Tag: zinc

Lowering the risk of Cardiac Arrest, Part 2, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 616

Lowering the risk of Cardiac Arrest, Part 2, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 616

Subscribe Today!   Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode. LOWERING THE RISK OF CARDIAC ARREST, PART 2- INVITEⓇ HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 616 Hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph. *Intro Music* InViteⓇ Health Podcast Intro:[00:00:04] Welcome to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast where our 

New Data, Vitamin D & the Immune System. Invite Health Podcast, Episode 610

New Data, Vitamin D & the Immune System. Invite Health Podcast, Episode 610

Subscribe Today! Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode. NEW DATA, VITAMIN D & THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, INVITEⓇ HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 610 Hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph. *Intro Music* InViteⓇ Health Podcast Intro:[00:00:04] Welcome to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast where our degreed 

Zinc is key to more than Immune Health, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 609

Zinc is key to more than Immune Health, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 609


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Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode.

 ZINC IS KEY TO MORE THAN IMMUNE HEALTH, INVITEⓇ HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 609

Hosted by Amanda Williams, MD, MPH

*Intro Music*

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]

*Intro Music*

Amanda Williams MD, MPH: [00:00:40] When it comes to our natural immune defenses, we have to always include the mineral Zinc into a routine. But we also must understand that Zinc, like many other minerals in the body, has so many functions. And that’s what I want to drive home today. I want to talk about how Zinc is actually working in the human body. Clearly, we know that Zinc is a must when it comes to our immune system and to be able to help fend off little pesky pathogens. But we also have to recognize why having insufficient exposure to Zinc from our diet or even falling into a category of having Zinc deficiency can be so detrimental to so many systems in the human body. I am Dr. Amanda Williams, scientific director at Invite Health, and let’s talk all about Zinc. We know that Zinc is critical when it comes to our overall health and wellness. We know that it’s beneficial for our cardiovascular system as well as for the health of our brain. Most of the time we think about zinc in the setting of immune health, it’s kind of like when we think about vitamin D, we think about bone health. We know Vitamin D certainly is doing much more than just supporting healthy bones, and we see the same thing when it comes to Zinc. Now, the problem is, is that many Americans actually fall into a category of having insufficient Zinc exposure, meaning that you’re getting a little but not enough, but it’s not so little that you’re actually deficient. And we do see Zinc deficiencies in a higher rate in people who are older in age. This can be because of a few different factors. We can look at different chronic disease states that have definitely been linked to lowering our Zinc status. We can also look at certain medications that have been known to lower or deplete our Zinc storage, things that elderly folks are commonly prescribed, things like ACE inhibitors to lower blood pressure. ACE inhibitors include drugs that end in PRIL, like Lisinopril, for example. We can see how the different diuretics, things like hydrochlorothiazide can lower your Zinc storage, loop diuretics such as Furosemide or Lasix can certainly do this. Proton pump inhibitors, yes, the old Nexiums of the world can certainly lower the Zinc levels. So now we can take a little pause and we can say how many older individuals are on one or more of these drugs. And you can see where that zinc depletion can start to come from, and then we tie in or correlate in the different disease states that are known to have zinc depletion.†[00:03:33]

[00:03:34] When you look at individuals who have type two diabetes, we can see a clear distinction or an association between low levels of zinc and control of diabetes. So if you have good control over your diabetes, the likelihood that you have a zinc insufficiency or deficiency not that high, but we do certainly see this strong correlation. We understand that when it comes to things like vision, health, age related macular degeneration, Zinc plays a critical role into the development of this. If you have inadequate Zinc exposure in your diet and you’re not supplementing with Zinc, then the likelihood of developing Age-Related Macular Degeneration will go up. They did a really interesting study over in Australia and they found that participants who were taking Zinc from either food or via supplementation, had a close to 50% lower risk of developing age related macular degeneration, that’s pretty impressive. So if we recognize that there are certain health conditions, there are certain medications that can create havoc when it comes to our Zinc levels, then we have to realize that Zinc is more than just for the immune system. Zinc must be pretty critical in many different biological pathways and roles. And we do see this, we can see how it is that Zinc is working at multiple different mechanisms, which is why we can tie in Zinc issues when it comes to neurological disorders, when it comes to autoimmune conditions. And this is why we always want to make sure that we are getting Zinc as part of our daily supplementation routine. It’s one of our most important minerals when it comes to the creation of a key antioxidant in the body known as superoxide dismutase, without superoxide dismutase, that means we have lost an innate ability to fight off free radicals and oxidative stress. Now, interestingly enough, they know that type two diabetics who have low serum superoxide dismutase levels have a greater likelihood of having carotid artery stenosis, meaning that vessel that runs up the side of your neck, that is more likely to be gummed up or clogged up in the setting of diabetes. What do we also know about diabetics? There’s a strong correlation between Zinc insufficiency in proper Zinc absorption in diabetics. So you can start to see, okay, if a diabetic doesn’t have enough Zinc in terms of dietary intake and they’re not supplementing with Zinc. This means the body has less Zinc available to make superoxide dismutase, which now puts that diabetic at a greater risk of a potential cardiovascular event because of the narrowing of that key vessel running into the brain, very important.† [00:06:41]

