This New "Superhero Molecule" Is a Game Changer for Us
Got widespread discomfort, brain fog, fatigue, insomnia? What about hypersensitivities? Any chronic severe discomfort? Wondering what ties all these disparate symptoms together? Well, we now have an answer!
Past research pointed to two key processes contributing to these:
- Activation of hypersensitivity-triggering mast cells.
- Activation of brain-regulating cells called "microglia."
It's common to see both activating together, wreaking havoc in your body. But no one understood why both triggered together. But new research now shows why and offers a solution to both — and it's helping people feel sooo much better!
The Discovery
During times of severe stress and distress, certain cells in our bodies make a "superhero molecule" called PEA (Palmitoylethanolamide) that comes to the rescue. The mast cells and microglia cells I listed above are critical for producing PEA. They activate production during stress or chronic discomfort and stay activated, even when they can't produce enough. It's this excess activation that's the missing link that ties all those symptoms together. It not only causes these major symptoms, but also directly suppresses the hypothalamus.
My Recommendation
It can take up to 2-3 months to work (though often MUCH quicker), but supplying the PEA can settle down these cells, along with the sensitivities, discomfort, fatigue, and other related symptoms. And improvements continue to increase the longer you use it.
PEA is normally very difficult for the body to absorb. But this difficulty is overcome in a new supplement from Terry Naturally called "PEA Healthy Inflammation Response with Serratiopeptidase ." This product combines the PEA with another new natural compound called "Gammasorb." Gammasorb is a plant-based material that binds to nutrients, making them more easily absorbed. The combination results in a unique form of PEA that is a powerful new tool for keeping those overly activated mast and microglia cells in check.
It can truly give you your life back!
Prof Jan Keppel Hesselink is a renowned pain specialist who has extensively researched PEA and the dosage that is most effective. He now recommends, and I endorse his findings, a new higher level. So if you have the symptoms we've been discussing, here is his recommended dosing for maximum benefit:
- For chronic discomfort, start a trial of PEA using a dosage of 1,200 mg a day.
- Give it a month.
- Then increase to 2,400 mg for 2 months.
- Stay on the dose that helped the most for 3 months (e.g., 1,200-2,400 mg) to solidly support the healing. Then if you'd like, you can try lowering to 300-600 mg a day to see if it maintains the benefits.
Most often, he sees pain relief beginning at three weeks using this higher dosing!
Once you are feeling better for three months, you can likely decrease the dose. Sometimes people are even able to stop it. Discomfort is like a fire. Once you've put out the fire for three months, it often stays out on its own.
The combination of PEA, serratiopeptidase and Gammasorb is a game-changer for helping hard to help people. I would very much appreciate you sending me an email at FatigueDoc@gmail.com to let me know how it worked for you, as we can learn from each other.
Research Studies
Want to see what numerous studies are showing? Continue reading …
PEA, The Missing Link
Frankly, now that we have a form of PEA that is highly absorbed, everything changes! It makes the dozens of studies meaningful in helping people. So let's look at just a few of them so you can get a sense of why I am so excited.
(Note: Be careful with the terminology. The acronym P-E-A is used for many different molecules. The PEA we are discussing is palmitoylethanolamide.)
PEA Review
Let's begin with a PEA review article published in NCBI (National Library of Medicine), which has 212 study references. It discusses how PEA also works through cannabinoid systems, as well as PPAR pathways. Basically, this means it is working by mechanisms we don't have good medications for. And it works to help so many things. As the review notes, PEA "provide([s] therapeutic benefits in many applications, including immunity, brain health, allergy, pain modulation, joint health, sleep and recovery. PEA's poor oral bioavailability, a major obstacle in early research, has been overcome by advanced delivery systems."
"PEA is thought to be produced as a protective response to cellular injury … effects include… analgesic, anticonvulsant, antimicrobial, … immunomodulatory and neuroprotective activitie. PEA's multi-faceted effects are due to its unique mechanisms of action." It also helps your immune system with viruses, bacteria, and "leaky gut."
"PEA's neuroprotective effects are due to its ability to modify microglia and astrocyte activation." As an added bonus it even improves mood.
PEA also powerfully decreases discomfort by over a dozen different mechanisms, including addressing central sensitization. It supplies an alternative for those who can't get or use low dose naltrexone, and can be synergistic with LDN as well.
Energy Health
A study published in NCBI showed that PEA significantly improved recovery from exercise, so it may be helpful for post-exertional malaise (PEM).
Sleep Health
Another study on NCBI showed that PEA may improve sleep. "PEA's combined analgesic, anxiolytic and [mood lifting] effects differentiate it from any other sleep aid currently in use and make it an attractive alternative to current treatments."
