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Turn to Black Seed to Target Snow Mold – InVite^Ⓡ Health Podcast, Episode 511

Hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH

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InVite^Ⓡ Health Podcast Intro: Welcome to the InVite^Ⓡ Health Podcast, where our degreed healthcare professionals are excited to offer you the most important health and wellness information you need to make informed choices about your health. You can learn more about the products discussed in each of these episodes and all that InVite^Ⓡ Health has to offer at www.invitehealth.com/podcast. First time customers can use promo code PODCAST at checkout for an additional 15% off your first purchase. Let’s get started!

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Amanda Williams, MPH:

[00:00:40] Runny nose, cough, sneezing itchy, watery eyes. Is it a common cold or could you be experiencing snow melt allergy? This is actually a lot more common than people recognize, and as we transition from the cold winter months into the melting off of that snow that’s accumulated over the last couple of months, many times people can experience this spike in allergies. So I want to talk about snow mold allergy because this is a thing. It’s not something that I’m just coming up with. There is something that’s actually known as snow mold and what you can be doing if you happen to fall victim to this as the snow is leaving us. So I’m Amanda Williams, M.D., M.P.H., and snow molds, this is a common thing. We know that this occurs when the snow itself is starting to melt away. And many times, like in the springtime, you’ll see this on people’s grass. If you look at someone’s yard, for example, and you’ll see these patches and they can be different colors depending on the type of fungus that’s actually taken over that particular area. So the snow itself creates this environment for the this fungus or this mold to actually begin to grow, and then it starts to take over the grass underneath. And so sometimes it may look gray or you may see like an area where it looks kind of yellowed out on someone’s grass after the snow is melted away.† [00:02:29]

[00:02:29] Well, the big problem is is that now we have these fungal spores that can get blown around in the air, and then this can affect our health. So we breathe them in, it’s getting into your eyes, up your nose, and it can create all of this havoc, and many people suffer from this every single year. And it’s interesting. When I lived in Michigan, I was not aware of snow mold at the time, but every spring as that snow was melting away, I would just have like this whole week of just severe allergies where you name it, I had it. The runny nose, the irritated throat, coughing, runny eyes, my ears even felt itchy and come to find out, I actually had a pretty significant allergy to, to fungus or to mold, and it was at its worse when that snow was melting off. And you see this in different parts of the country. It’s pretty prevalent out in Colorado, when the snow is taking a little bit longer to to melt away. So you have this packed snow and as it’s going away, not only are you dealing with the mold, but you’re also getting other pollens and other allergens that can be kind of blown around in addition to to the mold spores themselves.† [00:03:52]

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[00:03:53] So they’ve actually done studies. University of Massachusetts went through the different types of snow molds that exist, and they actually have them all named out as far as what effect they actually can have on the underlying ground itself. And it’s, it’s interesting because I said, when you come from a cold weather climate like I did in Michigan, now looking back on this, I’m like, oh my goodness. Yes, so many people’s yards had like these weird patches all over them, and you just thought, well, it’s because the snow is there, but really, it’s because of the mold and to to see just how common this is and how many people are actually suffering with this on a regular basis each and every single year. It’s important to know what nutrients to to utilize to target this.† [00:04:51]

[00:04:51] So when we recognize that this is a common thing that can occur and many people deal with it, so first and foremost, we have to think about air purification, so if you didn’t change out your your home air purifier or the furnace filter, make sure that you do that, especially as you transition, because those mold spores are going to be in higher amounts as that snow melts off. So that’s, you know, first and foremost, because the air that you’re breathing in inside, you want to make sure that that is as pure as possible. So we want to get a filter that has the ability to remove out any of those types of allergens, including the mold and fungus. This is key.† [00:05:35]