ICYMI:GETTING TO KNOW ZINC – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 516>>LISTEN NOW

[00:06:42] Now we can just stay in the lane of just thinking our immune health, and clearly, the studies that are out there indicate that when we have good Zinc levels in our body, the immune system has a better opportunity to fight off and recover from different infections. As a matter of fact, when it comes to wound healing, we know that Zinc is critical to this. I oftentimes will tell people if they’re going to have to have a surgery and they are going to be doing an incision, it would be incredibly advantageous that both pre and post op people start to supplement with both vitamin C and Zinc. So this will help to promote the healing of that surgical incision in a much quicker way, this even applies to dental surgeries. So we know that when it comes to Zinc, it helps our body in terms of both the initial or the innate and the adaptive or delayed immune system. We know that it helps the body create one of its most powerful antioxidants known as superoxide dismutase. We also can recognize how it helps to protect our cellular DNA, which is really very important. So while we may always turn to Zinc to fight off the common cold, we have to realize that Zinc is doing so much more than that. You see this even in children, Zinc is key when it comes to the growth and maturation as a child is developing, when it comes to bone health, for example, which is really quite fascinating to think, oh, zinc for bone health, kind of like when we think about vitamin D for all of the different functions that Vitamin D does. But clearly we can see how when it comes to bone remodeling and the absorption of key minerals, that Zinc is very critical to playing a role in maintaining healthy bones as we age. So if we are getting older in age and our diet doesn’t have adequate Zinc and we are not supplementing with a good, high potent Zinc, then what is happening? Our immune system is more open to an infection, our bones can get weaker, our eyes are more prone to age related macular degeneration. And clearly we know that excess inflammation and oxidative stress can take over because we don’t have the ability to make superoxide dismutase. So when it comes to Zinc, know one thing that if you are not taking a comprehensive multivitamin, multi mineral formulations such as the Core multivitamin or the Performance multivitamin by InVite Health, then we definitely want to be including into our routine,the Zinc Picolinate or our Zinc Lozenge every day, because Zinc is a essential component of so many different functions in our body and we cannot overlook its key role even when it comes to thyroid function. This is often a very interesting find for many individuals who deal with Hashimoto’s and other thyroid conditions, maybe a subclinical hypothyroidism, and they will find that when they start to supplement with Zinc, they start to feel more energetic. And part of that reason is because Zinc plays as a cofactor for the manufacturing of thyroid hormone. So when it comes to mood, when it comes to blood sugar regulation, when it comes to brain function and eye health, we have to always recognize the unique property that Zinc serves us when it comes to keeping us healthy.† [00:10:31]

ICYMI:ARE DAILY MULTIVITAMIN’S IMPORTANT? – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 561>>LISTEN NOW!

[00:10:33] And this is why I wanted to focus in on Zinc today, because Zinc is one of those long lost minerals that many times we just kind of put away until it’s cold and flu season. And then we take it out and say, Oh, I should be taking this. But actually Zinc is something that should be part of our everyday supplementation routine. So hopefully now, you know, a little bit more about Zinc, and remember, you can always reach out to one of our nutritionists if you have questions as to how you should be taking your zinc and what time of day, as well as if you should take it with food, without food. All of these questions can be answered from one of our health experts at Invite Health. And 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 at Invite Health. And we will see you next time for another episode of the InViteⓇ Health Podcast [00:10:33]

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An Update on Vitamin C & the Immune System, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 606

An Update on Vitamin C & the Immune System, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 606

Subscribe Today! Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode.  AN UPDATE ON VITAMIN C & THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, INVITEⓇ HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 606 Hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph. *Intro Music* InViteⓇ Health Podcast Intro: [00:00:04] Welcome to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast, where 

Is it a Cold? Invite Health Podcast, Episode 605

Is it a Cold? Invite Health Podcast, Episode 605

Subscribe Today! Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode. IS IT A COLD? INVITEⓇ HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 605 Hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph. *Intro Music*  InViteⓇ Health Podcast Intro: [00:00:04] Welcome to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast where our degreed health care professionals 

Natural Ways to Increase Your Testosterone Level, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 604

Natural Ways to Increase Your Testosterone Level, Invite Health Podcast, Episode 604

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Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode.

Hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph.

*Intro Music*

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]

*Intro Music*

Jerry Hickey, Ph:[00:00:40] Hi, everybody, welcome to another episode. I’m going to be discussing testosterone in this episode of the InViteⓇ Health Podcast. Testosterone is our most common masculinity hormone. It’s extremely important for our health normal levels. We’ll discuss all this over the course of this episode. It affects our facial hair and our body hair and affects the strength of our jawline and affects our voice. How deep our voices it affects our muscles, our bone health, our    brain health. It affects our energy, our metabolism. Low levels are an issue and are commonly declines in older men. But even younger men, if they do not live a healthy life, testosterone levels can drop and there are consequences. So how can you safely bring testosterone back to your normal, healthy level? That’s a more, in my episode, Natural Ways to Improve Your Testosterone Level. Hi, I’m Jerry Hickey, I’m a pharmacist, my specialty is nutrition. I’ve been studying nutrition for decades. You can find our podcast episodes everywhere where you listen to podcast for free. Please subscribe and review, but you can also just go to Invithealth.com/podcast. I can also find Invite at Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at InVite Health. So let’s get going.† [00:02:08]

[00:02:09] This is an important thing, now I’m an older guy. Doctor Landon Trust is a pretty famous urologist over at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. And he says as a man ages, testosterone tends to drop. This is a problem, but other things can cause testosterone levels to drop in any adult male. But I have to tell you, a drop in testosterone, it’s negative, it’s bad. It has a real role in male aging. As testosterone drops, so does our drive, yes, that’s right our drive and our initiative, our focus, our mental clarity, our bone health, which can lead of course, to an increased risk of a fracture like a hip fracture. Bad, bad, bad. Our muscle and our strength, our muscle mass is dependent on testosterone, so its strength. Now as muscle mass drops and fat accrues as fat builds, this can affect our blood sugar control, it can affect our heart health. In fact, a drop in testosterone is in many, many studies at many human trials connected with an increased risk of mortality and not just an increased risk of mortality in older men, an increased risk of dying in younger men as well. So what exactly is testosterone? Well, it’s a hormone. It’s the primary sex hormone in men. Now, women have a little bit and they’re very sensitive to it and they need it for like their sexual health, etc.. But it’s incredibly important to men. Our blood levels are much higher than in women. What’s our most important anabolic steroid? Meaning it builds us up. It’s a steroid, a hormone, it’s anabolic, it builds us up, and this is true.† [00:03:56]

[00:03:58] Now, most of it, I think over 95% is secreted by our testicles. The rest is mostly secreted by our adrenal glands. Our adrenal glands are often called our stress glands. They’re these little triangular shape glands on the top of each kidney. And they release other hormones also that are important for the immune system and controlling inflammation, etc., and waking up in the morning, etc. A pretty normal range depending on the lab could be anywhere from 300 to 1000, it really depends on the lab. They have different ways of testing, different sensitivity. So the amount that’s normal is different from lab to lab, but pretty much 350 to 650 is the normal range, which is nanograms per liter. So under 250 is hypogonadism, you can pretty much count on that, which means severely low bad testosterone levels and over 800 or a thousand is considered high. And this kind of makes you into a NASCAR driver. So too high seems to be involved with thickening the blood and may be associated with aggressiveness, even criminality. But that’s a totally different conversation, and I think that totally has to be proven about the aggressiveness and criminality. So the level of free testosterone is also very important. And what does that mean? Testosterone can be attached to serum binding of hormone levels. It’s called serum hormone binding globulin. So that’s not really active. It can also be attached to the protein in our blood, which is called albumin, and that’s okay because it pretty easily detaches from albumin. But the amount of free testosterone is thought to be free testosterone thought to be more active than regular testosterone. So you do want a good range of free testosterone.† [00:05:54]