This study in NCBI showed that it also blocks histamine release by mast cells, which is important. Excess mast cell histamine release in the hypothalamus makes it very difficult to sleep. It also can contribute to discomfort, digestive, and other symptoms.
Brain Health
As an aside, chronic discomfort is associated with more rapid brain aging, according to this study published in Nature. As I've noted in earlier articles, I suspect this is largely through mechanisms such as microglial activation. PEA can markedly help this, and research has shown it to be brain protective. This brain protective quality is discussed in a review with over 100 references. It even enhances neurogenesis (growth of new healthy brain cells), and can help the brain in a large number of other conditions.
This shows PEA to be an important "ounce of prevention" in protecting brain health. The PEA also helped improve cognitive function even in healthy people.
Relief From Discomfort
PEA has been researched in well over 30 studies, with over 6.000 people who had chronic discomfort. As I continue to explore these studies, I am becoming increasingly excited about the importance of this remarkable naturally occurring chemical.
For example, a Netherlands study that was shared with me recently showed that PEA decreased discomfort by a dramatic 60-70% in cases of nerve compression (for instance, lower back problems). If you view the study, you'll find a short video included in it from the researcher. He discusses his experience with PEA in treating thousands of people with chronic pain. The video at the link above is less than three minutes, and well worth watching.
In this video, the researcher shares his experience with thousands of actual severe discomfort patients on optimal dosing and timing. Based on what he describes, I have revised my dosage recommendations to what I note above.
PEA for Chronic Discomfort
Chronic discomfort has several key components. According to the study researchers, this includes:
Balancing Inflammation. This can be powerfully addressed by using a mix of a highly absorbed curcumin and Boswellia.
Muscle shortening and pain, caused in large part by low energy in the muscles. Muscles are like a spring. It takes more energy for them to stretch (relax), than for them to contract. In a similar way, low energy in muscles can cause chronic muscle shortening and pain. This is well addressed by following the S.H.I.N.E.® Protocol to increase overall energy.
Compression. When nerves and other tissues are being pinched, as in low back discomfort. Most often, standard medicine addresses this with surgery. This earlier study of over 600 people showed that compression pain dropped by over 60-70% simply by using PEA.
"Brain pain" or microglial activation. When discomfort becomes chronic, the brain starts to amplify pain. The researchers said they are finding this is the rule rather than the exception when pain has persisted (e.g., over six months).
The research showed dramatic drops in discomfort, where the VAS pain scale dropped from 7.1 to 2.2. That's a reduction of 60-70%! For perspective, a 30% drop for a medication is typically considered clinically very significant.
Another meta-analysis in NCBI looked at 253 studies on PEA for discomfort, of which 11 were included in the meta-analysis. The conclusion? "PEA is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for chronic [discomfort]."
Cellular studies show that PEA significantly helps settle down microglial activation and mast cells.
"Nowadays the efficacy of palmitoylethanolamide in controlling mast cell behavior, which likely accounts for its many anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and analgesic effects, is well recognized," reported this study.
Tired, Achy, Brain Fog, and Can't Sleep?
A number of studies have now shown PEA can improve these symptoms, including this study and this one.
My Recommendation (Again)
I feel so strongly about this new tool that it bears repeating. If you have the symptoms we've been discussing, here's what I suggest:
- For chronic discomfort, start a trial of PEA (with serratiopeptidase and Gammasorb) using a dosage of 1,200 mg PEA a day. This is available in our store as "PEA Healthy Inflammation Response with Serratiopeptidase." Each capsule contains 300 mg of PEA.
- Give it a month.
- Then increase to 2,400 mg for 2 months.
- Stay on the dose that helped the most for 3 months (e.g., 1,200-2,400 mg) to solidly support the healing. Then if you'd like, you can try lowering to 300-600 mg a day to see if it maintains the benefits.
Most often, relief begins at three weeks after the initial higher dosing! Once you are feeling better for three months, you can likely decrease the dose.
As I said earlier, please send me an email at FatigueDoc@gmail.com to let me know how it worked for you. Thank you!
Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. is one of the world's leading integrative medical authorities on fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. He is the lead author of eight research studies on their effective treatments, and has published numerous health & wellness books, including the bestseller on fibromyalgia From Fatigued to Fantastic! and The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution. His newest book (June 10, 2024) is You Can Heal From Long COVID. Dr. Teitelbaum is one of the most frequently quoted fibromyalgia experts in the world and appears often as a guest on news and talk shows nationwide including Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah & Friends, CNN, and Fox News Health.
