Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Many of us reach for nonprescription drugs like antacids and Tylenol to help with issues such as indigestion, fever or body aches, but did you know that these drugs can deplete your levels of important nutrients? Learn about how these over-the-counter drugs can impact your blood levels of iron, folate, Vitamin D and more from Jerry Hickey, Ph.
Do you usually start your day with coffee or tea? These drinks are naturally packed with powerful nutrients, but when you add creamers, sugar and other flavorings, they lose their benefits. Turn to our Multi Energy Powder, a supportive multivitamin, multi-mineral formulation, to help you get your energy levels up while promoting your overall health.
steroid drugs
InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph.
Subscribe Today!
Welcome to Part 2 of my episode looking at how steroid drugs, also known as corticosteroids, that are used for inflammation can deplete important nutrients. The steroid drugs have many, many toxicities and side effects that may even be caused or at least aggravated by these depletions. In the first part of this episode, I discussed how steroid drugs like hydrocortisone, Medrol and prednisone can deplete your Vitamin B6 and microbiome and the effects this has on your health.†
Today, I’m going to go a lot further in the nutrients that are depleted by these drugs and use that also as a platform to teach you about these nutrients.†
In the last episode, we discussed Vitamin A, probiotic bacteria and Vitamin B6. Now we’re going to discuss Vitamin B9, which is more commonly known as folate. Most multivitamins use a synthetic form of folate called folic acid. The problem is that many people have trouble converting that into the active form. If you’re on a drug like prednisone at a high dose for a long time, you really want to make sure that you’re getting the active form of folate called methyltetrahydrofolate, which is why we use this form in our multivitamins. This can help you avoid a lot of the problems with the drug.†
ACTIVE FOLATE FOR BRAIN AND HEART HEALTH – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 397. Listen Now>>
When you intake adequate amounts of folate, there is a reduced risk of dying from a stroke or heart disease and of developing heart failure. Both folate and B6 are depleted by the drugs, so you want to make sure that you’re taking some of these. Folate also reduces homocysteine, which is a byproduct of protein production. Elevated homocysteine chips away at your joint health and that might be one of the reason why steroid drugs are bad for your hip joint. Homocysteine can also contribute to depression and eye disease.†
Vitamin B12 is another nutrient commonly depleted by steroid drugs. I tell people if they’re on these drugs, they need to get methylcobalamin. This is fully activated B12 that is really important for the brain. You need it to make your red blood cells. If you don’t have it, your red blood cells can get really big and they can’t carry oxygen anymore. This is called megaloblastic anemia and can lead to symptoms such as fatigue. You also need B12 to make your nerve cells.†
All of these nutrients are commonly low in older people to begin with and the steroid drugs will only compound this and make it worse. Older people really have to pay attention to this.†
Steroid drugs commonly deplete Vitamin C. Vitamin C is really important for protecting your brain. You also need Vitamin C and Vitamin E to protect your lungs. Vitamin C is also needed to make your hair, skin, nails, bones, joints and brain because you need it to make connective tissue and collagen. Literally, without Vitamin C, you melt. Your hair falls out, your nails fall off and your skin peels off. This is called scurvy. Vitamin C is also needed by the immune system and levels of this nutrient drop in the winter, just when we need it to fight off infections.†
THE WONDERS OF VITAMIN C – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 200. Listen Now>>
Vitamin D is depleted by steroid drugs, but that’s compounded because Vitamin A also doesn’t work. You need Vitamin D to absorb calcium and help your muscles, nerves and brain function properly. You need Vitamin D to prevent acute respiratory distress syndrome, otherwise you can destroy your lungs.†
In this episode, Jerry Hickey, Ph. concludes his discussion on steroid drugs. He details more nutrients that are depleted by these medications and explains why this interferes with the body’s ability to function properly.†
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.
Inflammation is a big part of both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, so it’s important that we are taking the correct steps to protect our body. This is where important anti-inflammatory nutrients such as green tea, curcumin and Vitamin D come into play.
Did you know that your body may be more prone to developing cold sores or shingles during the winter? Learn about the factors that influence this and the nutrients that can help from Amanda Williams, MPH.
COVID-19
InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph.
Subscribe Today!
Very soon, there may be a pill on the market for treating COVID-19. In other words, if you pick up the infection, you get a prescription for this pill, you take it and, according to the manufacturer Merck, it keeps you out of the hospital and it keeps you around. It could be a real game changer.†
This pill is named after Thor’s hammer, mjolnir, because it hammers the virus. It’s called molnupiravir. Merck has submitted this pill for emergency approval based on interim analysis from data from about 800 patients. These patients had mild to moderate COVID-19. What the drug was doing was preventing the virus from replicating. If the virus can’t multiply, then it dies out. It’s as simple and straightforward as that. According to this early analysis, the drug reduced the risk of being hospitalized by about 50% and reduced the risk of dying by about 50%, which is all great news.†
The thing is that this could be a real game changer because it worked on all of the variants. It worked on the delta variant equally as well as other variants. It even worked in people with all of the risk factors for developing really serious COVID-19 infections and winding up in intensive care units. This includes people with severe diabetes and severe obesity.†
The added value is that it also seems to prevent the virus from shedding. Shedding means spreading the virus from one person to another. In other words, this particular drug may help prevent the virus from hurting someone, as well as them spreading the virus to other people they know.†
Even though we’re talking about this COVID-19 pill, I also want to talk about some natural supplements that have helped people who are hospitalized with COVID-19. It’s really worth mentioning this.†
One is curcumin from the turmeric plant. A study looked at Sabinsa’s curcumin, which also includes the black pepper fruit, also known as piperine, to it, which improves absorption. People who took this when they were in the hospital did a lot better. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical trial in 140 COVID-19 patients. They found that the patients who got the curcumin twice a day for two weeks had their symptoms subside much quicker. They recovered from trouble breathing, a cough, a fever, a sore throat and aches and pains quicker. They also maintained their oxygen saturation more easily. This type of easily absorbed curcumin is found in Dr. Pressman’s Curcumin Blend.†
Other nutrients that have been shown to help COVID-19 patients include black cumin seed, honey and glutathione. Black seed is very helpful for lung health, which is important because COVID-19 tends to get vicious in the lungs. Glutathione is a master antioxidant in the body that has been shown to help respiratory health. I also recommend that everyone gets some zinc, Vitamin D and Vitamin C in the winter. All three of these are needed in the immune system and levels begin to drop in the body around October.†
In this episode, Jerry Hickey, Ph. discusses recent research on a pill that may be able to treat COVID-19. He explains why this could be a groundbreaking discovery and also provides recommendations for nutrients that can help the body fight the COVID-19 infection.†
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.