[00:05:57] So what do we know about testosterone for men? What does it do? I mean, besides, you know, growth and sexual characteristics and facial hair, etc.? Well, it’s involved with our energy. If you lack testosterone, you can feel less energy, inflammation. If testosterone is low, you have increasing levels of inflammation, which is bad because that could affect the heart and the brain. We’ll get into that. It’s involved with memory. Testosterone is involved with your memory, your attention span, your focus, your spatial ability, your motivation, your drive. And, you know, regular levels of testosterone gives you some drive and some focus and some ambition. It doesn’t make you aggressive. It’s involved with bone strength. So if you lack testosterone, you do have an increased risk of thinning bones. Weakened bones, which does increase the risk of a hip fracture. And hip fractures are desperately dangerous in men and also sexual function. So low testosterone, once again reduced energy, reduced drive, reduced libido. That’s not fun because there’s a feedback loop, there that we’ll go into in a minute. Increased inflammation, fat gain, muscle loss, increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. These are all connected. In fact, low testosterone is commonly and repeatedly connected with an increased risk of mortality, which I already discussed. But it’s important to put these things into perspective, increased risk of hip fracture, issues with the brain, even an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. So, you know, it’s very important to get testosterone back to normal.† [00:07:36]

[00:07:38] So how does the body make testosterone? Well, there’s a feedback loop to control the level of testosterone in the blood. With low testosterone, the hypothalamus, which is a regulating organ in our brain and a more primitive part of our brain, the lower back part of our brain, it releases gonadotrophic releasing factor. And I tell you this because later on we’re going to discuss things that reduce the level of gonadotrophic releasing factor. So why is gonadotrophic releasing factor important? Well, this triggers our anterior pituitary, another organ in our brain to release luteinizing hormone. And the luteinizing hormone causes the cells, the leydig cells in our testicles to synthesize testosterone. So there’s a healthy feedback loop between our testicles and our brain. No jokes, please, controlling our level of our testosterone. So but once again, the level of free testosterone is also important. We don’t know to what degree, it’s a much smaller amount in our blood. So how can we release, how can we improve the release of our testosterone safely and naturally? Well, there are drugs, but drugs, they can be too much. They can make you more into a NASCAR driver than a regular guy. The drugs are going to have too much of an effect. And plus, they’re expensive. And, you know, there’s all kinds of visits involved with that, the doctrine of pharmacy. But fortunately, a normal, healthy level of testosterone can be improved by natural, healthy things like, one, limit your alcohol intake, so one, limit your alcohol intake, especially beer. Beer contains phytoestrogens, a lot of them, especially IPAs and India Pale Ale, because they contain a lot of hops and too much alcohol can lower your testosterone level. Some doctors feel that it’s safer to have vodka than to have beer.† [00:09:47]

ICYMI: TALKING HORMONES WITH CARDIOLOGIST, DR.DAVIS>>LISTEN NOW!

[00:09:48] Limit soy foods. Now legumes are good, okay? Beans and lentils and peas are good. They’ve even been shown to lower the risk of heart disease and possibly prostate cancer. But soy, soy foods are very high and very powerful phytoestrogens such as genistein and dioxin. Now, some soy is fine, but, you know, don’t sit down and eat a lot of tofu. That seems to be an issue. Better sleep. You need sleep for testosterone manufacture. So you want a dark room. You want to avoid blue light before sleep, which stimulates the brain too much. Plus sleep increases cortisol levels and decreases the morning release of testosterone, which is very important. Now, that’s interesting. If you lack some sleep early in the night, it doesn’t seem to be as bad as lacking sleep in the morning. So waking up too early seems to be worse than getting to bed a little a little bit late. You have to handle stress. Stress reduces the risk of gonadotrophic releasing hormone. If you don’t release that, you don’t, you don’t create testosterone. You’re testosterone levels drop and stress also increases the level of cortisol. So if you’re constantly stressed, the cortisol will increase your body fat level, which decreases cortisol, I mean, which decreases testosterone. So it’s not a good thing. There are supplements to help with stress, but, you know, nice, relaxing, good music, moderate exercise. It seems that excessive exercise has some kind of negative effect on testosterone, but that’s yet to be elucidated. The supplements L-theanine safely reduces stress. So does a little bit of CBD.† [00:11:34]

