Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Vitamin C is not just essential for healthy immune function. It is also important for brain and heart health, specifically for endothelial function. Here’s what you need to know.
On today’s episode, Amanda Williams, MPH discusses one of the world’s longest used medicinal foods available – Garlic. Many times, it is only looked at for its heart health benefit, but it really has advantages for overall health, especially in its supplemental form, Aged Garlic.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH.
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On today’s episode, I am going to be discussing what you need to know about Resveratrol, the coined anti-aging supplement that really gained momentum back in the ’90s. It was originally discovered in 1939, and found in things like wine. When it comes back to what it is actually doing in your body, this is a fascinating nutrient.
What is Resveratrol?
Resveratrol is a plant-based antioxidant that has a ton of health-promoting benefits. Most people correlate red wine with this antioxidant, but you can also find it in apples, blueberries, plums, pistachios and peanuts. One interesting component of Resveratrol is Japanese Knotweed – a really powerful plant that harbors trans-revseratrol.
Resveratrol first became popular with researchers when the “French paradox” was discovered in the 1980’s. The French paradox is the observation of low coronary heart disease (CHD) death rates despite the high intake of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat. What scientists have found is a strong correlation between red wine consumption and cardio-protective effects. It is from these original observations that we now know so much more about Resveratrol. As an antioxidant, it targets free radicals and limits the impact of oxidative stress on our cells.
The Science of Aging
Sirtuins are a group of proteins that are believed to protect us at the cellular level. Resveratrol has been shown to increase the activity of SIRT1 (a gene that has been identified as the possible cause of aging), published recently in the Journal of Science.
Researchers at Harvard University led the efforts to prove the power of Resveratrol in enhancing mitochondrial function and longevity. Lead researcher from Harvard, David Sinclair went on to say, “In the history of pharmaceuticals, there has never been a drug that binds to a protein to make it run faster in the way that Resveratrol activates SIRT1.” The findings on the anti-aging properties of Resveratrol have inspired many in the research world to dig even deeper into its potential as a breakthrough in human medicine.
In a study reported in The American Journal of Cardiology, researchers in Spain found that Resveratrol had obvious ability to shield the cardiovascular system in patients at high risk of developing heart disease. In fact these patients were already taking statin drugs; drugs known to reduce inflammation in the heart. Over the one-year course of the study, Resveratrol reduced CRP (inflammation) by 26% in these at risk patients. CRP is a protein in the blood and if elevated works as a proxy for inflammation. This alerts your doctor to the existence of inflammation occurring to the inner lining of the arteries in the heart. When CRP is elevated, it tells your doctor that you have a greater risk of stroke or heart attack. Resveratrol also lowered PAI-1 by 17%. PAI-1 promotes atherogenesis, or clogging of the arteries inside the heart through a buildup of cholesterol and PAI-1 also triggers blood clots like those of strokes and heart attacks.
Louisiana State University reports that antioxidant compounds found in red wine are enhancing the treatment of heart disease. They have developed a drug-illuminating stent with red wine antioxidants. Simply, they have designed a brand new stent that releases Resveratrol overtime that promotes healing by preventing blood clotting and inflammation. They also have some Quercetin, too. This is profound.
Superior non-GMO heart health dietary supplements are important for your heart, in addition to eating a healthy diet and following regular exercise routine.
With so much evidence in the form of clinical studies available, it’s hard to dismiss the impact Green tea can have on your longevity and heart health. Jerry Hickey, Ph. discusses the most recent studies in Episode 31.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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It’s hard to believe, but your body holds about 60,000 miles of blood vessels. These blood vessels along with your heart and some accessory muscles make up your circulatory system throughout your body. Having poor circulation is not a good thing! Many diseases do not become dangerous until they start messing with your circulatory system. If blood isn’t carried to every corner of your body and your circulation is poor, that means your body isn’t getting enough oxygen and nutrition.
Today, we are going to focus on grape seed and how this powerful extract has been proven clinically to improve and protect your circulatory system, especially your circulation and blood pressure.
What is Grape Seed Extract?
The ingredients in Grape Seed Extract are very powerful antioxidants. They are collectively known as OPCs (Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins), which are a class of tanins that are 20 times more powerful than Vitamin C and 50 times more powerful than Vitamin E. Now, these tannins do not replace Vitamin C or E as they have their own functions throughout the body but this does show you how strong Grape seed is. These OPCs can help protect you against pollutants like cigarette smoke, car exhaust and chemicals. They help the protect the body against pre-mature aging.
Grape seed has received GRAS certification (Generally Recognized As Safe) by the FDA – “General recognition of safety through scientific procedures is based upon the application of generally available and accepted scientific data, information, or methods, which ordinarily are published, as well as the application of scientific principles, and may be corroborated by the application of unpublished scientific data, information, or methods.”
“You would have to drink about 16 ounces of red grape juice to get the amount of OPCs in one capsule of the InVite Health Grape Seed 250mg.”
– Jerry Hickey, Ph.
How it Works in the Body
There is a gas that opens up your blood vessels called Nitric Oxide. The problem with nitric oxide is that it is extremely unstable and vulnerable to damage, so things like cigarette smoke or pollution from cars can make it unstable, which can affect your circulation.
What Grape seed does is increases the level of an antioxidant enzyme system in your blood vessel walls called superoxide dismutase, which in turn stabilizes the nitric oxide which then begins to open up your blood vessels for proper circulation. It also improves flow mediated dilation, which refers to widening of an artery when blood flow increases inside of it.
Notes From Jerry Hickey, Ph.
The InVite® Health Pharmaceutical Grade, standardized Grape Seed extract supplies 95% OPCs – the richest source I have ever seen. You would have to drink about 16 ounces of red grape juice (with all of its sugar content; 15.5 mg OPC per ounce) to get the amount of OPCs in one capsule of the InVite Health Grape Seed 250mg (237.5mg minimum OPC). You would have to drink 13 oz. of Red Wine with all of thedamaging alcohol to get this much OPC.
