The Basics Of Digestive Health, Part 2
Let’s continue to learn about the digestive health with Dr Claire Arcidiacono, ND. This weeks blog post will focus on pancreas, liver, and gallbladder.
Tag: immune health
Melatonin for More than Sleep – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 513
Melatonin is commonly known as the sleep hormone, but did you know that it’s also important for immune functions, fat burning and more? Learn more about why it’s important to have sufficient levels of melatonin from Amanda Williams, MD, MPH.
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]
MAGNESIUM: THE HEART OF HEALTH – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 420. Listen Now>>
[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]
HOW MULTIVITAMINS CAN SUPPORT IMMUNITY – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 217. Listen Now>>
[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]
An Update on Vitamin D and COVID-19 – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 497
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare experts have been discussing the importance of Vitamin D. Hear about new and updated studies on this powerful nutrient in this episode of the InVite Health Podcast.
Update: Green Tea and the Flu – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 496
With flu season upon us, Senior Scientific Officer Jerry Hickey, Ph. revisits the topic of green tea’s benefits for our immunity. Tune in to hear him discuss the powerful constituents in green tea, as well as their abilities to help protect the body from infections such as COVID-19.
Immune System, Part 1: The Basics – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 491
immune system
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Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode.
Immune System, Part 1: The Basics – InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode 491
Hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
*Intro music*
InViteⓇ Health Podcast Intro: [00:00:04] 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! [00:00:34]
Amanda Williams, MPH: [00:00:40] Over the past couple of years, you have probably heard and learned more about the immune system than you could have ever imagined. I want to break down the immune system itself and talk about the different aspects and the roles that impact our health, because I think it’s important to have a full foundational understanding. Of course, we’re not going to all become immunologists, but at the end of the day, it’s, it’s key to really understand how it is that our body reacts and responds under certain conditions and when we’re exposed to different pathogens, for example. So I thought I would break this down into multiple podcasts for you so we can look at the relevant actions that our immune system goes through in order to, to keep us healthy. And then what we can be doing on our part to make sure that we age gracefully and that we are doing everything in our power to maintain a healthy lifestyle to boost up our immune defenses.† [00:01:52]
[00:01:53] So I’m Amanda Williams, MD, MPH and the way that I’m going to approach this is I’m going to talk today predominantly on what the immune system actually is. And then in part two, I’m going to look more specifically at what happens just through the aging process. So it’s something actually termed as immunosenescence. I’m going to talk about immunosenescence in part two and then in part three, I want to look at what happens when we have autoimmune issues because everyone has probably heard about autoimmune diseases. And it’s interesting that this can be in a chronic disease or a progressive setting, but it can also be in more of an acute setting, too. So I want to talk about autoimmunity and really look at the difference between passive and active immunization and how the, the body is reacting. So that’ll be in part three. And then in part four, I want to jump into the different nutrients and why it is that certain vitamins and minerals and other key things like probiotic, colostrum, for example, and why our diet really makes such a difference when it comes to supporting our immune defenses.† [00:03:13]
[00:03:14] But let’s just get right to it. Let’s talk about what exactly the immune system is. And as I mentioned, this can be, you know, very complex when we get into the nitty gritty of immunity and understanding that the immune system itself is basically referring to a collection of different cells and proteins that function to protect us from different foreign antigens, for example, or pathogens, as we oftentimes refer to them. And we know that the main goal of the immune system is to protect our bodies against infection and disease. Now, it’s an integrated system of different cells and tissues and organs that all have these important specialized roles in defending us against these pathogenic microorganisms. So when we think about things like bacteria and viruses, parasites, fungi, for example, but we also know that the immune system is really integral to the way that our cells divide. So even when we think about bad cellular division in the setting of cancer, for example, we know the immune system is a guardian to try to protect ourselves from this.† [00:04:30]
[00:04:31] Now all of these different actions that occur have to happen in this very synergistic effect. And understanding the way that these cells and the immune system is working is essential to this. So we know that there are two major components when we look at our immune system, and this is just kind of broadly speaking. We have our innate immunity and we have our adaptive immunity. So what the innate immunity is is that first line of defense against any type of foreign substance or pathogenic microorganism that our bodies are exposed to, whereas the adaptive, this is, hence the name adaptive, it’s adapting over time. So this is a more delayed immune system response. And it’s key to understand the difference between these two because primarily when we think about the innate immunity, this is when we have this recruitment of these different immune cells to the site of a injury or an infection, so where you have inflammation or an infection.† [00:05:49]
