Top Five Supplements To Promote Overall Health – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 542
We all want to optimize our overall health, let’s do that by learning about the five most recommended supplements to take on a daily basis.
Tag: core multivitamin
Allie’s Top 10 Supplements
Picking the right supplements for your goals can be daunting, but we’re here to help! Read now to see what Allie Might, INHC, recommends to get you started.
The Importance of Selenium – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 520
selenium
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Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode.
The Importance of Selenium – InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode 520
Hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
*Intro music*
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!
*Intro music*
Amanda Williams, MPH:
[00:00:40] You’ve probably heard that vitamins and minerals are pretty important in our body. Today, I want to focus in on a particular micro mineral that’s incredibly important for our cellular health and has been linked to so many different cancers. So when we have low levels of this particular mineral, this can certainly be problematic. So I want to talk about the importance of it, the science behind it, how it’s working in the human body, all of its many different functions and what you can be doing to support your selenium levels. So I’m Amanda Williams, M.D., M.P.H., and let’s get right to it.† [00:01:16]
[00:01:16] Let’s talk about selenium. We certainly understand that selenium is a trace mineral, meaning that the body generally only needs a small amount. It’s found naturally in foods. The problem is is that there are pockets within the United States where the soil content of selenium is actually quite low. Now, does this drive up a true deficiency in many Americans? No, not necessarily and part of this is because of, you know, food traveling across the country from areas that are rich in selenium and making them, their way over to to places that are maybe lacking in that selenium content. But we certainly know that places such as Connecticut and Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island are all states, and Delaware, I don’t want to forget Delaware, are all states where the soil itself is lacking adequate selenium. So we know that selenium supplementation is often incredibly advantageous, especially in those areas.† [00:02:21]
[00:02:21] As I mentioned, to have a true deficiency, yeah, that’s not always going to be the case, but the likelihood that you have an insufficiency or just low levels, which can certainly be problematic, is something that we certainly don’t want to, to overlook and seeing all of the different ways to which selenium is playing a role in our immune system and many other functions. And so I want to talk about this. So we know that it’s essential for our health, this little tiny, little micro mineral. It’s a trace mineral, as we call it, and we certainly can recognize it when it was discovered all the way back in the 1800s that it plays a really significant role in human health. So what is it actually doing? What’s its function in the body? Well, we can look at how it works inside of the cell to repair our DNA. So if you have damage done to that main motherboard within your cell, that’s a big problem. And so this is where that cancer connection comes in because we understand that cellular DNA damage is what drives cancer. So if we’re lacking selenium, we can now see that our cell is struggling to repair itself and fix that DNA. It’s kind of like if your computer crashes and you’re at a loss, you don’t know how to fix it. That’s a problem. So this is where the selenium comes into play. We know that it’s integrally involved in thyroid function. We can certainly look at its impact when it comes to cardiovascular health. There have been studies looking at low levels of selenium and the correlation with heart disease.† [00:04:04]
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[00:04:04] Now, when it comes to our immune system, both the innate and the adaptive, that’s your immediate and delayed immune system response, we know that selenium is critical to this. So if we have inadequate selenium coming from our diet and we are not taking supplementation, then we’re kind of setting ourselves up for immune problems. We want to make sure our immune system is nice and strong so we can fend off any of the little bugs and creepy crawlies that come our way. Now we can also see how it’s important when it comes to our exposure to heavy metals. So when we think about things like lead and mercury and arsenic, we know that selenium is important when we think about the body’s ability to remove those heavy metals. We don’t want those heavy metals to find a home in our body and hang out. We know it works integrally with Vitamin E, which we know is one of our most important antioxidants in the body, but we can see how selenium partners up with Vitamin E to really heighten this level of antioxidant, free radical fighting capabilities that Vitamin E already has.† [00:05:21]
