Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
As we age, our bodies experience something called immunosenescence, in which the immune system begins to function less efficiently. This can impact our ability to fend off pathogens, allergens and more.
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, immunity has been on everyone’s mind. But how much do you know about the immune system? Learn about the basics of how your body defends itself from pathogens and invaders in this episode of the InVite Health Podcast.
bronchitis
InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
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With cold and flu season being right around the corner, that means it is time for acute bronchitis season to flare up as well. Today I want to talk about what acute bronchitis is and what you can be doing to support your respiratory system.†
Every single year, roughly 5% of the population deals with acute bronchitis. This can lead to over 10 million office visits at doctor’s appointments every single year. Like many viral diseases of the respiratory tract, acute bronchitis is commonly seen in the fall and winter months.†
Acute bronchitis is an acute inflammation that occurs in the respiratory bronchi. This triggers the secondary inflammatory response in the body. The inflammation in the bronchial walls leads to a mucosal thickening, which is incredibly problematic. If someone has acute bronchitis, they will present with this very productive cough and will often have a difficult time breathing. They may also experience wheezing. The predominant complaint is this thick mucus that you continue to cough up.†
When you’re dealing with bronchitis, you just want it to go away. We know that viral infections are the main driver to this. We can look at natural ways to allow your immune system to get a better grasp on the respiratory system and provide the body with an added layer of protection.†
We can look at things such as N-acetylcysteine (NAC). This is great because it helps to bolster up your natural glutathione production. It also helps to thin out the mucus in the respiratory bronchi and lungs that is thickened by the inflammatory system. Oftentimes when people have or are prone to acute bronchitis and they have this hacking cough for several weeks, NAC can do so much in terms of minimizing those yucky symptoms.†
Formulations such as the Immunity HxⓇ can also be beneficial to get much-needed Vitamin C, Vitamin D and zinc. We also have to look at things like black seed extract, which helps to ease inflammation throughout the respiratory system. It’s combined with rosemary extract and it really helps to offset some of the other allergen triggers, such as histamine. The addition of cordyceps mushrooms also helps to enhance our immune defenses. It’s a really great formulation combination for acute bronchitis.†
In this episode, Amanda Williams, MPH discusses acute bronchitis, what causes it and the symptoms commonly associated with it. She also provides recommendations for nutrients that can help fend off this inflammation within the respiratory system.†
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It’s never too early to start making sure your immune system is working to its best ability. Learn about the nutrients you need to help defend your body this winter in Part 2 of this podcast from Jerry Hickey, Ph.
As the cold weather of fall and winter approach, it’s important to know what factors can impact your immune health. Learn more from Jerry Hickey, Ph.
Written by Jerry Hickey, Ph.
As the weather begins to get colder, there are factors that change that can impact our body’s ability to protect itself. It’s important to be aware of these changes and how they impact the way viruses spread during the fall and winter, as well as how this affects our overall immune health.†
There are concrete reasons for getting sick with a virus more frequently in winter than in summer. The atmosphere directly contributes. The air outside is a lot heavier in the summer. It is loaded with moisture that makes the air thicker and heavier, so a sneeze or cough can thrust air carrying a virus a shorter distance in the summer, causing the virus laden air to quickly drop to the ground.†
In the winter the air is very dry. Coughs can shoot viruses for ten feet at 100 miles per hour, while a sneeze can travel at half that speed for about 5 feet. It’s also very cold outside, so we are more frequently clustered together inside at a close proximity. The air inside is more arid, it’s as dry as the Gobi Desert. That sneeze or cough is more likely to reach us. To make things worse, many viruses thrive in colder air. The flu and cold viruses are stronger and more infective in winter versus summer.†
Additionally, there are seasonal variations in the level of nutrients in our body that are key for the function of the immune system and responsible for our ability to survive dangerous infections. There are seasonal variations in our body’s levels of zinc, Vitamin C and Vitamin D. There is less to go around in our blood during the fall and winter months. Their levels decline and this is bad news for our immune systems.†
Zinc is needed to create immune cells and it has an incredibly important job to do. It is needed to make antibodies. Antibodies are made in response to an infection or a vaccine. The antibodies fit a virus or bacterium perfectly and call in other immune cells to slice and dice the specific infection. Fewer antibodies translates to lowered resistance, increased risk of serious infection and increased risk of reinfection. Research shows that older people and children who are low in zinc have a higher risk of developing pneumonia and other infections. In Africa, where zinc levels are frequently low, it is much more common to develop diarrheal diseases. A recent review of human clinical studies shows that taking zinc within the first 24 hours of developing the symptoms of a cold shortens its duration and reduces the severity of its symptoms. You are less sick and for a shorter time. Taking zinc in the fall and winter is a good strategy to achieve optimal immune system function. I would shoot for about 30mg a day to help build up your zinc level. Supplementing with zinc is even more important with age because it becomes harder to absorb zinc from our food. Additionally, many commonly prescribed medications used by the elderly can deplete zinc.†
NEW FINDINGS: COVID-19 AND ZINC – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 248. Listen Now>>
Like zinc, our level of Vitamin C declines in the fall and winter. Vitamin C is required for chemotaxis and respiratory burst. Chemotaxis is the ability of immune cells to travel to the site of the infection. Respiratory burst is basically the ability of these immune cells to kill the infection. When you are infected, your immune cells soak up the available Vitamin C in proximity, travel to the infection soon after exposure and commence assassinating the virus. With insufficient Vitamin C, fewer cells reach the site of infection and upon reaching it, have a lowered ability to do their job of slicing and dicing. On Long Island during this COVID-19 pandemic, doctors at Northwell Health hospitals are giving infected hospitalized patients Vitamin C by infusion to improve their chances of fighting off these more serious cases increasing their chances of surviving.†
There is very little Vitamin D in our food. Most of our Vitamin D is expected to be made via an interaction with the sun’s ultraviolet radiation and the cholesterol in our skin. This form is not yet active, but is an inactive storage form of the vitamin called 25-hydroxycholecalciferol and it is then stored in our liver. Later on, some of it is released and is activated in our kidneys for generalized activities. More recent research has shown that our immune cells can also activate Vitamin D, illustrating how important it is to our immune system. The greatest issue is we show less skin and receive less sunshine in the fall and winter. Add to this the lessened ability of darker skin tones or older skin to create the Vitamin D precursor out of sunshine and we have a real drop in our plasma level of vitamin D in the colder weather. Our levels plummet if we don’t take a supplement. 2,000 IU a day of Vitamin D3, the preferred form of vitamin D, taken once a day with a meal should be sufficient for many but not all people.†
IMMUNE BENEFITS OF VITAMIN C, ZINC & VITAMIN D – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 118. Listen Now>>
Nucleotides is a very interesting supplement. I keep bottles at home in my pantry and at the first sign of a cold, I take it. When a virus enters our body it quickly replicates. To meet this head on and defeat the virus, our immune cells must also quickly replicate to match the number of viral cells. This takes a lot of energy. Nucleotides supply quick energy for our immune system.†
Here are some additional nutrients that offer powerful support for the immune system during the fall and winter:†