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Calm clears Brain Heat and nurtures the Kidney Yin and Kidney Water. Calm helps clear the free radicals and other toxins in the brain to counter glutamate excitotoxicity, and reduce brain inflammation. Calm also helps enhance the inhibitory neuron activity by increasing progesterone and GABA levels and shift the brain chemistry to a less exciting mode to increase the stress response threshold. Calm also helps reduce the hyperactivity of the sympathetic nervous system and enhance parasympathetic nerve activities to calm the body down and allow the body to relax, rest, renew and unwind at the end of the day to prepare the body to better handle the stress with ease. Brown, LC Balancer and Xcel are also recommended to help support the liver and kidney to process and secrete the brain toxins.
Stress is a psychological and physical response to a demanding situation, a stressor, and causes the body to release stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. Our body’s reactions to a stressor is also known as the "fight-or-flight" response, a survival mechanism evolved to help us quickly handle life-threatening situations. The stress response begins in the brain. When a stressor or a danger is present, the eyes or ears send the information to the amygdala, which processes emotions. The amygdala interprets the images or sounds and instantly sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus functions like a command center which activates the whole body’s sympathetic nervous system which increases breathing, muscle tension, heartbeat, blood pressure, bronchioles dilation or constriction, and sweating. At the same time, the sympathetic nervous system sends signals to the inner part of adrenal glands to release epinephrine, also known as adrenaline into the bloodstream. Epinephrine functions primarily to increase cardiac output, heart rate, blood pressure and glucose levels to prepare the brain and muscles to handle the emergency. Such response is quick because it bypasses the cerebral cortex and does not involve the cognitive processes. After the danger has passed, the parasympathetic nervous system calms the body down by promoting the "rest and digest" process.
After the initial surge of epinephrine subsides, if the stress continues, the cerebral cortex starts to get involved and our cognition can interpret the situation as a threat or danger, the hypothalamus activates the second component of the stress response system, the HPA axis. This network consists of the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands. In this response, the hypothalamus releases corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), which triggers the pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH triggers the outer part of the adrenal glands to release cortisol.
Cortisol is a steroid hormone in the glucocorticoid class and it induces rapid release of excitatory neurotransmitters to the extracellular synapse space in the prefrontal/frontal cortex including glutamate, dopamine and epinephrine so that we can process information with high gear. Cortisol also increases blood glucose levels and suppresses functions that are unnecessary for a fight-or-flight response including the immune system, food digestion, reproductive activities and growth processes. When the threat passes, cortisol levels fall. The parasympathetic nervous system then clears the stress response and helps the body resume to a normal state. The second response is a slowed response due to the involvement of the cerebral cortex.
Many factors can trigger a stress response but some patients suffer from chronic stress in which their body is nearly always in a state of heightened alertness. Chronic stress puts pressure on the body for an extended time which can lead to many physical and psychological symptoms. Symptoms of chronic stress include irritability, fatigue, headaches, difficulty concentrating, disorganized thoughts, difficulty sleeping, changes in appetite, and/or frequent infections or illnesses.
Unfortunately, stressors that are not life-threatening, such as work pressure or family issues can also cause a stress response. Our body can also overreact to stressors which may be present continuously. Over time, repeated activation of a stress response also causes sympathetic nerve hypersensitivity and elevated cortisol levels. Research suggests that chronic stress contributes to high blood pressure, formation of artery-clogging deposits, obesity and causes brain changes that may contribute to anxiety, depression, and addiction. Overreaction to stressors can cause chronic elevated cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol levels also lower immune function causing slowed healing, decreased bone density, increased weight gain and blood pressure, cause thinning skin and accelerated aging, cold hands and feet, and fatigue.
Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. The increased levels of extracellular glutamate caused by increased levels of cortisol triggers the release of many neurotransmitters from the neuron to allow our brain to function at a higher gear in order to handle the challenge or the threat. The increased levels of extracellular glutamate acts as a double-sided sword. Glutamate is the most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter, however, it can also be damaging to the neuron and the brain as a whole because the high concentration can overexcite the neuron and generate excitotoxicity.
Glutamate is a multifunction molecule in the brain. In addition to function as an excitatory neurotransmitter, it is also a key intracellular intermediary metabolite in the detoxification of ammonia and a building block in the synthesis of peptides and proteins. Glutamate is present at very high concentrations within the cells of the CNS. Therefore, an extremely tight regulatory process is important to limit its extracellular levels in order to ensure optimal neurotransmission and prevent excitotoxicity.
