Getting to Know Omega-3s – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 526
Your body needs omega-3s to function properly, but most Americans are lacking these important fatty acids. Here’s why that’s a problem for immunity, brain health and more.
Tag: fish oil
Your Cardiologist Needs To Know This Supplement – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 524
Magnesium is one of the most important nutrients for making sure the heart is functioning properly, yet your cardiologist may not put it on your radar. Here’s why your heart needs magnesium.
What Is Lupus? – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 522
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Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode.
What Is Lupus? – InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode 522
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] When it comes to our immune system, sometimes things can go haywire, and today I want to talk about a autoimmune condition that commonly affects women. So 9 out of 10 people who are diagnosed with lupus are women, and we know that just according to statistics, we recognize that there’s roughly about one and a half million Americans who have a form of lupus. Certainly, men can be impacted by this. Children, teenagers. But for the most part, we find that a good 90% are going to be women. Between usually the ages of 20 and 40 is when the initial diagnosis occurs with lupus. So I want to talk a little bit about what exactly lupus is and what you can be doing if you yourself have been diagnosed with this, or if you happen to have a friend, a family member, a coworker who has been diagnosed with lupus.† [00:01:43]
[00:01:43] So I’m Amanda Williams, MD, MPH, Scientific Director here at InViteⓇ Health and lupus is a incredibly detrimental systemic disease. Whenever our immune system decides that it’s going to rear its ugly head and create havoc for us, that is a big problem. And there are so many different autoimmune conditions. You can look at things such as lupus, we can look at rheumatoid arthritis, we can look at diabetes. We know that there are many different ways to which our immune system can go from being a very protective thing in our, in our body to something that can be very destructive.† [00:02:30]
[00:02:31] Now we know that lupus has a common driving force, and that is inflammation. Now when you look at lupus, this is… We usually just shorten it to lupus, but we’re talking about systemic lupus erythematosus and SLE. Now we know that when it comes to SLE, hence just lupus, we’re dealing generally with multiple areas in the body. So the skin, kidneys, heart, the entire cardiovascular system, the nervous system, connective tissue, the skeletal muscular system, as well as other areas that can be impacted because of the significant inflammation that occurs. So when people have lupus, oftentimes the way that they present and many of the complications is that there are multiple organ systems that have been impacted by this. So this puts someone with lupus at a higher risk of having a heart attack, having diabetes, having chronic kidney disease, bone loss, osteoporosis, as well as different blood disorders.† [00:03:44]
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[00:03:46] We can see that there are certain areas in the country to which lupus diagnosis can be at a higher rate. So we know that there is a Vitamin D connection to lupus. So you’re going to see higher rates of lupus being diagnosed throughout the Midwest, as well as the Northeast than you do in other parts of the country, including the the west coast of the country, as well as the Southeast. So we know that Vitamin D, which remember, Vitamin D is critical to our immune system. We know that Vitamin D is definitely playing a significant role. We recognize that not only is it geographically driven, but it is also very much so race driven. And we are going to see higher rates of lupus in those who are African-American, Asian-American, Native American as well as Latina women. You see this in a much greater rate, the incidence in these women, much more than you do in Caucasians. This is an area where I think it’s commonly overlooked as a public health issue, and there are so many things that should be done and can be done to improve upon the health outcomes for anyone who is diagnosed with lupus and many of the signs and symptoms of lupus can vary from one person to the next.† [00:05:18]
[00:05:19] Now, the actual diagnosis is going to come down to serum blood levels of those autoantibodies. So looking at the antibodies in the blood. But we know that sometimes people or people present with just really extreme fatigue. They may have painful, swollen joints, muscle pain. Many times people know the famous butterfly rash, but it is a rash across the cheeks. Now, that doesn’t mean that every person who has lupus will develop that because there are different types of lupus and the different systems or organs to which lupus attacks can vary from one person to the next. For some people, they can experience it with pain in their chest when breathing. So there’s many different ways. Headaches is another one that sometimes people will present with, you know, swollen joints and headaches, and it’s like what is actually happening? And then they do the serum tests and then they can see, yes, indeed, this is a case of lupus.† [00:06:27]
