Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Photo by Hean Prinsloo on Unsplash It is no secret that Probiotics are a necessity when it comes to keeping your gut (and skin and overall wellness) as optimized as possible. This is because the harmful bacteria in your body can lead to a number …
Bacteria is commonly thought of as negative. There are plenty of harmful bacteria that can lead to a number of risks when it comes to the bacteria inside of your body. But with harmful bacteria comes beneficial bacteria called Probiotics. Research suggests that choosing a …
It’s a common thought that we only need to pay attention to our immune system during the colder, drier months. The weather may be warmer during the Spring and Summer but just because cold and flu season is over, doesn’t mean your immune system is any less effected.
You’ve put away your heavy coat and traded it in for a lighter jacket. Spring is here and you are ready for warmer temperatures! But, even as flu season comes to a close, the inconsistent spring temperatures (especially if you’re in New York!) may actually increase your chances of getting a cold. You may also have allergies to worry about in the Spring, as flowers start to blossom and pollen starts to bloom. Good news! There are some tips to boost your immune system this Spring!
As the temperatures rise, you’ll want to spend more time outside in the sun. Research has shown that Vitamin D plays a major role in keeping your immune system strong. Spring is also the best time to start incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet, as seasonal fruits and vegetables are now widely available. This will help you get the vitamins and minerals you are looking for.
Outdoor allergies from tree pollen will be at an all time high during the spring. You may want to speak with a nutritionist about incorporating Black Seed or NAC into your diet. Black Seed, also known as Nigella Sativa, supports a healthy respiratory system, including helping to reduce the symptoms of allergies, like a runny nose and itchy eyes. NAC is a powerful antioxidant that helps support the lungs, as it breaks down the immune system’s chemical messengers and mucus, supporting nasal and respiratory health.†
You may feel healthier in the warmer months – the sun is shining and your energy is at an all time high – but that doesn’t mean you should turn your sights away from making sure your immune system is working at its best capacity. Keep your body working at its best by incorporating a Probiotic into your diet. Probiotics are healthy bacteria that are needed to support proper digestion and overall health. This includes everything from your weight to your skin health.
Getting enough sleep is also a great way to boost your summer immunity. Give your body a chance to recover from all of your summer activities like swimming and staying up late. Exercise is also very important! Sweating helps your body remove toxins and the summer is hot enough that every outdoor activity can induce some sweat! So get moving and also sleep well!
Oh no! Fall means that cold and flu season is approaching! But don’t worry – a strong immune system can keep you healthy all season long. You’ll want to be sure to include healthy foods in your diet, exercise regularly and take some immune-boosting supplements to keep your body working at its best.
Green tea is a great option for both your immune system and to provide you with a little warmth during those Fall evenings or mornings. With powerful antioxidant protection, one cup may give you the boost you are looking for. Nucleotides, naturally found in fish, poultry, and legumes, are considered the building blocks that provide the energy your body needs to support all of its major functions. Nucelotides have been shown in research to support a boost in immunity, increase energy and endurance and improve the body’s natural ability to resist infections.†
This time of year, many of us get stuck in a mental rut – less sunlight, colder temperatures and added stress from school, the approaching holidays and much more can leave us feeling run down. The good news is that there are a few things you can do to be sure your immunity is one of the things that is working at its best. Winter workouts are always a great idea, if you bundle up! You’ll want to increase your Vitamin D intake as well, as the low sunlight levels can lead to a vitamin D deficiency if you aren’t consuming enough from your diet alone. Speak with a nutritionists on what your level should be.
Eating the right mood-boosting foods can help! Stay clear of highly refined carbs and sugar that can throw off your blood sugar levels and leaving you feeling worse! Stick to foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids, protein and vitamin B.
There are plenty of things you can do each season in order to keep your immune system working at its best.
Written by Nicole Crane BS, NTP After water, green tea (along with its white and black variants) from the Camellia sinesis shrub, is the most consumed beverage in the world. There may be no beverage more salubrious. The tea plant is rich in valuable antioxidants …
NAC, N-Acetyl Cysteine, is an amino acid that has powerful antioxidant properties. Clinical studies have proved its benefit for a variety of health purposes including the support of the liver and kidneys, respiratory health, and immune system function. However, many are unfamiliar with this amino …
by Jerry Hickey, R.Ph.
Why are you so tired? Because the power-plants inside your cells are old and wrinkly! Within each of your trillions of cells (with few exceptions) there are tiny power plants called mitochondria. Some cells have a few hundred of these dynamos and some have thousands, depending on the type of cell; the power plants are strategically situated allover the cell so every little bit gets energy. These power-plants transform the metabolites derived from the fats and carbohydrates in your food, converting them into usable energy known as ATP. About ninety-percent of your bodies daily energy needs are met through ATP.
In much the same ways as your skin becomes old and wrinkled, your mitochondria also wrinkle and have a decreased ability to manufacture energy. Good news! Certain nutrients improve metabolism and foster energy production through their effects on the mitochondria, increasingly being referred to as mitochondrial nutrients. A nutrient known as Resveratrol, the red wine antioxidant, triggers the recycling of old power-plants breaking them down and reforming them into newly made and efficiently working mitochondria.
