Supplements for Immunity and Gut

When it comes to supplementing, most people stick with popular and easily accessible choices like vitamin C. However, there’s a whole range of supplements out there and some of them are extremely effective when you have adrenal fatigue. Here are some that will boost your gut and immune health.

1:25 - Colostrum and its benefits
2:40 - NeuroEndoMetabolic Stress Response and Inflammatory Circuit
4:11 - Why you can't handle Colostrum
6:45 - Cordyceps as a powerful antioxidant
11:45 - Mushroom compounds good for the gut and immunity
13:11 - Beta Glucan benefits

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Transcript

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 0:06

With all the supplements available out there, do you know which ones will have the most benefits for your health? You probably know about some of the more common supplements like vitamin C, vitamin B for your immune system. But there are a lot more unusual choices that could make a huge difference to your gut and immune system, especially if you have adrenal fatigue. That's what we're going to be talking about today. This is the Dr. Lam show where we empower you to take control of your health. So if you enjoy the show, please hit the like and subscribe button as is the best way to make the show more visible, and show it to other people who really need to find this information. I'm Dr. Carrie Lam. I specialize in family medicine, regenerative medicine and anti aging medicine. And I am very passionate about holistic health.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 0:54

Hi, I'm Dr. Jeremy Lam, I specialize in internal medicine, and also anti aging and regenerative medicine. I focus on chronic conditions and preventative health. Today, we'll be looking at some of the beneficial supplements and how they could be incorporated into adrenal fatigue. So let's first start with a little known supplement known as colostrum, Dr Carrie, tell us first what is colostrum?

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 1:20

Colostrum is liquid gold, it's the first milk secreted from mother cows to feed their calves, or the first breast milk that comes out to feed their babies. So this is called colostrum. It is very high in immunoglobulins and it helps protect your immune system, especially for a baby who has very low immunity at birth. So even a calf needs those immunoglobulins to help build its immune system. Immunoglobulins are the fighting cells in the breast milk or colostrum. That's why most babies, might not get sick for the first 30 days because they have moms immunoglobulins to help them. In fact, if a baby get fever in the first 30 days, it's considered very serious, and they need to go to the emergency room. So, for baby's immune systems, they actually don't kick up until a few weeks afterwards. And that's why it's important for them to get that colostrum to build its own immune system. Dr. Jeremy tell us how the colostrum can help with a neuro endo metabolic stress response, especially the inflammation circuit.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 2:40

Well, in the NEM stress response, you have the inflammatory circuit. And part of that is the immunoglobulins which is part of your immune system. And so, colostrum is very helpful in governing the inflammatory circuit, because it helps with the immunity. Nowadays, most of colostrum comes from cows, and it's a bovine source. It's actually very, very good and available either as powder or capsules. But when you use it in adrenal fatigue, it's often used to boost your immune system, especially in the gut and with IGA. So when you use it to boost your immune system, people with adrenal fatigue might have a weak immune system. Oftentimes, our patients find that they get sick easily, whether it's common cold, or flu and so their immune system is very weak. Colostrum is a gentle way of boosting not only your immune system, but also boosting that gut to help your overall immune system to fight any infections that might come about. In adrenal fatigue, a lot of people are very sensitive. So then this is a gentle way to boost your immune system. But now, Dr. Carrie, why can't some people tolerate colostrum?

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 4:16

The biggest reason why someone might not be able to tolerate colostrum is because they have sensitivity to dairy. It comes from the cows, so if you are very sensitive to dairy, then you might not tolerate colostrum very well. Even though we have seen that people who were sensitive to dairy can actually tolerate colostrum. So it might not be everybody. It just basically depends on the dose, and how sensitive your gut is. Another reason why adrenal fatigue patients might have issues with colostrum is that they are taking the wrong dose and their body might not be able to handle it. Whether it's the purity of the form of the colostrum or that their bodies detox pathways are just so congested at any, supplement they have a difficulty in breaking down because of their overall congestion. These all the things that have to be considered based on your body's constitution and the way you handle certain supplements, and how your gut will be able to handle it. Another reason why it could be is that you might have reaction to colostrum is that it is high in lactoferrin. Dr. Jeremy, why don't you tell us about lactoferrin?

