Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Have you ever suffered from bronchitis? Millions of people deal with this every single fall and winter, but the good news is that there are nutrients that can help protect your respiratory system and bolster up your immune defenses.
As the cold weather of fall and winter approach, it’s important to know what factors can impact your immune health. Learn more from Jerry Hickey, Ph.
Written by Jerry Hickey, Ph.
As the weather begins to get colder, there are factors that change that can impact our body’s ability to protect itself. It’s important to be aware of these changes and how they impact the way viruses spread during the fall and winter, as well as how this affects our overall immune health.†
There are concrete reasons for getting sick with a virus more frequently in winter than in summer. The atmosphere directly contributes. The air outside is a lot heavier in the summer. It is loaded with moisture that makes the air thicker and heavier, so a sneeze or cough can thrust air carrying a virus a shorter distance in the summer, causing the virus laden air to quickly drop to the ground.†
In the winter the air is very dry. Coughs can shoot viruses for ten feet at 100 miles per hour, while a sneeze can travel at half that speed for about 5 feet. It’s also very cold outside, so we are more frequently clustered together inside at a close proximity. The air inside is more arid, it’s as dry as the Gobi Desert. That sneeze or cough is more likely to reach us. To make things worse, many viruses thrive in colder air. The flu and cold viruses are stronger and more infective in winter versus summer.†
Additionally, there are seasonal variations in the level of nutrients in our body that are key for the function of the immune system and responsible for our ability to survive dangerous infections. There are seasonal variations in our body’s levels of zinc, Vitamin C and Vitamin D. There is less to go around in our blood during the fall and winter months. Their levels decline and this is bad news for our immune systems.†
Zinc is needed to create immune cells and it has an incredibly important job to do. It is needed to make antibodies. Antibodies are made in response to an infection or a vaccine. The antibodies fit a virus or bacterium perfectly and call in other immune cells to slice and dice the specific infection. Fewer antibodies translates to lowered resistance, increased risk of serious infection and increased risk of reinfection. Research shows that older people and children who are low in zinc have a higher risk of developing pneumonia and other infections. In Africa, where zinc levels are frequently low, it is much more common to develop diarrheal diseases. A recent review of human clinical studies shows that taking zinc within the first 24 hours of developing the symptoms of a cold shortens its duration and reduces the severity of its symptoms. You are less sick and for a shorter time. Taking zinc in the fall and winter is a good strategy to achieve optimal immune system function. I would shoot for about 30mg a day to help build up your zinc level. Supplementing with zinc is even more important with age because it becomes harder to absorb zinc from our food. Additionally, many commonly prescribed medications used by the elderly can deplete zinc.†
NEW FINDINGS: COVID-19 AND ZINC – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 248. Listen Now>>
Like zinc, our level of Vitamin C declines in the fall and winter. Vitamin C is required for chemotaxis and respiratory burst. Chemotaxis is the ability of immune cells to travel to the site of the infection. Respiratory burst is basically the ability of these immune cells to kill the infection. When you are infected, your immune cells soak up the available Vitamin C in proximity, travel to the infection soon after exposure and commence assassinating the virus. With insufficient Vitamin C, fewer cells reach the site of infection and upon reaching it, have a lowered ability to do their job of slicing and dicing. On Long Island during this COVID-19 pandemic, doctors at Northwell Health hospitals are giving infected hospitalized patients Vitamin C by infusion to improve their chances of fighting off these more serious cases increasing their chances of surviving.†
There is very little Vitamin D in our food. Most of our Vitamin D is expected to be made via an interaction with the sun’s ultraviolet radiation and the cholesterol in our skin. This form is not yet active, but is an inactive storage form of the vitamin called 25-hydroxycholecalciferol and it is then stored in our liver. Later on, some of it is released and is activated in our kidneys for generalized activities. More recent research has shown that our immune cells can also activate Vitamin D, illustrating how important it is to our immune system. The greatest issue is we show less skin and receive less sunshine in the fall and winter. Add to this the lessened ability of darker skin tones or older skin to create the Vitamin D precursor out of sunshine and we have a real drop in our plasma level of vitamin D in the colder weather. Our levels plummet if we don’t take a supplement. 2,000 IU a day of Vitamin D3, the preferred form of vitamin D, taken once a day with a meal should be sufficient for many but not all people.†
IMMUNE BENEFITS OF VITAMIN C, ZINC & VITAMIN D – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 118. Listen Now>>
Nucleotides is a very interesting supplement. I keep bottles at home in my pantry and at the first sign of a cold, I take it. When a virus enters our body it quickly replicates. To meet this head on and defeat the virus, our immune cells must also quickly replicate to match the number of viral cells. This takes a lot of energy. Nucleotides supply quick energy for our immune system.†
Here are some additional nutrients that offer powerful support for the immune system during the fall and winter:†
Millions of people have been prescribed medication for high blood pressure, but these drugs can create nutrient deficiencies that negatively impact your immune system.
