Posted on April 20th, 2010 by Craig Maltby, Editor
An EpiCor immune balance case study in the making
Rebekah Winquest
I’m glad to present a post below from Rebekah Winquest, who runs a blog called Just Good Energy. She markets several natural food products, and also does product reviews by using the products herself. And she does a fair amount of research about the product she’s taking. Right now, she’s taking EpiCor for an extended period. Posted below is her first review. I look forward to reading what she says about the rest of her EpiCor journey.
“I recently wrote an article on the top 20 most recommended and popular supplements for 2010. Included in that list is a product called Epicor. I had not personally taken this supplement but heard a lot of feedback that it helped people’s allergies, immune system, frequency of colds, etc. I have been in contact with the company Embria Health Sciences, who created Epicor, and have been taking it daily for the past 2 weeks along with researching and learning about the science behind Epicor.
Epicor starts off as the simple yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae, otherwise known as baker’s yeast. It is given oxygen to grow and is then put through a specific and unique fermentation and drying process, also known as “yeast fermentate”. It is the fermentation process that creates this unique product. The result is a superfood in my thinking – a whole food supplement that provides the body with not only extra nutrients but potent antioxidants and the ability to help balance the entire immune system. Nutritionally Epicor provides vitamins, minerals, aminos acids, antioxidants, and even beta-glucans.
What is interesting to me is that Epicor helps to “balance” the immune system compared to “boosting” the immune system. Keep in mind that autoimmune disorders, inflammatory disease and even allergies are overexcited immune systems that attack itself so obviously someone in that position could not take immune stimulating supplements. If you think about it, most immune-related products on the market are all about building the immune system but rarely have I found one that focuses on bringing it to an ideal balance or neutral state. We want our immune system to be ready at any given time to strengthen, as with the flu, or back down if needed, as with allergies. This balance is ideal and Epicor seems to have found a niche in this arena.
Now to my experiences… As most of you know I eat extremely healthy, drink green superfoods daily, consume plenty of antioxidant-rich foods and superfoods, stick to organic, and eat about 70% raw alkaline foods. I rarely get sick or catch colds and viruses from others. Here is the catch… From the day I got pregnant 2 years and 11 months ago I suddenly for the first time had allergies. I had a runny nose and sneezed daily until the day my son was born. It was so bazaar because I had never had an allergy in my life and now I had a very strong reaction to dust, and all environmental pollutants and even pollen! As soon as I stopped nursing my son the allergies kicked in really strong again. I tried all of the natural remedies that I had studied but nothing worked.
I began taking 500mg per day (1 capsule) of Epicor 2 weeks ago and suddenly realized a few days ago that I had sneezed and blew my nose maybe 4 times in the past 2 weeks, even with the pollen-rich air outside. I don’t want to jump too far down the road and say that I am 100% cured because of Epicor, but I do know that I feel better with my allergies and the only thing I have done different is take Epicor.
I have researched further that Epicor is not only great for helping to prevent occurrences of colds and the flu but can also help with inflammation. I am going to write about my experience with Epicor again in 2 weeks, after taking it for 1 month total and am curious to see if the inflammation that I often experience in my sciatic will improve (also started after having my adorable son).
For those concerned about taking Epicor while having a yeast infection or candida overgrowth: They claim that there is no similarity between the yeast used to make Epicor and Candida albicans, which is the unhealthy yeast strain that can flourish in the body causing infections and candida.
I would love to take it for the remainder of the year and see how I feel – it can be taken year round. Stay tuned for more updates.
Reference: “Epicor, The Key to a Balanced Immune System” by Larry Robinson, PHD, Vern S. Cherewatenko, MD, Med and Stuart Reeves, PHD”
Postscript from Craig: Thanks, Rebekah. Since EpiCor is a nutritional supplement, I’m betting the people behind the product won’t assert that the ingredient will cure or prevent anything. But I do know that mulitple placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trials have demonstrated a reduction in allergy and cold/flu symptom severity and duration among healthy people who took EpiCor. Hope your experience is similar.
