Guide To Natural Pain Relief

Brian Strickland  00:00

Hey everyone, welcome back to Nutrition Made Simple a video series that we created that takes a look at natural health topics and then we break them down into easy to understand and actionable steps. And I'm joined today, as always by Ed Jones. He's the owner and founder of Nutrition World. And today, we're actually going to be taking a look at some natural pain relievers. Now, thankfully, we have a ton of options in this category. And we're all going to experience some type of pain in our life. And there are times that we just need something to take the edge off so that we can make it through the day. Now, NSAIDS, like ibuprofen and aspirin are usually the choice, we almost all of us have had some type of medication like that in our cabinet. But sadly, those come at a price. But we're going to take a look at some of our options in this natural pain relief category. So Ed, to start us off today, let's talk about some of the statistics surrounding NSAIDS. And then maybe before that, even let's talk about what pain actually is. Because it it's kind of a hard concept to understand actually.

Ed Jones  01:10

It truly is Brian, and thank you for that because we all have had pain. And we think that it's where the nerve is, is feeling the pain actually nerves don't feel pain. What they do is send a transmission of information back to the brain. And then that communicates a feeling, the feeling that we call discomfort and pain. So nature put this into us, because that's what protects us from hurting ourselves further if we need to stop something like touching a hot stove when you're young. And there are people who few people who are born without pain receptors, and actually don't live a long time, believe it or not, Brian. Well, you know, again, the choice of most is the gorgeous commercials that promise a beautiful life because if you pop these two pills, you will be back in the world of perfection. Well, it's not true. As you said there's a price to pay. I've taken them. There's time and a place for these now we'll say it's not like we can just do away with them. But what happens when NSAIDs and NSAID stand for non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs, we all know that types of ones advils, the motrins, the aspirins. And, you know, they're responsible for 200,000 hospital visits per year and about 20,000 deaths. And a good pharmacist, I think his name was Joe Graden long ago, he wrote about the fact that every time you take an aspirin, your gut's gonna bleed about one quarter to one half teaspoon of blood. Well, that's kind of where you put that in your head. I know people who take you know, six aspirin a day for years, that's a lot of losing blood. Well, the reason you lose blood is because it's damaging the gut lining. And there are people who can just fall on the floor because of a massive gut bleed. And sometimes they're able to be saved and sometimes they're not. So these do come with a pretty high cost. And there are pathways that produce pain. And that's what I want to talk about today is how do we reduce these strong messages of pain, without the potential side effect to our arteries and to our gut lining. And I can tell you people, I've got a pretty good miles on this whole body, a lot of us from working out and some running and craziness. But part of it is father time. And I'm kind of like a scout going further down the road for all of you who want to follow a more holistic path because I have had about a seven month struggle with some chronic tendinitis type of pain in my hip. And I have run the gamut of how do I help myself sleep better at night because pain is the enemy of sleep. As we know, it's also the enemy of happiness and joy sometimes because it's hard to enjoy a beautiful sunrise if you're really focused on a lot of pain, right?

Brian Strickland  03:56

So to start off, let's take a look at exactly what we have here. We've got CBD, we've got this acute pain relief by Terry Naturally. And we'll talk about what's in that in just a minute. This is boswellia. And then we have Pain Block-R by Lifeseasons, which is another blend and we'll talk about what's in the the ingredients in that as well. So is there one that you want to start out with in particular?

Ed Jones  04:19

What I want to do Brian is actually just break this down into two major components. Without getting too confusing with biochemistry, if you imagine that you and I were going to leave tomorrow to drive to Disney, we have a lot of choices of roads we could choose we could go down Highway 41, we could choose 75, once we get to another place we could go on another highway. We've got options. Well that's the kind of way pain works. There's two main highways for pain. It's called COX-2 highway and 5 lipoxygenase highway. So the the thing is those drugs you spoke about, they blocked those very effectively but the problem with the drugs are is they block other COX types of pathways that are beneficial to our body. When you block a COX-1, you're stopping the protective layer of your gut. So all of a sudden, everything starts bothering you the foods, the irritations, the gut growling, a lot of things can happen because you blocked too many of those roads, which means we didn't get to Disney, actually. So what is botanical herbal medicine actually do? It is so much more user friendly because it only blocks the ones we need blocked. Does it do it as effectively as a drug? No. But that's also why it doesn't have the side effects. So we've got two highways that I want to talk about the COX-2 and the 5 lipoxygenase. Curcumin, we've all heard of tumeric and curcumin. And that's from a plant and the curry family. If it's produced properly and absorbed, at a high level, you will block the Cox-2 inhibitor highway pretty darn effectively if you do it with the right dose and the right consistency. Secondly, the other big highway, the 5 lipoxygenase is blocked by boswellia, and many people haven't heard of this. Boswellia is a very powerful herb that's actually known as Frankincense. And again, produced properly, if you bought both of those highways, you will probably have a significant amount of pain reduction that. Does that mean total discomfort relief? Not always. But it does give your the body's ability to function in life, which is what I'm doing by rotating around and using different formulas in order to have a better functioning day because of this hip. And you know that that thing is part of it is experimenting. So I would encourage people one to make sure you have brands that are very researched to have the quality, the transparency that we demand at Nutrition World, one. Two is no that just because it says something on the box, and of course legally, we have to say follow the boxes instructions, I can tell you that that is a maintenance dose. And what I consider a therapeutic dose is generally probably about double that for me. And that is what it takes for the actual product to work better for me. If I just do what's in the box, it's minimal. If I do kind of double that. It actually works very well. And so I'm kind of using both of these. Lastly, before I forget this, acute pain and chronic pain are two different things. What is acute pain? That's when you stepped off the curb and you sprained your ankle. Chronic Pain is what I'm experiencing because of probable wear and tear on my hip or overtraining in the gym. These work a lot better for chronic pain than acute pain. I am a fan of using non steroidal anti inflammatories if I step off that curb, and I'm really strained my my ankle and I can't sleep and can't walk. I'm going to take one of those because short run, they're pretty darn safe. Long run is where the danger comes in.

