By Dr Catherine W Dunne MSc. D., RGN, Reiki Master (RGMT), M.H.I.T: Master Acupressure, Practitioner of Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Deep Tissue/Myo-fascia Massages, Infrared Treatments, Vibrational Sound and Colour Therapist, Tissue Salt Advisor, Pendulum Healing Dowser, Chakra Practitioner , Tao Cosmic Healing Practitioner, Practitioner of Plant and Herb Medicine and Nurse.
In today’s article, I wish to help merge some of the “alternative” healing concepts. Many know yoga, prana, chakras, meridians, reiki …. But for many, especially those who learnt these modalities online and during the lockdown phase, cannot connect the dots.
I have a hunger for knowledge on chakras since my early teens. While some could see auras, I could see chakras. This changed in 2014, when I was hospitalised … and the lady in bed next to me, was gravely ill, I decided to “temporarily” close my abilities. When I was home, I’d just flick that switch. Right? Wrong! But that is a whole other story I may one day blog about.
So, over the years I learnt various other modalities, in the hope, one day I will reverse that “flicked switch”; from Reiki (I kinda grew up with – family), to Faith Healing, to Acupressure and Meridians, to Cosmic Healing, to Pendulum Healing, so many more modalities and still learning. But no matter what I study, I always try to find that connection with the Chakras – my passion. With studying and maturity, one starts to “connect the dots” (well hopefully that is the case for us all).
In the world of Chakra, which I know most of you are familiar with now, imagine we place the 7 main chakras of the human into three conscious categories: Upper, Middle and Lower or the Three Tan Tiens.
ROOT ORGANS: Reproductive Systems (male and female) SACRAL ORGANS: Bladder, Large Intestine, Bottom part of Kidneys SP ORGANS: Kidneys upper, Adrenal Glands, Small and Large Intestine, Spleen, Pancreas, Liver, Gallbladder and Stomach HEART ORGANS: Heart, Lungs and Thymus Gland THROAT ORGANS: Thyroid, Vocal Cords, Trachea and Oesophagus, Mouth, Ears and Lower Sinuses 3rd Eye ORGANS: Eyes, upper Sinuses. CROWN ORGANS: Our physical Brains, Left, Right, Central, Frontal Lobes
Our organs communicate with each other and with our Energy Centers or Chakras and higher. The arrows represent Meridians. Two Meridians I have not shown here, are the Governing and Conception or Functional Meridians.
WHAT ARE MERIDIANS? Meridians are invisible pathways that connect various organs and systems within the body. According to TCM, there are 12 primary meridians, each associated with a specific organ and its corresponding functions.
TAN TIEN CONSCIOUSNESS There is a long-standing Taoist practice of cultivating and training consciousness in the Three Tan Tiens, especially the Lower Tan Tien. The consciousness of each Tan Tien is named after its unique focus: The Upper Tan Tien corresponds to the upper or observing mind. The Middle Tan Tien corresponds to the conscious mind of the heart. The Lower Tan Tien corresponds to the feeling and awareness mind. The concept of having multiple brains in the body may seem incredible or farfetched to some. However, my own experience while participating in scientific research as well as information revealed through recent scientific studies combine to make this aspect of Cosmic Healing plausible, accessible, and practical (Grandmaster Mantak Chia).
TAN TIEN ENERGY Energy in the body can be generated, stored, and transformed by the brain, the sexual organs, and other body organs. However, each of these energy processors is limited in function in some way. The brain, for example, can access and generate energy, but storing energy in the brain is not easy. In the Taoist system, we learn to train the brain to increase its ability and capacity to store energy. The brain energy, when increased to a certain level, can enable more synapses to grow in the central nervous system and can help turn protein into brain and nerve cells. The organs of the body have a greater capacity than the brain for storing and transforming energy, but their ability to generate energy is limited. The sexual organs, on the other hand, can generate a significant amount of sexual energy (life force). However, the sexual organs cannot store the energy efficiently. When they generate too much energy, considerable amounts have to be discarded. It is like preparing food for one hundred people when only one person is eating. And this “creative” food is the best energy a human has. As reservoirs of energy in the body, the Tan Tiens bring balance to the body’s energy cycle. There are three: the Upper Tan Tien, the Middle Tan Tien, and the Lower Tan Tien. Each Tan Tien is a place where we can store, transform, and collect energy. The Three Tan Tiens feed energy to the meridians, the rivers of energy that flow through the body. The Middle Tan Tien, also known as the Heart Center Tan Tien, is located between the two nipples. It is associated with the fire element. Yet within fire there is always water. The original spirit (Shen) is stored here. The Lower Tan Tien is in the lower abdomen, at the navel. It is like an empty universe or ocean, and we want to feel a universe of energy here. Within this universe or ocean, there is fire under water, like a volcano under the ocean. The aim of Taoist basic training is to integrate the brain, the sexual organs, the other organs of the body, and the Three Tan Tiens into one system. If the brain generates too much energy, it can store the energy in the organs. If the sexual organs generate excess sexual energy, it can be stored in the organs and the Three Tan Tiens. Without this integration, we waste energy at an alarming rate. Energy is like money. If you make a million dollars a year and spend a million dollars a year, you have nothing left to use in the future. This is the way we live and use energy in our society. We are spending more energy than we are saving, and we are living on borrowed energy, paying very high interest. Our credit will run out very soon. Some healing practices deal only with the spirit and ignore the body and sexual energy. These practices can generate a lot of energy, but if the practitioner is not connected to the organs, that energy cannot be stored anywhere and is lost. Some people practice meditation by sitting quietly, emptying the mind, and relaxing the whole body. However, very little energy is actually generated in this type of practice. Some who get deep into this type of practice find it hard to come back to society, because they have no energy and their mind power does not work well. These people have to depend on others to support them.
THREE MINDS INTO ONE: YI POWER 1. Smile into your heart. Make it feel soft. Make it feel love, joy, happiness, and compassion. Feel the heart energy spiral, 2. Spiral the energy in the upper mind. Lower your upper mind down to the Lower Tan Tien in your navel area. 3. Turn the consciousness in your heart, activated by your love and softness, down to the Lower Tan Tien. 4. With the feeling and awareness mind, spiral together the energy of the three minds, blending them together as one in the Lower Tan Tien.
As you can see, everything is connected. Everything modality has a commonality. All four corners of this planet Earth, learnt the same things at the same time, but interpreted it differently.
Once Humanity understands we are all One and the same, with tons of abilities within us waiting to be tapped in to, then, and only then will this world become a better place. I am ready for divine, positive changes to come in. Are you?
We are the World. Give in your heart and you will see that someone cares ‘Cause you know that they can feed them all Then I read the paper and it said that you’ve been denied And it shows the second we will call
We are the world We are the children We are the ones who make a brighter day So let’s start giving There’s a chance we’re taking We’re taking our own lives It’s true we’ll make a brighter day Just you and me
Now there’s a time when we must love them all And it seems that life, it don’t make love at all But if you’d been there, and I’ll love you more and more It seems in life, I didn’t do that … Michael Jackson
I hope you feel inspired. Look after your body, and it will keep you healthy.
By Dr Catherine W Dunne MSc. D., RGN, Reiki Master (RGMT), M.H.I.T: Master Acupressure, Practitioner of Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Deep Tissue/Myo-fascia Massages, Infrared Treatments, Vibrational Sound and Colour Therapist, Tissue Salt Advisor, Pendulum Healing Dowser, Chakra Practitioner , Tao Cosmic Healing Practitioner, Practitioner of Plant and Herb Medicine and Nurse.
We all have heard of the saying: “You are what you eat!” But what about what we wear?
An organ is defined loosely as any part of an animal (human included) or plant that is adapted for a particular function for example respiration, digestion or excretion. Skin is the largest organ in a human body. It comprises two distinct layers, the epidermis and the dermis. The skin of a 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) adult male weighing around 70kg (154 lb) covers an area of 1.5–2 sq m (16.1–21.5 sq ft) and weighs about 3.8 kg (8 lb 5 oz). By comparison, this hypothetical man’s liver – his largest internal organ – would weigh only about 1.5 kg (3 lb 4.8 oz).
Skin’s function: Protects against pathogens; provides insulation; synthesizes vitamin D; regulates temperature; provides sensation. Here are some fun and surprising facts about skin to help you better appreciate this large organ in your body:
Your skin makes up about 15% of your total body weight.
The average adult has nearly 21 square feet (2 sq m) of skin that contains over 11 miles (17.7km or 17702,8m) of blood vessels.
A single square inch (ca. 6,4516 sq cm) of skin has about 300 sweat glands.
The thickest skin is found on your feet and the thinnest area of skin is your eyelids.
Your skin renews itself every 28 days and sheds about 9 pounds (9lbs = approx. 454mg or 0,454kg) of dead skin cells every year.
Some of the dust in your home may actually be dead skin.
Your skin has some nerves that are connected to your muscles to help you react more quickly to extreme temperatures or pain.
Changes in your skin can often be a warning sign of a medical condition or changes in your body’s health.
There are at least five types of receptors in the skin that respond to pain and touch.
Sleep is vital for healthy, vibrant, and youthful skin.
Now, that’s the scientific part of biology covered.
