NEM® Natural Eggshell Membrane - A Fast, Effective, Convenient and Safe Solution for Joint Health

It isn’t very often we have the opportunity to use an ingredient that solves more than one problem and addresses several needs at once.  When we find one of those ingredients, we grab it and get to work creating holistically based formulas so you can get the results you need.  NEM® Natural Eggshell Membrane for joint health just so happens to be one of those ingredients. 

            NEM® Natural Eggshell Membrane meets the needs important to so many of you:  fast and effective; convenient; and safe.  For so long, many people have been using glucosamine or glucosamine and chondroitin for their joint health.  These ingredients take commitment – both in time and cost to achieve the desired results.  Most studies on glucosamine show that it can take up to 6 weeks to feel any effect on joint comfort or flexibility.  That’s one of the main drawbacks to glucosamine.  Trust me, I have had many arguments with my mother about taking her glucosamine – everyday; twice a day in order for it to help.  When we were able to offer our Joint Health products with NEM®, I found the perfect solution for my mom’s “pill fatigue”.  With NEM® Natural Eggshell Membrane and Redd Remedies’ family of Joint Health products, we can deliver results in as little as 7 to 10 days – with one simple capsule a day or better yet, our once daily black cherry flavored soft chew which taste amazing.  Since most of you aren’t going to take something just because we say you should, here’s a little background on those important needs.  But first…

What is NEM®? 

            NEM® is a joint health ingredient derived from the membrane, or the inner lining, of eggshells.  You know, that pesky thing that won’t peel away from your hard-boiled egg.  That membrane is made of naturally occurring glycosaminoglycans; things like chondroitin, collagen, glucosamine, hyaluronic acid and other proteins and amino acids beneficial to your joints.  All of these nutrients are packed in that eggshell membrane and that makes NEM® a whole, food-based ingredient, unlike glucosamine which is an isolated, highly concentrated ingredient normally derived from shellfish.

Need #1:  Fast and Effective

            Multiple published human clinical trials have shown NEM®’s effectiveness for joint health.  Double-blind, placebo controlled and open trials have all demonstrated an increase for individuals in joint comfort, flexibility and range of motion.  All the studies showed improvement in the treatment group at the first evaluation of 7 or 10 days, with up to a 30% reduction in pain and a 50% reduction in stiffness and the improvement continued until the final evaluation at 60 days, with up to a 50% reduction in pain and stiffness. 

Need #2:  Convenient

            The clinically effective dose of NEM® is 500 mg daily.  That equates to one capsule a day or one scrumptious black cherry soft chew per day.  (I prefer the chew.  It’s pretty yummy!)  I don’t think we need to say anything more about the convenience.  One and done!

Need #3:  Safe

            In all of those human studies, there were no serious adverse events.  NEM® has even been studied at 50 times the clinically effective dose with no toxicity demonstrated.  50 times!  That’s like taking more than an entire bottle of Joint Health Original at once!  The eggshells used to make NEM® are U.S. domestic and fully traceable.  Eggshells mean no shellfish.  This is a great alternative for those individuals with shellfish allergies.  (Most glucosamine is derived from shellfish.)  NEM® itself is tested for antibiotic residues, heavy metals and pesticide residues proving it to be incredibly pure.  We take it even a step further and test our finished products for heavy metals, pesticides, microbes and gluten verifying the purity and safety of our products.

Why should you use our Joint Health products with NEM®? 

They are fast and effective.  They are convenient.  They are safe.  They are environmentally responsible.  NEM® is our ingredient of choice and Joint Health from Redd Remedies should be your product of choice.   

Your Brain and Pain

Our last blog post regarding pain brings us to a discussion about the brain.  After all, it does control our perceptions of pain, so any discussion about the topic needs to include a discussion about the brain.  *Warning!  Science-y words and concepts ahead!* I’ll try to keep it as simple as possible, but the truth is that researchers don’t fully understand the brain’s functions in pain perception and all of its twists and turns.  Some of these twists and turns are complicated.  Let’s start by revisiting the definition of pain. 

                “Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience that is associated with actual or potential tissue damage.”  Pain is an experience unique to each person.  We all have different pain tolerances.  Some of us can have blood drawn – no problem.  Not an issue.  Others of us can’t do it without the building expectation of something painful – that pinprick becomes a knife. 