[00:06:28] Now, conventional treatment for lupus is very… It can be very beneficial, but it can also come with a whole host of different side effects. So many of the anti-malarial drugs, which are antiparasitic drugs, are oftentimes prescribed to those who have lupus. Now, those come with a whole host of different side effects, including significant damage that can occur within the liver. We can definitely look at the overuse of anti-inflammatory drugs, the NSAIDs, so chronic use of NSAIDs in someone who has lupus can lead to damaging effects once again when it comes to the health of the kidneys, as well as the liver, just depending upon which NSAID someone is using.† [00:07:19]
[00:07:20] So what can be beneficial in terms of what someone with lupus can do? We know that looking at the diet, making sure that we’re not adding insult to injury by having a pro-inflammatory diet foods that are going to drive up even more inflammation, so you want to have an anti-inflammatory diet. Fruits and vegetables. High antioxidant foods. Healthy fats. Things that are going to help to lower your inflammatory burden. Understanding how much stress plays a role into this. Remember, stress will drive inflammation as well. So management of stress, whether this is, you know, finding ways to do meditation or yoga or exercise, all of these make a big difference.† [00:08:08]
[00:08:10] And then we have to look at different natural interventions. Knowing that Vitamin D is directly linked to this… If you look at people who have lupus and you test their serum Vitamin D levels, you are likely to find significant insufficiency and even deficient Vitamin D levels. But we can also look at how Vitamin E, you know, inadequate Vitamin E intake can be another driving factor for this inflammation that drives up in the system. We can look at how omega-3s, so by incorporating in fish oil or krill oil, how beneficial this can be for easing inflammation. Of course, we can look at hormonal pathways, and they’ve been able to show… There’s a very important adrenal hormone known as DHEA, and low levels of DHEA have been observed in patients who have lupus, as well as other inflammatory diseases. So oftentimes you will find doctors who will prescribe DHEA to help to improve upon the health of those who have these inflammatory autoimmune conditions.† [00:09:27]
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[00:09:28] So lupus itself, we know it’s a systemic autoimmune disease driven by inflammation, so the immune system is attacking tissues in the body. We know that when it comes to which system is going to be affected most, this is going to vary from one person to the next. We know that there are different types of lupus. You have SLE, which is systemic lupus, meaning that this is affecting multiple systems in the body. You have discoid lupus. Now this is… Generally speaking, discoid lupus is only affecting the skin. Then you have drug-induced lupus. So this is when you were on a particular medication that then triggers an autoimmune response. There are different drugs that are frequently associated with creating this drug-induced lupus. So this can be many of the cardiovascular drugs antiarrhythmic drugs, hydralazine, which is a blood pressure lowering drug. So we can see how it is that lupus can present in different ways for different people.† [00:10:42]
[00:10:43] But at the end of the day, what we need to do is make sure that we are doing everything in our power to lower that inflammatory burden in the system. So we want to make sure that when it comes to the dietary intake that you are adhering to an anti-inflammatory diet so that Mediterranean diet really comes into play. We know that we don’t want to have to continuously turn to the anti-malarial drugs and the high dose NSAIDs in order to try to regulate this. So we want to try and help our immune system out ourselves by giving the immune system adequate nutrients, key vitamins and minerals. Those omega-3 fatty acids that we know are so key. So Vitamin D is going to be the number one thing that you look at. We know that when it comes to lupus, deficiency of Vitamin D is going to be incredibly high. And if someone with lupus doesn’t have Vitamin D deficiency, it’s pretty much guarantee that they will have insufficiency, meaning low levels, but not to the level of complete deficiency. So having your serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level tested is incredibly important so that you’re supplementing with the right amount of Vitamin D every day to get you back into a healthy range to once again help to regulate the immune system response. Remember, when you’re taking Vitamin D, it’s always advantageous to take magnesium to help with that proper absorption. We want to incorporate in our fish oil or krill oil, or if you want to use the vegetarian option, using flaxseed. I always encourage anyone who has been diagnosed with lupus to incorporate Vitamin E. We know that Vitamin E certainly plays a essential role in terms of stabilizing cellular membranes. So we want to make sure that those immune cells have that support, and we know that Vitamin E certainly can block that autoimmune attack just through that action of stabilizing the cell membrane. They’ve done studies where they’ve shown how Vitamin D supplementation can actually reduce the level of autoantibodies in lupus patients.† [00:13:22]
