Swelling, or inflammation, can sometimes block the ‘normal’ input = output of receptors. For example, the pain of a splinter and associated infection tells us something is wrong. It simply will not let us go about our day without drawing attention to itself. Other times receptors turn off, or are desensitized, such as when a person loses their sense of smell and taste.
Infections of the sinuses, lungs, or other mucous membranes are chronic inflammations. When there is inflammation, our sense of smell and taste can be greatly diminished.
Located in the brain, the olfactory bulb, our smell-processing center, sends down into the nasal cavity, nerve-cell receptors for smelling. About 90% of taste is associated with smell. To test this, simply hold your nostrils closed and eat something (preferably something you like.) Notice that the taste is greatly diminished.
I have five suggested ‘actions’ for recovering smell and taste. The reason I say they are suggested actions rather than solutions are because so often, what is of benefit to us may turn to our detriment. I will explain. When I eat something, what I don’t use must come out at the other end. If it doesn’t, I will end up constipated, or my body my be storing energy in fat cells, or worse yet, I can end up with pathogens feeding on the leftovers of what I didn’t use.
As a universal rule, for a balanced body, the input must equal the output, or we will swell in one form or another.
In another example, when I breathe in oxygen, my cells produce CO2 (carbon dioxide) as a byproduct of respiration. My cells and body need to be ready, willing, and able to take that carbon dioxide away, or it can cause severe damage to my bodily systems. It may happen quickly as in a stroke, or it could happen over time, as in a long term breathing problem. Emphysema, a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is an inability to exhale.
The practices and supplements I’m about to suggest will cause the body to move toxins, and they themselves will have toxic byproducts. It is a universal rule that the body oxidizes that which it uses to function. Oxidation is just like rust that we see on metal. Would an engine with lots of rust in it properly function?
When we change the balance of our bodies, even if the current balance is problematic, there are always consequences. Think of a person riding around in an electric scooter, in pain, partly because of their impacts with gravity. The pain is simply caused by their bodies not being able to take away the oxidized results of their actions. The person goes to climb a set of stairs, and is in pain from it for the next three days. The oxygen may be coming in fast enough, but the by products of their respiration, of their energy use, is not being carried away fast enough. The input must equal output.
I suggest doing all five of the following, so that your body can kill the baddies, and take away the oxidized results of your actions. Remember, input must equal output. Often what is good for us, we then go overboard with it, and then suffer from the consequences of our actions. Find a balance.
The VanCoction Simple Salve
Simultaneously, the body, cells, and organs are all contracting and swelling Almost all cells of the body make a hormone-like fatty acid called prostaglandin, and depending on the type of prostaglandin, the cell is signaled to swell or shrink. Sometimes there is an over expression of one type of prostaglandin or another.
The olfactory mucosae make prostaglandin, and the mucosae of the nasal cavity and sinuses are part of a smooth muscle system. Smooth muscles are located in many of our hollow organs. Our eyes, skin, intestines, lymph tissue, cardiovascular systems, lungs, sinuses, all have smooth muscles, and smooth muscles are high in prostaglandin, and prostaglandin receptors.
Swelling of the olfactory receptors, or of the cells or cellular spaces around them, may prevent signals being received or sent that trigger our sense of smell and taste. The castor oil in the VanCoction Simple Salve is a prostaglandin-like fatty acid. It is so close to the structure of the prostaglandin that our body makes, that it facilitates smooth muscle contractions by latching onto the prostaglandin ‘shrink’ receptors. This tells the body to tighten up; it tells the smooth muscles to contract. It is an anti-inflammatory of the highest order. By simply rubbing it in and around the face, chest, wherever there is inflammation, the body will absorb it right through the skin, and put it to work.
I also suggest eating a small amount of it, about the size of a pea. Put it to the roof of your mouth, and let it absorb up into the nasal cavity. Once again, the lungs and sinuses are hollow organs, and hollow organs are lined with smooth muscle. Mucous membranes are also part of that smooth muscle. The salve will tell them to contract, and usually within about 15 minutes, mucous will begin coming down the back of the throat as the membranes dump their ‘junk.’ It’s OK to swallow the salve, but keep it in the roof of your mouth as long as you can.
The Simple Salve is also antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral.
Order VanCoction here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VanCoction
Taurine
One of the reasons for a swelling habit may be an autoimmune response to an offending influence.
