The Overlooked Impact of Vitamin D To Overall Health – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 230
Many people think of Vitamin D simply for bone health without really understanding all it does to maintain our overall health and wellness.
Tag: immunity
Can You Catch Alzheimer’s Disease?, Part 2 – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 228
There is evidence that specific and varied infections organisms, certain viruses and bacteria, can trigger the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.
Supporting More Than Immunity With Mushrooms – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 225
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Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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When we think about the human immune system, we have to understand that it is a very complex series of pathways and different enzymes and reactions that occur to give us the ability to fend off different bacteria, viruses and parasites. It really is in and of itself a very intricate series of steps that occur and so much of this is truly dependent on how we take nutrients in from our diet, as well as supplements we are taking. We know that if we are lacking even just basic vitamins and minerals, this can really impede our immune system’s ability to fend off these types of foreign invaders.†
That’s why I want to talk about different things you can be doing when it comes to optimizing your immune defenses. Specifically, I want to talk about mushrooms. This is really a fascinating bit of information when we look at the science behind mushroom extracts, so not only incorporating mushrooms into your diet, but also utilizing mushroom extract.
We know that when we’re utilizing mushrooms as a dietary supplementation, they provide nutritional support for a healthy immune system. When we talk about all of the ways that the immune system is working, we know that when we incorporate these in, we are now exposing our body to a high amount of antioxidants, polyphenols and flavonoids. Also, mushrooms have naturally-occurring Vitamin D, as well as other vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, all of these things our immune system relies on. By having mushroom extract on board as a supplement, this helps our body in terms of enhancing our Vitamin D status, essential fatty acids and key minerals. All of this has been studied extensively when we look at mushrooms.†
The Benefits of Mushrooms Explained – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 161. Listen Now >>
Other benefits of mushrooms
Aside from benefitting the immune system, mushrooms and mushroom extract have other important roles in the body.
When it comes to anti-aging, for example, Penn State University looked at how mushrooms are packed with all of these antioxidants, which can really help to fend off oxidative stress and damage done at that cellular level. They said that mushrooms contain an unusually high amount of two specific antioxidants that the scientists and researchers at Penn State University believe could help fight off aging and at the same time, bolster health.†
This particular study found high amounts of ergothioneine and glutathione from mushrooms. We know that glutathione is one of our most important endogenous antioxidants. This is really quite key because as we get older, sometimes our natural production of glutathione goes down. We also know that oxidative stress is going to create cellular damage and mitochondrial dysfunction from those free radicals, and when those free radicals do a significant amount of damage, it can alter the true functionality of the cell, which is going to screw up many different functions that the body relies on each and every single day.†
Clinical Studies Say Mushrooms Provide Brain Power – Invite Health Podcast , Episode 168. Listen Now >>
Penn State University also recognized the importance that mushrooms were playing as a prebiotic and how this actually was helping to stabilize blood glucose levels. They’re very much into mushroom research. From this study, what they were analyzing was looking at how mushrooms could actually change the composition of gut microbes, that microbiome that we talk about so often and how that plays an integral role in terms of our immune system and in that gut-brain connection. They realized that the mushroom extracts or the mushrooms that you take in from your diet play a really key role in the production of short-chain fatty acids and it is through that that it works in a sense as a prebiotic. Through that stabilization of the microbiome, they have found that that can actually help to regulate the blood glucose levels.†
Tune into the full podcast episode to learn about more ways mushrooms can benefit the body.
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
How Multivitamins Can Support Immunity – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 217
There’s mounting evidence that taking a high quality multivitamin in the winter can help boost immunity. But not all are created equal.
Why Medical Professionals Are Utilizing Vitamin C For COVID Patients, Part 2 – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 215
Medical professionals are utilizing Vitamin C for COVID patients. Here’s why Vitamin C is so important for the immune system.
