Immune Health for Athletes: Nutrition, Genetics & Smart Supplementation Ep 110

Immune health is intricately connected to nutrition, genetics, and activity level, with each person requiring a unique approach based on their genetic makeup and lifestyle. Chris ties in how nutrition, genetics, supplements and immunity all relate for active people and athletes.

Educational only; not medical advice.

You’ll hear about:

• The one plate shift most athletes overlook—and why it changes everything
• A simple number that helps you right-size protein for longevity and immunity
• How certain genetics can influence your immune health, food choices and supplement strategy
• A surprising pre-race sip that showed promise in a study 🤔
• The trendy powder everyone’s asking about—and what we really think
• Why timing beats megadosing for certain supplements for immunity
• The unsexy lifestyle levers that quietly bulletproof your season (hint: wash your hands!)

🥗💪🏃‍♀️ The 28-Day Nutrition Gut Reset is designed for active people and athletes who want better digestion, steadier energy, and stronger recovery heading into the new year. You’ll get expert guidance, simple structure, and live support three times per week. We start January 1st. Enrollment is limited and closes January 5th. Learn more at theenduranceedge.com/reset. 

Chapters

• 1:57 Immune Health Framework Introduction
• 3:11 Protein and Nutrient Balance
• 6:28 Genetics and Immune Health
• 10:04 B12, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D Pathways
• 15:24 Immune-Boosting Supplements
• 26:54 Key Takeaways and Lifestyle Levers

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:00

Welcome back to the Find your Edge podcast. I am your host, coach Chris Newport, and today we are talking all about immune health, nutrition, your genes and being active, or maybe even an athlete, through this whole process. So let me back up by saying that this information is for educational purposes only and should not be constituted as medical advice. And let me also say that your immune system is amazingly and incredibly complex. I am not here to go into all of the different details about dendritic cells, macrophages, neutrophils, antibodies and all of those different pieces of your immune health, but what do we know, at least right now, because I always reserve the right to change my mind as new information comes out and then that creates better steps for you to be able to integrate into your plan and into your health strategy so that you can live as fantastically active and amazing as you'd like. And that's really, at the end of the day, my goal with the Find your Edge podcast and with what I do here at the Endurance Edge. All right, so, first and foremost, we're going to work on a food-first immune framework. So, at the end of the day, I hope that you're getting most of your food from whole foods, not generally over-processed foods and that we're getting some level of balance. And, in particular, I want to make sure that we're all getting adequate amounts of protein, unless you have been told by a healthcare provider that you are not able to have a certain amount of protein. Otherwise the rest of us, generally speaking, should take our body weight in pounds, divide it by 2.2, that gives us your weight in kilograms and, according to the American government, we should be getting 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight in order to be generally disease-free. When it comes to people who are super active or who are athletes, just like you, that number moves up quite considerably, especially as we are perimenopausal, menopausal or just generally getting a little bit older and need to be more conscientious of keeping the lean body mass that we have and not losing it, which, of course, can spell disaster later on in life. That's always kind of what I'm thinking of is yes, most of you out there are probably in your 20s, 30s, 40s, maybe 50s. Possibly we've got some folks in their 60s and 70s. By the way, if you're in your 80s, shoot me a DM. I would love to hear from you. But I'm always thinking of what's going to happen in 10 years and 20 years and 30 years as it relates to your health and wellness. So I'm trying to think of your longevity.

Speaker 1: 3:34

What are some of the things that we can do that can be sustainable, that can be specific to you and your needs? So, as it relates to protein, going back to that, protein is necessary to create antibodies. Among the many of the different things that all of those essential amino acids and overall amino acids do, it's super important that you're getting your protein. That's not to say that I don't want you to get your fruits and vegetables also, because, yes, I want you to do that too. So that is where we come into a lot of our various nutrients, vitamins, our minerals. So does that mean you're getting multiple colors on your plate on a daily basis, on a weekly basis? Multiple plants? At least four to five plants per day. That can be from beans, that can be from nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, etc. Most of you, I hope, are at least achieving that. So that's important for getting some of our nutrient balance.