In this example, let’s say the cells of the mucous membranes encounter a virus. The body did and does the right thing by sending in white blood cells to kill the virus. White blood cells make a number of toxins, and one of them is HOCL, hypochloric acid. These toxins kill infections. However, the body needs to clean up the residual of the HOCL, or it will begin to damage it’s own tissues, and damage to tissues causes swelling. With swelling and oxidative damage, the cells of those tissues may not properly work. This in turn causes the body to see those byproducts as invaders, baddies, because they are causing the oxidative damage and inflammation. In this example, what was good becomes bad.
An analogy is one of firefighters going to a house because they keep getting a call that there is an emergency. Let’s say a smoke detector keeps going off, and the body has been trained, that whenever/wherever there is smoke, there is fire; call the fire department.
The firefighters go to the house and are told the kitchen stove is on fire. They spray chemicals from a fire extinguisher onto the stove, which puts the fire out, or stops the smoke problem. The firefighters leave. The person/thing/whatever, goes to use the stove once again, and once again the stove starts to smoke and sets off the fire alarm. This keeps happening repeatedly, where the firefighters are called out, and they spray their stuff, and rather than the problem getting better, it gets worse and worse. What has happened is the firefighters preventative measures become the problem; they spray the stove with chemicals, but no one cleans up the mess.
At the sites of inflammations, taurine is known to react with and detoxify HOCL. It binds with the CL, creating TauCL.
You may never have heard of taurine, and that may be because it is not a protein building amino acid. It is however, the most abundant free amino acid in humans, helping the body maintain balances at the membrane and cellular level. It helps the cells move needed essentials and oxidized byproducts in and out of the cells, helping them to remain balanced.
Considering the high taurine content in the adult olfactory bulb, it is likely that taurine is an important factor for neurogenesis. Neurogenesis is the production of nerve tissues, and if the olfactory nerves have been damaged, for any reason, taurine may help with their regrowth.
Body builders commonly supplement with taurine because it quickly takes away the oxidized byproducts of metabolites and cells.
I suggest getting 500mg capsules of Taurine. Open one, put a little of it in the mouth, and swish it around with your saliva. See how it feels. What does your intuition tell you? Go slowly.
https://www.iherb.com/c/L-Taurine
Thiamine – Vitamin B1
Thiamine is the first discovered ‘vitamin,’ and the definition of vitamin, which is attributed to thiamine, means vital to life. “Thiamine is required for metabolism including that of glucose, amino acids, and lipids.”
Our bodies do not make thiamine. When we don’t have enough thiamine, our cells begin to starve of oxygen, and the most dangerous and sensitive place where this happens is the motor movement and switching networks of our brain.
In studies, the cells and nerves of the olfactory-bulb of mice die when they are starved of thiamine.
Alcohol and caffeine destroy thiamine.
I recommend a B multi-vitamin.
https://www.iherb.com/c/vitamin-b
Epsom Salts
Epsom salts is magnesium sulfate. In Epsom salts, the element sulfur is attached to magnesium and oxygen. Sulfur is the eight most common element in the human body, and magnesium is the eleventh most common element. There is about three times the amount of sulfur in the body as there is magnesium.
Taurine and thiamine, both have sulfur in them. Many cells lining our smooth muscles have sulfur, and the human body has what are called sulfur detox pathways. However, the input must equal the output, and from our good actions we will have oxidized byproducts. The body needs somewhere to send the oxidized, leftover sulfur. By ingesting magnesium sulfate, enough to get diarrhea, the liver cleans out toxins and other oxidized elements. When the liver begins to clean out in this way, the rest of the body can safely redistribute toxins because the liver will be open for business to receive them. The liver cleans out the sulfur detox pathways, in the way the body was designed to do it.
By ingesting Epsom salts, the body reduces inflammation at the central processing center; the liver. The liver is responsible for much of the balancing of the body; not the conscious brain. Much of what we do to our bodies is ego based. What the liver does to the body is exactly what the body needs, in the exact amounts it needs.
For more details please read EpsomFlush.com
https://www.mercuryfreekids.org/epsom-flush
Breathing Exercises
We take on average about 17,000 breaths a day. The cells of our bodies can start taking this constant source of oxygen for granted, where the oxygen is always there, and they don’t have to step up their game. By making the cells pick up the efficiency of their respiration, they begin to function more efficiently. The body begins to raise the PH of it’s own internal environment.
For example, with our cells in a sugar based, high acidic environment, our body can begin using alternative sources like the breakdown of sugars, glycolysis, for energy. We can end up with an abnormally low PH, or an acidic body, and many bad bacteria and viruses thrive in acidic, low PH environments.