[00:05:22] So when you look at people who potentially have inadequate selenium in the body, we can look at problems such as just feeling weak and fatigued. Because remember, your cellular DNA can’t repair itself. We can look at folks who maybe have recurrent infections because it’s impacting your immune system. We can certainly look at it in reproductive health. We’ve seen that males who have low selenium levels will often have a low sperm count. We can see that it can impact our hair and actually create a situation where we’re losing pigmentation in our hair. It’s actually even been linked with vision health and cataracts, the development of cataracts. So this is an area that we definitely don’t want to overlook.† [00:06:09]
[00:06:10] Now you don’t need too much selenium. You know, too much of one thing isn’t always a good thing. We certainly see this to be the case when it comes to selenium. So we know it’s helping our DNA. We know it’s helping us eliminate toxins. We know it’s bolstering up our immune defenses. It’s helping to support our metabolism and our thyroid function. And certainly, we know that when it comes to heart health, when it comes to making sure our cells aren’t becoming problematic where we then develop cancer, this is why we need to not ignore the importance of selenium. And one of the things that science and the research has shown is the fact that selenium, this little tiny trace mineral, has all of these functions to, you know, keep the body safe from oxidative stress, to allow our thyroid to function every single day, to keep our immune system strong, to promote the health of our brain, our eyes, healthy cell division, promote the health of our heart. These are integral, and when we take selenium along with Vitamin E, this really allows our cellular health to be much stronger.† [00:07:32]
[00:07:33] So where do we get exposure to selenium when we look at different foods? Certainly, it’s a wide spectrum so we can look at certain seeds and nuts. We can look at certain fish like cod, for example, shrimp. But some people don’t eat fish. Some people don’t eat seafood. We can look at garlic. We can look at lentils as a source. We can certainly look at things like carrots and cabbage, almonds, pecans. I had mentioned the nuts. So we know that there are many ways to which we can incorporate selenium into our diet. The problem is, is that many people may not be getting a high enough exposure to those good, healthy foods. If you’re following a Standard American Diet, the likelihood that you may still be lacking in your selenium exposure each day is pretty high. And this can be problematic, especially if you’re in one of those states where we already know that the locally grown foods are going to be lacking selenium. So this is why we want to make sure, because for people who have insufficient levels, you know, maybe you have headaches, you know, chronic headaches, and you don’t know why that is. And maybe it’s because of just this insufficient intake of selenium. There’s many ways to which selenium insufficiencies can present itself. And then scientifically speaking, when you start to look at how important it is when it comes to that cellular division and the compounds contained within this micro mineral are so incredibly important in terms of that cellular division. And this is why they’ve been able to to look at epidemiological studies indicating that in areas where the population has low selenium levels, they are at a much greater risk for developing many different types of cancers. So in particular, they, they’ve zeroed in on things such as lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, bladder cancers. Now that’s not saying that there’s not the correlation between prostate cancer and breast cancer. Certainly there is, but we know that when it comes to promoting our longevity and helping to support our cellular health and that very important motherboard that DNA, we have to have selenium.† [00:10:02]
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[00:10:03] So getting that exposure can come in different ways. My advice is always use our Core Multivitamin. That’s an excellent way to get a good exposure to selenium. You’re getting the comprehensive Vitamin E. Remember those to partner up to help to support your health. But you can also use our Women’s Multivitamin, our Men’s Multi, our Performance Multivitamin. They’re all going to give you a good amount of selenium to make sure that your body can go through all of these different things that it needs selenium for each and every single day. For the immune system, for your heart, for your brain, for your eyeballs. And this is certainly important. It’s one of those minerals that we don’t talk about enough, but its impact in our body can be life changing. So do make sure that at a minimum, you are taking a comprehensive multivitamin, multimineral formulation, such as the InViteⓇ Core Multi.† [00:10:58]
[00:10:59] So that is 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. Do make sure that you subscribe and you leave us a review. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We will see you next time for another episode of the InViteⓇ Health Podcast.† [00:10:59]
*Exit music*
Getting to Know Zinc – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 516
Zinc is the second most abundant mineral in your body, but many people don’t have enough of it. This nutrient is essential for immune health, brain function, heart health and more.
