#spms

So I have been in the hospital/rehab for 8 months now.

I miss home so much. I have a wheelchair now and have lost about 100 pounds this year. I'm grateful I had it to lose. I wonder if once I get stronger I will be able to use my walker again? Hmm...

In the ever-evolving world of health and wellness, new discoveries are constantly reshaping our understanding of how we can achieve optimal health. One of the most exciting developments comes from Natural Factors: Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators (SPMs). These remarkable compounds are making waves in the realm of natural supplements, and for good reason. Let’s dive into what SPMs are, their incredible health benefits, and how they can support your journey toward better wellness.

What Are Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators (SPMs)?

SPMs are bioactive lipids derived from omega-3 fatty acids. Unlike traditional anti-inflammatory agents that simply reduce inflammation, SPMs actively promote the resolution of inflammation in the body. This is crucial because while inflammation is a natural response to injury or infection, chronic inflammation can lead to various health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders.

Gemma Davies, a natural health expert, emphasizes the importance of SPMs in her work. According to her, "Incorporating SPMs into your routine can help restore balance and support the body's natural healing processes." With their ability to aid in inflammation support, SPMs can be a game changer in your wellness toolkit.

The Health Benefits of SPMs

Inflammation Support: The primary function of SPMs is to regulate inflammation. By promoting the resolution of inflammatory responses, they help the body return to a state of homeostasis. This makes them an essential addition for anyone dealing with chronic inflammation.

Enhanced Recovery: For athletes and active individuals, SPMs can expedite recovery after workouts or injuries. Their ability to modulate inflammatory responses aids in faster healing and reduces downtime.

Balanced Immune Function: SPMs play a role in supporting a balanced immune system. They help regulate immune responses, ensuring that the body can effectively fight off infections without overreacting.

Support for Chronic Conditions: Research has indicated that SPMs may benefit individuals with chronic inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, cardiovascular issues, and metabolic disorders. By addressing the root cause of inflammation, SPMs offer a holistic approach to managing these conditions.

How to Incorporate SPMs into Your Routine

Adding SPMs to your health regimen is straightforward. Natural Factors offers high-quality supplements that provide a concentrated dose of these powerful mediators. Look for products specifically formulated with SPMs to ensure you're getting the most effective dose.

Choose Quality Supplements: When selecting a supplement, prioritize products from reputable brands like Natural Factors that are known for their commitment to quality and efficacy.

Consult a Healthcare Professional: As with any supplement, it's essential to discuss your options with a healthcare provider, especially if you have existing health conditions or are taking medication.

Pair with a Healthy Lifestyle: While SPMs offer significant benefits, they work best when combined with a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. Incorporate omega-3 rich foods, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and regular physical activity to maximize the benefits.

Conclusion

‘Vitamins for heart health’, ‘vitamins for brain health’, ‘vitamins for joint health’; these are some of the most common health related keystroke queries on the world’s most popular search engines, and it makes perfect sense. Cardiovascular, cognitive and musculoskeletal conditions have demonstrated a steady uptick in the last decade and it’s clear that a great many people are looking for natural solutions in supporting their health in these areas.

But could it be that what we’re searching for isn’t a ‘vitamin’ at all, but a very different kind of supplement that can help support all of these systems (and more) via one important biological mechanism?

The inflammation connection

If there’s one health factor that should concern all of us, it’s inflammation. Inflammation is a natural and healthy bodily response to injury, infection, irritation or toxin that happens in two phases: initiation and resolution.1

In the initiation phase, the immune system quickly coordinates its response to a trigger by producing specific substances, like pro-inflammatory mediators, chemokines and cytokines2 to initiate pain, redness, swelling, loss of function, and heat. These uncomfortable and even painful symptoms do serve a worthy purpose – to protect and heal tissues and to fight off or neutralise the cause.

In the resolution phase, the body goes to work to wind down the inflammatory response and clear away the resulting cells and by-products. Inflammation ultimately becomes a chronic problem when the resolution phase is inadequate or incomplete leading to an ongoing loop of inappropriate inflammatory response. Resolving the inflammatory processes is especially important for brain, heart and joint health.3-8

Are fish oils the answer?

It’s now household knowledge that its function as an anti-inflammatory is one of many fish oil benefits, but what’s not so well known is how it works.

Fish oil anti-inflammatory actions are useful in the initiation phase of inflammation, where the body uses their omega 3 essential fatty acids to stop the body from producing too many pro-inflammatory substances in its response to the trigger.2 EPA and DHA, two important components of fish oils, are also used in the resolution phase on inflammation, where they are used to synthesise lipid (fat) based anti-inflammatory substances known as ‘specialised pro-resolving mediators’, or SPMs. SPMs are critical components in dampening inflammatory processes and restoring stability to the body.3-8

The SPM problem: and solution!

Even if the body is supplied with plenty of EPA, DHA and omega 3 fatty acids to assist in resolving inflammation, the synthesis of SPMs is a complicated set of processes involving many enzymes. The production of pro-resolving lipid mediators, or PRMs, is the most complex part of the process. PRMs are precursors to SPMs, meaning that SPMs are synthesised very easily once PRMs have been produced.9 There are many reasons why our bodies may be unable to optimally complete the steps required for producing PRMs – nutritional deficiencies, lipid metabolism issues and immunological problems are just a few factors that might get in the way.10

The good news is that PRMs can be taken as a supplement, either alone or combined with other natural anti-inflammatory substances, so that they can be directly used in the resolution phase of inflammation and assist the body to bring inflammation down.

Combining is key