Why Medical Professionals Are Utilizing Vitamin C For COVID Patients, Part 1 – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 214
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Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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Vitamin C is very important for the proper function of your immune system. The largest hospital system in New York State is the Northwell Hospital group. It’s comprised of 23 member hospitals. A recent article in The New York Post reported on seriously sick coronavirus patients being admitted to the hospital. They were given large doses of Vitamin C by infusion. It was injected directly into their veins. Dr. Andrew Weber, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist affiliated with Northwell Health facilities on Long Island, said that his intensive care patients with the coronavirus immediately received 1500mg of Vitamin C by intravenous infusion. They gave the patients an identical amount three or four times a day until they were getting better. Dr. Weber based this regiment off experimental treatments administered to people with coronavirus in Shanghai, China.
Dr. Weber said, “The patients who received the vitamin did significantly better than those who did not get it. It helps a tremendous amount, but it’s not highlighted because it’s not a sexy drug.”
A spokesman for Northwell Health said that Vitamin C was being used widely as a coronavirus treatment throughout the system, but they noted that the medication protocols vary from patient to patient. It depended on what the clinician decided.
The Wonders of Vitamin C – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 200. Listen Now >>
Dr. Weber said that Vitamin C levels drop dramatically in patients with coronavirus when it’s causing real problems. The COVID-19 virus can trigger a severe inflammatory reaction in the body. It’s kind of like a whiplash reaction from your immune system. The immune system releases massive amounts of interleukin-6, a very powerful cytokine that can cause severe inflammation if too much of it is expressed. They call this a cytokine storm. There’s a coronavirus-specific type of pneumonia that they can pick up on in x-rays, and this triggers acute respiratory distress syndrome, where the lining of the lungs fills up with fluid and it’s hard for you to breathe. According to medical professionals, this vitamin helps to tamp down the level of interleukin 6 so you’re less likely to have that cytokine storm that’s so dangerous in the latter stages of the coronavirus infection. It also restores the release of interferons, which are mediators in the immune system that trigger the production of more immune cells to kill a virus.†
Why is Vitamin C so important to medical professionals?
This is an important update on Vitamin C and COVID-19. It is a crucial vitamin that is necessary for the correct functioning of your immune system. It has effects on the immune system that help the body to eradicate viruses. I consider Vitamin C to be an adjunctive nutrient to support the immune system, meaning that it’s an add-on to whatever the doctor’s prescribing, just like I would consider Vitamin D and Zinc to be adjunctive, and very important, therapies.
When you’re admitted to the hospital with an infection, your Vitamin C levels drop like crazy. This is because the immune system is soaking it up. They found recently that, in COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, they couldn’t even detect this vitamin in their blood plasma. Plasma is the clear fluid in your blood. That’s where they would look for Vitamin C, but when they looked at the plasma, the Vitamin C was so low that they couldn’t even detect it with their equipment.†
New Research: Nitric Oxide Beneficial During COVID-19. Learn More >>
Vitamin C is needed to get immune cells from point A to point B. For instance, the first responders are called neutrophils. They’re a type of white blood cell. If you get enough neutrophils at the site of an infection, it basically wipes it out. But the neutrophils may not necessarily be at the site where you’re developing the infection. They have to be mobilized and transported. Vitamin C is needed for that. It’s called chemotaxis. Once the neutrophil gets to the site of the infection, it has to release its arsenal of weapons to kill the virus. That’s called respiratory burst and that also requires Vitamin C. Your local immune cells soak up it up like crazy at the start of an infection to get there and to kill the virus.†
For more information about the importance of Vitamin C in your body, tune into the full podcast episode.
Vitamin C used in the intensive care unit
Here’s a study on Vitamin C and people in the intensive care unit. This is not coronavirus, these are other infections. It’s in the journal Nutrients and it was done by researchers at the University of Helsinki and the University of Sydney. They gave people in intensive care units 2000mg of Vitamin C a day, breaking it up into 1000mg twice a day. This was getting them out of the hospital a lot quicker.†
For more information on how specific nutrients can help the body fight infections, tune into the full podcast episode, and stay tuned for a second part of this episode coming tomorrow!
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
