Tag: Turmeric

Arthritis Drugs Toxicity and Proven Alternatives – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 469

Arthritis Drugs Toxicity and Proven Alternatives – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 469

Are you taking NSAID drugs like ibuprofen to help with your arthritis pain? These drugs can be toxic to your body and negatively impact your health. Turn to nutrients that have been clinically studied for their ability to promote joint health and comfort.

New Discoveries in Nutrition for Memory – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 388

New Discoveries in Nutrition for Memory – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 388

Researchers have indicated parts of the brain that are necessary for maintaining memory functions as we age. These studies have also looked at nutrients that can help to support and promote the brain as we grow older.

10 Factors That Affect the Immune System, Part 1 – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 344

10 Factors That Affect the Immune System, Part 1 – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 344

immune system

Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph.

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Our immune system has many jobs. Right at the peak of all of those jobs is protecting you from the outside world. The immune system is designed so it can find and kill foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses. When it’s working well, your immune system is strong enough to prevent you from getting sick when you’re exposed to germs. But there are many factors that impact your body’s immunity.†    

The relationship between the microbiome and immunity

About 70% of your immune cells come in contact with your digestive tract, so the shape of your microbiome can impact the way your body defends itself. The microbiome refers to all of the organisms that live with us and use us as their home. Most of this is bacteria, but there is also yeast and viruses. These visitors outnumber us manyfold.† 

The organisms in our microbiome certainly impact our health. For instance, when there’s an imbalance in bacteria on the scalp, you experience dandruff. You have to take care of the multitude of organisms that live in your intestines because they are the easiest to shape. This, in turn, will impact the bacteria on your skin, in your lungs, in your bloodstream and elsewhere.†   

There are good strains of bacteria as well as bad strains. When there is an excess of bad strains, this can cause inflammation or infections. On the other hand, studies have found that good strains of probiotic bacteria can help promote good immune system function to help fight off viruses and colds, even in very elderly people. These good bacteria help contain the bad ones and calm the immune system, helping to fend off allergies, bacteria, viruses and other harmful cells. You can promote the health of your microbiome by following a good, nutrient-rich diet like the Mediterranean diet, eating some fermented foods and taking a probiotic supplement.†

THE BENEFITS OF PROBIOTICS FOR ALLERGIES – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 124. Listen Now>>

How sleep impacts the immune system

Your sleep cycle is very important. You have an internal clock called the circadian rhythm. It is controlled by the hypothalamus, which is found in the back of the brain. Your sleep cycle can be thrown off if you go to bed at all different times, drinking alcohol and exercising too late at night.† 

Sleep is important because it gives your immune system a chance to recharge. Then, in the morning, when you’re waking up, your immune system needs to be more active because you are often in public and around more people and possible contaminants. When your sleep cycle is inappropriate, the immune system gets muddled and it may become active at the wrong time, making it easier to catch bacteria or viruses.†  

SLEEP IS SLEEP, RIGHT? WRONG! – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 342. Listen Now>>

Nutrients from food for immunity

There are nutrients found in food that can help promote our body’s ability to defend itself. Curry, for instance, has turmeric, which is rich in alkylamines. Alkylamines look like the outside of the virus, so this helps to wake up and activate the immune system. Green tea is also beneficial because it contains polyphenols called catechins. These catechins are also alkylamines. Green tea can also help to weaken viruses and mobilize certain immune cells. Mushrooms are also beneficial as they contain ergothioneine, which is arguably the most powerful natural antioxidant known to science. They also have Vitamin D and beta 1,3 glucan that help adjust the immune system.†

In this episode, Jerry Hickey, Ph. explains multiple factors that impact the body’s ability to defend itself from invading bacteria, viruses and more. He details the importance of taking care of your digestive tract, getting good quality sleep and eating the right foods. Tune in tomorrow for part 2 of this podcast!†

Key Topics:

  • The function of the immune system in the body
  • What is the microbiome?
  • The difference between good and bad bacteria
  • What happens during REM sleep?
  • How viruses and immune cells work
  • Why cortisol is important for immunity

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.

