Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
There are a few key factors that help your lymphatic system function properly, including water and Nucleotides. But today we are going to speak about a specific strain of Probiotics that are also beneficial – Bifidobacterium animalis subspecies lactis.
Your lymphatic system functions as a sort of circulatory system for your immune system, balancing fluids and fighting viruses. This is why it is so important to know about certain nutrients that can help support it.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH.
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DHEA is the most abundant circulating hormone in your body. It plays very specific roles in the support of cardiovascular health, maintaining muscle mass, our general sense of wellbeing, supporting a good mood, as well as a healthy immune system!
What is DHEA?
While DHEA is a hormone (a chemical messenger), it is the most abundant of all of the human adrenal steroids that travel throughout the body. DHEA stands for dehydroepiandrosterone and is a hormone that is produced mainly by the adrenal glands. When we think about other adrenal hormones, we may think about cortisol (the stress hormone). When cortisol levels are high, this can actually offset or impact the role of this important hormone. It actually pushes the hormone level down, which is certainly not a good thing.
Another powerful immune-booster? Nucleotides! Listen now >>
As we age, our natural production of this hormone in the body begins to decline. It is estimated that by the time we are 70 years old, our DHEA levels have declined by upwards of 75%. This is due to many different factors, including chronic disease states and chronic stress. Restoring by supplementation can be beneficial for many different reasons, as stated above.
Immune Health Benefits
Your immune system is reliant on chemical messengers, such as DHEA, for optimal performance. There are tons of clinical research that shows that it plays a role in our innate immune response. A 2008 study published in the Current Rheumatology Reports Journal looked at the role of DHEA in systemic lupus. Many times, when individuals have autoimmune dysfunction, just like with lupus, their doctors will fail to test their hormone levels, specifically DHEA and Vitamin D levels. Research shows that if these levels are low, this can be a reason as to why people are having exacerbations of an autoimmune condition. In this study, researchers studied the effect of DHEA on the immune cell function. They report, “Numerous reports indicate that DHEA can improve immune cell function by regulating the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.” This hormone was shown to have a significant impact on cytokine production in the immune cells.†
Probiotics can also help boost immunity. Listen now >>
In 1997, The Gerontology Biological Science and Medicine Journal researchers were talking about the activation of immune function, particularly if DHEA supplementation could help boost the immune system. Participants with low levels were given 50mg of a DHEA supplement for 20 weeks. They found that this translated into improved immunity against bacteria, viruses as well as fungal infections.†
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.
Vitamin D literally unites your immune system, helping it work in a more balanced way and making it very important during cough and cold season and in the protection of your lungs.
Right now during this pandemic, we all want to make sure we are taking the appropriate steps and measures to enhance our immune defenses. Nucleotides are a really beneficial way to do that.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
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Today we will be discussing the important role of micronutrients and the immune system, and understanding how the immune system itself is working based on levels of key vitamins and minerals. If we are not obtaining adequate amounts of these micronutrients from our diet alone then this could create a hinderance to our immune defenses. This is really interesting and important information, in terms of the way these key vitamins and minerals are working across many different mechanisms with our immune system as a whole.
The Proper Function of the Immune System
There are many micronutrients that play a huge role in the immune response within our bodies. Having adequate amounts of these key essential nutrients is necessary in order to ensure the proper function of our immune system. The micronutrients that have been shown to have the strongest evidence for immune support include Vitamin C, Vitamin D and Zinc. But how do they work to enhance our immune defenses?
There are different layers of defense that our body provides us in order to protect us from bacteria, viruses and other factors that can compromise our health. Our skin is the first line of defense and is considered a physical barrier. Your GI tract, the lining of your intestines, and the gut microbiota (healthy bacteria in your gut) is the second line of defense. The next is on a cellular level; different lymphocytes, phagocytes, granulocytes and antibodies are included in this. These are the different layers within the immune system.
What are the basic nutrients needed during COVID-19? Click here to learn more >>
But there are different forms of immune systems too. Our innate immune system occurs very fast and happens within minutes of exposure. We have biochemical mechanisms like an inflammatory response that occur in the innate immune system. Our adaptive immune system is considered our acquired immunity; it includes our B and T cells. There is a strong connection between our innate and adaptive immune systems and micronutrients.
Crash course on immunology
Say you have an exposure to a particular pathogen, like COVID-19. We recognize that we have these different physical barriers – our skin, our respiratory airways. Then we look and see which nutrients are affected and what contributes to the actual integrity of those physical barriers, like Vitamins A, C, D, E and B-Vitamins. Our innate immune response is where you get this big flood of all of these key micronutrients – Zinc, Copper, Selenium and Magnesium.
My Recommendations
This is why I advise taking a simple daily multivitamin that includes Grape Seed extract. One tablet of a superior, non-GMO multivitamin mineral formula can provide you with these key nutrients. It may even be advantageous to take additional isolated nutrients on top of that. You may want to add in a B-Complex formula, a Vitamin C supplement or Vitamin D supplement. We know that Americans tend to be deficient or insufficient in things such as Magnesium, Zinc and Vitamin D. This is why you should always try to incorporate them into your daily supplemental routine.†
B-Vitamins are all involved in our intestinal immune regulation and in supporting the gut barrier for immunity. We can also look at Zinc, which has been shown to maintain the integrity of the skin and mucosal membranes. Vitamin C is very important and required for proper Collagen synthesis, to protect cell membranes from damages caused by free radicals. Vitamin D is responsible for modifying the intestinal microbiota to have a healthier composition of those microbes, the bacteria that are in our intestines and maintain our immune defenses. All of these things support the integrity of the epithelial barriers.†
In terms of your diet, you may want to start to follow a Mediterranean Diet for overall health and wellness. It includes meat and fish, nuts, olive oil and tons of fruits and vegetables to provide you with the nutrition you need for healthy immunity.
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.