The Vibrational Frequencies of the Human Body.
Did you know that our body is a form of energy, which is made up of vibration and frequency. And sometimes, one “resonates” with another human.
Bruce Tainio, famous researcher and developer of Tainio Technology found that a healthy body resonates at a frequency of 62-72 MHz, (MHz takes 1 ‘hz’ and multiplies it by a million) and when your frequency drops to 58 MHz, that is when disease starts.
In 1992, Bruce Tainio built the first frequency monitor in the world – Calibrated Frequency Monitor (CFM).
Below are some frequencies listed, that may be of interest:
Human Body
Genius Brain Frequency at: 80-97 MHz
Brain Frequency Range at: 72-95 MHz
Normal Brain Frequency at: 72 MHz
Human Body at: 62-100 MHz
Human Body: from Neck up at: 72-78 MHz
Human Body: from Neck down at: 60-68 MHz
Thyroid and Parathyroid glands at: 62-68 MHz
Thymus Gland at: 65-68 MHz
Heart at: 67-70 MHz
Lungs at: 58-65 MHz
Liver at: 55-60 MHz
Pancreas at: 60-80 MHz
Disease
Colds and Flu start at: 50-55 MHz
Disease starts at: 55 MHz
Candida overgrowth starts at: 55 MHz
Receptive to Epstein Barr at: 52 MHz
Receptive to Cancer at: 42 MHz
Death begins at: 25 MHz
Food
(Fresh foods and herbs ca be higher if grown organically and eaten freshly picked
Fresh Foods / Herbs at: 20-27 Hz
Dried Foods /Herbs at: 15-22 Hz
Processed / Canned Food at: 0 Hz
Frequency is defined as a measurable rate of electrical energy that is constant between any two points. When there is frequency, there is electromagnetic potential. We are being influenced by the magnetic action (or attraction) of the frequencies that surround our lives each day and frequencies influence our state of well-being. Everything has an electrical frequency measured in hertz.
Studies show that negative thoughts lower our frequency on average 12 Hz. Positive thoughts raises our Hz on average 10 Hz. Prayer and meditation raises our frequency on average 15 Hz.
Royal Raymond Rife, M.D., developed a “frequency generator” in the early 1920s. With this he found that with certain frequencies he could destroy a cancer cell or a virus. He found that certain frequencies could prevent the development of disease, and others would destroy disease. Substances with higher frequency will destroy diseases of a lower frequency. The study of frequencies raises an important question, concerning the frequencies of substances we eat, breathe and absorb. Many pollutants lower healthy frequency. Processed/canned food has a frequency of zero. Fresh produce has up to 15 Hz, dried herbs from 12 to 22 Hz and fresh herbs from 20 to 27 Hz.
What Rife proved is that every health disorder has a frequency, which in turn responds (resonates) to a specific (optimal) frequency for its dissolving/healing in the body.
Does Colour have frequencies?
First of all, Colour is determined first by frequency and then by how those frequencies are combined when they reach the eye. Colour is the frequency of visible light, and it ranges from 430 trillion Hertz (which is red) to 750 trillion Hertz (which is violet). Waves can also go beyond and below those frequencies, but they’re not visible to the human eye.
Does Fabric have frequencies?
Fabrics have frequencies and they affect the way we feel. But there’s science behind this too: natural fibres have higher frequencies than synthetic ones and therefore are better for us. Natural Fibers like linen, organic cotton, and silk offer high vibrational frequencies that enhance energy, clarity, and health. In contrast, synthetic Fibers like polyester and nylon have low frequencies that can disrupt your natural energy flow. In 2003 a Jewish doctor, Heidi Yellen, did a study on the frequencies of fabrics, in which she showed that a healthy human body has a signature frequency of 100, and wearing a material that measures less than 100 units of energy would compromise our wellbeing. Each fabric gives of a frequency that can be measured in mHz (megaHertZ). Organic cotton has a tested value of 110 mHz, polyester around 10 mHz. A diseased person generally measures 15 mHz. Wool and Linen both have a signature of 5000 mHz! That amazing naturally created feature of the fabrics will also give energy to your body as you wear it. It is important however to not wear linen and wool together, however, as the frequencies in both of the linen and wool fibres run in opposite current directions. If you wear them together, the two frequencies will cancel each other out and bring you to a 0 (Zero).
Here’s a chart with some common clothing fabrics and their corresponding frequencies:
Fabric | Frequency (Hz)
Flax-Linen | 5000 Hz
Animal Wool | 500 Hz
Cotton | 80-100 Hz
Silk | 100-230 Hz
Flax-Hemp | 230 Hz
Rayon | 40-50 Hz
Polyester | 30-40 Hz
Nylon | 25-35 Hz
The concept of clothing fabric frequency is based on the idea that different materials have unique vibrational energies that can affect our physical and emotional wellbeing. Here’s a more detailed explanation:
Frequency ranges: The frequencies listed in the chart are generally categorized into three ranges:
Low frequency (30-60 Hz): Synthetic fabrics are believed to have a low frequency, which can lead to feelings of fatigue, lethargy, and stagnation.
Medium frequency (70-500 Hz): Natural fabrics can promote balance, stability, and comfort.
High frequency (550-5000+ Hz): Fabrics are believed to have a high frequency, which can enhance energy, vitality, and spiritual connection.
Impact on human energy: Wearing clothing made from low-frequency fabrics can allegedly drain our energy, while high-frequency fabrics can boost our vitality and promote a sense of well-being.
Scientific basis: While there is some anecdotal evidence to support the concept of clothing fabric frequency, there is limited scientific research to confirm its validity. Some studies suggest that the human body responds to the electromagnetic properties of fabrics, which may influence our energy levels and emotional state.
Keep in mind that the scientific evidence supporting clothing fabric frequency is limited, and more research is needed to fully understand its effects on human health and wellbeing. Please note that these frequencies are approximate and based on various sources, including Dr. Heidi Yellen’s study. The actual frequencies may vary depending on the specific fabric type, weave, fabric colour and synthetic or organic manufactured colour and manufacturing process.
Summary: Impact on Health
Synthetic garments are often less breathable and can retain heat and moisture, which can lead to skin irritations and other skin problems. What’s more, the low frequency of synthetic fibers can contribute to feelings of fatigue, stress and even general malaise. Some wellness experts recommend avoiding synthetic clothing whenever possible, especially when worn directly against the skin.
Making Conscious Choices for Well-Being
It’s clear that the clothes we wear are not just choices of style or comfort, but can also have a significant impact on our health and well-being due to their vibrational frequencies. Natural fibers such as cotton, linen, hemp and wool offer vibrational frequencies that are harmonious with our bodies, promoting a state of well-being, vitality and comfort. Conversely, synthetic garments, with their low frequencies, can have disruptive effects on our energy and health.
Making conscious choices when it comes to clothing, with a preference for natural fibers, can be a simple yet powerful way of supporting our health and well-being on a daily basis. By understanding the vibrational frequencies of different materials, we can choose clothes that not only fit well, but also resonate positively with our inner energy.
Conclusion:
At the start I mentioned that our Skin is our largest organ and its function is to: Protects against pathogens; provides insulation; synthesizes vitamin D; regulates temperature; provides sensation. Now that we have a greater understanding of our SKIN, the human’s healthy vibrational frequency, we need to exercise greater awareness on what we allow to be next to our skin and for how long.
Stay well in 2025.
I hope you feel inspired. Look after your body, and it will keep you healthy.
By Dr Catherine W Dunne MSc. D., RGN, Reiki Master (RGMT), M.H.I.T: Master Acupressure, Practitioner of Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Deep Tissue/Myo-fascia Massages, Infrared Treatments, Vibrational Sound and Colour Therapist, Tissue Salt Advisor, Pendulum Healing Dowser, Chakra Practitioner , Tao Cosmic Healing Practitioner, Practitioner of Plant and Herb Medicine and Nurse.
Vitamin D – the right intake
Taking vitamin D is an excellent preventive but also therapeutic measure. Regardless of whether it is an increased susceptibility to infections, autoimmune diseases, degenerative complaints or problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and dementia, a vitamin D deficiency is usually the cause of the action. We explain how you can determine a vitamin D deficiency in the home test, how much vitamin D you need and how you can properly combine vitamin D with calcium, magnesium and vitamin K.
Vitamin D – How to take it correctly?
Vitamin D is particularly known for its bone-strengthening effect. It promotes calcium absorption from the intestine, is involved in calcium incorporation into the bones, inhibits bone loss and also strengthens the immune system.
At the same time, there is hardly a disease that does not develop Vitamin D deficiency would be involved. For example, the vitamin is considered a substance with an anti-inflammatory effect, which alone is reason enough for its positive influence in most chronic complaints – because they all go hand in hand with chronically inflammatory processes.
It is therefore important to pay attention to a healthy vitamin D level. How do you do that? Does the vitamin have to be taken as a dietary supplement? And if so, what is the right income? How to calculate the personally required dose and how to combine the vitamin with calcium, magnesium and Vitamin K?
A deficiency is common
Vitamin D is not a real vitamin. Because real vitamins must be ingested with food. With vitamin D, on the other hand, the body can also supply itself solely through the sun’s rays, since the vitamin is formed in the skin under the influence of UVB radiation.