As a strict habit, I do not get out of bed in the morning until I have done at least 20 minutes of Wim Hof breathing. It gets the cells using oxygen, and in turn raises the PH of the body.
If you are getting regular exercise, that may be enough for you. For those having difficulty exercising, or have trouble recovering from it, I see no reason not to do Wim Hof breathing exercises.
https://www.wimhofmethod.com/breathing-exercises
Let me know if you have questions. Let me know how you’re doing. Post a comment here or send me an email: AlbertWilking at gmail.com
Good Luck
Albert Wilking
Note of Interest
The VanCoction Simple Salve is made by my wife, Vanessa Wilking.
Addendum
If you are experiencing some stomach or intestinal pains, you may be suffering from a low PH in your belly; it’s too acidic. Drinking just a little bit of baking soda, a ¼ tsp of it in some water, can help raise the PH.
Aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease
“The disorder is thought to be caused by an anomaly in the arachidonic acid metabolizing cascade that leads to increased production of pro-inflammatory cysteinyl leukotrienes, a series of chemicals involved in the body's inflammatory response.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirin_exacerbated_respiratory_disease
Tylenol Destroys Glutathione and other Sulfur Based Metabolites
https://www.mercuryfreekids.org/mercury101/toxic-tylenol
What may be spreading the coronavirus?
https://www.mercuryfreekids.org/mercury101/2020/4/5/donottouchyourface
Taurine is often found in energy drinks. It may be included in them because it is moving along the oxidized byproducts of the stimulants the drinks contain.
References
Located in the temporal lobe, the primary olfactory cortex is the primary receptive area for olfaction, or smell. Unique to the olfactory and gustatory systems, at least in mammals, is the implementation of both peripheral and central mechanisms of action.[clarification needed] The peripheral mechanisms involve olfactory receptor neurons which transduce a chemical signal along the olfactory nerve, which terminates in the olfactory bulb. The chemoreceptors in the receptor neurons that start the signal cascade are G protein-coupled receptors. The central mechanisms include the convergence of olfactory nerve axons into glomeruli in the olfactory bulb, where the signal is then transmitted to the anterior olfactory nucleus, the piriform cortex, the medial amygdala, and the entorhinal cortex, all of which make up the primary olfactory cortex.
In contrast to vision and hearing, the olfactory bulbs are not cross-hemispheric; the right bulb connects to the right hemisphere and the left bulb connects to the left hemisphere.
The olfactory bulb (Latin: bulbus olfactorius) is a neural structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the sense of smell. It sends olfactory information to be further processed in the amygdala, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the hippocampus where it plays a role in emotion, memory and learning.
If there is swelling in the sinuses, this may impinge on the olfactory sensors that extend from the olfactory bulb down into the sinuses.
In particular, if it is a virus or other toxin creating antigens, the immune system may treat it as a pathogen, sending in white blood cells to attack it with HOCL, hypochloric acid. It is this acid in particular, and the oxidizing action of it, that can cause long term, chronic swelling.
The gustatory cortex is the primary receptive area for taste. The word taste is used in a technical sense to refer specifically to sensations coming from taste buds on the tongue. The five qualities of taste detected by the tongue include sourness, bitterness, sweetness, saltiness, and the protein taste quality, called umami. In contrast, the term flavor refers to the experience generated through integration of taste with smell and tactile information. The gustatory cortex consists of two primary structures: the anterior insula, located on the insular lobe, and the frontal operculum, located on the frontal lobe. Similarly to the olfactory cortex, the gustatory pathway operates through both peripheral and central mechanisms.[clarification needed] Peripheral taste receptors, located on the tongue, soft palate, pharynx, and esophagus, transmit the received signal to primary sensory axons, where the signal is projected to the nucleus of the solitary tract in the medulla, or the gustatory nucleus of the solitary tract complex. The signal is then transmitted to the thalamus, which in turn projects the signal to several regions of the neocortex, including the gustatory cortex.[21]
The neural processing of taste is affected at nearly every stage of processing by concurrent somatosensory information from the tongue, that is, mouthfeel. Scent, in contrast, is not combined with taste to create flavor until higher cortical processing regions, such as the insula and orbitofrontal cortex.
The thalamus serves as a relay centre for sensory and motor impulses between the spinal cord and medulla oblongata, and the cerebrum. It recognizes sensory impulses of heat, cold, pain, pressure etc.
