Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Did you know that your body can have too much iron? When this occurs, it can be toxic to your organs. The good news is there are nutrients that can help regulate iron levels within the body.
You’ve probably heard of the benefits of calcium for your bones, but did you know that this mineral is also important for your muscles, energy, skin and more? Learn more about the role this powerful nutrient plays in the body from Jerry Hickey, Ph.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
Subscribe Today!
Did you know that this is the time of year that normally the Cherry Festival is being held in Michigan? This is something that is very near and dear to my heart, being that I am a Michiganer! Today, I am excited to speak with you about all of the benefits that cherries can offer, especially tart cherry extract. Let’s get started!
The FDA and Cherry Claims
Back in 2007, the FDA sent out warning letters to cherry growers throughout the country telling them to stop making health claims about the benefits of cherries, knowing that cherries are packed with anthocyanins and other compounds that naturally help to support a healthy inflammatory process in the body. So, cherry growers throughout the country (especially in Traver City, Michigan) have known this and have always promoted the medicinal benefits that goes along with the consumption of cherries. But between the years of 2001 and 2010, the FDA approved over 200 different therapeutic drugs, which later on were found to have side effects (over 30% of them). Interestingly enough, it is my opinion that many of these drugs are still available on the market. Yet, the cherry industry was attacked.
Utilization of Tart Cherry Extract
Anthocyanins are a flavonoid, which are very powerful nutrients that are responsible for giving berries that deep red color. But tart cherries are superior when we look at the medicinal benefits because it is yielding other powerful antioxidants. Tart cherries are ranked among the highest foods in terms of their antioxidant content. This is why cherries have been researched so heavily.
How Superfoods Can Provide Your Body With Adequate Nutrition. Listen Now >>
There is tons of research out there on the benefits of cherries. When we look at muscle health for example, researchers have found (in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial ) that when marathon runners were given tart cherry extract that their interleukin 6 and c reactive protein levels decreased significantly. These are major markers for inflammation in the body.†
Tart Cherry Extract has also been studied for its joint health benefit. Evidence has shown that the powerful polyphenols and Anthocyanins within the tart cherry can provide a lot of support when it comes to the health of the joints. A study performed at Baylor Research Institute found that, when researchers gave tart cherry extract to patients who had osteoarthritis within the knee for eight weeks, half of the subjects showed significant improvement in their reports of pain and the functionality of the joint itself.†
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.
Questions about tart cherry extract? Leave a comment below for Amanda Williams, MPH!
Photo by Akhil Chandran on Unsplash Turmeric is a fine, bright-yellow spice that been used in Indian culture for thousands of years for both its healing properties and cosmetic benefits. It is available as a spice, has been included as a potent ingredient in numerous …
Glucosamine and chondroitin are supplements commonly used to support joint health. But a new study reports that these supplements may also support colon health via anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Data from the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow up Study published in the International Journal of …
Jerry Hickey is a pharmacist and radio personality and fills the esteemed role of Scientific Director and President of Invite Health. He has spent his professional life analyzing nutritional information and medical studies with the aim of creating the highest quality and most natural nutraceuticals for user’s maximum health benefits. Here, Jerry speaks about the benefits of Collagen –Collagen production in human body decreases with age. This is an important point. By the time you’re 25, your body starts to produce less collagen. Collagen production decreases at a rate of 1.5% per year. By the time you’re 45, that translates to a 30% loss of collagen. By the time you’re 60, you’ve lost more than half of your collagen. That affects your bones, your skin, your hair, your nails, your muscles and your waste. I mean everything; especially your joints. Ninety percent of the organic mass of your bone is made out of collagen. Your bone is mostly collagen and calcium. Doctors learn in medical school how important collagen is for the bones, but they do not learn about collagen supplementation for the bones. So, it’s important that these studies get around. Seventy percent of your skin is made out of collagen and most of the rest is made out of an ingredient in collagen called Hyaluronic Acid, which is a chain of thousands of sugars. In fact, wrinkles are damaged sugars; they’re called Hyaluronic Acid. They’ve shown that, when individuals with wrinkles take collagen, it helps to smooth out the skin.
