3 Ways that Sulforaphane Supports Lyme Disease Recovery
If you’ve been diagnosed with Lyme Disease and are on the road to treatment, there are three important ways that sulforaphane can support your recovery.
Jolene Hart
Author & Editor
INTRO FAQ
Lyme Disease recovery requires supporting your whole-body health. Once you’ve been diagnosed with Lyme Disease and are on the road to treatment (see our editor’s story, below), there are three important ways that sulforaphane can support your recovery during Lyme Disease treatment and beyond:
1. SULFORAPHANE REDUCES INFLAMMATION
Lyme Disease infection causes widespread inflammation that manifests in symptoms that range from joint pain and crippling fatigue to nerve dysfunction and cardiac issues. Inflammation is part of the body’s natural response to infection, but that inflammation can linger long after the infection has been cleared, causing ongoing issues like fatigue, anxiety, pain, and even leading to auto-immunity. Sulforaphane has been shown in clinical study to lower inflammation and the body’s inflammatory response. (1)
2. SULFORAPHANE ENHANCES DETOXIFICATION
An essential— and often under-supported— aspect of Lyme Disease recovery is detoxification. Treatment for Lyme Disease involves killing the Borrelia burgdorferi infection, and patients commonly experience even more debilitating symptoms during treatment, as their bodies grapple with a sudden buildup of toxins in the body. Sulforaphane supports detoxification and protects the liver (2), which can help reduce symptoms during treatment and make that treatment more effective.
3. SULFORAPHANE SUPPORTS GUT HEALTH
The gut is the largest organ in the immune system, and the nature of Lyme treatments (often antibiotics are one component) compromises its function. More than 25% of acute Lyme Disease patients also have chronic digestive issues, suggesting that Lyme infection itself may cause a variety of problems in the gut. Sulforaphane plays a key role in supporting gut health by normalizing the microbiome and repairing damage to the intestinal lining (3), which helps the immune system function better.
LATE-STAGE LYME DISEASE: WHAT RECOVERY LOOKS LIKE
JOLENE'S STORY: THRIVING WITH LYME
Shortly after I was diagnosed with late stage Lyme disease, I heard from a family friend who had been treated for Lyme decades earlier. “You will recover,” she told me, “but your body won’t ever feel the same.” I didn’t believe her for a minute. I’m young, healthy, I take great care of my body (I’m a health coach!), I thought— there’s no way this would be my story. Years later, I still marvel at how unprepared I was for all the ways that Lyme disease and its co-infections would change my body and my life.
My Lyme journey spans years. Years of strange yet relatively mild symptoms (like heart palpitations and feeling anxious while driving) that turned, almost overnight, into years of debilitating illness after pregnancy. Still more years passed seeking a diagnosis, and then— with the understanding that I had, at that point, a late-stage case— several more years of grueling treatment. On the other side of treatment, I felt dramatically improved, yet so far from myself. My body had new physical limitations from lingering dysautonomia, and my mind carried heaviness and fear that didn’t feel like me.
My goal became rehabilitating my mind and body in any way that I could, using the in-depth understanding of my health that I acquired through years of tests and treatments. To restore my physical health, I gradually increased my exercise (a major challenge with dysautonomia), with a focus on rebuilding lost muscle with strength training. Although I had a healthy diet and lifestyle before Lyme, I became acutely aware of the critical role of detoxification, mitochondrial function, inflammation, digestion, and all the other silent factors that influence the body’s ability not just to function, but to heal and thrive. I started taking Broc Shot daily to reduce inflammation, enhance detoxification, and support gut health with sulforaphane. The simplicity of this supplement, which targets so much of what my body needs to recover and guard against future health issues, is a joy and relief after years of taking dozens of treatment herbs and pharmaceuticals each day.
My mind therapies included brain retraining to calm a hypervigilant limbic system and remind my body how to feel safe again after years of illness. To support nervous system healing, I dove into countless other mind-body therapies that I chronicle in my book Well-Rested Every Day.
Recovery for me has taken years and it continues. It’s my new normal. Every day I include at least a few recovery practices: a Broc Shot, an infrared sauna session, a round of catch in the sunshine with my son. It’s all part of recovery. But the reality is that my body is different. My relationships are different. My health coaching practice is different. My spiritual practice and the way I see the world have shifted.
Without a doubt, Lyme disease changes you. Any extended or chronic illness becomes a part of your story. But you can get better and stronger, and discover how mind-blowingly resilient the human body and spirit can be. You can use cutting-edge nutritional tools to restore your body and your immune system. You can use movement and limbic system retraining to bring your body and mind back into balance. And you can trust that the person you are on the other side will still be you, only stronger.
Jolene Hart, CHC is a certified health coach founder of the pioneering beauty coaching practice Beauty Is Wellness. She is the best-selling author of six wellness books including the Eat Pretty series and Ignite Your Light.
REVIEWS
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SOURCES
1. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/imcb.12686
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4572790/
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30302904/