Speaker 1: 4:33

Because when people end up coming to me, what I start to think of are are there any nutrient imbalances? And some of this could be related to your genes. Some of this could be related to the quality of your diet. Some of this could be related to the level of stress your body is under, and so on and so forth. So there's some key nutrients that we want to look at too, and this is where it ties specifically into your genetics, because here's the deal there's so many messages out there about nutrition, and nutrition is also incredibly hard to research and to study, and you are beautifully and wonderfully made and you need unique things. It's a little bit different than and PSM. By the way, you will never hear me on this show advertising one specific supplement for every single person to take, because that, in my mind, is incredibly irresponsible. So let's get dive into a little bit more why that's the case.

Speaker 1: 5:31

So, when we look at some of your genetics that relate to your immune health, there are some B12 genes that we look at. Vitamin C of course, everybody likes to think of vitamin C as it relates to immunity. Vitamin C Of course everybody likes to think of vitamin C as it relates to immunity. Vitamin D is also related to your immune system. We also look at your ApoE4 status. These are some of the various genetic pathways, or certain genetic SNPs, that we look for as it relates to your ability to absorb and actually use some of these nutrients. So let me give you an example. With B12, there's a particular genetic snip that we like to look at. It's called the FUT2 gene, or FUT2 gene. There are certain folks that are non-secreters and have an altered gut flora and a higher B12 deficiency risk. So when we see that there are some things that we want to take into action, be sure that you are testing your B12 status on a regular basis so that you're looking at your trends and seeing how you feel, and also let's support your gut flora as much as we can.

Speaker 1: 6:48

So things like B12 rich foods, perhaps a supplement that is a methylated B12 supplement. So if you look at your labels of your, so grab whatever it is that you're taking. It could be an energy drink. That's where you're going to see a lot of B12. It could be a multivitamin. It could be some sort of a greens powder. It could be a protein powder. So look at the label. Search around it might actually be not specifically on for supplement facts.

Speaker 1: 7:21

It's typically listed separately as B12, but it might also be somewhere in the ingredients. Can you find the name of it? And typically it's going to be cobalamin and then it's going to be attached to something. So cyanocobalamin is what you're typically going to see off of something that you just buy off of the grocery store shelves or just a multi that you buy at Costco or Target or whatever. That type of B12 is very stable and it's generally pretty cheap and it's easy to put that into a supplement. The reason why I don't like it is because cyanocobalamin is cyanide and I generally think that that's not what we need to be getting. So I prefer to see the methylated version or methylcobalamin, and sometimes the adenosylcobalamin variation is more necessary, depending on where the person is at. So anyway, if you've got that, just be aware that it's probably not going to be absorbed very well, especially if you're one of these non-secreters specifically who have that higher B12 deficiency risk.

Speaker 1: 8:29

Other things that we can do in that foot to secreter status is emphasizing things like prebiotic fibers. Y'all, I love some prebiotic fibers and these are things like asparagus, artichokes and onions and garlic. We have a whole module dedicated to that specifically on our longevity program. Just getting it and recipes galore. Oh, my goodness. Just focusing on prebiotics Because, if you'll remember from the gut health episode, prebiotics help as a source of food for the probiotics to do their work.

Speaker 1: 9:04

So other things that we look at are vitamin C pathways. So there are a couple of different genetic SNPs that relate to vitamin C handling, if you will, in your body, which, of course, vitamin C is an antioxidant. It also helps with collagen and with wound healing, sort of neutralizes cellular rust, if you will, and it supports your blood vessels. It aids in iron absorption and aids in healings and things like that. So different genetic variants may influence your ability to transport or sort of activate vitamin C. So having that information or having that empowerment about your body, is this something that you should focus on.

Speaker 1: 9:46

From a food perspective, getting fruits and vegetables and especially some diversity there, some of my favorite things that are high in vitamin C are things like bell peppers, strawberries, guava, things like that, and then supplementing if your diet is low or if your genetic needs are a little bit higher. But then otherwise, why are we taking it Right? So that's where I like to come in is let's really dial in to just the things that we specifically need, rather than taking everything under the sun that Instagram told us to take All right. So a couple other things that we look at are specifically your vitamin D pathways and hopefully this is something else that, no matter what your vitamin D genetic status is that you are testing this on an annual basis with your physical. So the vitamin D pathways are related to your immune regulation, in addition to many other different things that vitamin D does.

