Winter Health
In response to many requests from people wanting to better understand the ingredients included in the Winter Health formula we are providing the following review:
In a sense, the formula could also be called the ‘All Seasons’ Health.
The intentions for this remedy, looked at from a more conventional viewpoint, are to enhance health by:
- Supporting the immune system.
- Increasing the efficiency of the skin and mucous membrane barrier.
- Supporting health around immunization time.
- Helping avoid vital dietary deficiencies.
- Increasing a sense of well-being and vitality.
From an anthroposophical side, as we will show later, the intention is to strengthen the working harmoniously of the major four life processes.
The success of our formula will depend on the working together of all the ingredients.
However, the following is a brief review of the relevant qualities of the individual substances contained in this formula.
Beta-carotene
This is a vegetable sourced precursor to Vitamin A. It is metabolized to the actual vitamin in the intestine. Severe Vitamin A deficiency can have significant consequences such as night blindness, stunted growth, and more, but even mild deficiency can result in a diminished capacity for optimal functioning of the immune system. As much as 15% of the general population may be deficient in vitamin A, but the percentage among those with chronic diseases, with a diet poor in adequate amounts of vegetables, may be even higher.
Other conditions leading to vitamin A deficiency are: poor intestinal function; diabetes; alcoholism; chronic use of antacids; pregnancy and lactation.
Higher blood levels of beta-carotene have been associated with lower risk of cardio-vascular disease; lowering age related eye disease; decreasing sensitivity to sun; etc.
The best sources of beta-carotene are yellow/orange vegetables (e.g., carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and winter squash) and fruits (e.g., apricots, cantaloupes, papayas, mangoes, carambolas, nectarines, peaches) and dark green leafy vegetables (e.g., spinach, broccoli, endive, kale, chicory, escarole, watercress and beet leaves).
For our purposes, the role that vitamin A has on the immune system is important. It has been called the “anti-infectiveness” vitamin.
Children with vitamin A deficiency will have a significantly higher rate of complications with meningitis and even leading to death. Measles complications occur significantly higher in developing countries with poor diets. Even in the US a call has gone out to give children hospitalized with measles a high dose of vitamin A as a supplement.
How we are protected by this vitamin is not completely clear but several factors seem to emerge. Aside from enhancing the intrinsic immune system as such, Vitamin A also ensures a moisturized and strengthened state of the mucous membranes and skin, thus increasing a protective barrier against bacteria and viruses. This can be particularly important in the winter months.
The daily-recommended minimum of beta-carotene is around 1mg for adults and slightly less for children. Keep in mind that this amount is only enough to cover overt deficiency not to optimize the function of the immune system to make it better able to work against infections, etc.
Dosing and Intake
- As a general health supportive measure, f. ex. for the winter months, lessening the risk of colds, etc. take one serving (2 caps) daily;
- For acute, short term situations, f. ex. during a cold, on a trip, around an immunization, increase the dosage to 2-3 servings for several days.
- Talk to your health care professional for other uses or dosages.
Winter Health is best taken with a meal containing some fat, for a better absorption.
Safety
As a source of vitamin A the precursor beta-carotene was chosen since it is nearly impossible to overdose on the precursor of vitamin A. Doses up to 180 mg/day have shown no concerning side effects. (One serving of the TB Winter health has 4.5mg beta-carotene.)
Alert
Several studies seem to show that smokers taking beta-carotene supplementation had an increased risk of developing lung cancers in comparison to smokers who did not supplement with beta-carotene. This kind of information is often being used as ammunition by adversaries of complementary medicine. The reality is more complicated though. In those studies the smokers on supplementation were given 20, 50 even 100 mgs of beta-carotene daily for five to twelve years. Additionally these were heavy smokers consuming 20 or more cigarettes per day.
Our formula has 4.5 mg of beta-carotene per serving. To reach the levels of beta-carotene in the studies one would have to ingest between 8 and 40 (!) capsules daily for many years uninterrupted – while never stopping one’s smoking habit – in order to increase the risk of developing lung cancer.