Spice Up Your Health with Turmeric, Ginger, Cumin & Rosemary – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 110

Spice Up Your Health with Turmeric, Ginger, Cumin & Rosemary – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 110

The benefits of spices like turmeric, ginger, rosemary and cumin extract have been studied for its impact on inflammation, the benefits of their powerful antioxidants, and their ability to fend off oxidative stress. 

How Turmeric & Boswellia Support Joint Health – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 32

How Turmeric & Boswellia Support Joint Health – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 32

In Episode 32, Jerry Hickey, Ph. discusses how the herbs Turmeric and Boswellia can enhance joint health and comfort. Here is the information you need to walk in rhythm!

Turmeric and Boswellia for Brain Health – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 24

Turmeric and Boswellia for Brain Health – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 24

Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph

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I’m getting a bit older, and although I am not worried about dementia, I do like to use nutrients that protect my brain. Turns out, both herbs also protect the brain during the aging process and have been shown to improve day-to-day memory.

What is Turmeric?

You have probably heard of Curcumin, many companies use this as the headliner in their joint health formulas. Sadly, Curcumin is only one ingredient out of 235 different constituents so far discovered in Turmeric and curcumin makes up 2% to 5% of the plant ingredient. In fact, if you don’t make the Curcumin more water soluble it will be very poorly absorbed.

Besides, research out of Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas shows you need the complete plant, and it should be safely modified to be well absorbed to obtain it’s true level of benefit. This is why Baylor has chosen BioCurcumin for their human clinical research.

Turmeric containing curcuminoids is usually available ground, as a fine, bright-yellow powder. It is a major constituent in curry, giving it both its color and flavor. The medicinal history of turmeric is at least 2500 years old. Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Chinese medicine recommend turmeric for a large number of disorders and diseases. Ayurvedic medicine was the first scientific form of medicine. In it, the effects of plants and therapies for differing conditions were observed and systematized.†

But Turmeric is poorly absorbed. BioCurcumin is extremely well absorbed and research shows it readily enters our human brain, offering multiple benefits according to a number of human clinical trials. Interestingly Curcumin and Turmeric only last for several hours in the human body.

What is BioCurcumin?

BioCurcumin contains the whole plant. In fact, 95% of it is the active ingredients and this matters. Most supplements from Turmeric only offer curcumin. There are a number of other related ingredients such as demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin that are actually more beneficial than the often cited Curcumin itself.

BioCurcumin offers the full spectrum of these curcuminoids. Additionally, it supplies the Turmeric-essential oils, including aromatic-Turmerone which are very important for brain health and memory support; Curcumin products lack these important constituents.

BioCurcumin is grown organically, and in fact is grown 100% using solar power in soil that has never been exposed to pesticides. It consists of the all the ingredients found in Turmeric and is safely extracted without the use of toxic solvents. When other companies use cheap solvents to extract their Curcumin, these can never be totally removed from the finished product and this is why InVite® never uses an ingredient obtained by the use of toxic solvents.

In BioCurcumin, the powerful polyphenolic Curcuminoids and the terpene essential oils are present and they strongly combine to reduce joint discomfort and inflammation in your knee but they also work together for brain health; you need the combination of all of these ingredients and not just curcumin.†

Benefits of BioCurcumin

5-Loxin is an ingredient isolated from the herb Frankincense, the herb is also known as Boswellia serrata; it inhibits the 5-Lipoxygenase pathway, therefore the name 5-Loxin. In animal studies the 5-Lipoxygenase pathway is involved with brain inflammation, poor brain health, and worsening of memory. The herbal ingredient 5-Loxin inhibits the 5-Lipoxygenase pathway of inflammation.†

In a recent study published in the journal Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics combining Boswellia serrata with the herb Lemon Balm improved various aspects of memory in a day-to day manner in a group of older adults. 5-Loxin is obtained from the resin extract of the frankincense plant and it is very safe and works very well for joint discomfort and works very quickly to offer relief and as it turns out, it also addresses inflammation in the human brain. 5-Loxin is superior to typical Boswellia serrata extracts.†

In a clinical study of children being treated with radiation at the University of Freiburg Hospital in Germany, adding the herb Boswellia serrata to the powerful steroidal anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone strongly improved the number of children with a reduction of swelling caused by radiation related in their brains of children and it was very safe.