Speaker 1: 10:45

But vitamin D helps T cell differentiation and tempers excessive inflammation. So, like I said, be sure to check your vitamin D status on a consistent basis. This is the nutrient that you also get from the sun, but of course, then we have the catch-22 of when we absorb it from our sun, then it also puts us at higher risk for things like skin cancer. So ensuring that you are talking to your doctor of what is the best route for you as it relates to vitamin D Anytime somebody cuts out dairy, just in general, I'm also looking at great, no problem, you can absolutely eliminate whole food groups, but then just prove to me how are we going to get your vitamin D. And then also ensuring that your magnesium and your vitamin K status is also ideal. And lastly, from a genetic perspective, is knowing your ApoE status. So there are different variants there's two, three and four, and then, of course, you have two of those. So if you are a 4-4 or if you have 1-4, then that's going to affect your body's lipid handling and inflammation. So ApoE is kind of like your inflammatory fires might be easier to start, but then, knowing that information, you can strategically prevent them from starting at all or knowing how to better extinguish them.

Speaker 1: 12:10

So, making the shift towards higher consumption of omega-3 fatty acids things like salmon, anchovies, maybe some algae oil if you're vegan, some monounsaturated fatty acids, especially things like olive oil, avocados, avocado oils and loading up on polyphenols Polyphenols is these compounds that are so fantastically magical for our bodies, especially when it comes directly from food. Your body knows what to do with that. When I say polyphenol, basically it means the rainbow. So eat your raspberries and your blackberries and your red bell peppers and your green kale and your green bok choy and your orange carrots and things like that. And then, similarly, prioritizing sleep.

Speaker 1: 13:00

So these are some of the tools that we like to use is looking specifically at what your body needs. What's your genetic propensity? Where do we need to get a little bit more dialed in? Whether it's for immune health or really for any part of your health, for brain health, memory, health activity, etc. So that covers the genetic piece of the puzzle.

Speaker 1: 13:20

But what about supplements? Now, what I did specifically in some of the resources that I have access to, both for supplements and for probiotics specifically, is there is a condition tool that it uses. So what I did is looked up. What is the immune enhancement or decreased risk of infection, specifically in athletes? So, as an athlete or somebody who wants to stay active and take care of their household or whatever it is that you're doing as a high performer, my assumption is that you don't want to get sick and you still want to be pushing your body and your mind in a way that is fun and exciting and feels good and helps you operate optimally in all different avenues of your life. So when I say immune supplements, probably a lot of different things come up for you guys, and I'm going to go over these specifically one by one, but I find this first one pretty hilarious. All right, so are you ready for this?

Speaker 1: 14:32

One of the things that is now I'm air quoting here possibly effective is beer. Okay, don't get too excited right now, because this is not the alcohol-containing beer that you might think of. Remember how I was just talking about your polyphenol ingestion, especially as it relates to anybody with that ApoE4? And really anybody can benefit from that. So that's a really fantastic thing to focus on.

Speaker 1: 15:00

Well, in a specific research study, non-alcoholic beer consumption seemed to reduce the incidence of exercise-induced respiratory infections in male athletes and I can link to the study but this was a clinical study in male healthy runners that drinking one to one and a half liters of non-alcoholic beer daily, starting three weeks before a marathon and continuing for two weeks after the marathon, reduced the incidence of exercise-induced upper respiratory infection by threefold when compared with placebo. So this is a common thing I hear from athletes or folks who are doing big events or going to conferences and they're just running, running, running. Think of that when you do something like that, which can be stressful for obviously the body, and then our immune system gets really haywire and then we're more susceptible to upper respiratory tract infections. So that's why they call this specifically exercise-induced upper respiratory infections. So, hey, I'm not telling you to drink beer, nor am I telling you to drink non-alcoholic beer, but I found this fascinating that, due to the increased level of polyphenols that's what they're guessing this was related to, and of course, you can't study within the same person whether they get sick with something or they don't, but they can compare groups after doing a marathon, which typically your immune system is decreased for about 72 hours post marathon Some people a little bit more, some people a little bit less, of course, depending on how hard you push yourself and how well you trained, etc. Etc. But I found that sort of fascinating. I figured you guys would be entertained by that too.

Speaker 1: 16:54

The next one that I want to make sure to bring up because somebody in our longevity group brought this up and was asking about it because it's all over her Instagram feeds is bovine colostrum. So colostrum is the very early rich milk, both in humans, but specifically this is for cows. It is very rich in immunoglobulins, which, of course, is related to immune health, so of course, that's what we want to give our infants when they're first born. Is that really rich, lovely colostrum? So now it is being packaged and put into. Actually, it's been for quite a while.

