Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Millions of Americans are on the drug levothyroxine (also known as Synthroid) to help support their thyroid, but did you know this medication can impact your overall nutrition?
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.
arthritis
InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph.
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NSAIDs are extremely popular drugs. They’re used every day by millions and millions of Americans. They have a wide range of indications and that’s why they’re so popular.†
NSAIDs do work and they’re typically used for arthritic joint pain, back pain, muscle pain, tendonitis, headaches, autoimmune disease management, fevers and more. They do have many side effects and toxicities, but these are frequently downplayed. However, arthritis drugs also deplete these nutrients and this has consequences. This will have consequences unless you replete these nutrients.†
Here’s a short list of some NSAID drugs:
Here are the nutrients that these NSAID arthritis drugs can deplete. We’ll start with folate, which stands for all the different forms of this very important B-vitamin. We use methyltetrahydrofolate, the active form of folate, in our multivitamins. There is also folate found in vegetables like broccoli and spinach, but it can be hard to get out of plants. You need folate to create DNA and for amino acid metabolism, such as SAMe, homocysteine and methionine. That’s really important because you need this to create healthy tissue.†
A second nutrient, which is a hormone, that arthritis drugs like Advil and Aleve deplete the body of is melatonin. Melatonin is known as a sleep hormone. It sets the body up for sleep by lowering your body temperature and lowering your nighttime blood pressure. This is important. In the morning, to wake up, the adrenal glands release adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol. These make your blood pressure go up so more blood can reach your brain and muscles and they increase your blood sugar. The problem is, if your blood pressure didn’t drop at night and it’s elevated in the morning, that additional increase in blood pressure can lead to a heart attack or stroke. You also need melatonin for the digestive tract and the immune system.†
Besides the folate and the melatonin, these arthritis drugs including Advil, Aleve and aspirin can also deplete you of zinc. That’s a problem. Your pancreas, which releases enzymes to digest your food, relies on zinc. If you even lack zinc a little bit, you’re not digesting your food well because you’re not going to release those enzymes. The pancreas also needs zinc to help control your blood sugar.†
The other nutrient that these drugs deplete is iron. With iron, you create myoglobin, which is the red stuff in your muscles. It allows the muscles to use oxygen, but it also breaks down nitric oxide in the muscle, which stimulates energy production in the human body. You also need iron for the health of your brain, organs, tissues and immune system.†
If you’re on NSAIDs to help with arthritis or any other issues, you have to pay attention to folate, melatonin, zinc and iron.†
In this episode, Jerry Hickey, Ph. explains how many medications commonly used for arthritis can impact the body’s levels of important nutrients. He discusses four key nutrients that are depleted by NSAIDs and indicates why those nutrients are needed by the body.†
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.
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.
There is a variety of important nutrients that have been studied for their ability to help prevent the development of a cataract. This includes lutein, zeaxanthin, Vitamin C and zinc.
COVID-19
InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph.
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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.