[00:05:36] And then we want to look at nutrients. What can we be utilizing? Well, I will tell you there is one product that is so incredibly comprehensive to target this and that is our Black Seed with Rosemary and Cordyceps. Not only is this beneficial in terms of easing inflammation in the body, but when it comes to sinus and respiratory support, this is hands down our number one formulation, especially if we put it into this category of dealing with snow mold. And let me kind of walk through some of the effects of Nigella Sativa, which is the black cumin seed extract or the black seed. This is wonderful at really targeting the COX-1, COX-2 and the LOX pathway. So for the inflammation that can drive up within the sinus cavities, as well as within the respiratory bronchi, and this is important because when we think about breathing in those mold spores, we want to make sure that we’re not having a situation where we already have extreme inflammation and then that mold spore drives up even more significant inflammation. So the black seed is known to be very specified to being able to to target that. And it’s actually was studied many years ago and published in the Anti-inflammatory Anti-Allergy Journal, showing its effects when it came to the treatment of allergic rhinitis. Now what is allergic rhinitis? That’s the most common manifestation of an inhaled allergen. So when we think about seasonal allergies, for example, this would fall under that category of allergic rhinitis. So it’s some type of a pollen or a mold spore that triggers the immune system to drive up this histamine release. And what they found was when they gave patients who suffered from allergic rhinitis on a chronic basis, meaning they have many different seasons that they’re dealing with pollens and allergens that trigger this response, that when they gave them black seed extract over the course of six weeks, 100% of the people, 100% of the people in that group became symptom-free, which was absolutely amazing.† [00:07:56]

[00:07:57] Now, when you think about how it is that that cumin extract is working not only functionally for the targeting of the inflammatory response, but it’s actually helping to fend off the oxidative damage that can occur within that cellular level, within the sinuses and within the respiratory airways because it’s a powerful antioxidant, as well as being able to help regulate or modulate that inflammatory response. So it’s a wonderful immunomodulatory herbal extract. And then you add in the rosemary extract in this formulation. The rosemary we know is very geared towards histamine, and it’s that histamine that creates that issue with the runny nose and the itchy eyes and the watery eyes. That’s all because of histamine. So if we have excess histamine that’s being released from our mast cells, we want to be able to regulate that in a more appropriate fashion. And hence this is where the rosemary extract can be incredibly powerful.† [00:09:03]

[00:09:04] Now, we have the cordyceps mushrooms in this formulation as well. Now the cordyceps is going to once again, because it’s a mushroom extract, we know it has immunomodulatory properties, so it’s going to be easing inflammation, targeting those cytokines, helping to bolster up our immune defenses. It gives us some Vitamin D in the form of ergocalciferol, and it is an antioxidant. So this three-nutrient formulation in the Black Seed Extract is absolutely wonderful when we think about those different triggers, including snow mold. And even when you look at aflatoxins, for example, those are the fungus that grow on certain foods. This is why they always say, like, if you eat a lot of peanut butter, you can have this aflatoxin that builds up and aflatoxin is certainly problematic because we know that it can suppress our immune defenses, and this is why they’ve studied black seed even in the setting of aflatoxin exposure. And it just does a marvelous job in terms of once again creating that balance again within the immune system, fending off the oxidative damage brought on by the toxin. So this is shown time and time again, the nutrients that are contained in this formulation, to be very geared towards any of those things that can drive up or trigger an immune system response that’s unwelcomed, that’s coming from an allergen, it’s coming from any type of a toxin. So this is why the Black Seed is my-go to when it comes to snow molds. We know it’s around the corner. If you’ve got snow out your backyard, you know it’s going to melt away and you don’t know if you’re going to end up with some of that mold that’s residing afterwards that maybe you track into your house, maybe it’s on your shoes. So this is why the filtration system inside your house is a excellent choice. And then get on that Black Seed with Rosemary and Cordyceps.† [00:11:12]

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[00:11:13] So that’s all that I have for you for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast. Remember, you can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting invitehealth.com/podcast. Now, do make sure that you subscribe and you leave us a review. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and we will see you next time for another episode of the InViteⓇ Health Podcast.† [00:11:13]

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