Speaker 1: 17:36

Colostrum has been on the market but for whatever reason, now it's become trendy, so this may be something that is possibly effective in reducing exercise-induced respiratory infections. Small clinical studies suggest that oral bovine colostrum reduces the risk of exercise-induced respiratory infection in healthy adults. While results from individual clinical studies are mixed, a meta-analysis of five small clinical trials in healthy adults showed that by taking bovine colostrum 10 to 20 grams daily for 8 to 12 weeks during exercise training reduces the rate of upper respiratory symptom days by 44% and the rate of episodes of upper respiratory symptoms by 38% when compared to a placebo. So is that something that is warranted for you? Maybe?

Speaker 1: 18:33

I feel like there's going to be a lot more research targeted specifically at bovine colostrum. I found it on the site that we use. We use Fullscript and I'm happy to connect with this if you want to learn more about this specific product, but it's oftentimes combined with other things or in smaller amounts. This meta-analysis focused on 10 to 20 grams a day, so I found a specific product that was safe to use. If you listen to our supplement episode, go check that out with the safety and effectiveness of various supplements. If this is something that fits into your routine typical use. Again, 10 to 20 grams per day. That's what they focused on for this short period of time, 8 to 12 weeks. It is about $100 a month, so consider that. Could you maybe spend this elsewhere? Or if this is something really important to you. Is this something that fits into your health strategy? Okay, another one, and of course we hear about this all the time Vitamin C.

Speaker 1: 19:38

Is it possibly effective for exercise-induced respiratory infections? So high-dose oral vitamin C seems to reduce the risk of respiratory infections associated with strenuous exercise. So if you're going out doing an Ironman, doing a marathon, whatever, so let me give you a little bit more details about vitamin C, because vitamin C is a little bit tricky. The beauty of it is that it's pretty cheap, it's pretty easy to get so and again, we've got those genetic markers that relate to our ability to actually use vitamin C. But some preliminary clinical research suggests that prophylactic use of vitamin C in doses of 600 milligrams to one gram daily for three to eight weeks before heavy physical exercise, like a marathon, might prevent upper respiratory infections that sometimes follow heavy exercise. More recently, high doses of vitamin C have been studied. So a large clinical study in army recruits undergoing basic military training because it's just so darn easy to research those guys shows that taking vitamin C six grams daily for one month reduces the odds of getting a cold by 20% when compared with a placebo.

Speaker 1: 20:49

I'm not. I mean 20% is 20% right. I'm not in love with the six grams daily. So keep in mind, with any high dose antioxidant it can eventually shift to being more pro-oxidant. So my professional strategy that I would use here is cycling sort of on and off vitamin C and not always taking this incredibly high dose all the time. But also keep in mind humans don't make vitamin C, so we have to get it from our fruits and vegetables and or supplements when intake is low. Reminds me of good old scurvy that I studied in school. So I feel more comfortable with somewhere around 600 milligrams to one gram per day, which can help those at least in small doses. You might find that you've got some GI upset or it can aggravate kidney stones in some individuals. So typically under two grams per day, I feel like is a safe place, unless for a short period of time you're doing a higher dose. There's also been some mixed research as it relates to inhibiting recovery in athletes. So that's one that I try to be a little bit more conservative with, instead of just packing you full of tons and tons of vitamin C and being a little bit more specific with that All right. So here's another one that I found as it relates to supplements and immune health. Again, this is immune enhancement for the decreased risk of infection in athletes.

Speaker 1: 22:24

So there were a couple of specific strains of probiotics. Here's the tricky part about probiotics is that you've got various strains and doses and it's all strain and dose specific, and then how is it actually delivered? And then are you getting it from a good quality company? So some good evidence for a specific strain called lactobacillus fermentum. So over a four month winter period, elite male athlete runners taking the probiotic reported less than half the number of days of respiratory symptoms, so that was 30 days versus 72 compared with the placebo, and the illness severity was also decreased. So that is a product that's a little bit more available in Australia and United States, but you can find it mixed into certain other products as well. And then, similarly, lactobacillus bravis, bifidobacterium bifidum, and this goes into. This reminds me of those foot 2 secretors or non-secretors. Those B12 folks definitely would benefit from some Bifidobacteriums to help out that flora so that the invaders are less sticky to the gut flora wall.