However, in Central Europe this only works in summer (from around April to September) – and only if you are lightly dressed and do not constantly apply sunscreens with a high sun protection factor. The latter can reduce vitamin D formation in the skin. In Northern Europe you will need to supplement all year round,
The rest of the year, the sun is too low to send enough UVB radiation to Earth. In Central Europe you can only get along well with the help of the sun Vitamin D if you are really in the open air in the warm season to fill up your memories so comprehensively that you can get over the winter well.
However, many people do not succeed in what the modern lifestyle with an hourly stay in closed rooms is not entirely innocent. Therefore, large sections of the population suffer from vitamin D deficiency and should take the vitamin especially in winter.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin
The bone vitamin belongs together with vitamin A, Vitamin E. and Vitamin K to the fat-soluble vitamins. That means two things:
There is always something for the absorption of vitamin D from the intestine fat required (see below under “Correct intake: Always with a little fat”).
The vitamin can be stored in the body (in adipose tissue and in the liver), which is almost never the case with water-soluble vitamins (B, C).
The advantage is that you don’t have to take vitamin D – once the stores are filled – every day. The organism can draw from a filled store for weeks or even months.
The disadvantage is that fat-soluble vitamins can also be overdosed, which you have to pay attention to when taking them. Because while excess water-soluble vitamins are usually simply discharged through the urine, this is not the case with fat-soluble vitamins. Cases of vitamin A overdoses are therefore known from time to time, for example from regions where fish liver is often eaten. This contains a lot of Vitamin A.
What dose leads to overdose?
As far as vitamin D is concerned, there is usually only the risk of an overdose if very high doses in the form of nutritional supplements are taken over a longer period of time.
50 µg or 2,000 IU per day are the recommended maximum dose in Europe and North America. However, clinical studies show that long-term intake of 10,000 IU daily does not pose any risks. An overdose could occur at 50,000 IU per day and at serum values of more than 150 ng / ml. Wa can then form hypercalcemia (too much calcium in the blood) – such an evaluation by Indian researchers from May 2011 in Oman Medical Journal.
Ideally, the blood values of vitamin D should be below 100 ng / ml, since primitive people rarely reach higher values, even though they are not dressed in the sun every day. The toxic range clearly begins at 300 ng / ml.
Overdose: from 50,000 IU per day for several months
Various case reports have also become known from 2011, in which an overdose of vitamin D led to complaints.
In a 70-year-old woman who took 50,000 IU daily, the typical symptoms of hypercalcemia occurred after 3 months of taking it: tiredness, walking difficulties and confusion. After stopping vitamin D, however, it recovered completely over the course of five months. It should be noted here that she also consumed over 3 g of calcium daily.
Another case describes a man in whom accidentally taking 2,000,000 IU of vitamin D a day after 2 months led to confusion, exhaustion, excessive thirst and frequent urination.
And in a third case, after taking 50,000 IU of vitamin D daily for six months, a man also observed the typical symptoms of hypercalcemia:
Excessive thirst and frequent urination
Stomach discomfort, Nausea, vomiting and constipation
Bone pain, muscle weakness
Confusion, lethargy and exhaustion
Overdose from food or sun?
Since vitamin D hardly occurs in food, you can hardly eat an overdose (unless you eat a lot of fish liver).
It is also hardly possible to get an overdose from the sun’s rays. Apparently, the body has protective measures that stop vitamin D formation via the skin as soon as a sufficiently high serum value is reached.
On a sunny summer day, the body rarely absorbs more than 10,000 IU of vitamin D in –, and only if you spent the whole day almost undressed (bath pants / bikini) in the sun.
Only in extreme sunlight (for years in hot regions all day on the beach) could there be unfavorable consequences of an overdose of vitamin D, but only here if there is a vitamin K2 deficiency and possibly too well-intentioned calcium supply at the same time.
So it is rather the over-dosed intake of the vitamin in the form of a dietary supplement that could lead to problems.
Make vitamin D preparation from mushrooms and sun yourself
We have described here how you can produce a natural source of vitamins from mushrooms: Pure vegetable vitamin source: mushrooms
Of course, this method cannot be used specifically to achieve a certain value in the blood or to remedy a deficiency, since one does not know the actual vitamin D content of the fungi, but one can prepare them accordingly Edible mushrooms Install regularly in the diet, so that in the long term you only have to take low-dose supplements or at some point no more.
The right intake
Below we describe all the factors you need to know for a correct intake of vitamin D. First, it is about which four vital substances the vitamin needs to work properly, then how you measure your vitamin D level and finally we present two methods with which you can find out or calculate the dose that suits you can.
1. Take vitamin K2
When taking vitamin D, it is always recommended to pay attention to a healthy vitamin K2 supply at the same time. Vitamin K2 is the vitamin that fulfills two major tasks in the body:
Vitamin K is involved in regulating blood clotting so that no one has to bleed to the smallest wound.
Vitamin K conducts excess calcium in the blood into the bones, thus ensuring that the calcium is not deposited on the blood vessel walls or in the form of kidney stones.
Since vitamin D promotes the absorption of calcium, the amount of calcium absorbed also increases when the vitamin is taken. If vitamin K2 is now missing, the problems mentioned above can arise, i.e. a misdistribution of calcium in the body.
A 2015 study showed in kidney patients that the combined administration of vitamin D and vitamin K reduced the progression of arteriosclerosis (compared to the group that only received sun vitamin).
It is not entirely clear how much vitamin K2 you should take. The recommended doses for vitamin D supplementation vary considerably among experts. Information can be found there, such as B.
Taking 100 µg vitamin K2 per 5,000 IU vitamin D
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 per 10,000 IU
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 per 1,000 IU
There is also a recommendation depending on body weight: 2 – 3 µg vitamin K2 per kilogram of body weight.
We recommend taking vitamin K2 the following
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 at up to 2,500 IU vitamin D per day
Ingestion of 200 µg vitamin K2 in vitamin D doses above 2,500 IU per day
However, also note the vitamin K2 content of your food. If you adapt your diet accordingly and now take in enough vitamin K2 from your diet, you may only have to take vitamin K2 in the first weeks of your vitamin D intake until the stores are replenished and your diet then provides the required vitamin.
Vitamin K2 is available in various forms, we recommend taking Menachinon-7, which is also abbreviated as MK-7. It is vegan and is considered the best resorbable and usable vitamin K2 form.
If you are on a blood thinner or taking other medications that are not so well compatible with vitamin K, the correct intake of vitamin K must be discussed with the doctor as a precaution.
2nd Vitamin A increases the effect
In the presence of vitamin A, vitamin D works better, and the vitamin D level rises higher if vitamin A is taken at the same time – at least one study from August 2020. Read information about this in our article Vitamin D needs vitamin A.. The correct intake of vitamin D therefore also includes vitamin A (about 1 mg per day).
Vitamin A can be ingested via beta-carotene, which is contained in many types of vegetables, because the organism can produce vitamin A from beta-carotene. To do this, however, you should eat vegetables rich in beta-carotene every day, because to produce 1 mg of vitamin A, the organism needs at least 6 times the amount of beta-carotene, i.e. 6 mg. The following vegetables are among the best sources of beta carotene (quantities always per 100 g):
Carrots raw 9.8 mg beta-carotene (1.6 mg vitamin A)
Spinach raw 4.7 mg beta-carotene (0.8 mg vitamin A)
Kale raw 5.1 mg beta-carotene (0.8 mg vitamin A)
Corn salad raw 3.9 mg beta-carotene (0.65 mg vitamin A)
red peppers raw 2.1 mg beta-carotene (0.35 mg vitamin A)
When cooking, the content does not change noticeably because beta-carotene is not sensitive to heat; bioavailability could even increase due to cooking – see details here: Loss of nutrients when cooking where we explain what you need to look out for when preparing in order to benefit as much as possible from the beta-carotene it contains.
In the study mentioned, the vitamin A level of the participants was originally even normal. Nevertheless, taking vitamin A (together with taking vitamin D) resulted in a higher vitamin D level and also an improved effect of the vitamin.
In particular in the case of acute diseases and at the same time there is a D deficiency or even if the value should not increase satisfactorily despite all efforts, the additional intake of vitamin A or Beta Carotin can be a good help.
3rd Magnesium activates vitamin D.
Since magnesium is required in the body to activate vitamin D and is also consumed in this process, the correct intake of vitamin D also requires an optimized magnesium supply.
The daily requirement for magnesium is about 400 mg for an adult. If you take up this amount of magnesium daily through your diet, you should be well looked after with a vitamin D supplementation of up to 5,000 IU.
However, if you take more vitamin D, you should also take magnesium with this higher dose, between 200 – 300 mg – depending on the magnesium content of the diet. Read details here: Low magnesium levels make Vitamin D ineffective.
Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the human body after calcium, potassium, and sodium. Foods high in magnesium include almonds, bananas, beans, broccoli, brown rice, cashews, egg yolk, fish oil, flaxseed, green vegetables, milk, mushrooms, other nuts, oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soybeans, sunflower seeds, sweet corn, tofu, and whole grains.
