Feel the Sniffles Approaching? Zap Them with Zinc!

Beat the cold bug and support your immune system with Webber Naturals!

It's raining and the daily temperature highs are dropping. Now this feels like fall! I love almost everything about this season: the colours of the leaves, wooly socks, the smells and sounds of crackling wood fires, pumpkin pie! But the one thing I do not love about autumn is the rise and spread of that nasty, common cold!

There may be no cure but I think I've got a few tricks up my sleeve that have always helped me keep that cold at bay...or at least very minor!

Usually the day before I catch a cold, I am sneezing. I'll wake up with a scratchy throat and sneeze all day long. That tickle in my nose just won't go away. When this happens, I immediately reach for my echinacea to give my immune system that extra boost. I bundle up with those wooly socks and wrap a fleece scarf around my neck while I enjoy a hot drink of chamomile with lemon and honey (sometimes ginger). I also try aim for an early night.

But there's more to cold prevention than echinacea. Another key ingredient in the recipe to fighting colds is zinc! Zinc is a mineral that can help boost the immune system and has been shown in studies to help reduce the severity and duration of a cold. You can get your zinc through your diet by eating foods such as oysters, roast beef, pumpkin and squash seeds, toasted wheat germ and peanuts. If you're not a fan of oysters (approx. 25 mg of zinc in every 100 grams) or find that you don't eat many of the zinc-rich foods, you can try zinc supplements (always check with a doctor first). 

So if you feel that sore throat coming along try our Sunkist Zinc Throat Lozenges and give your immune system extra strength. It may not be a cure but I'll take whatever armour I can get in the battle between the body and the cold germ!

Want to know more about the supplements that keep you healthy during the chilly months? Check out our Immune Support products and get tips from naturopathic doctor and Webber Naturals expert, Quinn Hand and her post, Stocking the Medicine Cabinet!

Stay healthy and heed your sneezes! Don't let the cold bug get the better of you!

Image source: labyellow.org,

Welcome back to Webber Wednesday, with Part II of how to choose the right omega-3 products for your toddlers and school-age children from Webber Naturals' expert, Dr. Stephanie Rubino.

Toddlers & School-Age Children:

• Benefits of Omega-3: Continues to develop a fully functional nervous system, including a healthy brain, healthy eyes and visual acuity, improves behaviour and learning disorders, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), promotes maturation of the immune system, reduces inflammatory conditions such as asthma, childhood depression, & type 1 diabetes, and supports a healthy weight and metabolism.
• Dosage Recommendation for Toddlers and School-Age Children:
  • For children ages 2 to 3, at least 400 mg of EPA and DHA per day.
  • For children over 4, at least 600 mg EPA and DHA per day.

• Product(s) Recommendation for Toddlers and School-Age Children :
  • Lemon Meringue Liquid Omega-3, Plus Vitamin A and 1000 IU Vitamin D (EPA 300 mg, DHA 400 mg)
  • Liquid Omega–3, Super Concentrate with Vitamins A & D (EPA 980 mg, DHA 545 mg)
  • Omega–3 KIDS, Orange Flavour (EPA 100 mg, DHA 50 mg)

Visit us again next Wednesday for Part III of Dr. Stephanie Rubino's tips on how to choose the best omega-3 product for adolescents, adults & seniors!

Image source: Serge the Concierge

Webber Naturals expert Wendy Tao shares the latest news on the sunshine vitamin!

You might just be surprised at the many benefits of vitamin D...

Draw a line from the northern California border to Boston on the East coast of North America. If you live north of that line — 42-degrees latitude — even if you go outside every day from October to March, you aren't likely to get enough sun exposure to make enough vitamin D.

If you don’t have access to the sun all the time, how can you get your vitamin D without spending huge amounts of money on a sunny, beach-side vacation? You can get additional vitamin D from the foods you eat or from supplements, especially during those winter months.

The importance of vitamin D and the deficiencies related to northern climates are old news. So why has vitamin D been in the limelight for the last few years? Our scientific understanding of how this nutrient works, and what it does have expanded and it certainly does more than prevent rickets (a childhood disease involving soft bones).

Did you know that vitamin D may help combat cancer? Reinhold Vieth, a nutritional scientist at the University of Toronto, proposes that many cells in the body use vitamin D to produce a signaling molecule that improves inter-cellular communication. The signals help a cell determine what part of the body it should become or what function it should have. The signal may also tell cells to stop replicating or proliferating, which is crucial when it comes to cancer cells. 

Not only can vitamin D help signal cancer cells to stop multiplying, studies suggest that it can also help those suffering from Alzheimer’s. A recent study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that vitamin D may activate key genes and cellular signaling networks to stimulate the immune system so it rejects a protein, called amyloid-beta, found in patients with Alzheimer’s.

A Winnipeg doctor, Dr. Taback, made the news this past January taking the study of vitamin D in an exciting new direction. Dr. Taback submitted a proposal seeking $10 million in research funding over the next three years to give babies at high risk of Type 1 diabetes up to 2,000 IU a day of vitamin D as a preventive strategy. He wants to prove that there is a direct relationship between an insufficiency of vitamin D and onset of Type 1 diabetes. Scientists have found that the immune system, and the insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas of people with diabetes, have receptors for vitamin D.

Another new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine journal found that women with painful periods, severe pelvic pain and immobilizing cramps before or during menstruation, suffer much less pain by taking a single mega-dose of vitamin D five days before their next menstrual period. Vitamin D works as an anti-inflammatory to decrease prostaglandin activity that may trigger inflammation and pain during menstruation.

Last but not least, Vitamin D may also help prevent cardiovascular disease by reducing chronic inflammation. It has been shown that low vitamin D levels are associated with increased risk for heart disease.

So remember: if you can’t see the sun, the sun can’t see you — so supplement with vitamin D , the sunshine vitamin for healthy bones, heart, brain and so much more.

Image Sources: We Heart It and fitnessgurusam.com

References

1. Atherosclerosis and Cardiovascular Disease 
2. Boning up on the sunshine vitamin 
3. Can Vitamin D Treat Pain? http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/759254
4. Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled Study
   
5. How Much Sun Exposure Do I Need for Vitamin D? 
6. Improvement of Primary Dysmenorrhea Caused by a Single Oral Dose of Vitamin D: Results of a Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study
   
7. Type 1 diabetes prevention 'better than cure'