Approximately two-thirds of the cartilage in your joints is made out of collagen. They did a couple of studies now with the InVite® Collagen; These are studies out of France and Japan on women in their 20s, women in their 50s, and women in their 60s. They gave them a spoon of hydrolyzed collagen daily for six weeks and found that their skin became smoother, more flexible and more elastic. Dark spots that occur with age, such as liver spots, were going away. It causes less sagginess of the skin. For the participants, their skin wasn’t as dull, it had a sheen to it and the dryness was reversing itself and becoming more hydrated. Now, this is very important for women who have sun-damaged skin. That’s what a wrinkle is – whether it’s from cigarette smoke or just a lot of cold weather, hot weather, dryness or the sun, the collagen and the sugars on the skin called Hyaluronic Acid are getting damaged. They’ve shown that when women take collagen, their wrinkles start to fill in, the skin becomes more elastic and thicker, and you improve the skin’s overall tone and the texture.
Let’s talk about bones; 90% of the organic mass of your bone is made out of collagen. This is important because studies have shown that when individuals supplement with hydrolyzed collagen, even within four of the studied 24 weeks, their bone health improved. What they’ve shown is a couple interesting things – Your bone matrix, the organic part of your bone that looks almost like a spider web, is filled with calcium. That “spider web” is made out of collagen. So, when you take it, you’re laying the groundwork and you’re making the super structure. In other words, if you’re going to build a house, you can’t just put up a roof and a floor. You have to frame out the house. This supplement builds the frame for your bones incorporating calcium and Vitamin D among others to strengthen and solidify.
As you get older, your bone-building cells, which are called osteoblasts, don’t last long; they die at a really young age. Osteoclasts, the cells that destroy bone, go on living, though. In older individuals, the bone-building cells don’t survive and the cells that dismantle and destroy bone, thrive, creating a net loss of bone. In younger individuals, there’s a balance; They’re removing old bone while they’re building new bone. In older individuals, that doesn’t function properly any more. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Instead of building bone, they’re just removing bone. Studies have found that when they give older individuals collagen, it preferentially stimulates the osteoblasts (the cells that build your bone), triggering healthy bone building.
Here’s a study from multiple orthopedic centers, a clinical trial on 250 patients. The patient’s knees were not healthy, so they supplemented them with hydrolyzed collagen for six months. This provided a good improvement in knee comfort and increased flexibility. In a different study, when researchers compared hydrolyzed collagen to Glucosamine and Chondroitin, it worked three times better. Glucosamine and Chondroitin did have a beneficial effect on the knees and hips, but collagen worked 300% better. It was much more effective in helping people with their joints.
Read more about Glucosamine and Chondroitin by clicking here!
Hydrolyzed collagen breaks down bonds. It is a very big molecule, like Hyaluronic Acid, so you have to break down the bonds. In one study, researchers used hydrolyzed collagen ( the Hyaluronic Acid is smaller), the keratan sulfate, the chondroitin sulfate, and the collagen peptides themselves. It is easier for us to absorb and they are body-ready ingredients. They’re biologic, meaning you don’t have to change or metabolize them in order for them to work.
Read more about Hyaluronic Acid by clicking here!
In your joint, cartilage is the hard rubbery substance on the end of the bone that prevents bones from rubbing together. Without cartilage, bones would not glide smoothly over one another and there would be a lot of friction that add to wearing down your bones. So, you have these cartilage end-caps on your bones, this hard rubbery substance, and that has to be maintained. It’s maintained by a thin layer of fluid in the joint called synovial fluid. Now, that synovial fluid has many activities. One, it’s a shock absorber. So, when you take a step, that absorbs the shock from the body weight, and this way, it helps protect your knee health and your joint health, your hip health. New joint cells are also born in that fluid and then, when you bend your knee, they rush into the cartilage end-capped on your bones and they lubricate and hydrate it, but they also put the new baby cells in there. So, it’s a very important supplement for the maintenance and the health of your joint and your flexibility and making it easier to walk again, so you can get out there on the golf course or tennis court. So you can take walks and feel comfortable. So you can walk up and down stairs and get out of a chair or lift something. It’s great for your neck, shoulders, fingers, elbows, hips, and knees.