Quercetin: A Powerful Antioxidant That’s More Than Just Allergy Support
Quercetin is a funny sounding nutrient that isn’t joking around.
It’s an antioxidant that’s found in plants that is most often associated with sinus and allergy support, but it’s a powerhouse that should be considered as a daily supplement. From athletes, allergy sufferers, or anyone exposed to respiratory stressors, quercetin is a wonderful supplement with a plethora of benefits.
Meet John Mills:
On this week’s episode we speak with John Mills, Director of Quality and Compliance at Highland Laboratories in Mt. Angel, Oregon. John walks us through an overview of the general benefits and then looks at a specific quercetin formulation from Mt. Angel Vitamins that includes Zinc, Bromelain, Stinging Nettles, Vitamin-C and Vitamin-D3. He gives us great information about dosing, when and how to take it, and how it should be in everyone’s cabinet and part of a daily routine!
Some Questions We Discuss:
What is quercetin and what are the benefits of it? (5:14)
Who might benefit from taking quercetin daily? (8:43)
What makes quercetin different from other histamine blockers? (11:55)
Can you take too much quercetin?(13:35)
Are there any medications that quercetin negatively interacts with? (18:43)
Some Key Takeaways From This Episode:
Quercetin has surprising benefits for athletes due to its antioxidant effects. (6:16)
People with allergies, seasonal or in general, can benefit greatly from quercetin. (8:55)
We are overwhelmed with environmental stressors that hurt our lungs so we need to support them. (10:03)
Everyone needs to be taking zinc supplements. (14:32)
Increase Vitamin C levels when taking quercetin. (18:55)
Quercetin may be better suited as a preventative as opposed to a response. (24:18)
Products + Resources:
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CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Brian Strickland: Hey everyone, welcome back to the Holistic Navigator Podcast where we believe in the body's capacity for self healing if it's given the proper nutrients and care it deserves. Thank you so much for tuning in today. My name is Brian Strickland. I'm the producer of the show and here with me in the studio as always is your host Ed Jones. Today we're taking a look at a specific supplement that is extremely important for this season with our friend John Mills. [00:01:01] John is the Director of Quality and Compliance for Highland Laboratories and Mount Angel, Oregon. And honestly, he's one of our favorite people to talk to. We're taking an in-depth look today at quercetin and zinc, a formulation by Mount Angel Vitamins. Quercetin is garnering a little more attention in recent months for its help with sinus and respiratory health but its benefits extend into other areas as well. John walks us through the ins and outs of this nutrient and shares how to use it, why we should be taking it, and how it can benefit everyone. That's it for me. We hope you enjoy this episode. So let me go ahead and introduce your host Mr. Ed Jones.
Ed Jones: And welcome back to the Holistic Navigator for probably getting close to episode 100. I'd have to ask Brian how many we actually have but we're still just rocking and rolling with this thing that I love which is education and informing listeners about some of the magical, natural pharmacies that we have to [00:02:01] tap into with nature. And today I've had a great pleasure in interviewing John Mills with Mount Angel company probably about a year ago and met him and just a wonderfully informative educated and experienced gentleman on many topics of nutrition, but welcome to the Holistic Navigator, John.
John Mills: Well, thank you very much Ed. I appreciate it.
Ed Jones: You know, there's a whole lot always in the news, but certainly more about health and the news in the past nine months than I ever dreamed possible. I've seen a change in attitudes in this country that I actually told one of my staff members yesterday. I did not think I would live long enough to see the amount of people who are taking their health seriously and who are able and willing to do almost anything because now they understand something. And that something is that the less healthy they are [00:03:01] the worst they eat, the less they exercise. It's not just about being a little overweight. It's actually about maybe not living. This episode that we've gone through since March has taught us many harsh lessons, one of which is, you know, being overweight, being overly medicated, having blood sugar irregularities can be very, very serious across the board. We're not just talking about, you know, a viral infection or even a bacterial infection. We're talking about just you know, even cardiovascular this and that. Well, you know, I have many love affairs in my life with nutrients I will have to say. It is something I've done since I was 14 years old. I'm 63. I take a really wide array of nutrients. And I told somebody literally 15 minutes ago was a big news agency in Seattle who interviewed me. I said do you know what is the number one risk of our life is? Getting older. Getting [00:04:01] older is what will destroy us. It isn't just you know for the faint at heart as they say it is destructive on every single level and the only single thing that can slow it is lifestyle management and nutritional supplementation and doing one without the other I think is you're missing a big chunk of that. Well, I want to introduce you to a nutrient that many people have just recently heard because it's finally on the news about how to keep people healthier through some of these hard times we're going through. It is called quercetin and John has extensive information research on this all-natural supplement. And I'll be honest with you. I you know again, I've never met a supplement. I wasn't willing to experiment with or really fall in love with but this is one that I actually did not take unless I had a sinus condition until probably 6 months ago and now I will never be without it. I can tell you because I delve into the research so deeply on nutrients [00:05:01] and quercetin is a keeper. So John maybe just inform them, you know from from the starting of the first grade level, of course, it will move up to the college level pretty quickly.
