Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
We are all exposed to many different and damaging factors everyday. This excess build up of these factors can really throw off our body’s detoxification system. Here’s what you have to know.
Let’s talk about staying healthy while you’re staying home! The goal is to stay home and isolated, but that doesn’t mean your health has to suffer. I am going to give you some insight into our Invite Wellness Program, which can be very beneficial during this time.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH.
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DHEA is the most abundant circulating hormone in your body. It plays very specific roles in the support of cardiovascular health, maintaining muscle mass, our general sense of wellbeing, supporting a good mood, as well as a healthy immune system!
What is DHEA?
While DHEA is a hormone (a chemical messenger), it is the most abundant of all of the human adrenal steroids that travel throughout the body. DHEA stands for dehydroepiandrosterone and is a hormone that is produced mainly by the adrenal glands. When we think about other adrenal hormones, we may think about cortisol (the stress hormone). When cortisol levels are high, this can actually offset or impact the role of this important hormone. It actually pushes the hormone level down, which is certainly not a good thing.
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As we age, our natural production of this hormone in the body begins to decline. It is estimated that by the time we are 70 years old, our DHEA levels have declined by upwards of 75%. This is due to many different factors, including chronic disease states and chronic stress. Restoring by supplementation can be beneficial for many different reasons, as stated above.
Immune Health Benefits
Your immune system is reliant on chemical messengers, such as DHEA, for optimal performance. There are tons of clinical research that shows that it plays a role in our innate immune response. A 2008 study published in the Current Rheumatology Reports Journal looked at the role of DHEA in systemic lupus. Many times, when individuals have autoimmune dysfunction, just like with lupus, their doctors will fail to test their hormone levels, specifically DHEA and Vitamin D levels. Research shows that if these levels are low, this can be a reason as to why people are having exacerbations of an autoimmune condition. In this study, researchers studied the effect of DHEA on the immune cell function. They report, “Numerous reports indicate that DHEA can improve immune cell function by regulating the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.” This hormone was shown to have a significant impact on cytokine production in the immune cells.†
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In 1997, The Gerontology Biological Science and Medicine Journal researchers were talking about the activation of immune function, particularly if DHEA supplementation could help boost the immune system. Participants with low levels were given 50mg of a DHEA supplement for 20 weeks. They found that this translated into improved immunity against bacteria, viruses as well as fungal infections.†
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
What happens when you combine the Greenlip mussel with the powerful herb Perilla? Here’s what you need to know regarding airway inflammation when it comes to this unique omega-3 blend and the support of a healthy respiratory system.
Boron is a really important mineral that does very important, powerful things for the human body. It is not very well known and may not be very well understood by the general public, but it is required for bone strength and keeping your teeth healthy.
On today’s episode, I am going to talk about the impact to your hands from washing them so frequently. And we definitely encourage that you are practicing those healthy guidelines and frequently washing your hands. But, as we are sure you know, this can be very harsh on the skin itself. So I want to talk to you about some different techniques that may be beneficial during this time.
Dry, Rough Skin
In a press release from UCLA, researchers were talking about the best ways to care for dry hands after washing them so much. So, a lot of people have not been exposed to this problem before. I certainly can understand myself, because as a medical student, you are continuously washing your hands, even during your surgical rotation. The harsh cleansers and wearing gloves all of the time starts to impact the hands and reduce their natural moisture. For many people, over-washing your hands means you can start to develop cracks in the skin, which isn’t a good thing either because now you are giving bacteria basically an entry point into the body; this is the same thing viruses. That’s why the concern is right now for people to continuously wash their hands. You don’t want to be able to pass this off from one person to the next. Your hands are a primary source of that.
So this press release from UCLA is taking about how the outer-most layer of our skin is composed of oils and wax, and it acts as this protective barrier that helps to guard the natural moisture of the skin. When this natural barrier is broken down because of this continual hand washing, then people can start to experience excessive dry skin. And this is even more so in areas that are currently trending from winter into spring and dealing with fluctuations with humidity. A lot of the alcohol-based hand washes and sanitizers can cause this dry, cracked skin on your hands.
The American Academy of Dermatology has posted their bit of information, as to what people can be doing when your skin is getting dry and cracked. We know that once we have a breakdown in that barrier of the skin, we are now more open to infections, like bacteria and viruses. What they suggest is that you should use a hand ointment or a cream. Creams are more effective, even more so than lotions. This can be extremely beneficial to allow that protective barrier of the skin – that moisture barrier – to reinvigorate itself. But, the problem that neither UCLA or The American Academy of Dermatology have addressed, is if we have skin that is dried out, and we start to put these different hand moisturizers on, are we putting chemicals directly onto our skin?
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Naturally, Effective Ingredients
People are quick to use a lot of creams and lotions and even make up but are not paying attention to the actual harmful chemicals that are contained within those. We want to make sure that when we are trying to reestablish that healthy barrier in the skin, that we are applying only clean nutrients. You want to have this protective layer but you don’t want to do that for the sake of using things that contain ingredients like, petroleum, alcohol, colorants or fragrance.
Many manufacturers by law do not have to tell you what is contained in these ingredients like “fragrances”. We, at Invite Health, understand the long term implications of these chemical exposures. This is why we do not use any type of alcohol, parabens, fragrances, sulfates, or other harsh and dangerous toxic ingredients in our Protective Hand Cream. You must allow the skin to rehydrate itself and reestablish that moisture barrier.
Key Nutrients and Ingredients
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