4th Vitamin D and calcium are only advisable in certain situations
Vitamin D is considered to be THE bone vitamin par excellence, and it is often believed that the correct intake includes calcium in any case. But this only seems to make sense in certain cases:
if e.g. B. the risk of osteoporosis should be reduced in the menopause
if osteoporosis is already present and the risk of bone fracture is to be reduced
when a low-calcium diet is practiced that delivers significantly less than the 1,000 mg calcium recommended daily
However, if you consume sufficient calcium, you should not take any additional calcium when taking vitamin D (especially at very high doses). This could increase the risk of hypercalcemia.
Correct intake: Measure vitamin D levels in advance!
Proper intake of vitamin D can only take place if you know your actual value and can then calculate the dose that suits you individually or get it said by your doctor.
So get your vitamin D level established first. Otherwise, you may take too little and therefore have no effect. Or you take much more than necessary, which in turn would put unnecessary strain on your body.
Your family doctor (GP), or alternative practitioner can take care of the measurement. You can also do a vitamin D home test yourself at home. For safety’s sake, you should also discuss the result with a doctor or Integrated Medical Practitioner/CAM Practitioner.
Your qualified Integrated Medical Practitioner/CAM Practitioner can also perform a simple test. But do ask your GP/Family Doctor if he/she can request the laboratory test.
However, the blood drawn itself can have influences on the blood that falsify the result. It is therefore safer to have the test done by the doctor or alternative practitioner.
Correct intake: what dose?
The goal should be a blood value of at least 30 ng / ml, better about 40 to 50 ng / ml vitamin D3 (25 (OH) vitamin D3). The dose that suits you is now calculated from your current value and your desired value –, taking into account the body weight.
In the event of a massive deficiency, the procedure described in the article linked above could not lead to a healthy vitamin D level quickly enough. Therefore we provide you with the method according to Dr. med. Raimund von Helden, author of the recommended booklet Healthy in seven days – Success with vitamin D therapy.
Dr. von Helden divides the intake of vitamin D into two therapeutic parts: into the initial therapy and the permanent or Maintenance therapy.
After a deficiency, the initial therapy serves to fill up the vitamin D stores, which should happen as quickly as possible so that the mostly existing deficiency symptoms can be remedied as quickly as possible. It is a single dose. The dose of continuous therapy is then switched over.
The continuous therapy provides the amount of vitamin D that is required to compensate for the daily losses and to maintain a healthy vitamin D level in the long term.
Calculation of the dose for the initial therapy
In order to raise the vitamin D level by 1 ng / ml, 10,000 IU are required with a body weight of 70 kilograms. If the body weight is different, recalculate the value proportionally. 7,000 IU per kilogram of body weight should not be exceeded.
For example, if you weigh 70 kg, have an instantaneous value of 15 ng / ml and want to reach a value of 35 ng / ml, then choose a single dose of 200,000 IU as the initial therapy. Weigh only 60 kg, then take about 170,000 IU.
The starting dose is very high. We recommend that you discuss this type of intake with the doctor or alternative practitioner in advance.
Calculation of the dose for continuous therapy
With an assumed body weight of 70 kilograms in turn, 3,333 IU of vitamin D per day or 23,000 IU required per week. Here, too, the dose is calculated proportionally with a different body weight. For the average person in Ireland we can say 5000IU vitamin D per day
If you are in the sun a lot in summer, you can pause with vitamin D during this time. But probably no alarmingly high value would develop if you continued to take it despite sunbathing.
Correct intake: Always with a little fat
If you have vitamin D preparations that are available as powder in capsules if taken with black coffee, water or juice, this leads to absorption of the vitamin, but to a rather low absorption. As a fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin D should always be taken with a little fat. Like a glass of milk or Cholesterol lowering milk drinks or joghurt.
Too much fat is not a good idea either. So if you take the vitamin preparation with a thick lard bread or fatty cheese, you cannot take the ideal dose of it either. Because excessive amounts of fat seem to inhibit absorption.
A 2013 study found that taking vitamin D with 11 grams of fat resulted in absorption 16 percent higher than taking with 35 grams of fat and 20 percent higher absorption than taking with 0 grams of fat.
It doesn’t matter whether you get fat out polyunsaturated fatty acids (Hemp oil, Linseed oil, Sunflower oil), one made from monounsaturated fatty acids (olive oil, Avocados, Almonds) or one made of saturated (coconut oil).
Correct intake: Topical via the skin
If you cannot tolerate vitamin D preparations or whose vitamin D level simply does not want to rise despite the correct intake of vitamin D preparations, the vitamin can also be applied to the skin, since it can also be absorbed through the skin.
To do this, choose a liquid preparation without unfavourable additives, e.g. Vitamin D3 drops, which only come from vitamin D3 and MCT fats (medium-chain fats from e.g. Coconut oil) exist. Apply to the forearm, where the skin is particularly receptive
Important note
Disclaimer: This article was based on (at the time of publication) current studies written and checked by doctors, but may not be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, replaced so not to visit your doctor. So, discuss each one Measure (whether from this or another of our articles) always first with your doctor.
Vitamin D – the right intake
Taking vitamin D is an excellent preventive but also therapeutic measure. Regardless of whether it is an increased susceptibility to infections, autoimmune diseases, degenerative complaints or problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and dementia, a vitamin D deficiency is usually the cause of the action. We explain how you can determine a vitamin D deficiency in the home test, how much vitamin D you need and how you can properly combine vitamin D with calcium, magnesium and vitamin K.
Vitamin D – How to take it correctly?
Vitamin D is particularly known for its bone-strengthening effect. It promotes calcium absorption from the intestine, is involved in calcium incorporation into the bones, inhibits bone loss and also strengthens the immune system.
At the same time, there is hardly a disease that does not develop Vitamin D deficiency would be involved. For example, the vitamin is considered a substance with an anti-inflammatory effect, which alone is reason enough for its positive influence in most chronic complaints – because they all go hand in hand with chronically inflammatory processes.
It is therefore important to pay attention to a healthy vitamin D level. How do you do that? Does the vitamin have to be taken as a dietary supplement? And if so, what is the right income? How to calculate the personally required dose and how to combine the vitamin with calcium, magnesium and Vitamin K?
(If you are for the Vitamin D blood values If you are interested in what value indicates a deficiency and which is just correct, read the link above (under Vitamin D).)
A deficiency is common
Vitamin D is not a real vitamin. Because real vitamins must be ingested with food. With vitamin D, on the other hand, the body can also supply itself solely through the sun’s rays, since the vitamin is formed in the skin under the influence of UVB radiation.
However, in Central Europe this only works in summer (from around April to September) – and only if you are lightly dressed and do not constantly apply sunscreens with a high sun protection factor. The latter can reduce vitamin D formation in the skin.
The rest of the year, the sun is too low to send enough UVB radiation to Earth. In Central Europe you can only get along well with the help of the sun Vitamin D if you are really in the open air in the warm season to fill up your memories so comprehensively that you can get over the winter well.
However, many people do not succeed in what the modern lifestyle with an hourly stay in closed rooms is not entirely innocent. Therefore, large sections of the population suffer from vitamin D deficiency and should take the vitamin especially in winter.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin
The bone vitamin belongs together with vitamin A, Vitamin E. and Vitamin K to the fat-soluble vitamins. That means two things:
There is always something for the absorption of vitamin D from the intestine fat required (see below under “Correct intake: Always with a little fat”).
The vitamin can be stored in the body (in adipose tissue and in the liver), which is almost never the case with water-soluble vitamins (B, C).
The advantage is that you don’t have to take vitamin D – once the stores are filled – every day. The organism can draw from a filled store for weeks or even months.
The disadvantage is that fat-soluble vitamins can also be overdosed, which you have to pay attention to when taking them. Because while excess water-soluble vitamins are usually simply discharged through the urine, this is not the case with fat-soluble vitamins. Cases of vitamin A overdoses are therefore known from time to time, for example from regions where fish liver is often eaten. This contains a lot Vitamin A.
What dose leads to overdose?
As far as vitamin D is concerned, there is usually only the risk of an overdose if very high doses in the form of nutritional supplements are taken over a longer period of time.
50 µg or 2,000 IU per day are the recommended maximum dose in Europe and North America. However, clinical studies show that long-term intake of 10,000 IU daily does not pose any risks. An overdose could occur at 50,000 IU per day and at serum values of more than 150 ng / ml. Wa can then form hypercalcemia (too much calcium in the blood) – such an evaluation by Indian researchers from May 2011 in Oman Medical Journal.
Ideally, the blood values of vitamin D should be below 100 ng / ml, since primitive people rarely reach higher values, even though they are not dressed in the sun every day. The toxic range clearly begins at 300 ng / ml.
Overdose: from 50,000 IU per day for several months
Various case reports have also become known from 2011, in which an overdose of vitamin D led to complaints.
In a 70-year-old woman who took 50,000 IU daily, the typical symptoms of hypercalcemia occurred after 3 months of taking it: tiredness, walking difficulties and confusion. After stopping vitamin D, however, it recovered completely over the course of five months. It should be noted here that she also consumed over 3 g of calcium daily.
Another case describes a man in whom accidentally taking 2,000,000 IU of vitamin D a day after 2 months led to confusion, exhaustion, excessive thirst and frequent urination.