John Mills: Okay. Well just to start with quercetin is a very interesting molecule. It is found literally in every living plant. So if you were to eat onions for instance, have a very high amount of quercetin in them. They're typically in as some kind of an analog that they all break down into the basic form of quercetin which is a simple molecule three ring structure. I’m sorry moving into the chemistry side, but the molecule itself is a large ring structure and it seems to have benefits associated like you said with sinus support. [00:06:01] But the real fun part about this is that it also interacts at a cellular level throughout your body, largely in antioxidant capacities. But what they found is that it goes way beyond just basic living. It has support for the cells that gets stressed on a regular basis. For instance athletes who do a lot of physical stress typically have a problem with their upper respiratory system just because of the physical stress, not for any disease reasons at all, just physical stress because they exercise heavily. And quercetin seems to mitigate some of that that stress application in there and seems to help that. So like I said, it goes beyond just just a causal reason to use it.
Ed Jones: That's interesting. And you know, the athletic part of it is something that I haven't been delving into because I've been more into the the things we've been going through in 2020. [00:07:02] And I want to say something sometimes, you know, I think all of us who have been doing this her whole life assume that people understand what an antioxidant is. And I use this analogy long ago to explain it and it's actually just came back to me. I probably haven't said in five years. But if you think about being in front of a fireplace that's burning real wood and you don't have a screen on the fireplace. What will happen is these little embers will pop and they will come out onto your carpet and they will burn a little hole in that carpet. Well, that's what a free radical does within your body. It's shooting out these little hot embers that are damaging every time it hits something. Well an antioxidant is really like a glass of water that you pour on that ember or like a screen that stops it in the first place. So quercetin is helping to stop some of this aging side effect athletic side effect because I'll tell you and [00:08:02] I can ramble endlessly but I remember some early research showing, you know, people who consume huge amounts of oxygen who are runners, bicyclists, and endurance athletes. They are creating a whole pot of free radicals, those sparks coming out at the fireplace. Well, that's pretty good. It's okay. I mean it's going to make your heart healthier and do all that exercising your lungs. But it's also if you don't counter that with the right foods and right supplementation, you're going to have those embers burning some of that pieces of carpet within you. So quercetin' is and I know this is a fantastic antioxidant. So what would the athletes one big specially those who work out very heavily. Two, let's get into the next group of people who might want to consider quercetin on a daily basis?
John Mills: Well, the one individual that I think of is the person who has just seasonal allergies or allergies in general. Allergies can be a challenge and you know any support you can [00:09:02] get at all to help in those to help deal with those issues. It is a benefit of the blessing. So if you're looking at just a standard everyday type of a thing, quercetin is wonderful in that respect. There appear to be well, you wouldn't call dose-dependent support associated with it. So the more you take the better it is up to a point, of course. There are some individuals who do experience some problems when they get really high dose of quercetin. When I say high dose quercetin and I'm talking anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 milligrams a day. So that's quite a bit of quercetin you'd be taking. The regular person can take anywhere from five hundred to a thousand milligrams a day without problems at all and that's pretty normal for an adult individual. When we look at just standard or regular rather problems that are [00:10:02] associated in daily living. We're always challenged in those things. You know, we were just having allergies but what we don't realize is that there are a tremendous number of respiratory stressors in the environment around us. You walk downtown just to try to get some exercise, just a little bit of exercise, a little bit of a walk outside and the fumes from the cars are causing stressors to your lungs. If you're in the wintertime and see the even worse when people are starting to burn as you were to use the fire analogy that people burning fires are burning wood for heating, that smoke that creates stressors in the lungs. This last summer with all the fires on the west coast. That's where I am on the west coast and all those fires out here created such a heavy pall of smoke. Huge stressors that every day at that time anything you can do to help alleviate those stressors and help your body calm down is critically important. And quercetin [00:11:02] is one of those products that will help you do that.