To avoid neuron excitotoxicity, the human brain has inhibitory neurons in place which keep the brain's traffic in check. GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that reduces neuronal excitability. It is a calming substance with sedative effects and aids in relaxation and sleep. The neuron activity is controlled by balancing the glutamate and GABA. Such balancing is vital in order to endure chronic stress. Under high levels of stress, a significantly high level of GABA is necessary to modulate the stress response system and help the mind and body return to the parasympathetic state when people are at rest. Unlike glutamate, which exists always at a high concentration within the neuron, GABA's concentration is very sensitive to the nutritional condition of the brain. Under stress, GABA easily becomes deficient or even depleted and can't be supplemented through diet because it can't pass the BBB.
Compared to glutamate, its release is stimulated by cortisol, GABA is enhanced by progesterone, also a sex hormone involved in the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and embryogenesis. The concentration of progesterone in the brain has been shown to be 20 times higher than in the blood because the human brain is highly dependent on progesterone for GABA secretion. Chronic stress can cause a decrease in progesterone levels because progesterone is the substrate to make cortisol. When high levels of cortisol are needed while under high stress, almost all the progesterone in the blood is used to make cortisol in the adrenal glands. This is why women have difficulty becoming pregnant when they are under high levels of stress. Reduced levels of progesterone can cause further GABA insufficiency and neuron activity shifts the balance towards more excited. This makes it difficult to cool down the brain and bring it to the resting stage which eventually causes burnout.
Brain neuron hyperactivity generates high amounts of free radicals. These free radicals may not be cleared promptly in the high-stress mode and they can cause irritation to the microglia cell. The irritated microglia cell will generate proinflammatory molecules causing low-grade brain inflammation. The free radicals and inflammation can interrupt the BBB function allowing other toxic molecules to get into the brain and further irritate the neuron causing headache, trouble concentrating, brain fog and anxiety.
Unfortunately, under high chronic stress, the body’s nutritional support is compromised and glutamate clearance at the resting stage becomes slow downed even while taking a break. Therefore, an optimal level of glutamate cannot be well maintained. One study has shown a decrease in cortical glutamate uptake from the extracellular space following 21 days of restraint stress exposure. Constant stimulation of the glutamate to the neurons and subsequent release of neurotransmitters make the brain behave like an engine running at high gear and can’t be cooled down when it’s supposed to be idle, like when we try to sleep. People’s sleep isn’t restful and they can’t fully recover after sleep.
Calm clears Brain Heat and nurtures the Kidney Yin and Kidney Water. Calm helps clear the free radicals and other toxins in the brain to counter glutamate excitotoxicity, and reduce brain inflammation. Calm also helps enhance the inhibitory neuron activity by increasing progesterone and GABA levels and shifts the brain chemistry to a less exciting mode to increase the stress response threshold. Calm also helps reduce the hyperactivity of the sympathetic nervous system and enhance parasympathetic nerve activities to calm the body down and allow the body to relax, rest, renew and unwind at the end of the day to prepare the body to better handle the stress with ease. Brown, LC Balancer and Xcel are also recommended to help support the liver and kidney to process and secrete the brain toxins. Brown helps improve liver function which helps speed up cortisol clearance from the blood which also helps improve insomnia and relieve stress symptoms. Patients can experience immediate improvement in the ability to handle stress. 4-6 weeks is recommended for significant improvement and sustained results.
Suggested Dosage: 2 capsules, 3 times a day
Available Volume: 42 capsules per bottle
Ingredients: Aloe, Cortex Lycii, Cortex Mori, Exocarpium Citri Grandis, Fructus Lycii, Indigo Naturalis, Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae, Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Radix Astragali, Radix Bupleuri, Radix Codonopsis, Radix Glycyrrhizae, Radix Ophiopogonis, Radix Paeoninae Alba, Radix Puerariae, Radix Rehmanniae, Radix Scrophulariae, Radix Scutellariae, Ramulus Uncariae Cum Uncis, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae, Rhizoma Chuanxiong, Rhizoma Pinelliae, Rhizoma Zingiberis, Green Tea, Chia, Red Lentils, Red Quinoa
Pinyin Name: Luhui, Digupi, Sangbaipi, Huajuhong, Gouqizi, Qindai, Chenpi, Danggui, Huangqi, Chaihu, Dangshen, Gancao, Maidong, Baishao, Gegen, Dihuang, Xuanshen, Huangqin, Gouteng, Baishu, Chuanxiong, Banxia, Ganjiang
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