And in a third case, after taking 50,000 IU of vitamin D daily for six months, a man also observed the typical symptoms of hypercalcemia:
Excessive thirst and frequent urination
Stomach discomfort, Nausea, vomiting and constipation
Bone pain, muscle weakness
Confusion, lethargy and exhaustion
Overdose from food or sun?
Since vitamin D hardly occurs in food, you can hardly eat an overdose (unless you eat a lot of fish liver).
It is also hardly possible to get an overdose from the sun’s rays. Apparently, the body has protective measures that stop vitamin D formation via the skin as soon as a sufficiently high serum value is reached.
On a sunny summer day, the body rarely absorbs more than 10,000 IU of vitamin D in –, and only if you spent the whole day almost undressed (bath pants / bikini) in the sun.
Only in extreme sunlight (for years in hot regions all day on the beach) could there be unfavorable consequences of an overdose of vitamin D, but only here if there is a vitamin K2 deficiency and possibly too well-intentioned calcium supply at the same time.
So it is rather the over-dosed intake of the vitamin in the form of a dietary supplement that could lead to problems.
Make vitamin D preparation from mushrooms and sun yourself
We have described here how you can produce a natural source of vitamins from mushrooms: Pure vegetable vitamin source: mushrooms
Of course, this method cannot be used specifically to achieve a certain value in the blood or to remedy a deficiency, since one does not know the actual vitamin D content of the fungi, but one can prepare them accordingly Edible mushrooms Install regularly in the diet, so that in the long term you only have to take low-dose supplements or at some point no more.
The right intake
Below we describe all the factors you need to know for a correct intake of vitamin D. First, it is about which four vital substances the vitamin needs to work properly, then how you measure your vitamin D level and finally we present two methods with which you can find out or calculate the dose that suits you can.
1. Take vitamin K2
When taking vitamin D, it is always recommended to pay attention to a healthy vitamin K2 supply at the same time. Vitamin K2 is the vitamin that fulfills two major tasks in the body:
Vitamin K is involved in regulating blood clotting so that no one has to bleed to the smallest wound.
Vitamin K conducts excess calcium in the blood into the bones, thus ensuring that the calcium is not deposited on the blood vessel walls or in the form of kidney stones.
Since vitamin D promotes the absorption of calcium, the amount of calcium absorbed also increases when the vitamin is taken. If vitamin K2 is now missing, the problems mentioned above can arise, i.e. a misdistribution of calcium in the body.
A 2015 study showed in kidney patients that the combined administration of vitamin D and vitamin K reduced the progression of arteriosclerosis (compared to the group that only received sun vitamin).
It is not entirely clear how much vitamin K2 you should take. The recommended doses for vitamin D supplementation vary considerably among experts. Information can be found there, such as B.
Taking 100 µg vitamin K2 per 5,000 IU vitamin D
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 per 10,000 IU
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 per 1,000 IU
There is also a recommendation depending on body weight: 2 – 3 µg vitamin K2 per kilogram of body weight.
We recommend taking vitamin K2 the following
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 at up to 2,500 IU vitamin D per day
Ingestion of 200 µg vitamin K2 in vitamin D doses above 2,500 IU per day
However, also note the vitamin K2 content of your food. If you adapt your diet accordingly and now take in enough vitamin K2 from your diet, you may only have to take vitamin K2 in the first weeks of your vitamin D intake until the stores are replenished and your diet then provides the required vitamin.
Vitamin K2 is available in various forms, we recommend taking Menachinon-7, which is also abbreviated as MK-7. It is vegan and is considered the best resorbable and usable vitamin K2 form.
If you are on a blood thinner or taking other medications that are not so well compatible with vitamin K, the correct intake of vitamin K must be discussed with the doctor as a precaution.
2nd Vitamin A increases the effect
In the presence of vitamin A, vitamin D works better, and the vitamin D level rises higher if vitamin A is taken at the same time – at least one study from August 2020. Read information about this in our article Vitamin D needs vitamin A.. The correct intake of vitamin D therefore also includes vitamin A (about 1 mg per day).
Vitamin A can be ingested via beta-carotene, which is contained in many types of vegetables, because the organism can produce vitamin A from beta-carotene. To do this, however, you should eat vegetables rich in beta-carotene every day, because to produce 1 mg of vitamin A, the organism needs at least 6 times the amount of beta-carotene, i.e. 6 mg. The following vegetables are among the best sources of beta carotene (quantities always per 100 g):
Carrots raw 9.8 mg beta-carotene (1.6 mg vitamin A)
Spinach raw 4.7 mg beta-carotene (0.8 mg vitamin A)
Kale raw 5.1 mg beta-carotene (0.8 mg vitamin A)
Corn salad raw 3.9 mg beta-carotene (0.65 mg vitamin A)
red peppers raw 2.1 mg beta-carotene (0.35 mg vitamin A)
When cooking, the content does not change noticeably because beta-carotene is not sensitive to heat; bioavailability could even increase due to cooking – see details here: Loss of nutrients when cooking where we explain what you need to look out for when preparing in order to benefit as much as possible from the beta-carotene it contains.
In the study mentioned, the vitamin A level of the participants was originally even normal. Nevertheless, taking vitamin A (together with taking vitamin D) resulted in a higher vitamin D level and also an improved effect of the vitamin.
In particular in the case of acute diseases and at the same time there is a D deficiency or even if the value should not increase satisfactorily despite all efforts, the additional intake of vitamin A or Beta Carotin can be a good help.
3rd Magnesium activates vitamin D.
Since magnesium is required in the body to activate vitamin D and is also consumed in this process, the correct intake of vitamin D also requires an optimized magnesium supply.
The daily requirement for magnesium is about 400 mg for an adult. If you take up this amount of magnesium daily through your diet, you should be well looked after with a vitamin D supplementation of up to 5,000 IU.
However, if you take more vitamin D, you should also take magnesium with this higher dose, between 200 – 300 mg – depending on the magnesium content of the diet. Read details here: Low magnesium levels make Vitamin D ineffective.
Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the human body after calcium, potassium, and sodium. Foods high in magnesium include almonds, bananas, beans, broccoli, brown rice, cashews, egg yolk, fish oil, flaxseed, green vegetables, milk, mushrooms, other nuts, oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soybeans, sunflower seeds, sweet corn, tofu, and whole grains.
4th Vitamin D and calcium are only advisable in certain situations
Vitamin D is considered to be THE bone vitamin par excellence, and it is often believed that the correct intake includes calcium in any case. But this only seems to make sense in certain cases:
if e.g. B. the risk of osteoporosis should be reduced in the menopause
if osteoporosis is already present and the risk of bone fracture is to be reduced
when a low-calcium diet is practiced that delivers significantly less than the 1,000 mg calcium recommended daily
However, if you consume sufficient calcium, you should not take any additional calcium when taking vitamin D (especially at very high doses). This could increase the risk of hypercalcemia.
Correct intake: Measure vitamin D levels in advance!
Proper intake of vitamin D can only take place if you know your actual value and can then calculate the dose that suits you individually or get it said by your doctor.
So get your vitamin D level established first. Otherwise, you may take too little and therefore have no effect. Or you take much more than necessary, which in turn would put unnecessary strain on your body.
Your family doctor (GP), or alternative practitioner can take care of the measurement. You can also do a vitamin D home test yourself at home. For safety’s sake, you should also discuss the result with a doctor or Integrated Medical Practitioner/CAM Practitioner.
Your qualified Integrated Medical Practitioner/CAM Practitioner can also perform a simple test. But do ask your GP/Family Doctor if he/she can request the laboratory test.
However, the blood drawn itself can have influences on the blood that falsify the result. It is therefore safer to have the test done by the doctor or alternative practitioner.
Correct intake: what dose?
The goal should be a blood value of at least 30 ng / ml, better about 40 to 50 ng / ml vitamin D3 (25 (OH) vitamin D3). The dose that suits you is now calculated from your current value and your desired value –, taking into account the body weight.
In the event of a massive deficiency, the procedure described in the article linked above could not lead to a healthy vitamin D level quickly enough. Therefore we provide you with the method according to Dr. med. Raimund von Helden, author of the recommended booklet Healthy in seven days – Success with vitamin D therapy.
Dr. von Helden divides the intake of vitamin D into two therapeutic parts: into the initial therapy and the permanent or Maintenance therapy.
After a deficiency, the initial therapy serves to fill up the vitamin D stores, which should happen as quickly as possible so that the mostly existing deficiency symptoms can be remedied as quickly as possible. It is a single dose. The dose of continuous therapy is then switched over.
The continuous therapy provides the amount of vitamin D that is required to compensate for the daily losses and to maintain a healthy vitamin D level in the long term.
Calculation of the dose for the initial therapy
In order to raise the vitamin D level by 1 ng / ml, 10,000 IU are required with a body weight of 70 kilograms. If the body weight is different, recalculate the value proportionally. 7,000 IU per kilogram of body weight should not be exceeded.
For example, if you weigh 70 kg, have an instantaneous value of 15 ng / ml and want to reach a value of 35 ng / ml, then choose a single dose of 200,000 IU as the initial therapy. Weigh only 60 kg, then take about 170,000 IU.