Gallstones are very common in the United States, but did you know they can be caused by factors such as diet, weight and prescription medications? The good news is that there are nutrients that have been shown to help support the health of the gallbladder.
seasonal allergies
InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
Subscribe Today!
Did you know that allergies are one of the most common chronic conditions in the United States? We know that there are certain times throughout the year when you are going to be more prone to all of the different things you may be sensitive to, including pollen, grass, trees, weeds and airborne mold spores. When it comes to fending off these issues, there are certain nutrients that can definitely be very beneficial if you start to use them well before your seasonal allergies begin.†
So many people are affected by seasonal allergies. Many people go running to their local drugstore to find antihistamines, but what if we could get a jumpstart on their allergy symptoms? That’s why I want to talk about what you can be doing if you happen to fall into this category.†
One of the most common diseases out there is allergic rhinitis. Many people will get a nasal spray or prescription antihistamine from their doctor or an over-the-counter tablet for seasonal allergies, but researchers have now looked at what people should be doing instead of this. About ten years ago, a group of experts got together and looked at people who used these nasal sprays and antihistamines. Despite taking these treatments, people were still coming back year after year and complaining about seasonal allergies. These experts started to think about bolstering the immune system before those symptoms even come out. This is why it is so important to make sure we are always proactive.†
Seasonal allergies occur when the immune system gets revved up. The immune system responds to certain dusts, pollens, ragweed, etc. There are so many different things that can trigger allergic responses.†
What happens is we have this overproduction of our Th2 cells, which are the immune cells that are responsible for destroying foreign pathogens like allergens. This then generates immunoglobulin E. Because of this, we get too much histamine released into our body, which is what creates problems like itchy eyes and runny nose.†
If you deal with this every single year, you have to start thinking about what you can be doing. This is when we should be supporting the immune system. We can start by thinking about the dominant driver for our immune defenses, which is our intestines and the microbial environment. Having Probiotic HxⓇ on board every single day throughout the year is always advantageous because it allows you to continuously lay down good, healthy bacteria.†
We can also look at other things that come from nature that we know are very good at the regulation of immunoglobulin E and that histamine release. We look at things such as quercetin and Vitamin C. Both of these are very beneficial when it comes to that targeted immune system response when it is exposed to different allergens. We can look at rosmarinic acid, which is why our Black Seed formulation is a good go-to for seasonal allergies.†
THE BENEFITS OF MUSHROOMS EXPLAINED – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 161. Listen Now>>
The other thing is that we want to make sure that our liver has the ability to properly go through the phases of detoxification, so our natural antioxidants are at the ready. It’s always a good idea to incorporate nutrients that support normal metabolic detoxification. We can look at the Greens HxⓇ, which has a probiotic blend as well as fruit and vegetable extracts. We can also look at the Daily Detox powder. These are really wonderful ways to prime the body’s immune system and heighten your antioxidant capacity.†
In this episode, Amanda Williams, MPH discusses seasonal allergies, which are incredibly common in the United States. She explains why the body responds to allergens and offers recommendations for nutrients that can help protect the body from these reactions.†
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.