May 15th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later
May 16th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
I have been taking EpiCor for about three weeks and 99% of the time, it has completely supressed my allergies. The 1% of the time, we had 40-50 mph wind bursts in Northern Arizona that propelled the juniper pollen into the air. On such occassions I have taken another 500 mg capsule. One the articles I read said up to 1500 mg can be tolerated.
May 17th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Nancy – Thanks for the information on your experience. Very similar to mine as well. I’m not sure an upper range intake has been established for EpiCor, but to date, no reported adverse events. Hope it continues working for you. If you were in Iowa (and thank God you’re in Arizona avoiding our winters), it would be interesting to see how your cold/flu experience plays out as well.
Best, and take care.
January 21st, 2011 at 9:32 am
Id like to order Epicor asap…where to I order it from..help I’ve got a whopper cold coming on…
January 21st, 2011 at 9:33 am
Where can I order epicor…sounds great..have lupus and allergies and I’ve a cold coming on promising to bca lulu
January 21st, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Susie – If you go to this link, you’ll find an up-to-date list of companies that sell supplement products containing EpiCor. Good luck!
January 21st, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Susie (Part II) You also need to know that EpiCor is not a fast cold symptom reliever or cold treatment. While EpiCor does start activity within the body in a little as two hours, it does take time to build up in your system. It’s a nutritional product, not an over-the-counter cold remedy. So you’ll need some time and patience.
January 26th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Everything I read about the product had me very optimistic as to it ability stimulate my immune system and help me. Unfortunately, I found I was one of the people who is allergic to the compound in EpiCor High-Metabolite Immunogen. I found after just three days of taking the pills I was very lethargic and had an extreme loss of capacity to function normally, I could not think clearly, walk normally, etc., it took me over three weeks to get over the problems caused me by these pills. I think a person needs to be very careful about the over the counter medications they take, most of these are not subject to FDA regulation or testing and can cause some very serious side effect
January 27th, 2011 at 10:26 am
Tom: Sorry to hear about your experience. Did you seek/receive a doctor’s care? This is the first I’ve heard about someone not “thinking clearly” or “functioning normally.” Would be interested in what your health professional may have said or if you reported this to the company (Embria Health Sciences). BTW, supplements are most certainly subject to FDA regulation, especially in the areas of accurate labeling, claims and quality manufacturing practices.
March 11th, 2011 at 9:45 am
I am a singer. And the one thing ive delt with for the last couple years is getting frequent colds. I workout 4 days a week and eat well, but in Cincinnati, you never know what the temp or weather is going to be. So, I read up about EPICOR and started using it. Two months in, and I feel great. With being a musician, and playing out a lot, it keeps me healthy and able to sing night in night out.
March 11th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
Ryan – Great to hear about your EpiCor experience. Do you have any YouTube footage of your singing or your band? I’d love to post it here as an example of an EpiCor success story.
October 12th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
I unfortunately had a negative experience with Epicor and think other people who suffer from autoimmune issues should take consideration with caution.. By the second day I noticed instead of a regulatory effect all my food and chemical sensitivities got much worse then they were previously, and might have pushed me back a step or two of my recovery process. I’m curious to find others who have had such a reaction and what theories are present to explain it. Maybe I reacted to the yeast itself instead of the effects, but I am not particularly sensitive to yeast so who knows. I was filled with disappointment since the cool story behind it and Promising studies showing what this supplement is capable of were very exciting.
October 14th, 2011 at 8:50 am
Chris – You are right. People with autoimmune conditions or other significant health considerations should be careful in taking EpiCor or any supplement. In fact, it’s a good idea for anyone to consult a physician before introducing a new functional supplement product into their diet. EpiCor is a supplement linked with supporting immune health, and it has been the subject of several studies showing it does reduce cold/flu symptom severity and duration. But that does not preempt people from doing some research and being extremely observant while taking a supplement, which you were. I am glad you noted your specific experience here and helped enlighten our readers. As the saying goes, individual results may vary.