The starting dose is very high. We recommend that you discuss this type of intake with the doctor or alternative practitioner in advance.
Calculation of the dose for continuous therapy
With an assumed body weight of 70 kilograms in turn, 3,333 IU of vitamin D per day or 23,000 IU required per week. Here, too, the dose is calculated proportionally with a different body weight. For the average person in Ireland we can say 5000IU vitamin D per day
If you are in the sun a lot in summer, you can pause with vitamin D during this time. But probably no alarmingly high value would develop if you continued to take it despite sunbathing.
Correct intake: Always with a little fat
If you have vitamin D preparations that are available as powder in capsules if taken with black coffee, water or juice, this leads to absorption of the vitamin, but to a rather low absorption. As a fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin D should always be taken with a little fat. Like a glass of milk or Cholesterol lowering milk drinks or joghurt.
Too much fat is not a good idea either. So if you take the vitamin preparation with a thick lard bread or fatty cheese, you cannot take the ideal dose of it either. Because excessive amounts of fat seem to inhibit absorption.
A 2013 study found that taking vitamin D with 11 grams of fat resulted in absorption 16 percent higher than taking with 35 grams of fat and 20 percent higher absorption than taking with 0 grams of fat.
It doesn’t matter whether you get fat out polyunsaturated fatty acids (Hemp oil, Linseed oil, Sunflower oil), one made from monounsaturated fatty acids (olive oil, Avocados, Almonds) or one made of saturated (coconut oil).
Correct intake: Topical via the skin
If you cannot tolerate vitamin D preparations or whose vitamin D level simply does not want to rise despite the correct intake of vitamin D preparations, the vitamin can also be applied to the skin, since it can also be absorbed through the skin.
To do this, choose a liquid preparation without unfavourable additives, e.g. Vitamin D3 drops, which only come from vitamin D3 and MCT fats (medium-chain fats from e.g. Coconut oil) exist. Apply to the forearm, where the skin is particularly receptive
Important note
Disclaimer: This article was based on (at the time of publication) current studies written and checked by doctors, but may not be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, replaced so not to visit your doctor. So, discuss each one Measure (whether from this or another of our articles) always first with your doctor.
I hope you feel inspired. Look after your body, and it will keep you healthy.
By Dr Catherine W Dunne MSc. D., RGN, Reiki Master (RGMT), M.H.I.T: Master Acupressure, Practitioner of Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Deep Tissue/Myo-fascia Massages, Infrared Treatments, Vibrational Sound and Colour Therapist, Tissue Salt Advisor, Pendulum Healing Dowser, Chakra Practitioner , Tao Cosmic Healing Practitioner, Practitioner of Plant and Herb Medicine and Nurse.
Disclaimer: this article I have translated from German to English. In Germany and in USA, they are conducting research regarding best cholesterol lowering treatment, by focusing on Lipoprotein-a. Lipoprotein-a is the cause of fatty livers and the clogging up your coronary arteries. This research is still ongoing with very good outlook. The result is that we may only need a once per annum treatment. Sounds good to me, we’ll see.
Meanwhile, I stumbled across this German article and find it interesting enough to translate for you and share with you.
I hope you will enjoy the read.
Catherine.
Naturally lower Lipoprotein-a
Lipoprotein-a, a relative of cholesterol, is increasingly measured during medical examinations. The lipoprotein-a value is even more important than cholesterol levels when it comes to avoiding cardiovascular disease, they say. We explain how you can lower your lipoprotein-a naturally.
Lipoprotein-A – often abbreviated to Lp(a) – is mainly formed in the liver and consists of 2 proteins, apoliprotein A and apolipoprotein B. It belongs to the blood lipids and is related to LDL cholesterol.
Lp(a) is intended to contribute to the development of Arteriosclerosis and have a prothrombotic effect, which means that it promotes thrombosis (blood clots). Therefore, an Lp(a) value that is as healthy as possible would be ideal. There are hardly any drugs that lower the Lp(a) value. We explain how you can naturally lower your Lp(a) level and thus also reduce your cardiovascular risk.
How lipoprotein-a damages the vessels
Lp(a) damages the vessels and promotes arteriosclerosis as follows ( 1 ):
Promotes inflammation
Penetrates the arterial wall, thus enlarging the lesions (injuries) of the vessel walls, which aggravates atherosclerosis
Attaches more strongly to the blood vessel walls than LDL cholesterol
Interferes with the formation of plasmin, an enzyme that would dissolve blood clots
Lipoprotein levels: Which ones are good, which ones are bad?
Lipoprotein-A levels should not exceed 25 – 30 mg/dl (for us in Ireland and UK this translates to 0.06-0.08mmol/L. Another example: if your total cholesterol is 6.4 mmol/L this converts to: 247.5mg/dl). If you have higher values (they can rise to 400 mg/dl (10.3 mmol/L) and more), then you assume a massively increased risk of cardiovascular disease, namely for :
Aneurysm of the main aorta – An aneurysm is an abnormal bulge or ballooning in the wall of a blood vessel
Aortic valve calcification
Venous thromboembolism – Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a condition that occurs when a blood clot forms in a vein. VTE includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). DVT occurs when a blood clot forms in a deep vein, usually in the lower leg, thigh, or pelvis.
With values above 120 mg/dl (3.1mmol/L), the risk is said to increase 3.6-fold.
Are high Lp(a) values genetically determined?
The personal Lp(a) value is considered to be genetically determined and can neither ne influenced on in any direction – neither upwards nor downwards. So even if the Lp(a) level is too high, it is said that this is “predisposition”. It can therefore hardly be reduced by a change in diet or other lifestyle changes (sports, stress management, weight loss).
Nevertheless, it is precisely these measures that are important even in the case of an elevated Lp(a) value. This is because the cardiovascular risk is particularly increased if there is at least one other risk factor.
So even if your Lp(a) value cannot be influenced, you should do everything you can to avoid any other risk factors (no smoking, no obesity, no diabetes, no high blood pressure, relatively good cholesterol levels, plenty of exercise, healthy eating, etc.). (1).
What factors can increase the Lp(a) value?
Even though Lp(a) levels are considered to be genetically determined, there are some factors that can increase Lp(a) levels – namely some conditions, such as Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), kidney disease and a Diabetes mellitus (Type 2 Diabetes(1).
If the Lp(a) level is now elevated due to such a disease, it can of course also be lowered if the causative disease can be alleviated. In the links above you will find measures that help with hypothyroidism and measures that help with diabetes (you may want to set your search engine to translate those pages for you).
Medications that lower Lp(a) levels
There are hardly any drugs that can lower the Lp(a) level and even if they do, they often do not lower the level low enough to reduce the cardiovascular risk. PCSK9 inhibitors (PCSK9 inhibitors are a type of cholesterol-lowering drug. They reduce your levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or “bad” cholesterol.), for example, are used to lower cholesterol, but can also lower lipoprotein-a somewhat, but only by 30 to 40 percent.
PCSK9 inhibitors include the active ingredients alirocumab (Praluent), evolocumab (Repatha) and inclisiran (Leqvio), which are injected subcutaneously for 14 days or monthly. The drugs are very new (maximum approval in 2015), so that side effects are not yet fully known.
Pain and redness often occur at the injection site. However, it can also cause upper respiratory tract infections, itching (pruritus), headaches, joint pain, nausea, aching arms or legs, and fatigue.
The drug AKCEA-APO(a)-L Rx (pelacarsen), which also has to be injected – and in a placebo-controlled study achieved an 80 percent reduction in lipoprotein when administered 20 mg weekly ( 2 ).
Cardiovascular patients or high-risk patients are often given statins to reduce cholesterol levels. However, there are conflicting results on the effect of statins on lipoprotein levels. In two studies from 2016 and 2017, lipoprotein levels even increased at the beginning of statin therapy (1).
In any case, it is important that you know that lowering Lp(a) levels does not necessarily reduce cardiovascular risk (as there are simply too many risk factors for this).
So, you can’t say that we are now lowering the lipoprotein-a value by all means and are then protected from cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, we always point out a holistic approach and advise against always concentrating only on certain values that you now absolutely want to influence.
Lowering lipoprotein – natural remedies
A 2019 study looked at whether natural remedies or supplements known to lower LDL cholesterol levels could also affect lipoprotein levels (1):
L-Carnitine
Coenzyme Q10
Red Rice Yeast
Pectin
Ginkgo Biloba
Linseed
Curcumin
Coffee
Vitamin D
A number of remedies actually had a correspondingly positive effect. Nevertheless, the reduction was not so great for any of the preparations that – if a really high level was present – harmless values could be achieved. It is possible that a more significant reduction in the values could be achieved by combining several natural remedies, but this has not (yet) been investigated to our knowledge.
In the following studies, it is repeatedly recommended to combine the aforementioned remedies with blood lipid-lowering drugs, which should of course be discussed with the doctor.
L-carnitine is produced in the organism from the amino acids lysine and methionine. The substance is particularly involved in the production of energy from fatty acids (which is important for the adult heart, for example) and is therefore also referred to as a fat burner in some places. It is possible that L-carnitine can inhibit the formation of lipoprotein-a in the liver.
