Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
The Common Cold! Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Today we will be talking about something everyone knows about and that topic is the common cold! Having a cold is probably one thing that both children and adults understand. But what cause’s a cold? Well when …
Boost your Immune Health with Beta Immunity Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Today I want to talk about a supplement that is great for those times when you’re fighting off a cold or other upper respiratory infection. That supplement is Beta Immunity! Beta Immunity is …
Seasonal Allergies!
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Achoo! Achoo! Is it a cold? It is just dusty? Nope! Its allergy season! And along with allergy season is all the symptoms of allergies. Having symptoms of allergies tend to come during what is known as allergy season. Some people have symptoms during every allergy season, whereas other people have symptoms only during “bad” allergy seasons. But what exactly do we mean by allergy season? What causes us to feel so poorly? And lastly what are the symptoms of allergies and what can you do to alleviate them?
Basically allergy season is the time when certain allergens, especially pollen are released by plants. This seasonal release of pollen triggers seasonal allergies to flare up. In the US we tend to consider there to be 2 main seasons for pollen to release. In fall there is mainly ragweed. In spring there is tree pollen, in many parts of the US there may be grass pollen throughout a great deal of the year. In addition to ragweed pollen and tree/grass pollen other plants that commonly trigger allergies include Burning bush, Cocklebur, Lambs-quarter, Pigweed, Sagebrush, Mugwort, Tumbleweed and Russian thistle. (1) Just to sum things up allergy season is basically the times during the year when plants are releasing their pollen and this triggers the symptoms of allergens.
Now I bet your thinking but doc HOW does pollen cause me all these troubles? Basically when our body comes into contact with something your allergic to it treats it as a pathogen or bad guy. In order to protect us from the allergens the immune system releases histamines, leukotrienes and prostaglandins. These trigger a chemical reaction that is responsible for the symptoms of allergies.
Let’s review some of the more common seasonal allergy symptoms. First off it is very common to feel congested. This can lead to a runny nose, runny eyes and a post nasal drip. There is often sneezing as well as cough. In addition to a runny nose there may be an itchy nose, eyes and throat. Very often there is fatigue. (2) There may also be headache and sinus pressure. You may also develop dark circles under your eyes. Your eyes may also become red where the whites are. If you experience severe allergies you may have wheezing and even trouble breathing. (3) What is the difference symptoms wise between having seasonal allergies and a cold? Take a look at the following chart to help answer that question. (4)
What kind of tests can you do to determine if allergies are causing your symptoms? To start with the doctor can do a skin test. When you do a skin test the doctor will prick the skin and then inject a tiny amount of what you suspect you may be allergic to. A positive test will result in your skin becoming red, inflamed and swollen. The other option is to get a blood test done. Both tests have different benefits so it’s important to discuss your options with an allergist. (3)
What can you do to help reduce the signs of seasonal allergies? The first thing you can do is to pay attention to the daily pollen and mold spore count. When the levels are high it may be better to avoid outdoor activities. When pollen counts are high it is also helpful to close the windows to seal out the pollen. It’s also helpful to wear a hat and a mask when you are outside. Then once you come back inside its important to change your clothes as well as shower. It can also be helpful to begin medications as well as supplements before the start of allergy season. (2) Speaking of supplements what can you do to help with allergy symptoms?
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VEGETABLES~GREENS AND BEYOND By: Allie Might, FMC, INHC, ATT Vegetables and greens always seem to be the most difficult for people to eat enough of on a daily basis. As I’ve talked to people over the years on this subject, I’ve noticed a few …
Understanding the Complexity of Asthma Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND As I mentioned in my prior blog today I will be talking about a well-known respiratory condition. That condition is Asthma. Let’s take the time to go over just how common it is, shall we? …
Immunity Hx
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
I wanted to do my product highlight on what I consider to be the cornerstone of immune heath. In fact Immune is in its very name, Immunity Hx! Immunity Hx is a combination of vitamin C, vitamin D3 and Zinc! Immunity Hx has 500 mg of vitamin C, 2000 IUs (50mcg) of vitamin D3 and 30mg of zinc. Each of these nutrients has numerous studies showing how they can benefit our immunity.
