Tag Archive for: antioxidant

Winterize Yourself

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The official start to winter is quickly approaching, but for most of us the cold, wet, snowy, rainy weather has already begun. Today’s Memo contains some tips on how to winterize your body by focusing on basic nutritional supplementation.

Water: Make sure you increase fluid intake during the winter. The humidity is lower because the heat is on in your home, work, and school. You breathe out more water as a result. You have to replace those fluids. Every day drink one-half your body weight in ounces of water or any other fluid; if you weigh 150 pounds, drink 75 ounces of water daily.

Multivitamin-mineral (MVMM): If you haven’t been consistent in taking your MVMM, this is a good time to begin. Your immune system needs some basic nutrients and a MVMM is a good place to start, especially if it’s one that contains plant concentrates and extracts.

Probiotics: The immune system starts in the gut. Taking a probiotic every day can help your immune system function better. In addition, taking fiber with the probiotic can help feed all the good bacteria in your digestive system.

Vitamin D: Consider adding vitamin D to your regimen because we get a lot less sun during the winter. Ask your physician to test your vitamin D levels; if it’s below 30 ng/ml, add 2,000 IU vitamin D to your supplementation. There’s no real danger in taking vitamin D, so make sure you’re getting some even without a test.

Antioxidants: Help your immune system; add additional vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene to your supplementation.

Supplementation may or may not help you avoid getting a cold or the flu, but it may help reduce the severity and duration of a respiratory infection if you do get one. That’s worth the small expense of the supplements in my opinion.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Paula and I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. We are grateful for your support throughout the year. This week is one to spend with family and friends, so this will be the only Memo of the week. Thanks for being a member of the Dr. Chet family.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Immune Boost 1-2-3: Vitamin C

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The third part of our immune system boost is vitamin C. Also known as ascorbic acid, it’s best known as an antioxidant. From the research of Linus Pauling until today, vitamin C has been researched extensively. Even though vitamin C hasn’t been proven to prevent a cold, it does seem to reduce the symptoms of a cold. That may be the result of its antioxidant capacity to reduce inflammation.

When the body is exposed to viruses or allergens, the immune response is triggered. That’s desirable, of course, but what we don’t like are the symptoms associated with the response such a watery eyes, runny nose, congestion, and on and on. While the exact mechanism is unknown, what may be happening is that vitamin C may be clearing up the free radicals on immune response cells, thereby allowing them to function better. No one knows but it makes sense.

Take 250–500 mg three times a day. Some people increase their C to 10 times that amount, but my strategy is always to take the lowest amount to get the result I want.

CGE123Let’s summarize our immune boost 1-2-3:

250–500 mg vitamin C; usually 1 tablet
600 mg garlic; usually 2 tablets
500 mg echinacea; usually 3 tablets

Just remember C-G-E-1-2-3; check the label to make sure you have the right strength. Take this combo three times a day until the symptoms are resolved. Whether a virus or seasonal allergies, I’ve found this works best. Of course, genetics may make one immune booster more effective for some people; that’s where trial and error come in.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Curcumin: Question 3

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Most super herbs and juices come from other countries—açai from Brazil and noni from Southeast Asia to Australia. Curcumin seems to have been used in India for hundreds of years. As we finish this look on questions we should ask about the latest and greatest nutrient, juice, or herb, this is most likely the simplest question of all. Here’s the obvious question: do the people where the herb is traditionally used live longer than we do in the U.S.?

I’ll stick with curcumin and India. Although our official life expectancy just decreased a couple of . . .

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Curcumin: Question 1

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In April, I wrote about curcumin, the latest popular supplement proclaimed to fix what ails us; it’s an antioxidant, reduces inflammation, and may have other beneficial properties in treating cancer and improving memory. But over the holiday weekend, I thought about the questions that still need to be answered. The questions apply to just about any nutrient that’s purported to be the latest and greatest—juices such as açai or noni or powders such as moringa.

Let’s begin with antioxidant properties. Could the amounts used in supplements be too much? Curcumin is poorly absorbed; that’s . . .

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PQQ: The Bottom Line

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I’ve told you about PQQ this week because I’ve been asked about it so often. First I talked about the infomercial; the hype is tremendous if you spent the 30 minutes or so to watch it. There are actually a couple of different ads that essentially say the same thing. Then I showed you the research or rather lack of it. Why write anything more? Because there are things you should know about PQQ that I’m going to cover today.

PQQ is . . .

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PQQ: The Research

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PQQ was identified in the late 1970s, and since then there have been 796 studies of all types on PQQ (pyrroloquinoline quinone). The majority of those studies have been done in test tubes to determine exactly what PQQ is and what it does; those are necessary, but reveal little about its real impact on health. For that, you need clinical trials on human subjects.

There have been three studies done on humans (1,2,3); the total number of subjects has been less than 50. One study demonstrated that PQQ is absorbed when given as a supplement and had some . . .

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Curcumin Research

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Curcumin is fast becoming one of the most researched phytonutrients in the world. As evidence, in 2000, there were about 100 papers published on curcumin; in 2015, there were 1,100 papers published. And in the first quarter of this year, there were over 400 papers published. Why all the attention on this yellow phytonutrient?

I mentioned the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant qualities on Tuesday. The focus of a lot of research is for curcumin’s use as a potential cancer treatment and preventive for Alzheimer’s disease. Most of these are test-tube studies. Researchers are trying to examine . . .

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Curcumin and Pepper

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I’m just back from Peoria, and there’s nothing like spending a couple of days with health-conscious people to yield some very interesting questions. This week, I’m going to examine one question in detail: is turmeric absorbed as effectively without pepper in the blend? A phytonutrient found in turmeric called curcumin is being extensively studied for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. But pepper? I checked into it and here’s what I found.

In a study done in 1998, researchers examined the absorption of curcumin with and without piperine, the phytonutrient that provides the pungent smell . . .

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