Turmeric, if modified to be well absorbed, has many studies demonstrating its impact on our mood and memory. Five different studies show BioCurcumin improves mood if used alone or added to prescription antidepressant drugs such as fluoxetine and once again it was very safe to use in these vulnerable patients.†

Interestingly, the way BioCurcumin achieves this mood improvement may be related to the way it improves memory and it has to do with a healing factor in the brain called BDNF. BDNF is the abbreviation for brain derived neurotrophic factor. It is like Miracle Grow for the brain; brain fertilizer. Young people release a lot of BDNF every day and this triggers the formation of about 700 new memory cells in the hippocampus every day; the hippocampus is largely where memory takes place. This adds up in a very good way – brain cells die off all of the time in a process called apoptosis to remove senescent cells; they must be replaced and BDNF triggers the replacement of memory cells. In this way you keep the brain young and active and by the time you’re fifty you have replaced all of your original memory cells with these newly formed neurons.†

Ten years ago we didn’t know you could create new memory cells.

– Jerry Hickey, Ph.

Older people release a lot less BDNF therefore they are replacing fewer and fewer senescent memory cells every day and this adds up in a bad way leading to memory loss, an inability to learn, and in some, brain shrinkage.

In a recent study published in the journal Nutrition Research scientists performed a systematic review of the literature. They found four high quality studies showing that Turmeric supplementation significantly increased the level of BDNF in the serum of study subjects. This leads to the formation of new hippocampal memory cells. Creating new memory cells is a way that antidepressant medication also improves depression so this could be at least one of the ways that BioCurcumin is good for both depression and good for day-to-day memory enhancement.†

In another recent study of healthy older people aged between 50 to 80 from Swinburne University in Australia, giving them a very well absorbed curcumin for 12 weeks significantly improved working memory and reduced brain fatigue compared to taking placebo. Stressful mood components such as anger, tension, and confusion also improved in the Curcumin group.†

Still additional recent research from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Longevity Center giving enhanced absorption curcumin twice daily enhanced memory and mood in older people with mild, age related memory loss over the 18 month study period. It showed great promise for alleviating cognitive decline by improving memory by 28%.

Very importantly, a subgroup of 30 of these subjects at UCLA also had PET scans of their brains to assess the level of beta-amyloid plaque formation and the tangling and extremely destructive tauopathies that kill bundles of nerves in regions of the brain involved with memory. Analysis of the PET scans connected cognitive benefits such as improved memory with a decrease in tangle and plaque accumulation in these brain regions responsible for mood and memory. The UCLA study is published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Importantly a review of six human clinical trials by Chinese neurologists giving well absorbed Turmeric/Curcumin to older subjects significantly improved memory and it was as safe as placebo, the same level of safety seen in all of these other studies.†

Well absorbed BioCurcumin improves working memory very rapidly, almost immediately.

In a study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology using BioCurcumin in elderly subjects aged 60 to 85…giving the Turmeric product for a month saw an improvement in brain function very quickly. An hour after taking BioCurcumin, working memory and sustained attention had already improved and the elderly were less fatigued after performing a mental challenge compared to those on placebo.

Unfortunately research shows that giving regular Turmeric as a supplement will not reach the brain; not enough is absorbed into the blood stream from the digestive tract to make a difference. It has to be a well absorbed Turmeric such as BioCurcumin to truly reach the brain in a concentration high enough to protect and improve memory and mood. With the addition of 5-Loxin we are helping to restore protective antioxidant activity to the aging brain. Antioxidant protection strongly declines in the brain in our late fifties. Free radicals can then harm and destroy memory cells. It is very important for older adults to utilize antioxidants that offer valid protection for their brain.†

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.

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