But, with her crazy hours, lack of sleep many nights and other factors, I’m totally down with the green tea. Keep it going, I say. There are immune health benefits to be had. Some new data published last summer suggests green tea “appears to be a natural, plant-derived compound that can affect the number of regulatory T cells, and in the process improve immune function…” The research said the most  prominent, active compound in green tea, EGCG, likely provides these benefits without long-term toxicity or damaging underlying DNA in immune cells.

Fact: My daughter also takes EpiCor regularly.

Fact: She hasn’t had a sick day causing her to miss class during her two years in college to date.

More new research this week. Yesterday, news about a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences was racing all over the news stream. The study showed that constant arguing and personal conflict can trigger cellular inflammation within the body, which, if persisting over the long term, can lead to serious health problems including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and depression.

Inflammation is an immune response. A bit of short-term, temporary inflammation can be protective and beneficial. Long-term inflammation is immune function running amok…out of balance. See my recent post on stress, the gut, and immune health.

During this political season, I’ll have a new perspective as I watch the election year unfold. Hope they are all taking EpiCor and doing The Five S’s.

Some of the winners you’d expect: blueberries, spinach, broccoli. Others were bit more exotic:  hemp seeds, chia seeds and, the winner, spirulina (algae). If I could add another, it might be yeast culture, the active ingredient in EpiCor. Yeast culture is a basic yeast that has been heated and oxidated to promote outgrowth from yeast cells, called yeast culture. The culture, combined with the yeast, collectively contains a rich mixture of antioxidants and B vitamins plus many other natural micro-nutrients.

Of course you can’t just go out and buy a proprietary yeast culture and sprinkle it on your Cheerios every morning. Although I guess you could take an EpiCor capsule, break it open and shake it on. Nah, it’s easier just swallowing with water.  Although, EpiCor does come in tasty chews now.

Oh well. Your choice!

That’s why it’s great to know when a reliable consumer product receives even more confirmation that it is safe. The International Journal of Toxicology recently published a safety review of EpiCor, one of the leading nutritional supplements for support immune health (through immune balancing). As it states: “Results of the studies performed indicate that EpiCor does not possess genotoxic activity and has a low order of toxicity that is well tolerated when administered orally.”

That’s on top of previous safety studies over the past several years.

I’ll give another toast for an innovative ingredient that is safe, natural and effective any day.

The Five S’s refer to five things you can do to maintain optimal immune health. In my book, these measures will also impact many other health areas, including weight, cardio, skin and mental health.

The are:

Sustenance – Meaning diet and nutrition. A diet tilted toward fruits and veggies, less processed sugar, moderate lean fresh meat consumption, healthy fats, a good amount of water and maybe a red wine or dark beer here and there, can help feed healthy gut bacteria essential for immune health while also addressing cell inflammation that damages health. Think Mediterranean.

Sport – Moderate exercise can improve immune function. The science is there.

Stress – Managing stress helps impact gut health, where stress can upset the balance of immune-controlling beneficial bacteria.

Sleep – A solid 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night can do wonders for immune health.

Supplementation – Nutritional support with EpiCor can help optimize immune health, especially during stretches when diet, stress management, sleep or exercise might be lacking.

Keep these Five S’s at the fore. See how things go during the year. You may be surprised.

1. The sleepless plane ride over. A guy behind me insisted on talking at a yelling volume to the guy next to him. During the dark (sleep) time on the plane. For two hours straight. That, combined with the sleepless 7-hour layover in Newark Liberty Airport means I got no quality sleep for 23 hours. Then, I had a 2-hour nap before starting the new day in Scotland. No sleep is bad for immune function.

2. I tried haggis my first morning in Scotland, and kind of liked it.  In my quest to eat more haggis in the ensuing days, I’m pretty sure I was served “black pudding” instead. Made of pig’s blood. I don’t think it agreed with me. I spent 24 hours finding out the hard way, but it did not put me down.

3. Rainy weather in Edinburgh. It rained nearly every day. And I was outside during a lot of it. Cold rain. And wind.

4. The plane ride home. Surrounded by two screaming kids and two coughing kids. I think kids under 8 years old should not be allowed on flights more than 2 hours in duration. Again, no sleep. Also, two men coughing their heads off and not doing it into their bent elbow.