Two important mitochondrial nutrients are ALCAR and ALA. ALCAR is an excepted abbreviation for the amino acid Acetyl-L-Carnitine; this amino acid acts like the truck driver delivering fuel for the creation of ATP. ALA (the accepted abbreviation for the nutrient Alpha-Lipoic Acid) is part of the fuel itself. ALA is also a powerful antioxidant and restorative for nerve tissue. In fact, NF-Kappa B is an immune system messenger that triggers aging; an additional benefit to ALA is its ability to shut down NF-Kappa B slowing the aging process. When you supplement an aging body with these three supplements, you may improve metabolism and energy production. Human clinical trials show that these nutrients increase energy, reduce fatigue, and support many aspects of aging including brain function, heart function and circulation, sexual function, a better balance of blood fats and blood sugar, improved muscle mass with a decrease in truncal fat, and decreased generalized inflammation. They also support the health of your ears and eyes (both extensions of your brain), the sense of taste and smell, liver function, the efficiency of blood vessel walls and ALCAR and ALA are among the most important of all life-extending supplements.
Clinical trials show that one or more of these nutrients increase energy in the elderly (those over 80) and even in the very elderly (centenarians). They increase stamina in heart patients, increase energy in people with chronic diseases, in individuals on medications that cause fatigue, or in conditions associated with fatigue including chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, fibromyalgia, chemo-brain, and various viral infections. They are safe and good for anyone who needs energy.
Viral researchers at the School of Medicine at Wuhan University investigated the effects of Green Teas major antioxidant EGCG on the bird flu (influenza A) virus. EGCG was administered to human cells before, during and after infection with the flu virus. EGCG effectively inhibited the virus in these cells. To strengthen the evidence mice were infected with the flu. GreenTea’s EGCG reduced the death rate in the infected mice and decreased viral damage to the lungs; a major danger from the flu. The researchers concluded that EGCG has a strong effect against influenza A H1 N1 virus in a dose-dependent manner meaning the higher the dosage the better the effect.
Researchers from the University of Florida, Gainesville gave healthy adults either concentrated Green Tea capsules or inactive placebo twice a day for three months in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Green Tea capsules strongly reduced the number of people with the flu, reduced the duration of infection if they developed the flu, and reduced the number of days with any symptoms. The immune system of the subjects on green Tea had a much greater ability to fight the flu with a greater pool of disease fighting T cells and a better production of interferon gamma in response to infection. Interferon gamma is very important for fighting viruses, bacteria and tumor cells. The results of this study were published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition
An important group of people who need flu prevention are the elderly, since according to the CDC more than 90% of the deaths related to the infection occur in those over age 65. A recent study measured the effectiveness of gargling with green tea in elderly patients living together in a nursing home. Researchers in Japan measured the rate of influenza infection in two groups of nursing home residents, one gargling three times daily with green tea extract, and the other group gargling three times daily without green tea extract. All residents received influenza immunization prior to the gargling experiment. However, immunization often fails to protect the elderly. When a healthy person is immunized they make a pool of antibodies that protect them from future infection but because the elderly have an aging immune system they are not capable of making enough antibodies and they are still susceptible to infection. During the three month study period (January-March), many residents became infected with the flu in spite of the flu vaccination. However, 87% fewer residents gargling with green tea developed the flu compared to those gargling placebo; an astounding result. The results of the study were published in the journal Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
Your muscle stores glycogen; a reservoir for future fuel used for energy during physical activity. The reason why marathon runners gobble down pounds of pasta before a race is to increase the amount of glycogen stored in their muscles to help supply fuel longer during the race. Unless you are an elite athlete your glycogen stores are minimal, with less to burn during exercise and this affects your endurance. In fact, even elite athletes do not have enough glycogen to power an athletic event. However, their body compensates for this by switching to burning fat instead of glycogen. However, your body isn’t trained to do this; Green Tea may be your answer. Researchers at the Human Performance Laboratory, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom note that drinking Green tea promotes the burning of fat in humans even when they are resting. The scientists investigated the effects of green tea extract and its ability to burn fat during moderate-intensity exercise in human volunteers. Two crossover studies were performed.
In the 24-hour period before the experiment participants took 3 capsules containing either GTE supplying a total of 366mg EGCG, or they took an inactive placebo for comparisons sake. The results were fantastic; the men burnt 17% more fat while exercising if they supplemented with GTE. Moreover, they also derived a greater amount of their energy from fat and not muscle glycogen with this also improving by about 17%. Green Tea Extract also improved insulin sensitivity by 13% in study B. The studies are published in the March 2008 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Nucleotides are the essential building blocks for all cells in our body; this is the reason why they offer such a wide variety of benefits, especially for energy, immunity, and healing. Nucleotides are naturally found in small amounts in some nutritious foods including liver, fish, and brewers yeast and they are an important component of breast milk needed for the development of a quickly growing baby. We also constantly require Nucleotides, especially for tissues that turnover quickly, such as the cells of the immune system or for any organ when healing takes place after surgery or an accident.
When it comes to immune system function there is a great deal of evidence showing how Nucleotide supplements act as regulators of the immune system and studies show that Nucleotides stimulate the production of antibodies to fight an infection. A study shows that Nucleotides maintain immune system function during intense exercise and that they offset the negative effects of stress hormones which would offset the increased risk of a cold or flu infection in elite athletes and exercisers. A previous study at Queen Margaret University College in Scotland demonstrates that Nucleotides help prevent secondary infections in people with a cold or flu infection; flu patients are in a weakened state and often develop a secondary infection usually as bacterial pneumonia and this is the major killer responsible for most deaths attributed to the flu. The same study shows that Nucleotides decrease the severity of symptoms in patients infected with a cold or flu including sore throat (20% reduction), muscle ache (15% reduction), headache (40% reduction), with a strong reduction in sinus and ear pain.
Nucleotides also support energy production, after all our old friend ATP is a Nucleotide and it supplies 90 percent of your body’s daily energy needs. This effect is handy during recuperation, during an infection or illness, while exercising or dieting.