[00:13:23] We have to look at other herbal extracts. There have been many studies done with curcumin and understanding that the bioactive components those curcuminoids can do a wonderful job in terms of easing that inflammation through targeting and suppressing or lowering different cytokines that are directly linked with lupus. So looking at things like different interleukins and tumor necrosis factor alpha. We can look at the clinical trials where they’ve given curcumin extract to patients with lupus, and they can start to see an improvement across all different markers, including those who have significant impact to their kidneys. Remember, lupus is going to attack multiple organ systems. When it attacks the kidneys and creates kidney disease because of lupus, so you get nephritis, so inflammation within the kidney, they can see how it is that that curcumin can help to stabilize that kidney function. So a lot of different things that we can be looking at. We can look at that hormonal component. And if your DHEA levels are low, then looking at supplementation with DHEA can help to create that balance once again within that adrenal stress response, but at the same time helping to heighten the body’s immune system, so it’s not going into this self-destructive mode. So lupus is something that you definitely want to make sure that if you know someone, if you, you yourself have lupus, that you take action in terms of diet, exercise and proper supplementation to have a better management of this autoimmune condition.† [00:15:21]
[00:15:22] 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 @invitehealth and we will see you next time for another episode of the InViteⓇ Health Podcast.† [00:15:22]
*Exit music*
Stress Versus Burnout, Part 2 – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 503
Burnout syndrome is extremely common, but the good news is that there are nutrients that can help your body adapt to the stress. Learn about how things like omega-3 fatty acids and CoQ10 can be beneficial.
Chronic Inflammation, Part 2 – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 499
Chronic inflammation can wreak havoc on the body, so what can you do to help? Turn to powerful nutrients such as Vitamin D, resveratrol and more to help with inflammaging.
Immune System, Part 4: Diet and Supplements – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 494
immune system
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Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode.
Immune System, Part 4: Diet and Supplements – InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode 494
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] So now we come to part four of the immune system, and this is all about the different nutrients that you can be looking at incorporating into a daily routine when it comes to bolstering up your immune defenses. So I’m Amanda Williams, MD, MPH and when it comes to immunodeficiencies, the most common… This is interesting. The most common immunodeficiency in the world is malnutrition. So we know that if we are not getting the appropriate macronutrients, micronutrients, fatty acids, this can suppress our immune system. So we know that we need to make sure that we have adequate exposure to good, healthy foods. So the adherence to the Mediterranean Diet has been shown to be the most supportive to the immune system. We know that taking a comprehensive multivitamin, multimineral formulation also helps to cover the gaps that perhaps your diet is not providing. So taking in additional nutrients is the key to trying to avoid that steady slowdown of the immune system from immunosenescence.† [00:02:04]
[00:02:06] So looking at all of the different vitamins and minerals and the, the role that they play when it comes to both the innate and the adaptive immune system is critical to understanding this. Like I had mentioned in episode one, a lot of focus is usually put on Vitamin C, Vitamin D and zinc. We know that when it comes to micronutrient deficiencies, this is a big problem. In this country, we know that when it comes to Vitamin E, it is estimated that over 90% of the US population does not get adequate Vitamin E. We know that the number is between 50 and 75% of the US population does not get adequate magnesium. Over 40% when it comes to Vitamin A. It’s only about 30%, which is still incredibly high, but when we look at Vitamin C and we look at our B-vitamins and we’re looking at, you know, a good 15% of the population. Zinc insufficiency is quite common in this country.† [00:03:14]
