happen. When it does not, then it recycles. The recycling systems are also sensitive to excess free radicals, and a blocked recycling system can lead to sepsis or high levels of metabolic dysfunction and consequently excess physiologi­cal toxicity and decreased internal safety. The organ systems of the body become overwhelmed in their physiological functions with garbage, especially the liver.

Sleep, Metabolism, and Elimination

Good sleep (which is different for many people) is critical to catabolism (the breakdown of tissues, cells, and metabolites), and really there are simple solutions to what appears to be a very complex chemical soup that lives in our body, such as not eating for at least twelve to sixteen hours between dinner and breakfast the following morning.

These elimination pro­cesses are highly contextual based on a person’s lifestyle and epigenetics (changes in our body caused by modification of gene expression, which are usually revers­ible such as through diet, behavior, attitude, and emotions) rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. For example, Type II Diabetes in some people can be reversed in less than a month.

When either the buildup or breakdown is inter­fered with through pollution, trauma, and especially a poor diet, various disease processes and disorders can arise in an individual based on changes to their epi­genetic pattern. This gets back to oxidative stress and endothelial inflammation.

Epigenetics

Think of epigenetics as sheet music and that each human being, although having similar genes, plays different symphonies and at different times with dif­ferent instruments. Every human has a repertoire of their own melodies that their metabolism plays.

No two embryos differentiate their organ systems, and thus their related metabolic pathways, at the same time. Different timing creates different melodies. One size does not fit all (or there is no universal symphony) but everyone has the same basic instruments (metabolic cycles and systems) in a symphony orchestra. And the instruments need to be tuned properly and know when to play and what notes to play while looking at the sheet music in front of them.

The Epithelium

Due to the collision of our contemporary society and its consumerism—especially of processed foods, added sugars, poor hydration, inherited traits, and myriad activities that generate pollution internally and externally—our body metabo­lism becomes dysregulated. We get out of tune with the whole of the natural world. We lose our molecular bonding with the earth and the ocean and the sky externally as we lose our connection with our organs and tissues internally. This dysregulation is organized by oxidative stress interfering with molecular bonding.

This sequence breaks down the epithelium of the intestinal lining (leaky gut). This leads to systemic inflammation via the endothelium of the cardiovas­cular system and lymphatic systems (leaky blood vessels). Inflammation arises from overstuffed insulin-resistant fat cells starting in the liver.

The endothelium is the gate keeper for nutrition delivery via arterial blood to all levels of the body. The lymphatic system is a toxin recognition and removal system. Anything that leaks through the gut, because the innate immune system in the gut does not recognize it, creates cytokines to alert the global body immune system of a prob­lem, and the lymph tries to process these oversized and irregular molecules that create free radicals. Then the endothelium breaks down and loses its quiescence or stillness. This is the essence of metabolic syndrome.

The Metabolic Orchestra

The conductor of the metabolic orchestra is the endocrine system, and the principal instrument in the symphony is the liver. Together they regulate glucose metabolism, especially when too much insulin is created, for example from excess processed carbohydrates (polysaccharides). This creates hyperinsulinemia in the liver, which I think of as an out-of-tune violin.

Inflammation arises from overstuffed insulin-resistant fat cells starting in the liver. Fat cells are inflamed cells and make obesity a critical problem for most people metabolically, especially with fatty liver disease. All tunes in the gut go to the liver. The liver is a master metabolic regulating organ. Its sound is extraordinary.

The entire orchestra and conductor is tuned to its harmony, as is our body, like the first violin in a symphony giving the proper tone at the beginning of the symphony. It is the field commander directing the metabolites from the food we eat and their processing for delivery to the cells of our body via the blood. And at the same time the liver manages waste products such as food additives that the body does not recognize. It also must manage excess glucose and thus hyperinsulinemia.

At this point with hyperinsulinemia in the liver, one’s epigenetics choose which disease/disorder to accelerate or express in one’s body (or which out of tune, atonal, discordant symphony to play). This could be inherited family traits or personal expression.

Identical twins do not express the same metabolic disorders even with similar diets and lifestyles! The timing of each of their embryonic organ differentiations is different. And each differentiation requires a nutrient level at its critical time of differentiation. If that nutrient level is not available in utero, a potential disease expression can take place later in life or right after birth. The most common postnatal expressions are cardiovascular disease and obesity, but there are many, many others.

The lining of the gut (epithelium) has already alerted the innate immune system to trouble with its barrier function. It happens in seconds, whereas the adaptive immune system may take days or weeks to shift. Then, since the cardiovascular system is already badly out of tune systemically, the endothelium is always an underlying problem because of the breakdown in its barrier function of keeping pathogens sequestered or quarantined, and like­wise with the epithelium. Together these systems and organs choose whatever metabolic syndrome to express in one’s body.

Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a catchall term for a variety of disordered states resulting from this continued dysfunction of anabolism and catabolism. If left unchecked for too long, genetic damage of one’s sperm cells and egg cells takes place, affecting the Health of future generations. Some researchers have said that it may take up to fourteen generations to repair the genetic damage and cease inheriting metabolic disorders. Others have suggested that insulin resistance is passed on to the developing fetus through the placenta and cannot be reversed.

Even though the word syndrome is singular, it refers to the plural including a variety of conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, dementia disorders, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and the wide prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. There are primary markers for metabolic syndrome used in biomedicine to determine its severity, which we have all heard of, such as waist circumference, blood sugar, triglycerides, inflammatory cytokine levels, and others.

Reclamation

There are also numerous secondary symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, skin problems, and so forth. But it is most important to understand the source of the problem and natural solutions first (cleansing and Real Food) before pharmaceutical considerations are employed, in my opinion.

Metabolic syn­drome is a huge wake-up call for taking charge of one’s body and reclaiming its ownership. Since one size does not fit all again, but this time in terms of natu­ral or medical solutions, reclaiming our body becomes a trial-and-error pro­cess that requires patience and good coaching from appropriate and qualified helpers. This also depends on our age and stage of life, because metabolic syn­drome can incubate for seven years or more.

Each stage of life changes the body’s anabolic and catabolic competence. I feel shopping for a doctor is wise. I believe there is a doctor for every condition in every phase of life.

Besides the chemical free radicals, key/lock-disturbances, liver overload, and leaky gut/leaky blood vessels, the fluidity and water quality in the interstitium is also essential. After all, we are over 90 percent water. The metabolic body as described here is a system of chemical and biokinetic (morphological) communi­cations.

Cell membranes need to stay intact and whole as they also interact with our moods and emotions that also create metabolism. Water carries cytokines wherever they need to go, especially in the lymph.

Metabolism and related endo­crine-immune cycles and systems are based on feedback loops and cycles of com­munication and flow, like an orchestra playing at an outdoor amphitheater in the summer. As the orchestra members need to exchange information internally, they need Real Food from nature externally (listen to Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony). The natural world is a major player in rebalancing from metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome occurs when...

Metabolic syndrome occurs when a person has three or more of the follow­ing measurements:

1. Abdominal obesity (waist circumference greater than forty inches in men and greater than thirty-five inches in women)

2. Triglyceride level of 150 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL) or greater

3. HDL cholesterol of less than 40 mg/dL in men or less than 50 mg/dL in women (I disregard this recommendation because cholesterol is a nonissue in heart care according to new research)

4. Systolic blood pressure (top number) of 130 or greater, and diastolic blood pressure (bottom number) of 85 or greater without medication

5. Fasting glucose of 100 mg/dL or greater

Doctors most familiar with metabolic syndrome now recommend these tests:

1. Insulin (fasting and particularly postprandial)

2. Inflammation

3. Coronary artery calcium

4. Carotid ultrasound

5. Triglyceride/HDL ratio

RECOMMENDED READING

A Statin-Free Life: A Revolutionary Life Plan for Tackling Heart Disease— without the Use of Statins by Aseem Malhotra (Yellow Kite Books, 2021).

Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease by Robert Lustig (Avery, 2013).

Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine by Robert Lustig (Harper Collins, 2021).

The 21-Day Immunity Plan by Aseem Malhotra (Yellow Kite Books, 2020).

The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet by Nina Teicholz (Simon & Shuster, 2015).

The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains by Robert Lustig (Avery, 2018).

The Immunity Fix: Strengthen Your Immune System, Fight Off Infections, Reverse Chronic Disease and Live a Healthier Life by James DiNicolantonio and Siim Land (self-published, 2020).

The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss by Jason Fung (Greystone Books, 2016).

Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved.
Printed with permission.

Article Source:

BOOK: The Biodynamics of the Immune System

The Biodynamics of the Immune System: Balancing the Energies of the Body with the Cosmos
by Michael J. Shea

Drawing on more than 45 years of practicing Eastern medicine, Michael J. Shea, Ph.D., presents a holistic guide to biodynamic manual therapy practices for optimizing the immune system and for healing the deep spiritual suffering of our contemporary world.

Showing spiritual suffering to be the root of our modern epidemic of metabolic syndrome and other widespread health issues, the author explains how the pervasive degradation of the human body relates directly with the food we eat, the air we breathe, and our thoughts and emotions. He explains how the Five Element theory of Eastern medicine offers a method to reclaim the body by sensing each element in and around us as a single continuum.

For more info and/or to order this book, click here.  Also available as a Kindle edition.

About the Author

Michael J. Shea, Ph.D., holds a doctorate in somatic psychology from the Union Institute and has taught at the Upledger Institute, the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, and the International University for Professional Studies.

He is a founding board member of the Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America and the International Affiliation of Biodynamic Trainings. He is the author of several books, including Somatic Psychology.

More books by this Author.