Hi,
The solution is complex.
Swollen legs and blood circulation
*) Excerpt 1:
The movement of substances from blood to cell, and from cell to cell, is normally very tightly controlled, and when the systems that control those movements of water and its solutes are damaged, the tissues' structures and functions are altered. The prevention of inappropriate leakiness can protect against the degenerative processes, and against aging itself, which is, among other things, a state of generalized leakiness.
In the hormonal environment dominated by estrogen, mild stresses such as exertion, or even restless sleep, allow toxins (and sometimes bacteria) from the intestine to enter the bloodstream, triggering a complex chain of events that create a systemic inflammatory state. Although these processes have been observed in many simple experiments, their implications are almost always neglected or denied or explained away. Incorporation of certain polyunsaturated fats into the tissues increases the leakiness of blood vessels, and amplifies the reactions to stresses and inflammatory stimuli.
Antioxidants, thyroid hormone, progesterone, and anti-inflammatory agents, including glycine or gelatin, niacin, and saturated fats, can prevent, and in many cases reverse, these degenerative inflammatory processes.
Source: raypeat2.com - Leakiness, aging, and cancer
*) Excerpt 2
With aging, as arteries become constricted, increased blood velocity is taken as evidence of the pathology.
It appears that progesterone increases blood flow, while estrogen can decrease it.
When tissue is poorly oxygenated (or is exposed to estrogen) it takes up water, swelling and becoming more rigid, turgid. (It also takes up calcium, especially under the influence of estrogen, causing muscles to contract.) This swelling effect will be much more noticeable in small arteries than in major arteries with very large channels, but when the effect is prolonged, it will affect even the heart, causing it to âstiffen,â weakening its ability to pump. There is some evidence that estrogen can make large arteries stiffen, over a span of a few months. (Giltay, et al., 1999)
Estrogen, by creating an oxygen deficiency, stimulates first swelling, and then collagen synthesis. Collagen tends to accumulate with aging.
Red light (infrared emissions)
It is possible that lightâs action directly on the cells helps them to prevent swelling, and that the bodyâs infrared emissions have a similar function.
Glucose from fruits and thyroid (T3) if you feel cold
Since glucose and salt are used to treat shock (intravenous 7.5% salt solutions are effective), it seems appropriate to use carbohydrate (preferably sugar, rather than starch) and salty foods during the night, to minimize the stress reaction. They lower adrenalin and cortisol, and help to maintain the volume and fluidity of blood. Thyroid, to maintain adequate carbon dioxide, is often all it takes to improve the blood levels of salt, glucose, and adrenalin.
Estrogen directly lowers the temperature, while progesterone raises the temperature. Estrogen sets the brainâs temperature regulator lower, but, acting through serotonin and other mediators, it can actually lower the metabolic rate, too.
Toxic microbiome combined to mental stress
It turns out that many toxic chemicals and stressful physical processes can activate the same functions, and that estrogen's association with the functions of stress makes it a kind of window into some universal biological functions. (âŚ) The changes due to aging were also the result of complex interactions between organisms and their environment, rather than some genetic program that operates like a clock running down.
Progesterone is both an anticatabolic hormone and an antiestrogenic hormone, and in both cases, it protects the functional systems from atrophy.
Source: raypeat2.com - Aging, estrogen, and progesterone
*) Excerpt 3
Mind excess prolactin
Prolactin (which is promoted by estrogen, and inhibited by progesterone) increases with stress and with age.
=> relax technique (sophrology) + grounding.
*) Excerpt 4
Mind excess PUFAs and things that lower energy, like excess of estrogen.
Things that decrease mitochondrial energy production: nitric oxide, histamine, cytokines (low âgrade inflammation), cortisol.
Choosing the right foods, the right atmosphere, the right mental and physical activities, and finding the optimal rhythms of light, darkness, and activity, can begin to alter the streaming renewal of cells in all the organs.
*) Excerpt 5
Useful nutrients:
Coconut oil (target 50/50 between SFA and MUFA). Avoid as much possible PUFA. Only use olive oil for raw vegetable (carrot salad and greens).
Magnesium bisglycinate and potassium citrate (or K taurate) to help balancing the metabolism (homeostasis).
I wonât take high dose Niacinamide (B3) (the right kind !) as often adviced since itâs going to stop glycolysis. But up to 10 mg once a week is Ok. I said 10, not 1.2 nor 100 mg B3. Only niacinamide. Mind the kind.
Vitamin E 20-25 mg/d, vitamin K2 mk4 and beta-carotene from food to optimize the integrity of membranes.
Etc.