[00:05:50] Now this is driven up through cytokines. Now we know that the cytokines, these are the primary thing that we often think about when we think about inflammation. For example, if you’ve heard me talk about this before on the radio, I talk about, you know, cytokine storms and the release via, you know, COX-1, COX-2, the 5-lox pathway, arachidonic acid. So there’s different ways in which cytokines, leukotrienes, prostaglandins are all released. So when we think about the innate immunity, this is kind of in that, that realm that we are thinking about. We think about the innate immune system as having things such as our skin, the physical barriers of our body to try to keep us protected. When we think about the acidity within the gastric juices, for example. These are all ways that we can look at the innate immune system. It’s that initial response. It’s the skin trying to protect us. It’s the gastric juices trying to kill off anything that we may ingest. So all of these things are very important.† [00:07:06]
[00:07:07] Now, seeing the way that the innate immune system is working, this is what really gives us that initial response to any type. So say you get, you know, exposed to a cold, a rhinovirus, for example. It is that innate immunity that drives all of this up. When we think about our macrophages, when we think about neutrophils, these are very, very important immune cells that help to digest any of those invading microorganisms. And that process is actually called phagocytosis. So, like I said, the immune system itself… Very complicated. I love it. I think it’s one of the most interesting forms of really understanding science and studying the human body. And the more that we’re learning now about the immune system, it’s just so impressive. So, so we have the innate immune system, and we know that through this innate immunity, we are able to stave off a lot of the initial foreign pathogens. So this is a quick, rapid response is what we consider the innate. It’s an immediate.† [00:08:34]
[00:08:35] And then we have that delayed. So that’s the adaptive immune system. Now this is that next level of defense. And what we know through the adaptive immune system, being that this is delayed, that this is where our antibody-mediated immunity or our cell-mediated immunity comes into play. So this is when we think about our B cells, our helper T cells, our cytotoxic T cells. All of these fall into that category of the adaptive or the delayed immune response. We also consider this to be acquired immunity. So it’s the second line of defense. This can take several days. This can take weeks to fully develop. It really depends on what that actual exposure to a specific antigen is, that’s whatever is invading the body is what is going to determine the length of time for the acquired immunity to kind of kick in.† [00:09:37]
[00:09:38] So all of these things are working synergistically together. Now what’s very interesting about this is that every single part of the immune system, we’re thinking about the immune cells and whether it be innate or we’re thinking adaptive is highly reliant on different macronutrients, micronutrients, which is why if we have nutritional deficiencies, if we are not getting the right nutrients from our diet, this can weaken our immune defenses. Now, oftentimes we don’t talk about this enough. We just automatically turn towards, you know, OK, you have a bacterial infection. We’re going to give you antibiotic. And of course, that’s going to be the primary line of treatment. But the key thing is, is how do we stop that from even beginning in the first place?† [00:10:30]
[00:10:30] Now the way that we do that is by strengthening up our immune system. Having a good, healthy gut. This is so integral that to understand that 70% of our immune system is located within the intestines. So if we have chronic inflammation that’s occurring within our GI tract, this is going to compromise the integrity of that mucosal barrier, which makes us more vulnerable to all sorts of infections. So whether we’re thinking about a GI infection specifically or if we’re looking at a respiratory illness because at the end of the day, it is that driving force coming from our intestines that allows us to have this ability to drive away the potential negative effect of different pathogenic agents.† [00:11:37]
[00:11:39] Now we know that the micronutrients really come into play here when we’re thinking about all those B-vitamins. When we think about Vitamin A, Vitamin E. Most of the time when people think of their immune system, they think of zinc and they think of Vitamin C. But we have to have all of these different components. We have to have those dietary fatty acids, those omega-3 fatty acids. These are certainly integral to our immune defenses, both innate and adaptive. So our macronutrients, our micronutrients, incredibly important, and we can start to look at how each individual vitamin and mineral and fatty acid is actually working, how they’re helping to activate different genes.† [00:12:31]
[00:12:32] For example, Vitamin A is a key one to to look at this when we think about our generation of antibody responses to a specific antigen. Vitamin A is really key to this. So when we think about our adaptive immune system, Vitamin A now… Well, I guess we oftentimes focus so much on Vitamin C, but Vitamin A is very important for this, so not to go too heavy into each individual vitamin and mineral… We know Vitamin D clearly much more than just for bone health. We have to understand how Vitamin D is integral to the immune system response and the transcription of multiple different genes in the body that help with the activation of both the innate and the adaptive immune system responses. And then, of course, when we look at something like Vitamin C, we know that Vitamin C definitely is working along that pathway of both the innate and the adaptive. So a lot of different moving parts and all of these have to be working efficiently in order for our body to be able to react and respond accordingly to anything that may be trying to invade us or to attack us.† [00:14:00]