Birth Control Pills and Vitamin Deficiencies – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 514
If you’re taking a birth control pill, you may be losing important nutrients that your body needs to function properly.
Diuretics and Nutrient Depletions – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 509
diuretics
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Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode.
Diuretics and Nutrient Depletions – InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode 509
Hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
*Intro music*
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!
*Intro music*
Amanda Williams, MPH:
[00:00:40] Let me continue on my journey of drug-induced nutrient depletion when it comes to cardiac medications. The most commonly-prescribed medications oftentimes create significant nutrient depletion, so I’m going to go over a few more. I did a podcast on beta blocking drugs. Now, today I’m going to talk about diuretics. These are many times combined with other hypertensive drugs, so you’ll see a combination of maybe a beta blocker with hydrochlorothiazide. So I want to talk about the diuretics and how many nutrients have a potential of becoming depleted and that is a big problem. We certainly know that to be the case. I’m Amanda Williams, MD, MPH, and let’s get right to it.† [00:01:26]
[00:01:26] Let’s jump into the class of antihypertensive medications classically known as the diuretics. We have loop diuretics. We have thiazide diuretics. You have your potassium-sparing diuretics. But we know one thing about these diuretics, whether you’re taking hydrochlorothiazide, you’re on Lasix, furosemide. We know that these in particular are definitely a risk factor for creating significant nutrient depletions when we look at things like calcium, magnesium, zinc, folate. Why are these a problem? Well, let’s just break that down. Say you’re on a medication for your high blood pressure and it is stripping the body of zinc. What is that doing to the health of your immune system? Yes, we know the importance of zinc when it comes to immune defenses. We know the importance of zinc when it comes to the thyroid function. Let’s think about magnesium. This is always the classic one that I go to whenever I’m talking about drug-induced nutrient depletions and cardiac drugs.† [00:02:33]
[00:02:34] OK, let’s think of the nonsensical way that this works. You’re on a medication because you have high blood pressure, so we already have to clue in to the fact the body naturally is probably lacking magnesium. Because remember, one of the roles of magnesium of its many roles in the body is to create vasodilation. It does this through the relaxation of the smooth muscles of your arteries. So if we have a lack of magnesium, what that in turn can do is create vessel constriction. If we have vasoconstriction, we’re going to elevate our blood pressure. So we get into the trap of being on a medication to lower your blood pressure. And that same medication is lowering your body’s ability to hold on to magnesium, so it’s actually removing magnesium. So at the end of the day, what’s occurring is your blood pressure medication can at the same time, be raising your blood pressure because it’s stripping you of magnesium. So if someone is on a diuretic in particular, you really have to be cognizant of this and you have to make sure that you are at minimum, taking a multivitamin.† [00:03:50]
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[00:03:52] Now, when we look at things like hydrochlorothiazide, we know this is like the top 10 of commonly-prescribed medications. We know that many people are taking these medications on a regular basis, and most people are not taking, in addition to that hydrochlorothiazide, they’re not taking magnesium, which means you’re not helping your condition of hypertension. So this is a huge, huge problem. And I’ve talked to so many folks who have been on high blood pressure medications for many years, and they’ve never linked the two together. They’ve never realized that the reason why they’re struggling with having stable blood pressure readings is because maybe the medication that they’re on to control the blood pressure is actually removing key nutrients. And so we see this with furosemide, which is known as Lasix. We definitely see this with hydrochlorothiazide. So if this is the case, we’re stripping out magnesium. We are still not resolving the problem.† [00:05:03]
[00:05:04] And let’s just say we’re removing calcium. Now what are we doing now? We are potentially creating a problem with the rhythm of the heart, we’re creating a problem with weakening of the bones. We can certainly, you know, lump in our calcium, magnesium, potassium, all of those and the inadequate access at that cellular level to those key nutrients, those key minerals. We can look at muscle pain, we can look at problems with sleep. We can look at problems with muscle cramps. So we definitely know that these medications in particular, are known to drive this. We can also see, as I talked about with beta blockers and coenzyme Q10, we know that the hydrochlorothiazide can lower your CoQ10 level as well, which once again, now we’re dealing with a problem with decrease in cellular energy production. So we think about the rhythm of the heart. We think about the functionality of the heart, how reliant those are on the energy production that occurs within the cardiac myocytes. And if our medication is stripping us of that, then this becomes a significant problem.† [00:06:16]
