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HOW TO FIGHT SPRINGTIME ALLERGIES, INVITEⓇ HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 636

Hosted by Amanda Williams, MD, MPH

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InViteⓇ Health Podcast Intro: [00:00:04] Welcome to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast where our degreed health care professionals are excited to offer you the most important health and wellness information you need to make informed choices about your health. You can learn more about the products discussed in each of these episodes and all that InVite Health has to offer at www.invitehealth.com/podcast. First time customers can use promo code podcast at checkout for an additional 15% off your first purchase. Let’s get started. † [00:00:34]

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Amanda Williams MD, MPH: [00:00:40] Millions of Americans each and every single year deal with seasonal allergies. Some people are affected in the fall, others in the spring, some in the summertime. It just depends on what your immune system is reacting to, is it a tree pollen? Is it mold? Is it grass? But at the end of the day, if you deal with any type of seasonal allergy, you know how annoying this can be. And unfortunately, when it comes to the traditional approach to seasonal allergies, many of those over-the-counter medications, as well as prescribed medications, can come with a whole host of different side effects and make you feel groggy, maybe dry mouth. So, I have some solutions for you that you can turn to when it comes to combating your seasonal allergies. I am Dr. Amanda Williams, scientific director at Invite Health, and there are millions of Americans who deal with allergies. We’re talking seasonal allergies brought on because of these pesky pollens and hay fever. Sometimes you’ll hear people talk about hay fever, that was a big thing for me growing up in Michigan, where it was hay fever time and so many folks would be wandering around, you know, with their box of Kleenex and blowing their nose, and sneezing and the runny eyes and it’s just no fun whatsoever. And it can really drain your energy, and this is another area that you always have to think about if you’re dealing with seasonal allergies. This shows that the immune system itself isn’t too happy. And in doing this, it actually creates an environment where we’re more open to a potential infection from a virus or from a bacteria. So, we do want to address this problem head on. And we know that there are many things that come from nature that can be incredibly beneficial. Now, when it comes to the problems with seasonal allergies, this is an area of concern for many scientific researchers. Because as we’re seeing the shifts in global temperatures, you’re starting to see this trend of even a delayed pollen season in certain parts of the country, in the world. And then extended pollen seasons and other parts of the world, and this can certainly be incredibly problematic, I know that they are forecasting in the northeast that the pollen season, the pollen allergy season could be extended this year by close to three weeks. So, for those who struggle with this, that’s three extra weeks where they’re expecting those high pollen levels counts to be incredibly high, that’s not a great thing. † [00:03:22]

[00:03:23] Researchers over at University of Michigan have actually developed a predictive model to analyze the impact of how, you know, changes in our climate would have on the most common pollen types. And this is an important thing to think about, because as I mentioned, certain areas of the country, maybe grass, pollens are the problem. Certainly, see this in Florida, other areas, it may be a tree pollen, so you always want to be able to follow what these scientific researchers are being able to kind of data point out and unfortunately, in the northeast, they’re expecting that those pollen levels are going to stay high for close to an additional three weeks, which is, that’s not a good thing. So, what can we do? What can we do to kind of arm ourselves, to equip ourselves with the right nutrients and the ability to fight off these common allergic triggers? And one of the things that we can definitely turn to is probiotic. The better our microbiome is managed in terms of the comprehensive kind of spectrum of good healthy bacteria, the better off we do, when it comes to any of these little foreign invaders that enter into our system that those powerful, healthy bacteria can help to fight those off and give us that extra layer of protection. Interestingly enough, we have a lot of individuals who use the Probiotic Hx, which is a multi- strained probiotic, has five different probiotic strains in it, and they have found that when they start using the Probiotic Hx, that they’re typical seasonal allergies that they deal with have been significantly minimized, without doing anything else, just taking the probiotic. So that tells you the power of the microbiome. But we can also look at if we are having symptoms and we are having the sneezing and the itchy, you know, eyes, all of those things that nobody wants to deal with, but unfortunately can occur, because of these different pollen counts. † [00:05:26]

[00:05:27] So we look at formulations such as the Black Seed, and black seed is black cumin extract, we know is very powerful when it comes to targeting inflammation. So that starts to make sense to go, okay, well then, the cumin’s helping to remove excess inflammation in my sinuses and in my respiratory airways. This is key, and then this is partnered up with Cordyceps mushroom, which has been shown to be highly effective to seasonal allergies. And it also contains rosemary extract, and rosemary extract is a powerhouse of an herbal extract to use when it comes to allergic rhinitis or seasonal allergies is another name for allergic rhinitis. We can see how the Rosemary extract is very powerful phytochemical. All the polyphenols that are contained in that can really help to inhibit the seasonal allergic response in the body. How does it do that? It does that through targeting histamine. So, you have your mast cells, and the mast cells release histamine. We want to be able to regulate that, when you think about an antihistamine those really drying over-the-counter medications that you can take, they helped to lower the histamine response, so hence an antihistamine. But at the same time, what that’s doing is it’s drying everything out and it’s making you feel quite groggy, which is why people oftentimes don’t really necessarily like to take those. Or maybe they’ll have to take them in the evening because it makes them feel kind of sleepy. Well, we know that rosemary extract doesn’t have that effect, it certainly targets the histamine in a very pronounced way, but it’s not creating that type of, you know, that sense of just feeling ick, or that sense of feeling like you’re dragging yourself through the day. So this is a wonderful formulation to turn to during seasonal allergy time. So Black seed contains the cordyceps mushroom, has the rosemary extract plus the power of cumin. And we know that cumin has been shown to really help the body when it comes to having a balanced inflammatory response and that’s important because we know that chronic low grade inflammation is certainly problematic, but also in the setting of seasonal allergies, that acute inflammation can definitely drive up a lot of the the symptoms that you are having, and when you look at the millions of Americans who are dealing with these problems then we want to say, well what can we turn to from nature? And this is how the black seed extract has been shown that it helps to support and modulate a healthier immune response. It does this through its action of regulating those pro-inflammatory cytokines that drive up all of these issues that you experience in terms of symptoms. And we can see through the scientific research just how powerful a punch the black seed extract can actually do. † [00:08:31]