Ed Jones: Absolutely. I know that you know, I get so much feedback. I mean I deal with so many people per day that tell me a lot about their health and share so much of their own life and it is a game changer for some people. Not everyone. No nutrient is. But for those who have chronic sinus, chronic drainage, chronic this. And what happens when you have a lot of chronic drainage is it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and potentially viruses. But you know, it's like a pond. If you have a pond that has good flow and good drainage water in water out oxygen it stays pretty healthy. But you let that pain stagnate, guess what comes to it? You know parasites and bacteria that’s unhealthy and actually odors and this and that. Well, that's because nothing can detoxify the pond. Well, quercetin is our pond detoxifier in certain ways. [00:12:02] And the thing is a lot of nutrients have a lot of different functions. And there's not a whole lot that really works on the mechanism of action that I see in quercetin. Quercetin helps to block histamine release rather than do it pharmaceutically, which the pharmaceutical versions of histamine products have side effects. I mean it could make my prostate swell, and make me sleepy, and make me hyper. Quercetin works so naturally within the body. And we know that quercetin, and I'm not going to get into any specific words about this. I hope people can assume what I'm saying, and we'll talk about this but quercetin also helps transport zinc into the cell. If anyone's reading about how to be healthier during this 2020, one of the things and one of the drugs that was talked about endlessly was trying to help transport zinc. Well guess what? Quercetin does it almost equally to anything and that we found in the world. And that zinc is so important to help us get well [00:13:02] and keep us from getting super sick if we are doing that. And I mean, we've sold more quercetin at nutritionw.com in the past eight weeks then we have sold in probably four years total because the media finally is embracing some of this literature about how to stay healthy during this 2020 year. Now, you did mention something, John, what would happen if I did take too much of this? Because I can be a mega dose or at times is it gastrointestinal. There's no real danger is there?
John Mills: The danger comes in that especially with people who have predisposed conditions to something along the lines of kidney disease. It can increase difficulty with the kidney function. So it's really important that an individual understands your body. You know, you've already made that point and you have to understand your body. And as long as you [00:14:02] are aware of how you're feeling, and you're moving, and what your body is doing, you can bring up your levels to a thousand milligrams a day. There have been no reported instances at a thousand milligrams a day with individuals having problems once again when you get up to 2,000, 2,500, 3,000 milligrams a day, which is where individuals begin to have some problems. You know, I'm glad you mentioned zinc in this process. Zinc is a critical mineral. Over 300 enzymes in our bodies utilize zinc as the cofactor. So, you know, you hear about vitamins being cofactors. Well minerals can also be cofactors in it's critically important to enzymes. Those are proteins that do things in your body. I mean, everybody has functioned by how proteins work. And so a muscle is a muscle, but in order to get a food product to digest you have to have enzymes. [00:15:02] And enzymes digest those. What's inside your intestines, inside your liver, and they literally do things. Enzymes make energy in your body. If you don't have energy you don't have enzymes you don't have energy. So zinc is so critical to over 300 different enzymes and their proper function that you have to have zinc everyday. The FDA says you need at least 15 milligrams under the old RDAs and at least 10 milligrams under the new RDAs. So that RDA may have gone down, but it didn’t go away, so it's really important that everyone gets zinc into their bodies and they get it at an appropriate level. So that's just absolutely critical. You know, another thing is that encouraging the uptake of zinc encouraging uptake of quercetin would be something along the lines of another enzyme called bromelain. And bromelain is one of my very favorite enzymes, just a plant enzyme made from pineapple [00:16:02] and it actually is a protease, it digests proteins. But when you take it by itself or with a nutrient, like quercetin or zinc or stinging nettles, something like that bromelain helps encourage the uptake of all these different components. And it's so important to have that present because you're going to increase the nutritional value of whatever food you have with a protease present. And again bromelain is my favorite protease. It's such a simple protease. I say simple because it's easy to get from Pineapple, but it is a very complex protease. The same time it's not one individual enzyme. It's actually a group of enzymes that work together. So it's synergistic. They work synergistically synergistically with each other and they encourage synergistically the uptake and nutrients function of whatever you're taking with them. And that's why we included it with the product that you're that you've been talking about the quercetin zinc product.
Brian Strickland: [00:17:05] Hey everyone. We're going to pause for just a moment to tell you about our sponsor for today. Today's episode is brought to you by Mt. Angel Vitamins. Mt. Angel believes that your wellness is more than just physical. It's emotional, social, financial and spiritual and they provide simple solutions for your wellness by incorporating only the best ingredients in their products. So whether you're looking for a great multivitamin or any dietary supplements really, you'll find comprehensive formulations to address your needs. For more information and to see their whole line, you can visit mountAngelvitamins.com. Mount Angel- Simple Proactive Wellness.