While the intensity of pain varies from person to person, the basic biochemical and neurological processes that create the perception of pain is the same in every individual.  It’s a two-step progression that starts with a biochemical process involving nociceptors, special sensors all over our bodies that detect stimuli.  We’ll use that pinprick as our stimulus.  The needle is pushed into your arm.  The nociceptors in your arm immediately start firing signals that travel up the spinal cord and to the brain.  The neurons and glia in the brain process the signals.  This pathway is our somatosensory pathway and it ends in the cerebral cortex of the brain.  The speed and intensity of these pain signals depends on the level of pain or trauma being sensed by the nociceptors.  A network in the brain called the salience system decides whether you should stop the pinprick or whether you should carry on.  Step 2 is the neurological process, the perception of pain, and this is where it can get a little tricky.  This is where some of us shrug it off and some of us stop everything and pay attention to the pain.  Since there could be serious consequences to pain, the salience network is activated by the pain signal.  You immediately pay attention to the pain and other signals along the motor pathways force you to draw away, but most of us won’t draw away from the needle.  Most of us won’t pull our arms back.  We have the ability to overcome these signals.  We have the ability to “work through the pain”.

Once the pain signal is in the brain, the thalamus sorts out the signals and edits them.  The thalamus can direct the feeling to different areas of the brain.  Some of those areas are connected with emotion, attention, and memory.   Most of us don’t draw our arms back from the needle because we remember that having our blood drawn is really no big deal.  We sit through the pain.  But for those of us that have a fear of needles…well…emotion takes over.  The thalamus, for whatever reason, directs those pain signals to the emotional center of the brain.  This explains why emotions have such an impact on our perceptions of pain.  When we are in a bad mood or feeling down, our perceptions of pain are intensified.  The pinprick is still a pinprick in reality, but when emotions take hold…that’s when it turns into a knife.  This is the concept that ancient Chinese medicine practitioners understood thousands of years ago - well before modern science made the connection.  Remember, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, there is no difference between emotional pain and physical pain.

As I said earlier, we all have the ability to “work through the pain”, and we all have the ability to increase our tolerance to pain.  Now the brain has its own pain-suppressing analgesic system where natural opioids such as endorphins play a key role.  Depending on the situation, you may not sense pain because the pain signals are suppressed.  Prescription pain killers work along these lines.  They mimic the natural opioids in the brain.  That’s one way to increase pain tolerance, but it certainly isn’t the best way and comes with serious risks.  In my opinion, that’s not really a good option for most people.  So let’s look at some other options.  Over time, the brain can rewire those pathways to become less responsive to certain kinds of pain.  Studies have shown that a positive attitude can overcome pain by releasing serotonin.  Breathing exercises have also been shown to reduce discomfort.  Professional athletes are known to become more accustomed to pain through repetitive physical training.  You can also look to the wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  Several common herbal medicines used in TCM pain formulas can help to alter your perceptions of pain without the risk of dependency.

 Let’s pull all the information from these 4 blogs on pain together into some take-away points. 

·         Pain is a physical and emotional response

·         Not all types of pain are inflammatory in nature

·         An obstruction of blood flow can lead to poorly nourished tissues and organs, which then can lead to pain

·         Stress contributes to the intensity or onset of pain

·         Pain is always subjective; the perception of which is influenced by emotion

·         Managing pain is a multi-pronged approach and should include support for both the body and mind

Some of the concepts presented in these pain blogs may be new to you, but keep in mind that they are not “new” in the general sense.  Many of these concepts have existed and have been applied for thousands of years as core tenets of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a system that is still in practice today.  Modern theories on pain are still developing and evolving and many of those theories are validations of these ancient concepts.  A holistic approach to pain is one that includes the theories of modern breakthroughs and the wisdom of historical philosophies; one that recognizes and appreciates the mind’s ability to influence the physical body and the potential to use that fact to our advantage. 