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 5:38

Lactoferrin is actually anti inflammatory. So that's why colostrum is again, helpful in the inflammatory circuit. But if you have adrenal fatigue, the anti inflammatory response might be too strong and you have to make sure that you do the right dosing. The take home lesson with colostrum is that it is good, but you have to make sure that you do it right, because the weaker the body, the more sensitive it is. It can potentially trigger adrenal crash. So you just have to make sure you know that your body is ready for colostrum. And as you've heard, even though colostrum is helpful, as with most things, you have to be careful with it when you have adrenal fatigue. Too much the wrong dose, or even pure colostrum can bring on adrenal crash. That's the last thing you want when you're already unwell. So it's best to get advice from an adrenal fatigue expert before considering taking colostrum. And so you can give our office a call at 714-709-8000 we can help guide you in whether colostrum is a proper supplement for your body at this time. The next ancient remedy that we'll look at is cordyceps. Cordyceps is actually a very powerful antioxidant and they're like their mushroom cousins. They are known to increase energy, reduce stress, and even slow down aging. And I mean, who wouldn't want that Dr. Carrie?

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 7:13

Yes, cordyceps have the reputation of being very nurturing to the entire body. So it's not very stimulating, but can support healthy amounts of energy, especially for those who have adrenal fatigue or who are very sensitive and prone to crashes. Cordyceps can be very good for you. There are even some studies that have shown their wide ranging healing properties and modulatory effects that steps on the immune system. Some show tumor inhibition, some show anti cancer properties, and others show that cordyceps is actually good for your kidneys, and liver. And so cordyceps is very unique in its adaptogenic properties. But it is unlike other adaptogenic herbs like ashwagandha, licorice, green tea, rhodiola, which have an intrinsic stimulatory baseline that can surface when the body becomes weak. Cordyceps is much gentler, so it doesn't stimulate you. It's like someone wrapping a blanket around you, nurturing, very grounding, and so very hard to go wrong with this compound. But Dr. Jeremy, tell us what makes cordyceps so good, that's so hard to find.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 8:35

Cordyceps are hard to make them here, because it's hard to harvest. The harvesting season is actually very short. So to get good cordyceps is not easy. To refine it properly is very challenging as well. So for those with adrenal fatigue, it's critical that you get a good type of cordyceps and that the source is very pure, because you want to have its maximum effect. So you know with other compounds, it can be too stimulating. It can also congest your body. So make sure that whatever you put into your body is 100% pure. We keep reiterating that if you have adrenal fatigue, you should always be careful with supplementation, understanding the full effects as well as risks. The first thing we often see from a lot of our patients is that you take a shotgun approach to supplementation. This is not the right approach, because you don't know the dosing or the strength and this can backfire causing harmful side effects. You need to make sure you know what supplements you're taking, what dose and hopefully with the guidance of experienced providers, you can make sure that you know you're taking the appropriate product. If your body doesn't need it, you should not be taking it, Stronger is not necessarily better. And again, more is not necessarily the right concept as well. No matter how good it is, it can backfire on you. So you have to match the body's ability to take it in and also be able to get rid of it to have the maximum effect.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 10:38

So the way cordyceps helps with the immune system in the gut is that it activates the peritoneal macrophages in the peritoneal patch cells, meaning it helps be antibacterial guards, and eats up any bad microbes that penetrate the gut barrier. So very good in helping with systemic immunity in protecting your gut barrier, and also your innate and adaptive immunity. So it's a great supplement to help your immune system and your gut. Now that we've finished talking about cordyceps if you don't know how much to take, make sure you call our office at 714-709-8000 for a free initial phone call. And we'll be able to help you and guide you along on what to take and how much the dose should be for each individual. Now, we're going to talk about another different type of mushroom. And mushrooms are actually very beneficial also for both your immune system in your gut. So Dr. Jeremy, tell us a little about what mushroom compounds there are.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 11:50