Many different functions are linked to various regions of the thalamus. This is the case for many of the sensory systems (except for the olfactory system), such as the auditory, somatic, visceral, gustatory and visual systems where localized lesions provoke specific sensory deficits. A major role of the thalamus is support of motor and language systems, and much of the circuitry implicated for these systems is shared. The thalamus is functionally connected to the hippocampus as part of the extended hippocampal system at the thalamic anterior nuclei with respect to spatial memory and spatial sensory datum they are crucial for human episodic memory and rodent event memory. There is support for the hypothesis that thalamic regions connection to particular parts of the mesio-temporal lobe provide differentiation of the functioning of recollective and familiarity memory.
Our sensation of taste depends critically on our ability to smell. In the roof of our nasal cavity is a small patch of odor-receptor cells—millions of them—which add enormous sensitivity and complexity to what we think of as our sense of taste. As we exhale, these receptors are bombarded by molecules of aromatic compounds that are released from foods and beverages in our mouth, so we’re literally smelling our food from within, more than actually tasting it. The combination of these two senses increases by orders of magnitude the different “taste” sensations that we experience. To prove this to yourself, hold your nose as you sample a particularly flavorful food: most of the flavor will disappear. Kids soon learn that trick—ever notice how they hold their noses as they grudgingly eat some vegetable they hate?
Children generally have acute but unsophisticated senses of taste and smell, which may explain why they’re often such finicky eaters. Sadly, however, many people suffer from some degree of loss of these very gratifying sensations (see the sidebar “Are You Eating As Well As You Should?”). For those who feel resigned to this dreary fate, snap out of it! There is good news: the common nutrient lipoic acid seems to help. Two research groups, one in Italy and England, and the other in Germany, have reported that lipoic acid independently improves dysfunction of both smell and taste.
https://life-enhancement.com/pages/lipoic-acid-helps-restore-smell-and-taste
Prostanoid receptors (EP1, EP2, EP3, and EP4) are expressed in the olfactory epithelium (OE), and the EP4 prostanoid receptor may play an important role in the OE.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22991925
EP is further classified into four subtypes: EP1, EP2, EP3, and EP4, based on their different actions and signaling pathways activated in response to PGE2 or its analogs. The eight types or subtypes of PG receptors are found to be G-protein-coupled transmembrane proteins coded by different genes with distinctive structures. Among these receptors, activation of DP, EP2, EP4, or IP receptors increases intracellular cAMP level ([cAMP]i) and causes relaxation of smooth muscles. The EP1, FP, and TP receptors are coupled to Ca2+ mobilization and thus cause contractions. Different isoforms of EP3 have been identified, and the activation of EP3 can either increase or decrease the [cAMP]i, or increase intracellular Ca2+, but usually causes smooth muscle contractions.
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/physiol.00036.2010
Taurine is the most abundant free amino acid in humans and plays an important role in several essential biological processes such as bile acid conjugation, maintenance of calcium homeostasis, osmoregulation and membrane stabilization. Moreover, attenuation of apoptosis and its antioxidant activity seem to be crucial for the cytoprotective effects of taurine. Although these properties are not tissue specific, taurine reaches particularly high concentrations in tissues exposed to elevated levels of oxidants (e.g., inflammatory cells). It suggests that taurine may play an important role in inflammation associated with oxidative stress. Indeed, at the site of inflammation, taurine is known to react with and detoxify hypochlorous acid generated by the neutrophil myeloperoxidase (MPO)–halide system. This reaction results in the formation of less toxic taurine chloramine (TauCl).
Reduced taurine levels may contribute to increased osmotic and oxidative stress
If the body is suffering from a kind of PTSD, or RSI, the white blood cells may continue to treat the affected area as if there were toxins that need annihilation.
…Taurine is the most abundant free amino acid in humans and plays an important role in several essential biological processes such as bile acid conjugation, maintenance of calcium homeostasis, osmoregulation and membrane stabilization. Moreover, attenuation of apoptosis and its antioxidant activity seem to be crucial for the cytoprotective effects of taurine. Although these properties are not tissue specific, taurine reaches particularly high concentrations in tissues exposed to elevated levels of oxidants (e.g., inflammatory cells). It suggests that taurine may play an important role in inflammation associated with oxidative stress. Indeed, at the site of inflammation, taurine is known to react with and detoxify hypochlorous acid generated by the neutrophil myeloperoxidase (MPO)–halide system. This reaction results in the formation of less toxic taurine chloramine (TauCl). Both haloamines, TauCl and taurine bromamine (TauBr), the product of taurine reaction with hypobromous acid (HOBr), exert antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties…” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3894431/
…taurine activates stem cells and neural precursor cells to differentiate into neurons rather than astrocytes. The subventricular zone is one of the few regions in the brain in which neurogenesis continues throughout adulthood, and the cells from this region can proliferate and migrate via the rostral migratory stream to the olfactory bulb where they differentiate into neurons. Considering the high taurine content in the adult olfactory bulb, it is likely that taurine is an important factor for neurogenesis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501277/
Taurine protects retinal and inner ear cells from damage, normalizing the flow of calcium ions they require for proper function.
