Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Many Americans suffer from anxiety that impacts their daily lives. They frequently turn to medications to help boost their mood, but did you know that there are nutrients that can help, too?
Many people feel anxious every day, but there is a difference between having short-lived anxiety and having consistent anxiety on a daily basis. In this episode, Amanda Williams, MPH offers suggestions for nutrients that can help people living with daily anxiety.
adaptogenic herbs
InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
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You’ve probably heard us talk about adaptogenic herbs in the past, whether it’s on a podcast or on one of our radio shows. Today, I want to talk about what in the world an adaptogenic herb actually is.†
We know all about stress and we’re always trying to find different mediators to the stress response. Let’s talk about what is actually occurring within the body when we are under acute stress. The body itself has become reliant on this acute stress response to overcome any issues that arise.†
The problem is that many people are not experiencing acute stress and that fight-or-flight response, but they’re experiencing chronic stress. It is this chronic stress that is creating dysregulation within the HPA axis, which is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Once we start to affect that, then we are starting to see more issues when it comes to every single system in the body, including our blood glucose response, blood pressure response and our ability to fend off oxidative stress.†
Chronic stress can create significant health issues by impacting our sleep cycle, immune defenses, microbiome, cardiovascular health, metabolism and mood. This is when we have to start thinking about how we can adapt to or manage this.†
Managing stress in the body is a multi-pronged approach. Obviously, we want to try to make some lifestyle modifications to help minimize our stress as much as possible.†
Then we get into adaptogenic herbs. So what is an adaptogen? Adaptogens are nutrients that have been used for thousands of years to help counteract the negative effects of stress. The way that these adaptogens work is through restoring the body’s natural balance. Research has shown how adaptogens can help to fight off different harmful biochemicals and the emotional effects of stress.†
We need to create balance or homeostasis within the body to avoid the long-term damage of chronic stress and that is what adaptogenic herbs are known to do. For thousands of years, they have been utilized and we now understand the science behind how they offset the negative impact of chronic stress. We can look at the way things like ashwagandha or rhodiola are working to help to normalize a happier cortisol response and at the same time, really heighten the cellular ability to fend off oxidative stress and generate energy. Research has shown how ashwagandha can help to support the cardiorespiratory system and how rhodiola has been used for exercise endurance and muscle recovery, in addition to in the setting of mood and anxiety. We can see how these nutrients work in the body to support our cognitive and physical performance.†
RHODIOLA BENEFITS BEYOND STRESS – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 27. Listen Now>>
In this episode, Amanda Williams, MPH discusses adaptogenic herbs, an important category of nutrients that help the body fend off the damages of chronic stress. She explains the difference between acute stress and chronic stress and also explains stress affects the body.†
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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.
Many people deal with obsessive compulsive thoughts and behaviors that impact their everyday lives. This may be related to OCD. Learn more about this condition and nutrients that may help from Amanda Williams, MPH.
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long COVID
InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph.
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Many people who have been hospitalized with a COVID-19 infection have been suffering from long-term, persistent symptoms. This is called long COVID.†
Previous research indicated that about 30% of COVID survivors have long-lasting cognitive issues and 30 to 40% have psychopathological issues such as depression or anxiety.†
NUTRIENTS TO AID ANXIETY, PART 1 – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 338. Listen Now>>
A recent study from Italy shows that patients with long COVID suffer from changes to cognitive functions. This can include brain fatigue, trouble with the attention span, issues with solving problems, inability to plan things out, memory loss and even depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These issues often occur within two months of being discharged from the hospital and are still persistent many months later, even ten months after discharge.†
These researchers found a connection between white matter hyperintensities and memory issues. White matter hyperintensities are pockets of damage in the white matter of the brain that can be seen through brain scans such as functional MRIs. Memory takes place in the grey matter of the brain, which makes up about 10% of the brain, but it does not work without the white matter, which accounts for half of the brain.†
Another report looked at autopsies of people who died from COVID-19. The researchers looked at their brains and compared the damage that they saw to the damage they see in people who died from Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. There was that much trauma and damage in the brain of people who died from COVID-19. This study noted that about a third of hospitalized COVID-19 patients report outward signs of neurological impairment. For long COVID patients, this included fuzzy thinking, forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating and depression.†
There are many supplements that may help to support brain health in long COVID patients. The formula Bio-Curcumin 5-Loxin is great for the brain. 5-Loxin is from the frankincense plant, boswellia serrata. It has been shown to reduce inflammation in the human brain. Bio-Curcumin is a well-absorbed version of the herb turmeric. There have been many studies looking at Bio-Curcumin’s ability to support patients with depression, brain plaque and memory loss. Turmeric has also been proven to restore levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. When young people go into a deep sleep, they release a lot of this healing factor in their brain and it creates hundreds of new memory cells. As you grow older, you release less brain-derived neurotrophic factor, so you’re replacing fewer and fewer lost memory cells.†
WHY SLEEP IS REQUIRED FOR MEMORY – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 296. Listen Now>>
Alcar with ALA is another beneficial supplement for long COVID patients experiencing issues with cognition and memory. These are two nutrients that are natural to the human body, but their function declines with age. Alcar is a neurotransmitter in the brain that is involved with brain energy. It is helpful for mood and memory and helps to prevent the death of brain cells. ALA also plays a role in brain energy and memory.†
In this episode, Jerry Hickey, Ph., discusses the phenomenon of long COVID and details how this can impact brain health for many people. He details new research on the issue and offers recommendations for long COVID patients who are experiencing issues with mood, memory and brain fatigue.†
Key Topics:
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.