Pain and Stress

Apparently, stress has eaten its way into the American fabric so intensely that toy makers have found a way to sell the concept to children.  Introducing the “Orbeez Luxury Spa”, marketed towards girls between the ages of 5-15 that will “massage their cares away” when they are “feeling stressed”.  I thought that product was absurd.  I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw the commercial while I was watching Adventure Time with my daughter.  (Yes, I watch Adventure Time.  I think it’s funny and I’m not sorry about that.)  Here’s the sad thing:  she got it.  She understood.  She thought it was “awesome” that she could “relax” after a day at school – not because she actually needs to de-stress after school.  She thought it would be awesome to relax with me, because in her words, “Mommy is stressed ALL. THE. TIME.”  And I was the one that really needed it.  In her 9-year old brain, she theorized that Mommy doesn’t “get to relax” and maybe that’s why Mommy gets “really bad headaches all the time.”  Children watch; they observe; they understand and they incorporate what they see.  My daughter, for one, is exactly correct.  Stress is the reason why I get really, really bad headaches.  It’s also the reason why my neck and shoulders ache and why my back hurts on pretty bad days.

Believe or not, stress does have its benefits.  Moderate amounts of stress can actually help us learn and remember new information.  The moderate amounts of stress produced during short periods of intense exercise boost the immune system.  When we are young, brief periods of stress can help us deal with anxiety later in life.  As you can see, these benefits are attributed to moderate and brief periods of stress.  The stress response – the “fight or flight” mechanism is designed for actions related to threats.  When our brains sense a threat, signals are sent to the adrenal glands, which release adrenaline and cortisol and other hormones that work to prepare the body for action.  The muscles tighten, blood vessels constrict, heart rate increases and the digestive system slows – all in preparation for a fight or for running your “you-know-what” off.  It’s a fantastically perfect mechanism if you ever find yourself facing a life or death situation.  The problem is that the biochemical mechanism has not caught up with the evolution of our daily lives.  What if the threat your brain perceived was an impending layoff?  How long would that stress response last?  Days?  Weeks?  Months?  It isn’t designed for that kind of situation, but that’s where we often find ourselves.  The stress response is triggered during our daily commutes to the office; in the office; on the way home; running our children to their extracurricular activities; preparing dinner; watching the news.  It never stops.  Our muscles remain in a state of tension; they stay contracted.  That’s a great way to bring on a migraine, to create knots and kinks in the shoulders and neck and sharp pains in the lower back.  These areas of the body are already under enough pressure from sitting at a desk all day staring at a computer screen or being on our feet all day doing the same repetitive motions.   This constant state of stress will also disrupt sleeping patterns, which only leads to a cascade of other issues, one of which can be more pain due to a lack of sleep; stress can also make a painful situation worse by increasing anxiety and nervous tension, which are known to intensify pain. 

There are many things we can do to alleviate stress.  Exercise is one of the best ways to do this.  It doesn't need to be crazy intense - just 30 minutes of activity a day can help.  There are also herbal medicines that we can use to help the brain and body cope with stress.  These herbs are called adaptogens.  Adaptogens are an incredible class of herbs that have the unique ability to restore balance to the body and restore balance between the body and the mind.  If you want to read more about adaptogens, look to our past blog post from May 2012.

 

Pain Part 2 - Joints and Muscles

If you’ve read the first blog post in our pain series, you are aware that one of the ways we will be talking about pain is within the context of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  If you haven’t read the first blog post, you may want to do that now.  Doing so will make this post and the ones to follow make a lot more sense.  To understand the role of TCM in joint and muscle pain, we first need a little background on the joint tissue and muscle tissue. 

The joints of the body work to provide mobility and to hold the skeleton together while the skeletal muscles work to produce movement, maintain posture and stabilize and strengthen the joints.  These two body tissues work in concert to create mobility and manipulation.  Joints are the weakest part of the skeleton, but even so, they are able to resist many forces like crushing and tearing.  The muscles definitely play a role in this.  The stronger a person’s skeletal muscles are, the more stable that person’s joints will be.  With so many of us living sedentary lifestyles with little to no exercise, the weakest part of our skeletons can become even weaker because that lifestyle decreases the strength of the skeletal muscles.  With that in mind, it makes sense that pain often affects these vulnerable parts of our bodies.  Like most people, I don’t actively think about my joints or muscles.  They just do what I need them to do.  Like most of you, I don’t think about my joints and muscles until they hurt.