[00:03:15] So we’re not talking about actual deficiencies, but we’re talking about inadequate exposure, which is why just that multivitamin, multimineral, the Core Multivitamin, for example, would be a very good place to start. I talked about the essential way in which Vitamin A helps when we think about our adaptive immune response. We know that when it comes to T-cell mediated immune system response, Vitamin A is critical to this. Of course, we know how Vitamin D is playing a role. We know that Vitamin D is really important when we think about the way that the immune cells proliferate. We know that those who have autoimmune conditions, which I talked about autoimmunity in episode three, that there is a strong correlation between Vitamin D deficiency or significant insufficiency and multiple autoimmune conditions, things like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis. Those folks usually have low serum Vitamin D levels. They’ve looked at this in type one diabetics, generally have very low levels of Vitamin D. And we know that Vitamin C, certainly critical when it comes to the immune system response. And knowing now that a good 30% of the US population doesn’t get adequate exposure to Vitamin C from their diet alone.† [00:04:54]
[00:04:56] Now the really interesting one is Vitamin E because many times we don’t think about Vitamin E in that aspect of immune system. If we have 90% of the US population doesn’t get adequate Vitamin E, then that’s a big problem because we know that Vitamin E deficiency impacts both the innate and the adaptive immune system response. Seeing these things, seeing this, especially in the setting of hypersensitivity autoimmune conditions, you can definitely see that Vitamin E plays a role into this. There’s been studies showing Vitamin E supplementation can be beneficial when it comes to respiratory tract infections. Most people would never think about Vitamin E when you think about lung health.† [00:05:46]
[00:05:47] Then you get into your B-vitamins and we know that we have to have those B-vitamins for so many different biological functions in the body, but when we think about the way that the B-vitamins are playing an integral role for an optimal immune system is very important. We know that when you look at things like elevated homocysteine in the setting of cardiovascular disease, that B-vitamin insufficiency can be a driving force to that, low levels of B6, B12, folate. Certainly, there have been multiple trials that have indicated that folate deficiency is implicated in impaired immune responses in the body. Same thing with B12.† [00:06:33]
[00:06:36] Obviously, zinc is kind of that mainstay of the immune system when people think about different minerals and we know that zinc deficiencies certainly suppress immune function. We see that common link between zinc insufficiency or deficiency and thyroid autoimmune conditions. If you have low zinc, low iron, for example, this can exacerbate an autoimmune thyroid problem, Hashimoto’s, and many people would never think of zinc or magnesium or iron when they’re thinking about their thyroid.† [00:07:15]
[00:07:17] So we know that the vitamins and minerals are certainly integral. We cannot overstate the importance of those essential fatty acids, your omega-3 fatty acids, when it comes to being able to ease inflammation. Study after study continue to show that when we have adequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, this can help to regulate the immune system response and the inflammatory response, which is why so many people who have autoimmune conditions should be taking fish oil or krill oil. You see this in people who have rheumatoid arthritis, they start to take in higher intake of omega-3 fatty acids, and they start to feel better. We can see all of the different ways in which the foods that we eat can either help us or hurt us. And this is why I always default back to the Mediterranean Diet because this is high in omega-3 concentration. This is high in powerful antioxidants that are coming from your foods, from fruits and vegetables. They have natural probiotics that we know help to create stability within our microbiome. And we know that 70% of that immune system is located within the intestines. The probiotics have been shown, when you’re taking supplementation of probiotic… Good quality probiotic, that definitely makes a difference. It has to be multi strained, like the Probiotic HxⓇ. But this has a benefit to both the innate and the adaptive immune response. They did a study back in 2013 where they looked at 23 different randomized controlled trials showing that probiotics actually reduce the risk of things like Clostridium infections. Now, Clostridium infections oftentimes are brought on by people being on an antibiotic, so you’re on an antibiotic for your sinus infection and the next thing you know, it creates a dysbiosis of your gut bacteria. Your good gut bacteria gets wiped out and Clostridium can begin to run rampant. So with incorporating good, healthy probiotics, those good, healthy bacteria, putting them back into the system so they can recolonize is definitely very beneficial. Seeing the studies in inflammatory bowel conditions such as the autoimmune ones, Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, we know all of these different aspects.† [00:10:01]