Coenzyme Q10
According to a meta-analysis from 2016, coenzyme Q10 can also reduce lipoprotein somewhat – by 12.5 to over 30 percent (by up to 11 mg/dl (0.3mmol/L)) when taking 120 to 300 mg daily over a period of 4 to 12 weeks. For the analysis, 6 studies with a total of 409 patients were examined. All patients suffered from lipid metabolism disorders.
Q10 doses of less than 150 mg were able to reduce Lp(a) levels more significantly than doses above 150 mg. The higher the original values, the better the patients responded to Q10. Other blood lipid levels, such as LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol or triglycerides, were not affected by Q10 intake.
Since Q10 is also used in naturopathic medicine against Side effects of statins if you have to take statins, you can also combine it very well with them and achieve a double goal (fewer side effects and a decreasing Lp(a) level).
In a randomized placebo-controlled trial from 2003, patients (with coronary artery disease) were given 1.2 g of red yeast rice per day for 6 weeks and experienced a 23 percent reduction in lipoprotein.
However, red yeast rice extract is not a blank slate, but basically contains nothing more than a natural statin (lovastatin) – and can therefore also have statin-like side effects. It is only less concentrated, therefore better tolerated, so it has a lower risk of side effects.
Statin-related side effects can be reduced by taking coenzyme Q10 – see the section on coenzyme Q10 – so if you want to try red yeast rice, it is best to take coenzyme Q10 as well.
Blood lipids are reduced by red yeast rice because it suppresses cholesterol formation – by inhibiting the so-called HMG‐CoA reductase. It is precisely through this mechanism of action that statins also act.
Pectin
Pectin is a soluble fiber that is abundant in apples or citrus peels. Because pectin has such good gelling abilities, it is also used to boil down jam.
As a dietary supplement, it has long been known to lower cholesterol – presumably because it promotes the breakdown of cholesterol in the liver, but also because it could inhibit the absorption of cholesterol and bile acids in the intestine. (If bile acid is not absorbed in the intestine, but is drained out with the stool, then the liver produces new bile acid from cholesterol, which then naturally leads to a decrease in cholesterol).
A study from 1999 examined whether pectin could also lower lipoprotein-a. In the placebo-controlled, double-blind study, patients (who suffered from high blood lipid levels) received 15 g of pectin daily (for 4 weeks), after which the level of lipoprotein decreased by up to 27 percent.
Ginkgo Biloba
Extracts from the leaves of Ginkgo biloba are usually used for dizziness, tinnitus or for Alzheimer’s prevention. The main effect of the plant is to promote blood circulation. However, it also has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiatherosclerotic properties. Antiatherosclerotic means counteracting vascular calcification.
In a first clinical study in 2006, for example, the administration of 120 mg of extract twice a day after 2 months was able to reduce lipoprotein by 23.4 percent or an average of 10.4 mg/dl (0.3mmol/L) – presumably due to the inhibitory effect on numerous pro-inflammatory messenger substances (cytokines).
In a 2007 study, ginkgo was even able to reduce atherosclerotic deposits in the blood vessels after 2 months in patients who were to receive a bypass. The same dose was used here as in the 2006 study – in the form of the special ginkgo extract EGb 761®, which is contained in numerous ready-to-use ginkgo preparations ( 4 ).
Linseed
Since fiber is generally considered to lower blood lipids and cholesterol, it should generally be part of a healthy diet for lipid metabolism disorders or an increased cardiovascular risk. Linseed consists of almost a quarter (23 percent) of fiber and is therefore particularly suitable here.
In addition, flaxseed contains certain plant substances with high health potential for the cardiovascular system, such as omega-3 fatty acids (cholesterol-lowering) and Lignans (blood lipid-lowering, antioxidant, anti-cancer in breast cancer and prostate cancer).
In a double-blind crossover study with postmenopausal women from 1998, however, flaxseed showed only a small reduction in lipoprotein levels. After six weeks of taking 38 g of flaxseed daily, the value had fallen by 7.4 percent and by an average of just under 2 mg/dl (0.1mmol/L) (1).
From 2008 comes another study (randomized, controlled, double-blind) in which the subjects were asked to eat 40 g of flaxseed per day for 10 weeks. The lipoprotein value decreased by an average of 14 percent compared to a group of patients who took wheat bran (1).
The reduction in the Lp(a) value is therefore rather small, but combined with the other positive effects of flaxseed on cardiovascular risk, it is quite relevant. For example, the small seeds have been able to slow down the progression of arteriosclerosis in various studies (1).
Curcumin
As curcumin, the active ingredient complex is used in Turmeric denoted. It has a positive effect on triglycerides and cholesterol levels, but also on lipoprotein levels. A 2014 randomized controlled trial found that taking 1g per day (for 8 weeks) increased lipoprotein levels in people with Metabolic Syndrome (Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that together raise your risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and other serious health problems.) by almost 10 percent (8 mg/dl (0.2 mmol/L)).
Curcumin has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, among other things, and can also reduce cardiovascular risk and support health through these mechanisms of action.
Coffee
Coffee consumption also influences blood lipid levels – due to at least two active ingredients: kahweol and cafestol. However, the content of these two substances in coffee depends on the method of preparation.
If the coffee is made with a paper filter, the active ingredients are apparently largely removed from the drink, so that it has no influence on cholesterol levels. Coffee prepared without filters, on the other hand, could increase LDL cholesterol levels.
In connection with lipoprotein-a, it seems that short-term coffee consumption reduced plasma lipoprotein levels, while regular coffee consumption is associated with higher levels.
Ginger
In a 2020 study, patients with atherosclerosis took capsules containing 1.6 g of ginger powder daily or capsules containing a placebo. After 8 weeks, two values that are elevated in atherosclerosis had dropped significantly – the value of lipoprotein-a and the hs-CRP value (an inflammatory marker that indicates the condition of the blood vessels and helps to assess the risk of heart attack) ( 5 ). In the 2019 paper (1), it was still said that ginger could not lower lipoprotein-a, which does not seem to be true in every case, so ginger can be very well integrated into an Lp(a)-lowering diet plan.
With Lp(a) ≧ 30mg/dl and vitamin D < 10 ng/ml, the risk of coronary heart disease increased more than 4-fold
The risk was 1.79 times higher for Lp(a) < 30mg/dl and vitamin D < 10 ng/ml
The risk was 1.7 timeshigher with Lp(a) ≧ 30mg/dl and vitamin D ≧ 10 ng/ml
In each case compared with patients who had an Lp(a) of less than 30mg/dl and a vitamin D level of more than 10 ng/ml.
The study thus shows that a higher vitamin D level can significantly reduce the cardiovascular risk with a high Lp(a) value! Read all about the correct dosage and Taking vitamin D.
This is also an example of the fact that naturopathic measures may not always be able to lower the lipoprotein level (or not strongly enough), but the cardiovascular risk associated with an increased lipoprotein level can be reduced.
These substances cannot lower lipoprotein
Some natural substances lower LDL cholesterol levels, but not – according to various studies – lipoprotein (1), e.g.
Berberine
Brazil nut flour
Garlic
Olive oil
Onions
Vitamin C
Soy protein and soy isoflavones
Of course, you can still incorporate these foods into your diet or – in the case of vitamin C – take them as a dietary supplement. After all, these are generally very healthy foods that have many beneficial properties and – even if they cannot specifically lower lipoprotein-a – still reduce the cardiovascular risk, and that’s what matters in the end.
Important note
This article was written on the basis of (at the time of publication) of current studies and reviewed by medical professionals, but may not be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, so it does not replace a visit to your doctor. Therefore, always discuss any measure (whether from this or another of our articles) with your doctor first.
By Dr Catherine W Dunne MSc. D., RGN, Reiki Master (RGMT), M.H.I.T: Master Acupressure, Practitioner of Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Deep Tissue/Myo-fascia Massages, Infrared Treatments, Vibrational Sound and Colour Therapist, Tissue Salt Advisor, Pendulum Healing Dowser, Chakra Practitioner , Tao Cosmic Healing Practitioner, Practitioner of Plant and Herb Medicine.
Hello and thank you for coming back. Today’s blog started back in 2019. Yes! Imagine. I started this article, feeling guided and not knowing where it would take me. It didn’t take me far, as my conscious knowledge was still limited. Deep down, I had this Inner Knowing yet did not know how to connect the dots, until now, I think.
This blog might seem like a long read. That is only because I included some A&P for better understanding.
The Chakra or Mind Body Spirit Connection
Chakra is a yogic word from India and literally means a wheel, whereas other cultures have different names for the same part of our energy system; Dantien is the Taoist Chinese, the Hawaiian Huna refer to Auw centres and in the Cabala the name is The Tree of Life. All the cultures have mapped the same energy system.
A definition of Chakra is “a vortex of energy and emissions operated by hormone instigation and by the autonomic nervous system. The Chakras form the front line of the body’s homeostasis.” (Homeostasis: definition in biology is the ability or tendency of the body or a cell to seek and maintain a condition of equilibrium – a stable internal environment — as it deals with external changes). That makes the Chakras very important indeed. Their electrical function can be likened to transformers to feed the higher voltage energy fields of the aura into the sub-circuits of lower electro-magnetic energy of the meridian system. The Chakra and the meridian systems are therefore intrinsically linked in order to form a distribution network for the life force energy.