[00:06:17] Now let’s just go back and let’s look at other areas that can get thrown into the mix when we’re dealing with these diuretic medications that can lower your zinc. This can potentially slow your wound healing down. Now there’s oftentimes a comorbid condition of type two diabetes that goes along with hypertension. So many diabetics are on their medication for diabetes, but they’re also on high blood pressure medication. Well, what’s one thing that we definitely know about diabetics is that they are slower to heal from any type of a wound. So say they even just get a scratch on the surface of the skin. If you are lacking zinc because your diuretic medication is stripping the body of its ability to properly heal itself because you now have deficient or insufficient zinc, this can certainly be a problem. So we look at a decrease in immune function. We’re looking at issues with poor concentration, we’re looking at issues with muscle weakness. All of these can be coming as a side effect to the medication that you’re on to regulate your blood pressure. So we can see these things clearly. We know that arrhythmias, for example, are quite common in people who are taking these diuretics. And we think about the electrical conduction system of the heart and how reliant that is on things like magnesium and potassium. And so if we’re creating this imbalance of these minerals because of the medication, then as I said, at minimum, we want to be including in to our daily routine things such as a multivitamin, just a bare minimum, cover those bases.† [00:08:04]
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[00:08:05] Now we can also look at other cardiac medications, the calcium channel blockers, for example, and we know that those too can disrupt the proper absorption of things like folic acid and zinc once again, so we can look at the slow wound healing. We can look at issues when it comes to elevated homocysteine. So if you already have someone who is dealing with high blood pressure, the last thing we need is vascular inflammation on top of that. So if the medication is creating a imbalance of adequate B-vitamin absorption, now we are adding insult to injury by creating vascular inflammation with elevated homocysteine levels.† [00:08:47]
[00:08:48] So there are so many different medications that are out there that are so commonly prescribed that we know create these nutrient depletion, which is why the more you know about medications that you’re put on and the potential nutrient depletions that can occur, the better off you are. So whether we’re looking at ACE inhibitor drugs like lisinopril, I had mentioned this in the beta blocker podcast how if someone’s on an ACE inhibitor, oftentimes they’ll get a dry cat cough, I always describe it as, but it’s a dry, nonproductive cough. And the reason why this is is because of where in the body the ACE inhibitors are actually working. They’re working through an enzymatic pathway in the lung. And so long-term use of ACE inhibitor drugs and those always end in “pril,” “pril” like lisinopril… Long-term use of those are usually always associated with someone developing that type of a dry cough. And for some people, they can get this after, you know, being on a ACE inhibitor drug for one week. But once again, these are areas that you just need to be aware of and you need to take appropriate steps when it comes to your supplementation routine to make sure that you are doing the right things. Now those are just cardiac drugs that we know all of these things. When we get into things like birth control, hormone replacement, acid reflux medications, antibiotics, we really start to get that ball rolling with nutrient depletion. So I’m going to do more podcasts on the impact of drug-induced nutrient depletion. Today, I wanted to zero in predominantly on those diuretic drugs because I do think that that’s a common, very common area that people overlook when you see how widely prescribed these drugs are and just how likely it is for those nutrients to get kind of wiped out and the harmful impact that that can make in the body over the course of time when you’re on one of those medications. So if you’re on one, you definitely want to make sure that at bare minimum, you are on a comprehensive multivitamin, multimineral formulations such as the Core Multivitamin would be an excellent choice for you.† [00:11:14]
[00:11:15] So that’s all that I have for you for today. 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. Make sure that you subscribe. 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.† [00:11:15]