Nevertheless, as always, seek the help of a medical professional if you have a concern that is specific to your situation.
Vitamin C
The benefits are well known. While there still is some controversy on whether it actually prevents the frequency of colds, or at least to what extent, there is no controversy on the fact that a deficiency can be very detrimental.
148 animal studies indicated that vitamin C may alleviate or prevent infections caused by bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.
The preventive role of vitamin C seems to be most evident in physically active people (children?) where the shortening of the duration of the cold is also noted.
There is a significant reduction in cases of pneumonia in people taking vitamin C supplementation.
Other benefits include:
- Improved maintenance of collagen, healthy skin and blood vessels
- Improved scar tissue and fractures healing
- Healthier teeth and gums
- Better utilization of iron and folic acid
- Better support of the thymus gland
- Increased interferon levels
We have included two forms of the vitamin (the palmitate and ascorbic acid) in order to have both, water and fat- soluble, vitamin C in the formula. Also the palmitate form is stored longer in the body.
Zinc
It is vital as a micronutrient in many metabolic processes:
- Maintains, in multiple ways, the integrity of the immune system: zinc-deficient individuals are known to experience increased susceptibility to a variety of infections, increased incidence of respiratory infections, diarrhea, etc;
- Is vital for neurological and behavioral development in children;
- Facilitates the normal function of vitamin A.
Cinnamon
This aromatic tree bark powder has been used for thousands of years for dietary and therapeutic purposes.
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Cinnamon can be used to help treat muscle spasms, vomiting, diarrhea, infections, loss of appetite, and erectile dysfunction (ED).
More recently it is becoming better established that cinnamon is helpful in lowering blood glucose and cholesterol levels.
Cinnamon has a significant effect as an anti-bacterial substance.
Cinnamon is among the botanicals that increase resistance to colds and other viral infections. It improves the expectoration of bronchial secretions.
In 1917, the physician W. B. Drummond MD popularized the use of cinnamon in the treatment of head colds and recommended its use for measles. This reduced the incidence, the severity and the duration of these conditions.
In the conventional way of thinking it is not well understood why cinnamon would help but the effect is attributed to its content of vitamins A and C and minerals like zinc, potassium, magnesium, and manganese.
An anthroposophical View
An attempt will be made here to point towards the connection between the four ethers and the ingredients in this formula.
Let’s start with cinnamon.
Its brown, reddish color, its aroma and the overall effect it has on the sensations in the human body points in the direction of enhancing the warmth ether.
Vitamin C
When we ponder on the connection between the sun and the astringent taste of lemons the connection to the light ether becomes evident.
Vitamin A, beta-carotene
A deficiency of vitamin A causes a dry mouth, dry lips, dry skin, etc. It asks us to look to the water, the chemical ether.
Zinc
One of the major consequences of zinc deficiency is stunted growth and tissue break down. All effects that result in total body involvement point to the physical world as such and its connection to the so called life ether, the ether that unites body processes into one totality.
The salts of the cinnamon are meant to facilitate the entry of all four of these life forces harmoniously into the body.
Harmony
The human organization is composed of a physical body; an etheric or life body (with its principal four ether types); the soul body; and the Ego or I.
In the formula we address mainly the life forces which are the ones principally affected by infectious agents. However, the warmth processes also support the functioning of the Ego organization; the light ether also supports the flexibility and strength of the soul life; the chemical ether is the home of the etheric body as such; and the zinc in its metallic nature supports the physical body and its structure.
The salts of the cinnamon bark and its ashes “embrace” all in a harmonious unity.
(The spiritual etheric forces and the ethers are of course not identical in any sense with the vitamins. Nevertheless, the physical vitamins are important as anchors. The etheric forces should be strengthened by nutritious food, eurythmy or meditation. In the case of absence of the mentioned efforts, the supplementation is essential.)