[00:14:01] Now, to look more specifically at the different defense barriers that we have in the system… I had mentioned the physical barriers, thinking about the skin, thinking about our gastric juices, but we also have to think about the, you know, temperature regulation in the body. So we have, you know, pH, so the acidity of the body. We think about the temperature of the body. This is why when we get sick, oftentimes the body will start to heat up. So that fever response is to try to naturally kill off… So while a fever is never fun, that’s the body’s way through that innate immune system. So that’s a perfect example of the innate immune system saying, “Hey, something bad has happened. We need to cook this thing.” So this is just an example of those different defensive barriers that our wonderful innate immune response is actually doing for us.† [00:15:08]
[00:15:09] And then looking further down the road when we get into that delayed immune response, we’re looking at the adaptive. This is where the science gets really very interesting because now we’re dealing with these antibodies, we’re dealing with B cells, we’re dealing with T cells. We have these MHC complexes, so this is the major histocompatible complexes. So this is all very, very detailed and it just shows why when we think about different illnesses, whether it’s a virus, whether we’re thinking about, you know, COVID, whether we’re thinking about influenza, whether we’re thinking about Staphylococcus aureus or, you know, Bacillus cereus infections in the body that so many different moving parts are working to keep us healthy. And it really is. It’s so incredibly impressive to think that we are designed this way, that we have these different immunoglobulins that all have these specific purposes. You know, we have IgE, which we know helps with the response within mast cells and histamine. We have IgA, which releases secretory IgA, for example. So we have all of these different immunoglobulins. You can look say, for example, if you had an exposure to, let’s just say, hepatitis, this is one of the ways that they track, is they look for the immunoglobulin response because remember, this is that delayed response. So I get incredibly excited about this because when it comes to immunopathology, I find it so interesting just to see how this simple little cell in the body can be doing all of these many different functions to communicate with this other simple little cell in the body to make sure that we can still exist, that a particular virus or parasite or bacteria isn’t getting into our system and taking us over.† [00:17:22]
[00:17:23] But it’s not just limited, as I mentioned, to to these different pathogens. You know, we can think about chronic inflammation. We can look at the autoimmune component and I’m going to talk about that in another podcast, talking about what is autoimmunity and why does this occur? And what triggers that? So all of these things are so interesting to, to study and to really have a good foundational understanding of. So seeing how much research as far back as probably the last two decades is really focused in on the microbiota. So understanding how the microbiome, those trillions of bacteria that inhabit our bodies, how those are actually working to communicate with our immune cells to help to keep us healthy. And so that’s why if you have an unhealthy gut, you are basically weakening your immune system. And I’m also going to talk about the immune system in aging and in that setting of immunosenescence and why that matters, why we have to make sure that we’re taking in the right nutrients, that we’re doing the right things when it comes to our lifestyle to enhance our body’s ability to fend off any of these potential problems that can certainly arise.† [00:18:52]
[00:18:53] So at the end of the day, we know that we have this immediate response called the innate immunity, and then we have this delayed response that’s called adaptive immunity. We know that within that, we have the requirement of all of these different vitamins and minerals and fatty acids that play an integral role into the way both the innate and the adaptive immune system are working on our behalf. So while immunology in and of itself and immunopathology and understanding all of these different things is just its own field of medicine. So we’re not all trying to be immunologists today, but what we do want to understand is the complexity of the human immune system and why we should not just take it for granted that, you know, if we catch a cold, no big deal, because oftentimes it is no big deal. The immune system can respond. But if we’re doing things to make our immune system weaker, then it is a big deal because we want to be able to respond in the most appropriate and efficient way possible. So understanding the immune system is key to understanding what we can be doing moving forward throughout our lives to make sure that our immune system is not going through this weakening process that is brought on by ourselves.† [00:20:33]
[00:20:34] So I’m going to talk in the next podcast about the aging immune system, and specifically it is called immunosenescence. I’m going to talk about immunosenescence, what that means to our overall immune defenses, what we can do when it comes to restoring that and maintaining a more favorable immune defense mechanism. So there’s a lot to the immune system. I can only cover so much when it comes to really getting into the science behind it because it is, I said, it’s its own field of medicine and research, and it takes years and years to really fully understand the interrelation between how these different cells and how these different micro and macronutrients are all working synergistically together.† [00:21:32]
[00:21:33] So that is all that I have for you for today. Do make sure that you tune in to part two where I will talk about immunosenescence and the aging immune system. I want to thank you so much for your continued support of InViteⓇ Health. And 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.† [00:21:33]
*Exit music*