[00:10:02] We can look at mushroom extract, understanding how the mushroom extract is working on a couple of different fronts. The support of the cell-mediated response, but also when we think about that adaptive immune response as well. We can look at nucleotides, the actual nucleic acids that give the message to the cell, to that immune cell, as to what to do. So the Nucleotide Complex is an excellent choice when it comes to the support within those immune cells, those rapidly dividing immune cells. There are many different nutrients that have been studied and shown to have powerful impacts on our immune system.† [00:10:50]
[00:10:51] Green tea, the EGCG, across the board has been studied in the setting of viruses, bacterias, fungus and we can see how those powerful catechins do so much when it comes to the way that the body is reacting to that overstimulation. So there’s a lot of different nutrients that sit outside of just the macro and micronutrients, those vitamins and minerals. Looking at the mushroom extract, looking at the Nucleotide Complex, looking at EGCG coming from green tea and white tea. So our tinctures are really excellent options.† [00:11:34]
[00:11:36] There are things like colostrum when we think about that passive immunity once again. Remember, we talked about passive immunity and how that is passed on from the mother to the child. We think about the immunoglobulins that are derived from breast milk, for example, and this is why colostrum is incredibly supportive when it comes to the immune system. There are many ways for us to boost up our immune system. We can look at how antioxidants can play a role in strengthening the immune system because it helps to take care of those free radicals and those reactive oxygen species that can do damage at that cellular level and create dysfunction and drive up more systemic inflammation. So utilizing products like the Purples HxⓇ, the Reds HxⓇ, the Greens HxⓇ are all excellent ways that help to enhance once again our immune system. We have the Immunity HxⓇ, for example. We have the True Immunity, Olive Leaf Extract. You know, garlic extract certainly is very beneficial when it comes to enhancing the immune system.† [00:12:55]
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[00:12:55] And remember, these different nutrients are working on multiple different levels. Not only is it through the power of the antioxidants that they are yielding, but it’s also through the downregulation of inflammation. And remember, we know that inflammation is brought on because of the immune system, and it’s that chronic inflammation that creates all of the problems when we look at every single chronic disease out there. We can go a step further and we can look at DHEA supplementation for the support of the immune system. We know that DHEA, that very important adrenal steroid hormone, begins to diminish as we get older and low levels of DHEA have been directly correlated once again with the manifestation of many autoimmune conditions. You can see this in the setting of MS, multiple sclerosis. Generally speaking, people who have multiple sclerosis will have low serum Vitamin D levels and low serum DHEA sulfate levels. And unfortunately, they usually are never looking at that. They just put them on immunosuppressant medication.† [00:14:09]
[00:14:11] So between the hormonal approach between the vitamin and mineral approach between the probiotics and the omega-3 fatty acids and all of those wonderful plant-based and herbal-based extracts, there are many ways for us to enhance our immune system. And it’s something that we have an awful lot of control over, and we shouldn’t take it for granted. I always mention, don’t take your immune system for granted because we know that immunosenescence is going to occur. We know that the immune system is going to get weaker as we get older. We know that our diet can drive or accelerate that process of a weakened immune system. We know that lack of exercise can drive or accelerate the weakening of the immune system. So we want to make sure that we take the appropriate steps in terms of those lifestyle modifications to enhance our body’s ability to fend off any little pathogen that comes our way so we can have an adequate immune system response to maintain our health throughout our aging process. So definitely check out all of our immune system formulations and reach out to one of our healthcare experts. They are there to help you help yourself, and they can certainly get you on the right routine when it comes to enhancing your immune defenses.† [00:15:47]
[00:15:48] So 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. [00:15:48]