Well, mushrooms have multiple compounds, ergothioneine, Beta Glucan, and triterpenes as well. So we'll talk about each one in depth. Ergothioneine is one of the most important compounds in mushrooms, because it has that antioxidant effect. This contains sulfur and has the ability to stay stave off any oxidative damage to DNA. So you can say that it's a protector of cells. It's found in very concentrated areas where there's a lot of oxidative stress, such as your liver, and even the lenses of your eyes. And so ergothioneine can get into and protect the mitochondria. These are the little organelles inside the cells where ATP or the energy source in your body is produced. We need ATP, or energy in order to live. And so the greatest mushroom health benefits is increasing energy and also slowing down the aging process by protecting the mitochondria. And so that is the first compound and Dr. Carrie why don't you tell us a little bit about Beta Glucan.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 13:09

Beta Glucan is one of the most important health benefits in mushrooms. It's actually a polysaccharide that is naturally found in the cell walls of some bacteria and fungi. And specifically the 1,3 Beta Glucan is unique to yeast and mushrooms. It is so amazing because it can stimulate the TH1 cytokine production in our body, which deals with our immunity. And this is very important and very interesting for people to understand, especially if you don't know about your immune system. Your body's immune system is divided into two parts. If you're attacked by a toxin outside the cell, TH2 kicks in, This is a cellular immunity that is responsible in the extracellular space. So if the virus or the bug or the toxin or lime gets into the cell wall, then TH1 which is inside the cell has to do the job, because the TH2 cannot get in. If you look at many infection processes, which are rampant now EBV Lyme, they're able to sneak through the TH1 defense system through the cell wall and enter the cytoplasm into the cell. If you have a strong TH2 you'll be able to fight off the Lyme or other pathogens outside. However, if you have a low TH1 that is unable to fight the pathogens on the inside, then you have a combination of a bad immune system that is unable to fight off and it grows inside the cells. So these mushrooms can help with the TH1 function. So beta Glucan is critical because it can help with the TH1 function. You guys can understand these concepts because there's deep physiology in there, not only when taking mushrooms, but a lot of different types of supplements that are able to boost either TH1 or TH2. So Dr. Jeremy, what else about the mushrooms and beta Glucan can activate the complement system, which is another part of the immune system.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 15:34

The complement system is found in your blood. It is a system of molecules when activated, boost your immune system. So beta Glucan also gets these complement systems activated and help circulate it in your body so that when needed, they can become active. That's why taking beta Glucan is a really good natural health, immune booster. While these compounds are all good, beta Glucan, and mushrooms, we do have to be careful that not everybody can tolerate it. People with adrenal fatigue when their body's already compromised, a slight boost sounds good. But it can also cause adrenal crashes. You'll hear this a lot, because we see a many people come to us who have been taking some of these compounds. And they'll say it doesn't work, it makes me worse, it makes me more agitated, more anxious, sleepier, increase joint aches. We look at the dosing, adjust the delivery system, the frequency to see and titrate it to what your body needs. So you know, the compound is not bad, but you have to match it to the body's ability to take the compound in.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 16:57

So we have talked a lot about three different types of supplements that are very good for your immune system in your gut, colostrum, cordyceps and beta glucans. And we hope that you found this information helpful as it can guide you on your own adrenal recovery journey. However, we still want to always emphasize that you should never take these supplements without guidance, because each person is different, whether it's your immune system or your gut. So if you have any questions at all, feel free to call our office for a free initial phone call 714-709-8000 and we hope to see you next time on this Dr. Lam show. Please hit subscribe and hit the notification bell in order to listen to our next episode that comes out weekly. Remember, we're here to empower you to take control of your health.

Unknown: 17:56

This podcast has been produced and broadcast solely for informational and educational purposes by Lam clinic statements and views expressed in this podcast are not medical advice and have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration. The products and supplements discussed in this podcast are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you believe you may have a medical condition please consult your own doctor. Opinions of guests are their own and Lam clinic does not endorse or accept responsibility for any of the statements and views made by guests. The views and opinions of guests in the podcast are their own and do not reflect those of Lam clinic. This podcast does not make any representations or warranties about guests qualifications or credibility. In some cases, individuals on the podcast may have a direct or indirect financial interest in the products or services referred to here in podcast listeners should always seek the advice of their physicians or other qualified health providers with any questions they may have regarding their own medical conditions. Podcast listeners must always continue to follow the advice of their personal physicians for all their medical needs.