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[00:08:32] And of course you’re going to get the other side benefits of targeting inflammation. Perhaps you have joint inflammation. So, by taking the black seed formulation, it’s also going to be helpful on that front as well. So, we look at the science, we say, okay, we know the power of rosmarinic acid, we can clearly see the power of cordyceps mushrooms and the cordyceps, interestingly enough, this was studied directly for its impact when it came to allergic rhinitis and asthma in the Journal of Molecules back in 2020. They talk about how it has these powerful immunomodulatory effects as well as anti-inflammatory effects. So, there are many individuals who maybe deal with these types of allergies throughout the year. You know, it’s not just one season that you’re affected by. You know, maybe you’re affected in the, in the winter, you know, with different mold spores that are in the air. Perhaps you’re affected throughout the fall as well as the spring and the summer because of many different things that are out there that kind of exacerbate your immune system response. And you get this over release of histamine, you get all of this inflammation. So, we know that the cordyceps mushroom does a great job when it comes to being a mushroom extract, so of course as those immunomodulatory properties. But at the same time, it really helps to enhance the inflammation response within the respiratory airways within the sinuses also kind of works in a similar mechanism to the black cumin extracts. So that’s one of the wonderful products that you can turn to. † [00:10:11]

[00:10:12] We also have the Respiratory Hx, which is a wonderful blend of vitamin C, it has Mangosteen extract, Quercetin, as well as Nettle and all of these nutrients when combined, really do a wonderful job at targeting the allergic rhinitis symptoms that so many Americans are dealing. with. We know that mangosteen has oftentimes been touted of the the food of the gods, and part of the reason is because in its own right, it’s kind of a superfood, has this wonderful vitamin and mineral spectrum which helps to enhance our immune defenses, it has other key healthy nutrients and molecules that really allow the body to have a much better immune system response. And this is the way in which Mangosteen Extract has certainly been studied extensively in the Journal of Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin back in 2002. They look at the inhibition of histamine release when it came to the use of Mangosteen Extract. And they found that mangosteen is a potent inhibitor of histamine, but once again, not, not like your over-the-counter antihistamines that make you groggy, dry you out, the mangosteen is actually. nourishing your immune system, so it’s targeting the problem that you’re having that creates the symptoms for you, but it’s actually nourishing your immune defenses, which is a wonderful thing. And we can see how it’s working through its action of regulation of histamine through targeting those different inflammatory cytokines, lessening the inflammatory load within the sinuses within the respiratory airways once again. And this is why the use of mangosteen extract throughout the world has often been kind of one of those go to natural supplements for seasonal allergies. † [00:12:09]

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 [00:12:11] We see the same thing with Quercetin. Quercetin promotes so many different, positive, cellular health benefits for us. Especially when it comes to a healthy seasonal       immune system response for those who start to use quercetin during their most, you know, prone time to high pollen counts, they will find the way in which that Quercetin extract is working to regulate once again histamine, the inflammation, powerful antioxidant helps to fight off all those free radicals. It really is a wonderful nutrient to have on board. And of course, we know that vitamin C is one of nature’s ways of regulating histamine. So, we have the Respiratory Hx which contains all of these along with nettle extract, and we know that the Nettle extract certainly, is a long-standing herbal extract when it comes to the immune system for fighting off different viruses, different bacteria as well as for the regulation of histamine response once again. So, these are a few different nutrients that you can turn to to get your way through the extended, expected extended seasonal allergy season. So, the Black Seed with Rosemary and Cordyceps. If you’re in a real acute situation, meaning that you have a lot of symptoms, a lot of sneezing and runny ryes, itchy eyes, then you want to take two caps twice a day. The Respiratory Hx during your seasonal allergy time, definitely want to be taking two caps per day. That Probiotic Hx, get that on board, take it at night before you go to bed, so it allows for the healthy colonization of those five powerful bacteria into the intestines to help support our immune defenses. So, of course, we have many other formulations that are very beneficial when it comes to a targeted approach to seasonal allergies. But this is a great three nutrient way to get yourself out of the weeds when it comes to seasonal allergies. So that is all that I have for you for today, I want to thank you so much for tuning in to the Invite Health podcast. Remember, you can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting invitehealth.com/podcast. Do make sure that you subscribe, and you leave us a review. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and we will see you next time for another episode of the InViteⓇ Health Podcast. † [00:12:11]

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