I read some time back of an experiment where two scientific investigators of vital life force were testing the theory that we need energy from outside of us in order to live. One of the men was connected to a heart/vital signs monitor and then his crown and heart chakras were covered with lead. The other scientist was so startled by how quickly his colleague’s vital life signs were diminishing they had to immediately stop the experiment because if it continued, he would die.
Every organ, tissue, gland and cell in the body depends on a regular and uninterrupted supply of this energy in order to carry out the process of sustaining life. If the energy flow is restricted, shielded or blocked it can eventually lead to illness or disease. By finding and correcting the imbalance of the whole system of energy, we help to restore the natural equilibrium and good health.
The laws governing Quantum Physics has demonstrated that everything in the Universe is made up of vibrational fields, including the human body.
Ancient Chinese and Indian medicines are both advocates of unblocking and releasing energy disturbances inside and outside the body in order to alleviate the symptoms of disease. The vital life-source energy systems of the chakras and meridians are barely acknowledged or used in western medicine; in western culture the emphasis is on the things that can be seen under the microscope.
Chakras, meridians, aura and other energies in the body are collectively known as subtle energies of human and animal bodies. They interact with, and depend upon, the energy from the Earth and the Universe. As the experiment above indicated, if that source is blocked, we die. Recharging these energies is also dependent on breathing, eating healthy foods and drinking pure water. There are seven main chakras (there are actually more, but they are not connected directly with the body’s vital systems, including the meridians) which are shown in the diagram, and they are numbered from the low to high on the body. The name of each is the associated part of the body where they are found:
7. Crown 6. Third eye or brow 5. Throat 4. Heart 3. Solar plexus 2. Sacral 1. Root or base
Our instincts are involved with the lower chakras, thoughts and feelings with the higher chakras. Up to 12 chakras can be activated in some people but the others are not the subject of this article. The chakras are typically depicted with an associated colour; colours in the light spectrum have a unique vibrational frequency and therefore so do the chakras.
Some people have the gift of being able to see the energy colours, such as the author and energy worker Donna Eden. Donna writes that the colours are unique to every person. In her book Energy Medicine, she describes the chakras as having seven layers each of which corresponds with areas of life. This concept starts at the top layer which is related to recent events that have yet to be integrated into the energy. Then through the events of early life reaching down to the seventh layer. The seventh layer can be concerned with other lives lived (by the soul) and of unfulfilled potential that is waiting for the right time to bloom from the wisdom of the soul. Our chakras, therefore, show our biography.
Our mental, emotional and physical health requires the Chakra energies to be clear and free-flowing. All manner of health problems can occur when the Chakras are out of balance. Examples include where head and heart are imbalanced it can lead to difficulties in relationships. The organs in the region of any Chakra will reflect an imbalance seen in the Chakra and vice-versa. The chakras can have various levels of activity. When the Chakras are described as “open,” they are considered to be healthy. Ideally, all chakras would contribute to our well-being. Our instincts would work together with our feelings and thinking. However, this may not be the case. Some chakras are not open enough (being under-active), and to compensate, other chakras are over-active. The ideal state is where the chakras and their associated organs are balanced.
Meridians
There are 14 meridians in total. The meridian system is comprised of twelve principal meridians which are distribution paths for the energy in the body. There are also two centreline meridians, the central or conceptual and governing, act as vessels to store the energy inside the body. Given the characteristics of each meridian and the service they provide to the organs, we refer to them individually, but they are in fact a single system which is fully integrated with the chakras. The meridians are powerful circuitry in the body that:
Are high speed information channels for the organs to communicate with the external environment.
Provide the energy for homeostasis and allow the transport of energy (chi/prana) to the organs.
Have electrical properties and the acupressure points along them are mini torsion (twisting) fields which act as amplifying capacitors for the information travelling along the meridian.
Acupressure points have an increased level of electrical charge and respond to touch, needles, light and sound vibrations or other stimulus.
Transmit energy many times faster than the nervous system; the speed of transmission can be compared with the telephone network of copper versus fibre optic cabling.
The diagram shows an approximate view of the flow of energy through the meridians and references their associated organs. Notice that some are on the front of the body, such as stomach and liver, bladder is on the back whereas heart, small and large intestine are on the arms. They all have start and end points and where one finishes, another starts nearby.
Recent scientific discoveries are proving that this ancient, almost mythological, energy is very real. Its effects have been measured in the laboratory; it constitutes a fifth force which has been overlooked by Western physics. The scientific world has slowly started to acknowledge the wisdom of the ancient cultures and calls the meridian network the Primo Vascular system. When the internal and external aspects of our lives become at odds with each other we become dissonant which is a lack of harmony or inflexibility. This could be for example, from stress at work causing dis-ease in the body due to the inability of energy to flow.
When you understand the traits and properties of each of
the main energy centres and how they interact with the body, you can begin to appreciate the energetic link to physical disorders and ailments. This includes how energy and other levels of your consciousness such as thoughts and feelings impact the body; an imbalance in a Chakra can manifest as dysfunction or disease within the body.
From the alternative energy medicine point of view, we consider dis-ease in the body a more appropriate description. Dis-ease can usually be identified and re-balanced.
Before we go any further, let me refresh your anatomy and physiology of our body:
Now you are up-to-date the our body’s systems.
Therapeutic Measures to Balance Chakras and Meridians
See Mel’s experience of her Biofield Viewer with Kinesiology treatment – written in her own words: “As an experienced and qualified Kinesiologist I use a number of techniques to support homeostasis for a client, otherwise called a re-balance. Any re-balancing involves the elements of physical structure, nutrition, emotions in priority order, as well as the energy flow of Chakras and meridians. By connecting all these components balance can be restored. With the addition of the Biofield Viewer (TM) technology as a therapeutic tool, both of us can see the energy of your Chakras, biofield and the inner most etheric layer in your biofield. This specialist real-time imaging system captures photographs which are translated into psychedelic images by sophisticated software and colour coding to show the detected subtle layers of electromagnetic activity around your body. This is a highly effective way of locating energy which is not flowing or is being shielded for some past or present reason. Where this is the case, it is likely to be creating imbalances in the body’s finely tuned systems and organs. The Biofield Viewer is able to show Chakra energies. This is a substantial scientific discovery as the chakras are very significant in your overall health and well-being.
This visual reinforcement is very powerful for healing. It could be likened to a parent seeing the ultrasound scan of their unborn child; it makes it feel more real and is often easier to engage with the development of the baby for both mother and father; or in our case, for you to engage with the energies in your body.
The innermost layer of the biofield is known as the etheric layer. The Biofield Viewer in 3D mode makes this field visible making it possible to track even the smallest vents of bio-photons, which is a sign of impending issues. In this mode, images of the etheric field are dramatically shown in three dimensions. See image examples below.
The shades and strength of colours have meaning. Here is an example of a Biofield image and the interpretation of what it is showing; it provides analysis information to discuss with you and to use in the Kinesiology treatment that will follow.This next example below shows images of two men; the picture on the left shows a man in good health with greater prevalence of green and narrow bands which indicate a healthier landscape in the body. The man on the right has congested energy which is depicted by the pools of bright pinks.
The 3D images are dramatically different from both the biofield and Chakra images. In the following example, by viewing her 3D images we found that the client was ungrounded. Being ungrounded can cause disruption in the body’s electrical systems and make you feel unsettled.
The two images shown were taken less than five minutes apart.
Taking a set of images is a fast, easy and non-invasive process. Images taken before and a few days after your treatment will reveal the energy improvement that have been made.
Leaving a gap before taking the second set of images gives time for your energies to settle.“
Are you still with me?
I hear you brain ticking and thinking: Just how does all this connected with chakras, meridians and our body?
I will try to explain with more tables and pictures. Baring in mind that this knowledge isn’t brand-new, well it is kinda, for us in the Western Hemisphere it is. In the Eastern Hemisphere the yogic/Ayurveda of India and the Daoist/Taoist of China, both carry this knowledge for 6000+ years. The Three Tan Tien.
They already discovered the Mind, Body and Spirit connection. The Body part is our physical body. The Spirit part are our chakras The Mind part is our perception of the world around us, aka Biofield/Aura.
Okay … I hear another question coming up: And how exactly do Mind, Body and Spirit connect?
M-E-R-I-D-I-A-N-S That’s how.
Our Meridians are the “fiber optic” highspeed internet, connecting to our organs and Chakra. The Central/Conceptual and the Governing Meridians are the body’s main Highway/Motorway. These then branch off to dual-carriage ways, side roads, lanes and paths. Now visualise the dual-carriage ways connect to an organ; each organ connects to its neighbour via the side road. The lanes connect to our lymphatic, circulatory and nervous systems. The paths to our sensory systems and beyond … like to our auras, our biofield.
Chakras and Related Anatomy Summary
The following chart summarises the relationship between the Chakra, anatomical areas and the inner-self aspect with the related meridian.
I really hope you enjoyed this crash course into your human vessel and know what makes it tick.
Warm Wishes,
Catherine (CWD 19 September 2019 Ireland) Revised 09 November 2024
Holistic Healthcare Wexford & Workshops 