So how did I live? Dumb luck? Maybe. A daily EpiCor regimen before, during and after the trip? Maybe. Washing hands several times a day? Perhaps. Getting plenty of sleep at night while on vacation? Possibly. And, finally, a certain beverage may have helped as well. See the picture.

“One well-known study in 1979 found that when a plane sat three hours with its engines off and no air circulating, 72% of the 54 people on board got sick within two days. The flu strain they had was traced to one passenger. For that reason, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an advisory in 2003 to airlines saying that passengers should be removed from planes within 30 minutes if there’s no air circulation, but compliance isn’t mandatory.”

Man I hope that doesn’t happen on our trip. I will be slamming plenty of EpiCor before, during and after.

And, here are some “fun” (gross)  plane horror stories from flight attendants that will really spell it out for you:

Two thing recently happened that reaffirmed EpiCor’s sterling safety profile. One was what is called acknowledgement of EpiCor from the FDA  as a “New Dietary Ingredient” (NDI). The other was passing NSF certification.

The NDI acknowledgement means EpiCor has demonstrated to federal regulators a high degree of safety and efficacy for the product itself. The NSF process completion demonstrates that EpiCor is manufactured under industry-leading quality control and safety management practices.

And, add to this the fact that EpiCor is produced in what is recognized as a cGMP facility (that’s FDA speak for Current Good Manufacturing Practices), and you cannot really do any better when it comes to safety, consistency and reliability.

So I guess I’m thankful this Thanksgiving for continuing safe, effective supplement ingredients I can take to maintain good health. Happy, healthy Thanksgiving to all.

Gelman said that among other wellness products, he takes EpiCor. That portion of the clip (below) starts around the 11:15 mark. Give it a look!

The study shows a 2% greater mortality rate with the women who took supplements vs. the control group who did not. Of course, this study, with its limited parameters and lack of direct causal evidence, now leads to headlines on Fox News such as “Are Your Supplements Killing You?”  Wonderful.

Several key points to consider:

1) Any supplement that claims to “treat” a disease  should be shunned. That’s bush league. A supplement is simply that, something that “supplements” one’s diet, especially if a person feels his or her diet is lacking in certain macro or micro nutrients.  A supplement is not medicine, not a drug, and not a meal replacement.

2) Supplements are not intended to be the fountain of youth and extend one’s life to 125 years. The NPR story today quotes researchers who are harsh on supplements because people who take them don’t live longer than those who don’t. Again, any nutritional product offering a longer life should be black balled. I look at it this way; Most people will live into their 70s and 80s, a few into their 90s, a rare few (but more each year) into their 100s.  No matter how long you live, something is likely going to set in late in life, be it cancer, a cardiovascular condition, cognitive issues like Alzheimers, etc. The key is how to stay as healthy as possible up to the end. In other words, maintaining a good quality of life before expiring. I take several–not many–supplements, and my hope is that I will be pretty functional and live a great life in my later years, then die pretty quickly, rather than contracting something in my 60′s or 70′s and living with it for 10 or 20 years. It’s not life extension. It’s not even prevention. It’s more like preemption and delay. I may have just coined a new phrase.

3) Supplements, when consumed as directed, can have functional value. The key term is “functional,” as in helping some part of your body function in a healthier way. Not “curative,” not “reversal.”  Functional. Take EpiCor, for example. Research has demonstrated it helps “balance” immune function in the body, thereby supporting a healthier immune system. Hopefully, that healthier immune function pays off with any number of health benefits down the road. That doesn’t mean that some health condition won’t emerge that that could knock you off your feet and eventually shut you down. All it means is that you may be giving your immune system and your general health a better chance through supplementation, especially if the rest of your lifestyle–no smoking, exercise, healthy diet, sleep, stress management–is managed well.  And, to be sure, anyone who takes massive amounts of supplements over the long term at many times the recommended daily amount may indeed by damaging themselves. That happens a lot.

And one more thing. If supplementation is ineffective and even harmful, how come a majority of physicians and nurses take them? So, please, medical research community, quit treating supplements like they are supposed to be drugs or medicine. They are not. They are just nutrients, some of higher quality than others, depending on the source and  manufacturer, and they can play a supporting role–not an ultimate solution– in maintaining good health.