When viewed from the TCM perspective, both joint and muscle pain can fall under the category of “pulling pain”.  They may also fall under the category of “aching pain”.  Issues associated with pulling pain involve Blood stagnation which basically means that the Blood is “stuck” – it’s not moving properly.  It can also involve obstruction of the vessels and a failure of the Liver to nourish the muscle tissue.  Aching pain involves an excess of dampness.  These issues contribute to the pain, so the goal is to maintain the free movement of the Blood and to dry the dampness.  That makes perfect sense, right?

 In case it doesn’t make much sense, here are a few tidbits of info to help clarify.  Skeletal muscle has a rich blood supply.  It needs to have a rich blood supply because contracting muscle fibers use a huge amount of energy and require an almost continuous delivery of oxygen and nutrients by the arteries.  Muscle cells also create large amounts of metabolic waste products that must be removed through the veins if we want our muscles to contract efficiently.  In contrast, the joint tissues are not well vascularized.  For example, cartilage is avascular; it doesn’t have a blood supply.  This feature makes it very difficult for cartilage to obtain sufficient nourishment to repair itself.  Instead of nutrients being directly delivered to the cartilage, they have to permeate through layers of tissue.  So, if the Blood, which functions to deliver all the nutrients our bodies require, is moving sluggishly along or the vessels that deliver Blood to the tissues are obstructed, the skeletal muscles don’t receive that necessary constant supply of oxygen and nutrients and the joint tissues don’t receive what little nutrients are permeating through layers of tissue.  A lack of nutrients leads to weakness, which leads to malfunction, which leads to pain.  Sluggish movement of the Blood can also cause an accumulation of dampness.  Think about how heavy your clothes are when they are wet.  Wearing wet clothes can hinder your movement by weighing you down.  Same thing can happen in our bodies.  What do we do to dry wet clothes?  We apply heat.  Certain TCM herbs do the same.  They gently warm the body, providing a tender nudge toward Blood movement.  

Now it makes sense, right?  The basic concepts of Blood and Qi (energy) movement are directly related to the skeleton's ability to move itself and to move without pain.  If we can maintain and support Blood and Qi movement, we can ensure proper nutrition for the muscles and joints and prevent the accumulation of dampness that weighs us down.

Pain: Part 1

The most widely accepted definition of pain goes like this:  “Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience that is associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in such terms.”  This very long-winded definition goes on to say that “pain is always subjective”.   Look at the definition.  Read it again.  Did you see the phrase “pain is inflammation?”  Yeah, neither did I.   Yet, when you walk down the pain relief aisle of any drugstore, you see acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen….all NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).  What if the pain you feel doesn’t have anything to do with inflammation?  Did you realize that you can have pain without inflammation?   If that is the case – pain without inflammation -  how exactly would any of these anti-inflammatory products help you?  The fact is that while inflammation can be associated with certain types of pain, such as pain from a traumatic injury or pain associated with the wear and tear of the joints, it isn’t the only reason why people experience pain.  The single compound, single action theory of anti-inflammatories in the Western approach falls short for so many people struggling with pain.  It is time to recognize that there are other factors involved.  There are other pathways and channels in play.

 There are two key factors in that definition of pain that should be pointed out:  “pain is sensory and emotional” and “pain is always subjective”.   The Traditional Chinese approach to pain not only recognizes, but appreciates and uses these factors in its approach to pain.  In TCM, pain is defined as an imbalance between Qi (energy) and Blood.  This can happen when energy or Blood is deficient, or it can happen when energy and Blood get stuck in a certain area of the body.  Whenever the flow of energy and blood is obstructed and not free flowing, the organs of the body begin to malfunction and so pain develops.  TCM also recognizes that pain is either made worse or alleviated by the emotional health of the person and is quite often caused by stress itself.  In TCM, there is no distinction between physical pain and emotional pain; they are one and the same and they are treated in the same ways.  “Pain is always subjective.”  This means that an individual’s level of pain is influenced by his or her own feelings, emotions and opinions.  Each individual has his or her own perception of pain.  Because TCM does not view the mind as separate from the physical body, if the potential for higher thresholds for pain is present in one person, then the potential is there for all.  If strength is reinforced and the mind is quieted, the threshold can be altered.  In the Western medicine approach, pain is seen as a simple nerve impulse – an electrical message sent from the brain initiating the pain we feel.  It is viewed as mechanical; thus the symptomatic approach of anti-inflammatories or pain killing substances.  The Western approach does not recognize the emotional component of pain; it does not view pain as the dynamic physical and emotional response that it really is. 

