Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
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 …
The Wonders of Black Seed Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND I am very excited to start this conversation on black seed. Black Seed is an amazing nutrient for our respiratory system. Invite health has a unique formula which includes Black Seed, Cordyceps and Rosemary Extract. …
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!
Sources:
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Reds Hx… for our heart! Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND I wanted to talk about Reds Hx next because it’s really the perfect partner to Greens Hx. Since Reds Hx is so full of heart healthy nutrients I am going to jump right into things …
IMMUNITY MULTI: THE MUST HAVE WINTER MULTIVITAMIN
By: Allie Might, FMC, INHC, ATT
As kids growing up, most of us took a daily multi, probably chewable. We looked forward to taking these every morning before heading off to school, many of us picking our favorite cartoon character multi for that day. It was like that important multi choice each day gave us strength, power, confidence and energy to get through the school day. However, somewhere along the way, as we grew up, that daily multi routine became less of a fun morning ritual and more of a chore, causing many of us to give up the multivitamin all together. Now, as we are in adulthood and getting more focused on our health we start revisiting the world of multivitamins. But now, there are so many multivitamins available and it can get confusing as to which is best or are they necessary. How do we choose?
I always like to say that a good multivitamin is the foundation of not only a healthy lifestyle, but also as the core building block of a solid supplement regimen. A good multivitamin offers a wide variety of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that help support the body. I often even recommend changing up ones multivitamin throughout the year as our needs can change. Right now, I’m particularly excited about the InVite Immunity Multivitamin, as it’s not only a great base multi, but also has additional ingredients to help further support a healthy immune system. This can be particularly beneficial during the winter months and holiday season.
So, what are these additional powerhouse ingredients? They are Ribonucleotide Complex and European Elder Fruit Extract. Let’s explore these a little further.
Simply, a Ribonucleotide is defined as “a nucleotide that is the structural unit of nucleic acids and ribose forms the sugar component in that”. They are a basic part of our Ribonucleic Acid (RNA), which along with Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), is part of the building blocks of the body. In a study from the National Library of Medicine titled “Ribonucleotides in DNA: Origins, Repairs and Consequences”, we learn that these nucleotides act as a primer and may aid in the repair of cellular damage. Basically, they help keep our cells happy and healthy on a genetic level, as they work with the RNA and DNA.
Many of us may not know what European Elder Fruit is, but you probably know it by its more common name…Elderberry. Yes, the elderberry that so many people turn to during cold and flu season. But what is it and what does it do? Elderberry is a plant that we use the fruit, or berry, to make into a syrup (most commonly used) or as a powder to put into a capsule, as in the Immunity Multivitamin. Elderberry is often used to boost the immune system, particularly during cold and flu season, as it has long believed to be high in Vitamin C. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the theory that Elderberry can be helpful for not only the immune system during cold and flu season, but also for healthy respiratory function is supported by research on this fruit and the plant.
As you can see, incorporating the Immunity Multivitamin into your winter supplement routine can positively impact your health and make cold and flu season a little easier to navigate.
www.biologybard.com/ribonucleotide-definition-types-and-examples/
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4065383/
www.webmd.com/diet/elderberry-health-benefits