Brian Strickland  08:02

Okay, well, that's good information to know. Yeah, so we've got the Curamed Acute Pain relief, like Ed said, this is a curcumin supplement. This is interesting, because this actually has boswellia in it. So we have those two options. We've got the Boswellia by itself, and then we have the Curamed. So let's go over here to the life seasons pain blocker. This is a pretty interesting formula too, isn't it?

Ed Jones  08:26

It's very interesting, it actually has a newer ingredient that's kind of hard to pronounce, that is combined with about nine other botanicals. Because pain, you know, again, going down the highway analogy we do and these work on the two pathways. But you know what, a lot of pain sensations have to do with anxiousness and anxiety. Rhere's some calming herbs in here makes a huge difference, especially the one for the evening, where you are not able to sleep very well, which is a whole nother conversation. But using the things that calm the mental state anytime you had, if you say you had a pain that was a level of six, and you were anxious, you could probably have a level of four to three if that anxiety was eliminated, even if the pain did not change. So some of these like this are working on the mental state of the body along with the physical state. And again, we always, you know, must say and is wise check with your doctor. Don't get off medicines that you're on that you know we're using to treat pain prescription wise and jump on these. Ask your health professional and find a health professional who knows how this works because you don't want to just replace a drug with a nutrient sometimes that it can be a not a good decision.

Brian Strickland  09:41

Yeah, a fair warning. This can actually cause drowsiness. So our recommendation is always to start small and then work your way up as far as the amount that you're taking. And I really liked this one. It's worked great for me I've had headaches or neck pain where I slept wrong. And that's been really effective for me. And last but certainly not least, probably one of the hottest topics in the supplement world today and that's CBD. We have a lot to say about CBD, but we'll try to keep it as brief as we can here. But as far as pain goes or discomfort, what should people be looking for when purchasing CBD?

Ed Jones  10:23

Well find a reliable supplier number one. We know that the quality of the results is going to be based on the quality of the plant, the processing, the storage, many factors can affect the end result. And I pretty much don't trust any company unless they prove to us with the type of paperwork that makes us know there's no impurities because impurities are a big thing with CBD because of the soils they're grown on. Secondly, CBD is very dose dependent. I know because I've interviewed three different experts on my podcast on CBD, that the life the kind of the blood life of CBD is about six to seven hours. So if you go home and you've got an achy back, and you take a big dose, you might get some results, but you're not going to get anything impressive until you hit a dose every six to eight hours for two to three days. That's a key component. Secondly, dose itself is important. Everybody needs to find what we call the sweet spot. The sweet spot is, in my experience somewhere between one half dropper full to two eyedroppers full your pain is a feedback system that will tell you pretty darn quickly that it's working. Thirdly, always know that you could test positive even in some brands that are saying they'd have no THC. Don't risk your job on CBD, if you're in a job that gets tested. But stick with it, get a good brand, do it three to four times a day and play with the dosing. Again, don't replace a medicine with this without checking with your health professional.

Brian Strickland  12:00

Now, as far as the pathways that you were talking about earlier, which pathway is CBD working on?

Ed Jones  12:06

It actually works on a little bit of multiple pathways, not to the specific nature of boswellia but it goes across the board. And it also works on the mental endorphins, and certainly helps to lower the anxiety levels. So it's kind of a general across the board type of liquid. And I do prefer liquids on reducing pain. Again, the devil's in the details with the quality and the dosing. Do it and you will know within three days if you hit the sweet spot.

Brian Strickland  12:37

All right. Any last words, anything you want to add?

Ed Jones  12:40

Well, again, I know that it's the product itself and the the dosing and the regularity of using it that helps decrease chronic pain. Even though this is this is called acute pain, and it does work pretty good for that. But again, I am not super opposed to occasional aspirin if I have a terrible headache because they work better. And short runs are not going to hurt people. But I'm always choosing this as a first line of defense. And then if I need something for acute I would do something else. But be cautious people. I mean nature put together a formula that is friendly to this earth, to the living creatures on it if done and grown properly. Synthetics don't really care about us and that's why they come with a host of much more much more side effects. Trust nature, trust nature's pharmacy and you generally will always end in a better place.

Brian Strickland  13:35

Alright everyone. That's it for today's episode. We hope this is helpful. As always, if you ever have any questions, please let us know. And like Ed said, don't replace this with something that you're already taking. This is something that you need to ask your doctor about before you do that. They are safe, but of course we don't want you to replace it with anything. If that's not okay with your doctor. Be sure to like and subscribe for more content just like this and we will see you next week on another Nutrition Made Simple. Take care. Bye bye.