[00:11:36] I personally, what do I do for stress? Well, I handle it well because I’ve always been exposed to a lot of stress. But I paint. I’m an artist to a degree, and I exercise things like tai chi and pickleball and lifting weights. That helps with it, but I don’t overdo it. That helps with stress. Fat loss. Fat contains an enzyme called aromatase and aromatase, breaks down testosterone and converts it to estrogen. So too much fat increases your estrogen and reduces your testosterone. But also, you know, too much fat affects your blood sugar and your heart health. So it’s not good, so the fat loss approach of testosterone helps you control your blood sugar. I mean, it’s all good. Avoid BPA. Some plastics have BPA, which is called bisphenol A, bisphenol A lowers androstenedione, which is another androgen, and it lowers your testosterone level. So you want to use BPA free plastics, anything that sounds like BPA, you don’t want. You need fat in your diet to create testosterone. Good fats like fish or fish oils, walnuts, avocados, olive oil, flaxseed oil or eating flaxseed is even better. You’ll like this, healthy sexual life, sex improves testosterone. A lower testosterone leads to a lower libido, which is bad because a lower libido further reduces your level of testosterone. When you have a healthy sexual life, it helps with your libido and it helps control your testosterone. Now there are nutrients needed, so this is actually the ninth thing that’s involved with your testosterone. Nutrients, like low vitamin A in studies, low beta carotene, natural beta carotene and low vitamin A is repeatedly connected with a drop in testosterone levels.† [00:13:35]

[00:13:36] Zinc, the mineral zinc is needed for many things. Your vision, protecting the brain, your immune system, healing, making thyroid hormone, so many things. Zinc is required to make testosterone. Now, zinc is also required for spermatogenesis, you know, healthy such, healthy levels of sperm, a zinc deficiency contributes to hypogonadism seriously, dangerously low levels of testosterone. So you can get some zinc in oysters and meat, even chicken and fish and legumes. But I don’t mess around with this. Zinc is so important. It’s so easy to be low in zinc. So I’m taking, I’m getting zinc every day as a supplement. There’s so many benefits to zinc. We’ve done practically everything I’m talking about in general, like zinc and bone health and men, and we have other podcast episodes on the show, you can look for that.† [00:14:33]

[00:14:33] Vitamin D, you need Vitamin D to control your testosterone level. You need vitamin D to make testosterone. Now, magnesium, the mineral, magnesium, magnesium is needed to activate vitamin D and you need vitamin D to control your testosterone. But magnesium is also needed to release melatonin at night, which is needed for healthy sleeping patterns. Vitamin E, vitamin E is needed to maintain your zinc level, and zinc is needed to make maintain testosterone. And Vitamin C. Vitamin C interacts with vitamin E to control your zinc level. And zinc is needed to make testosterone. Selenium, you need the mineral selenium, you only need small amounts to make testosterone. Now, also, get your diabetes under control. Diabetes can affect your testosterone level. And interestingly, magnesium, zinc and vitamin D, which are needed to make testosterone, are also needed to control the release of insulin and glucagon to control your blood sugar levels. So all of these are important.† [00:15:40]

SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION, PART 1 – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 504

[00:15:42] So I want to thank you for listening to today’s podcast episode. You can find all of the invite podcast wherever you listen to podcasts for free, it’s for free or just go to Invitehealth.com/podcast, and please leave a review and please subscribe. You can also find info on Instagram and Facebook and Twitter at InVite Health. I want to thank you for listening today. This is Jerry Hickey signing off and I hope to see you next time on another episode of InViteⓇ Health Podcast.[00:16:13]

[00:16:15] There is one more option to raise your testosterone level, but it’s a supplement. There’s a group of things in nature called flavonoids, there’s thousands of them. They have many benefits. They’re contributing to lower your risk of heart disease and possibly diabetes. They’re good for your brain. They have antiviral effects, which is always good during the cold, bad weather. They’re connected with longevity. They have many other functions, possibly even anti-cancer effects. Not all flavonoids are equal. My favorite flower is the passion flower. Very beautiful, complex flower, I grow it all year long. And out of that comes a flavonoid called Chrysin, chrysin slows down the enzyme that breaks down testosterone and converts it into estrogen. It’s kind of like if you build a dam and it rains, the water builds up a little and it rains again the next day and it builds up a little bit more. Your testosterone is starting to build up back towards your normal levels. You’ll never get a high level with this. So it’s safe, but it can help bring it back to your more normal level. The problem is Chrysin is very poorly absorbed, so there’s a trick to that. There’s something called bioperine, that comes out of the pepper plant, and bioperine increases the absorption of several substances, one of them being Chrysin. So if you take Chrysin with little bit of bioperine in there, you will absorb the Chrysin and I have seen it restore men’s testosterone levels considerably, where some of them were actually hypogonadal, they had very low levels, like 150 or 200 and a bottom up to like a range of 400, which is like a nice healthy pattern, a nice healthy level. So Chrysin is an option and I have no issue with it because Chrysin has several other activities, it seems to reduce the risk of developing certain kidney stones. It’s a very relaxing supplement and right now it’s being studied for its anti-cancer potential.† [00:16:15]

*Exit Music*