Let’s start with vitamin C. Vitamin C is called an essential nutrient because it is a key nutrient for different pathways in our body yet our body is unable to make it. In other words we must get vitamin c in either our diet or in supplement form. In fact in western populations studies have found that vitamin c deficiency is common and in fact is the fourth leading nutrient deficiency in the US. Vitamin C deficiency may be caused by poor diet, drug or tobacco use, alcohol use, various chronic disease and even by pollution. There are four aspects of our immune system that are positively affected by vitamin C. These are the epithelial barriers, phagocytes, lymphocytes and inflammatory mediators. Please see the attached Table for all the ways vitamin c affects these parts of the immune system. (1)
Table 1
Role of vitamin C in immune defense.
| Immune System | Function of Vitamin C | Refs. |
| Epithelial barriers | Enhances collagen synthesis and stabilization | [30,31,32,33,34,35] |
| Protects against ROS-induced damage 1 | [36,37,38,39,40] | |
| Enhances keratinocyte differentiation and lipid synthesis | [41,42,43,44,45] | |
| Enhances fibroblast proliferation and migration | [46,47] | |
| Shortens time to wound healing in patients | [48,49] | |
| Phagocytes (neutrophils, macrophages) | Acts as an antioxidant/electron donor | [50,51,52,53] |
| Enhances motility/chemotaxis | [54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63] | |
| Enhances phagocytosis and ROS generation | [64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71] | |
| Enhances microbial killing | [54,55,57,58,70,72] | |
| Facilitates apoptosis and clearance | [71,73,74] | |
| Decreases necrosis/NETosis | [73,75] | |
| B- and T-lymphocytes | Enhances differentiation and proliferation | [62,63,76,77,78,79,80,81,82] |
| Enhances antibody levels | [78,83,84,85] | |
| Inflammatory mediators | Modulates cytokine production | [75,77,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94] |
| Decreases histamine levels | [56,61,95,96,97,98,99,100,101] |
1 ROS, reactive oxygen species; NET, neutrophil extracellular trap. Note that many of these studies comprised marginal or deficient vitamin C status at baseline. Supplementation in situations of adequate vitamin C status may not have comparable effects.
Vitamin C has been found in studies to help fight different viral infections. (2) Other studies have found that vitamin C can cut the length of a cold in half. Additionally other studies have found vitamin C can help to prevent pneumonia. Studies have even found that vitamin C can help with tetanus. (3)
The next nutrient in Immunity Hx is vitamin D3. While most people think of D3 as just being for bone health there really is much more that D3 does for our health. Studies have indicated that having low vitamin D can increase the risk of infections. Vitamin D3 is interesting because unlike vitamin C it can be made by the body. (4) However, in my clinical experience reading over blood work I have found many people to have lower than optimum D levels that would suggest they would benefit from a D3 supplement. A number of studies have found an association between low levels of D3 and higher rates of infections such as the flu, vaginosis and HIV. (4) In one study vitamin D supplementation was found to decrease rates of seasonal influenza in school children. (5) Studies looking how vitamin D3 works have found that vitamin D3 is able to stimulate antimicrobial genes to activate. Thus vitamin D works to stimulate antimicrobial proteins and helps the body to fight off infections. (6) Overall vitamin D is an important supplement for our overall immunity. (4)
The last nutrient in Immunity Hx is zinc. Several studies have found that using zinc within 24 hours of catching a cold can decrease the length and severity of the cold symptoms. (7) Zinc like vitamin C is considered to be an essential nutrient for our health. Zinc deficiency like vitamin C is more common than we would expect and in fact it appears that as many as up to 2 billion people in the developing world may have a zinc deficiency. (8) Zinc deficiency has been found to affect multiple parts of the immune system. When zinc is deficient there’s parts of the immune system that are comprised and we become vulnerable to disease. (9) Overall studies have concluded that zinc is essential for our immune system to work to prevent illness. (1)
Overall the studies on vitamins C, D and zinc have one major thing to say. And that is these nutrients are all important for building our immune system and thus they all help us fight pathogens. Personally I like the Immunity Hx because it contains all 3 important nutrients in 1 supplement!
Our next blog will be something you may have heard of, Asthma!
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