Elements of TCM blended with the symptomatic approach of Western theory can have a dramatic impact on pain.  Looking at pain through a TCM lens and recognizing the following:   1) pain comes in all shapes and sizes; 2) there are multiple channels or pathways for pain; 3) stress contributes to pain; and 4) pain is subjective; will go beyond any benefit that an anti-inflammatory focused approach can offer.  Human beings are dynamic and fluid.  Our minds are not detached from our physical bodies.  They are one and the same.  You cannot support one without affecting the other.  You cannot aim to truly restore one without aiming to restore both.  

Real Food = A Healthy Heart

Cardiovascular health starts with good nutrition.  Food is a primary part of Eastern medicine, but not a part of Western medicine.  Real food- not Pop Tarts passed off as a serving of fruit and whole grains – I’m talking about an actual piece of fruit and an actual grain (hull and all).  If the food we eat is devoid of nutrients, so is the blood that pumps through the body.  As incredible as the human body is, it can’t make something out of nothing. 

PAUSE A MOMENT…AND LET THAT LAST SENTENCE SINK IN.

 Magnesium is a good example of that.  It’s a mineral and good sources include green leafy vegetables and whole grains, especially.  That mineral is incredibly important to muscle function and what is the heart?  It’s a muscle.  And guess what is a main component of the structure of arteries and veins…muscles again.  Magnesium helps muscle contract and relax normally.  In fact, they don’t really relax well without it.  With green, leafy vegetables being a top source of magnesium from food, does it make sense that many people with heart disease are advised not to eat large amounts green, leafy vegetables because of certain medications (blood thinners)?  What is a “large amount?”  1 serving?  2 servings?  3?  Because of those questions, many people avoid green, leafy vegetables all together.   That seems a bit counterproductive, because the most nutrient-dense foods are typically plants.   Here’s another little tidbit – we are told over and over again to avoid saturated fats, the “bad fats” as they are known (mistakenly).  We are told to replace them with polyunsaturated fats – especially olive oil.  We all know how good olive oil is for our hearts!  News flash – olive oil is pretty high in vitamin K – (that’s the reason why people on blood thinners are told to avoid “large amounts” of green, leafy vegetables.)  So…let’s think about this.  If you are a heart patient, with let’s say a stent and possibly on blood thinners, you can’t eat green leafy vegetables, you can’t eat olive oil, and you’re being told to avoid saturated fats.  Hmmmmm…. what’s left?  Low-fat/no-fat refined carbohydrates and low-fat/no-fat dairy?  The foods that probably put this person in this situation in the first place. 

Here’s a simple solution to this predicament.  Eat your food in the way nature presents it to us.  Full fat-unrefined and whole.  Avoid processed food.  It’s really that simple.  Honey nut cheerios?  Try steel cut oats instead.  Sodas and soft drinks - how about some water?   Skim milk?  No thank-you!!!  I’ll stick with the full-fat, whole version- cholesterol and all.  And I’ll tell you why in our next blog post.  

Raising Awareness - The Goal of American Heart Health Month

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in both men and women.  Six hundred thousand people die of heart disease in the United States every year.  That equals 1 in 4 deaths.  Why is this?  The prevalence of smoking has decreased to an all-time low since 1944 – at 20% of adults.  We’ve been bombarded by low-fat/no-fat foods for at least the last 3 decades and that is the diet pushed by the American Heart Association.  Three of the top 10 most prescribed drugs are designed to lower a person’s mortality from heart disease.  All of those facts lead me to these questions:

Why are so many people dying of heart disease? 

Why does it remain the leading cause of death? 

Did thousands of people lie on the Gallup poll on smoking? 

Are hundreds of thousands of people ignoring the dietary guidelines? 

Do the drugs not work? 

Think about what your heart does – from the 6^th week of fetal development to the moment life ends – it beats.  That muscle, about the size of your fist, will relax and contract over 3 billion times, pumping about 5 quarts of blood every minute.   In that blood is all the oxygen and nutrition your body needs to survive and thrive and the waste that needs to be removed.   That’s a lot of work; it makes sense why the heart is called the “King of the Body” in Traditional Chinese Medicine. 

Ponder those things during this month of February – American Heart Health Month.