Respiratory Health in Winter
Many of you will have good respiratory health. You have no underlying respiratory problems, but like all of us, you are likely to experience respiratory symptoms if you contract a virus that affects your respiratory system.
Others, like me, have a history of respiratory problems. I had childhood asthma and severe hay fever, with a tendency towards sinus infections. In my late 20’s I contracted a severe flu. This really floored me. It weakened my immune system to the point I also contracted Epstein-Barr Virus (glandular fever).
My respiratory health steadily deteriorated to where I had developed asthma, chronic bronchitis, and the beginnings of bronchiectasis. Both these are now classified as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). I had a cheerful respiratory physician who told me that I would experience steady deterioration in respiratory health. In my 30’s I was prescribed big jars of antibiotics and was semi-permanently taking these.
This all started to change when I was 41. A friend told me about an amazing antioxidant product that was based on OPC (more on this soon). My respiratory health steadily improved to where now at 69 it is better that it was in my 20’s before I was sick. I no longer have COPD and have only slightly reduced lung capacity from a decade of repeated bronchitis. I no longer have hay fever or sinus issues. I put all these changes down to effective supplements and of course a good diet and exercise.
Supplements to prevent and help respiratory problems
We need to have a winter Preventative supplement programme in place. This is a maintenance programme designed to support your immune system.
- Vitamin D:
Immune health starts with Vitamin D. Inadequate Vitamin D will mean your immune system is unable to respond quickly to infection and secondly will have a muddled response to getting rid of it.
Low Vitamin D is a known risk factor of lung diseases such as asthma and COPD. Conversely, high Vitamin D is protective and has even been shown to make asthma medications more effective.
We know Vitamin D exerts strong effects on the immune system. A proposed mechanism for this is firstly helping protective immune cells from working better and secondly, Vitamin D helps to reduce inflammation released by immune cells and importantly can help reduce mast cell activation, a major issue with asthma.
Please contact me if you would like a seasonal Vitamin D plan for your situation. I take 5000IU of Vitamin D daily from May-October. There is 1000IU in 2 capsules of Cell eXtra. To this I add 4 x 1000IU of our Vitamin D3.
- Broad spectrum immune supporting supplements.
Once we have sorted vitamin D, we need to look at the wide range of, minerals, vitamins, and biologically active compounds we in theory should get from food. While we can target vitamins from food, trace minerals are a different matter. If soils are deficient in trace minerals, so will the plants and animals that are grown from that soil will be deficient.
And this is a real problem. Many soils are naturally low in trace minerals. Most NZ soils are deficient in selenium. In average, Kiwis have half the optimal levels of selenium.
Low selenium means low levels of the critically important enzyme Glutathione peroxidase (GPx). This, along with Superoxide dismutase (SOD) are the most important antioxidants in the body. They are the frontline defences against free radical damage.
Note: GPx (made from selenium) is rapidly depleted when metabolising paracetamol. If you regularly use paracetamol you should supplement with selenium and an OPC based antioxidant such as Cell eXtra as OPC is known to protect liver cells from paracetamol induced damage. Two capsules of Cell eXtra provide this protection.
SOD is also made from trace elements. In this case it is Zinc, Manganese and Copper. Again, Cell eXtra provides these.
Cell eXtra is the ultimate micro-nutritional supplement. It has all the essential trace minerals, major minerals, vitamins and botanical antioxidants to optimise your immune system and other defences against disease.
Omega 3 from fish oils: Marine Omega 3 is the only direct source of the important Omega 3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). DHA is one of the preferred ‘brain’ fats and helps with brain function, especially memory and other cognitive skills. In terms of immunity, it is the EPA that is critical. In short, EPA blocks inflammation while releasing anti-inflammatory chemicals.
If you are not taking blood thinners, you should target 500-1000mg of EPA daily. This is 3-6 capsules of the Sanderson 1000 concentrated fish oil we stock. Each (small) 500mg capsule has 180mg of EPA and 120mg of DHA. I deal with this in depth in my Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition Guide. Please email me if you want a copy.
Vitamin C: This is important for respiratory and general health. My preference is for powdered supplements that you make into a drink. Either Clinicians Family C or Radiance are good products. Mix a teaspoon of powder into a large glass/bottle of water and sip throughout the day. This is much better than taking it all at once as we have a limited ability to absorb a lot of vitamin C at once.
Vitamin D and Antiox Plus Coupon. Vitamin D has a 30% discount coupon and Antiox Plus a 50%. The Coupon codes are vitamind30 and antiox50. Put this code in the green ‘Apply Coupon’ box at the checkout or just phone 0800 423 559 and we will take care of this for you. There is also a 50% Coupon for Bone Plus boneplus50
As always, feel free to contact me for personalised advice.
John Arts (Adv.Dip.Nut.Med)
Abundant Health
john@abundant.co.nz
0800 423559
Int’l +64 7 5722343
John Arts (B.Soc.Sci, Dip Tch, Adv.Dip.Nut.Med) is a nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of Abundant Health Ltd. For questions or advice contact John on 0800 423559 or email john@abundant.co.nz. Join his all new newsletter at www.abundant.co.nz.