Speaker 1: 23:38

So there was another product that was a combination of different strains, including lactobacillus brevis, bifidobacterium bifidum, lactococcus lactis, bifidobacterium lactis, and more Athletes receiving that particular multi-strain probiotic which was 10 CFUs per day. So if you look at the back of the package it's to say how many CFUs are on the package For 12 weeks during winter training significantly reduced the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections when compared with placebo. So while that particular product was not I couldn't find that specific product I found a similar product with similar strains that I am happy to link in the show notes if you want to check that product out and consider that. So the beauty of taking most supplements, or I should say probiotics, is generally you don't have to cycle on and off of them like you would with something like vitamin C. So there's other things to consider when it comes to various supplements.

Speaker 1: 24:46

Okay, last one up is good old-fashioned zinc, so zinc lozenges, which is zinc acetate or gluconate, starting within 48 hours of symptoms of getting a cold, because the cold prevention is a little bit more complicated, like I was indicating. But if you feel like you have a cold coming on and you take every two hours while you're awake, you can modestly reduce the duration of something like the common cold. From a prevention standpoint, evidence is mixed. So I definitely wouldn't take high-dose zinc on a regular basis unless for some reason, it is prescribed by a functionally-minded healthcare practitioner. Zinc can be a little tricky because it can reduce the absorption of other nutrients, in particular things like copper, which we want in little, tiny doses. So definitely don't do the intranasal zinc. That puts you at risk of losing your sense of smell, and then if you have any nausea or if you have a sort of metallic taste because at the end of the day that's what zinc is then you may be taking a little bit too much. All right, so let's wrap all this guy up.

Speaker 1: 26:01

So nutrition and genetics and immune health are complex, but there are certain things that we can lean into a little bit more that will support your immune health, and that is, of course, getting that healthy diet, including good sources of and plenty of good quality protein and good quality plants like your fruits and vegetables, so you get a whole spread of various nutrients in your diet. I would be remiss to say that sleep is not important. Getting anywhere from seven to nine hours and this is also one of the things that we look at as it relates to genetics is your recovery needs, and how much do we need to be leaning into your sleep for that opportunity for your body to heal, and this is really where your immune memory consolidates. And PSM, by the way, you cannot out supplement solidates and PSM, by the way, you cannot out supplement bad sleep Training. Also, looking at that, you might notice that your body gets a little bit more rundown. Maybe you're more susceptible to colds and infections when you're training really hard, so that might mean some adjustments in your programming.

Speaker 1: 27:14

This is another thing that we love to look at with our genetic tests and in our longevity program is so many people are either getting some sort of a training plan, however you're getting it, or going to the gym or whatever, which is great. But how do you need to maybe make some tweaks to that so you optimize not only your fitness but you optimize your health? And sometimes there's an assumption oh well, if Sally is doing all of those hard workouts, can't I? Well, no, you may not be able to do that, but you can still get a lot out of your fitness and you can still keep your body running at a beautiful pace and support your immune system so that it's not totally run down, and then you're out for several days and then it always feels like it's so hard to get sort of back on the wagon, if you will. So watching out for training. Similarly, overtraining can suppress immunity, so it starts off as overreaching and then turns into overtraining. So, being really conscientious of things like that and working with qualified coaches and healthcare providers to keep an eye on what that looks like specifically for you.

Speaker 1: 28:22

Other things that are lifestyle levers that matter most, other than your sleep, your training, your nutrition, working on your stress, because that's one of the pieces that can affect your body and nutrition. Also, your mindset, your spiritual connection. If you're somebody who's like, oh my gosh, I'm going to get sick, I'm going to get sick, I'm so worried about getting sick, oh, I'm so, yeah, you're probably going to get sick. So really focusing on positive language to yourself in particular, and certainly to others as well. And then, of course, wash your dang hands.

Speaker 1: 28:56

Y'all you know, make sure that you are doing that simple act of just washing your hands, certainly before you eat, after using the restroom, and if you're in large crowds and being around a lot of people the amount of times that we touch our faces and bring our dirty hands to our noses, to our eyes just wash your hands to our eyes. Just wash your hands All right. So hopefully that was helpful to give you some deeper insight into nutrition, genetics, immune health and how to prevent getting sick as an awesome athlete. So don't forget to check out the show notes in the links below. There's lots of different free resources in there that you guys can check out, and I would love to catch you next time on the Find your Edge podcast. Thank you so much for listening.