Evidence is growing for taurine’s role in preventing epileptic seizures and liver disease, two conditions that can be attributed to toxic effects on delicate tissue.
Taurine is high in the Thalamus!
Note that prostaglandin is found in the thalamus, that part of our brain that acts as a central switching station.
Why would prostaglandin, associated with smooth muscle contractions, be located inside part of our brain?
It may be because the Thalamus is some kind of hollow organ, that raw materials come in, and are altered and sent out. This would require oxygen, and as such, it will have oxidized materials that need to be taken away. If there is a swelling inside of, or around the thalamus, it may break the standard rule: Input = Output
“In particular, every sensory system (with the exception of the olfactory system) includes a thalamic nucleus that receives sensory signals and sends them to the associated primary cortical area.
The thalamus has many connections to the hippocampus via the mammillothalamic tract, this tract comprises the mammillary bodies and fornix.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalamus
…taurine activates stem cells and neural precursor cells to differentiate into neurons rather than astrocytes. The subventricular zone is one of the few regions in the brain in which neurogenesis continues throughout adulthood, and the cells from this region can proliferate and migrate via the rostral migratory stream to the olfactory bulb where they differentiate into neurons. Considering the high taurine content in the adult olfactory bulb, it is likely that taurine is an important factor for neurogenesis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501277/
“We suggest that one of the most effective endogenous agents protecting the distal retina from the application of toxic levels of glutamate is the amino acid taurine.”http://www.molvis.org/molvis/v18/a275/
Reduced taurine levels may contribute to increased osmotic and oxidative stress
If the body is suffering froma kind of PTSD, or RSI, the white blood cells may continue to treat the affected area as if there were toxins that need annihilation.
“As vitamin B1, thiamine, or any other vitamin deficiency continues, more and more damage occurs in the limbic system because that is where oxygen consumption has the heaviest demand in the entire body. This part of the brain is extremely sensitive to thiamine deficiency.”
http://www.hormonesmatter.com/thiamine-deficiency-causes-problems/
When we don’t have enough Thiamine, our cells begin to starve of oxygen, and the most dangerous and sensitive place where this happens is the Diencephalon part of our brain.
“The diencephalon of the brain consists of structures that are lateral to the third ventricle, and includes the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the epithalamus and the subthalamus.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diencephalon
The Diencephalon is the general area of our pituitary, pineal gland, the olfactory bulb that controls our sense of smell, our optic chiasm (vision), and a little control switch called the ‘Habeunlar Nuclei.’
“…Many scientists have begun to examine the Habenular Nuclei's role in motivation and behavior as it relates to an understanding of the physiology of addiction.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habenular_nuclei
I believe that our addictive behaviors may be triggered by a poor oxygen state caused by a deficiency of Thiamine. It may trigger us to do something, anything, to get the oxygen moving again.
“Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) is a vital human nutrient that belongs to the vitamin B complex. It plays an important role in maintaining a healthy nervous system and improving the cardiovascular functioning of the body.
Vitamin B1 is one of the eight water-soluble vitamins in the B complex family. It helps in the conversion of carbohydrates into glucose, which in turn is used to produce energy for carrying out various bodily functions. Vitamin B1 is also required for the breakdown of fats and protein.
In addition to these health benefits, it maintains the muscle tone along the walls of the digestive tract and promotes the health of the nervous system, skin, hair, eyes, mouth, and liver. It also improves the body’s ability to withstand stress and is often called the “anti-stress” vitamin.”
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vitamins/vitamin-b1-or-thiamine.html
Sulfur, Amino Acids and Bile
Sulfur is present in four amino acids in living creatures: methionine, an essential amino acid; the nonessential cystine and cysteine, which can be made from methionine; and taurine, which is not part of body tissues but does help produce bile acid for digestion. Sulfur is also present in two B vitamins, thiamine and biotin; thiamine is important to skin, and biotin to hair.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostaglandin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostaglandin_EP3_receptor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurogenesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustatory_cortex
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_nervous_system
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactory_bulb
https://academic.oup.com/jnen/article/72/12/1193/2917622
