I just attended a weekend long seminar in clinical nutrition. This was the fourth and final seminar in a certification series that will allow me to legally recommend nutrients to my patients. Even though I have had extensive training in chemisty, biochemistry and nutrition this program series was a "formality" in my state.
As I listened to the instructor, who was excellent by the way, I was reminded about how nutritional substances support the normal biochemical processes in the body. I was also reminded about how these substances work differently than medications.
I like to describe healing in terms of exchanges of information. In other words, if you take a nutrient it somehow contributes information to your body. The lecture was full of biochemical processes and how nutrients support these processes. The processes have evolved over billions of years and work to keep the body in an organized or complex state. Life evolved from biochemical processes that became more complex over time. Your body is the end result of this migration toward greater complex systems.
Many biochemical reactions in the body are what are called anabolic reactions. These are reactions that begin with smaller or less complex molecules (containing less informatin) and end up producing larger or more complex molecules (containing more information). Even the opposite reactions called catabolic reactions contribute products that end up in a more complex state. For example when you eat a carbohydrate meal the carbs are broken down into simple sugars (glucose). The glucose is either stored as glycogen or used by cells to produce energy (ATP). The ATP is used by the cells to produce more complex molecules or contribute to more complex processes. So all of this chemistry works to maintain the complexity of the body and nutrients support these processes.
If we consider nutrients as information sources we also need to consider their action in terms of basic information theory. In other words in order to send a message from one point to another we need a source, channel and receiver. In terms of nutrients the source is the nutrient, the channel is the gut and bloodstream and the receiver the chemical reaction that needs support. We can also apply concepts like channel capacity meaning the amount of information that can flow through a channel. The message will be distorted if there is too much or too little information.
If there is too high a dose of nutrients the channel becomes flooded. This can cause toxic effects such as nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Some nutrients that are not used build up in the system and can produce toxicity. If the dose is too small not enough nutrient can get through the channel to get to the process in the cell to elicit an effect.
Medications work differently because they are manufactured substances that mimic the effects of natural substances like hormones or neurotransmitters. The medication molecule is designed to "fit" certain receptors. This can produce a powerful effect of either inhibiting or facilitating certain processes. Medications have a much more powerful effect than nutrients but they work to artificially manipulate physiology. The other problem comes from medication molecules fitting other receptors as well causing side effects.
I am not saying that medications are all bad. But I am saying that if a process can be supported using an information source such as a nutrient you are probably better off than artifically manipulating it with a medicaiton. I think if we look at overall information effects on the body by using certain substances we may be closer to an answer to having a truly integrated approach to healing.
As I listened to the instructor, who was excellent by the way, I was reminded about how nutritional substances support the normal biochemical processes in the body. I was also reminded about how these substances work differently than medications.
I like to describe healing in terms of exchanges of information. In other words, if you take a nutrient it somehow contributes information to your body. The lecture was full of biochemical processes and how nutrients support these processes. The processes have evolved over billions of years and work to keep the body in an organized or complex state. Life evolved from biochemical processes that became more complex over time. Your body is the end result of this migration toward greater complex systems.
Many biochemical reactions in the body are what are called anabolic reactions. These are reactions that begin with smaller or less complex molecules (containing less informatin) and end up producing larger or more complex molecules (containing more information). Even the opposite reactions called catabolic reactions contribute products that end up in a more complex state. For example when you eat a carbohydrate meal the carbs are broken down into simple sugars (glucose). The glucose is either stored as glycogen or used by cells to produce energy (ATP). The ATP is used by the cells to produce more complex molecules or contribute to more complex processes. So all of this chemistry works to maintain the complexity of the body and nutrients support these processes.
If we consider nutrients as information sources we also need to consider their action in terms of basic information theory. In other words in order to send a message from one point to another we need a source, channel and receiver. In terms of nutrients the source is the nutrient, the channel is the gut and bloodstream and the receiver the chemical reaction that needs support. We can also apply concepts like channel capacity meaning the amount of information that can flow through a channel. The message will be distorted if there is too much or too little information.
If there is too high a dose of nutrients the channel becomes flooded. This can cause toxic effects such as nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Some nutrients that are not used build up in the system and can produce toxicity. If the dose is too small not enough nutrient can get through the channel to get to the process in the cell to elicit an effect.
Medications work differently because they are manufactured substances that mimic the effects of natural substances like hormones or neurotransmitters. The medication molecule is designed to "fit" certain receptors. This can produce a powerful effect of either inhibiting or facilitating certain processes. Medications have a much more powerful effect than nutrients but they work to artificially manipulate physiology. The other problem comes from medication molecules fitting other receptors as well causing side effects.
I am not saying that medications are all bad. But I am saying that if a process can be supported using an information source such as a nutrient you are probably better off than artifically manipulating it with a medicaiton. I think if we look at overall information effects on the body by using certain substances we may be closer to an answer to having a truly integrated approach to healing.