Ed Jones: Well, and that's one of the lovely parts that I really value companies that have ethics and transparency and Mount Angel, and it's by no means am I just sitting here plugging it for any reason other than I believe in it. I've dealt with you know [00:18:05] 43 years worth of companies and you know only a few rise to the top and are the cream and Mount Angel is definitely one. I'd trust anything they make and the formulations are phenomenal and I know you're part of that. And I love you know, they're quercetin zinc product combines stinging nettles with it with the right amount of all the nutrients and you know, it will be one that I will take long term. If I was feeling under the weather I would increase the dose for maybe five to six days. If I had a terrible congestion or something, but I will be on two to three of these a day for probably the rest of my life. Let me ask you quercetin, are there any drugs that maybe we should consider people not taking if they are taking a certain drug?
John Mills: No, not to any great degree no. The one thing I would recommend though is increasing your load of vitamin C, ascorbic acid. Vitamin C is such a critical aspect of [00:19:05] our diet anyway. Our bodies don't function without it and it has such a tremendous benefit in such a variety of ways. But one of the one article of research has demonstrated that with quercetin if you have vitamin C present, it will increase the amount of quercetin absorbed and quercetin will increase the amount of vitamin C absorbed. So there it's kind of like a dualistic synergistic effect with quercetin and vitamin C. So that's just that's just an important factor there. But as far as medications go, no. I don't normally have concerns associated with individuals who are medicated for a variety of reasons taking quercetin. I mean, it doesn't interact with any of the anti-clotting agents or anything along those lines.
Ed Jones: Well, I always do put it back on the client customer to you know, check it out. We can't legally say take it with drugs. But you know if they do check it out with someone who knows not just someone who doesn't [00:20:05] know then that covers that base. And you know, you talked about how you know, the zinc and the quercetin and they all work like a family. It's really just like, you know, a loving family at Christmas time where one person's, you know, two or three in the kitchen and somebody's putting the tree up and packages and someone else is shoveling snow. I mean, it's just that synergy that comes not often in life. But when it does it is a beautiful music that's played. And again, the Mount Angel quercetin zinc has exactly the right combination so you don't have to think about it. You know, putting together a plan and I actually love the big orange bottle. I think it's pretty cool. I've never seen one this big with that much color. So I really like the way you designed that label. So we dealt with athletes, we dealt with people with chronic sinus, we dealt with people who just want to stay well and especially partially breathing lung-wise, certainly protects all the organs because of the way that it works [00:21:05] and you know, I've spoken endlessly. I do probably everyday mention something that I call the Core 4. You know, looking at people's blood work for decades looked at listening to them figuring out what makes people healthier by me connecting the dots of so much experience. I really have come to focus on the fact that I know that there's four things that every person if they have blood flowing through their veins and they’re past 35 years old they need if they want to slow aging. And that is the right multivitamin and I actually we did a podcast on that exact topic, John.
John Mills: Yes we did.
Ed Jones: And you know, that is the word right, correct multivitamin is a huge word. This isn't like just grabbing the one that has the right words on it. It is almost a journey in itself to determine the multivitamin. And the multivitamin is kind of like the orchestra director and it really sends so many different instructions within the body that it is incredibly [00:22:05] important. Even if the dosages can be small, they're vital for the function of this complex human system. And then secondly Omega-3s always have to be part of the plan of what I call the Core 4. If you go to nutritionw.com and type in Core 4 you can read all about the articles I've written. I've written over 500 articles on nutritionw and several have been on the Core 4. Thirdly is a green drink. I just have great great faith in the fact that if we drink the right green drink, it's going to alkalize our body, detox our system, protect us on many levels that actually vitamins can because greens have phytochemicals which are different. And then of course, even though we call it Core 4 we really should Now call it Core 5 because we need probiotics and vitamin D and we won't go into all of that. But that is the package. Well quercetin may not fall into the box of core 4 but it's on the secondary box and I do believe that many people should consider that especially if they're having symptoms of chronic [00:23:05] sinus. I mean or at least having it on hand. I mean, there's people who just have seasonal stuff and you know one week is good and one week is not good. Well you could you could just keep it there for the moments when you need. In fact, I had a lady text me about 45 minutes ago. And she said “Ed, what do I do? I woke up this morning and my head is completely full. It's allergies. I know I'm not I'm not sick with any virus.” And I said, you know quercetin with bromelain again bromelain helps quercetin a big absorbed bromelain. Quercetin without a helper might not get into the cells to the level we want and Mount Angel’s done an awesome job of putting together exactly what needs to be done. Now does this need to be done empty stomach or a full stomach John? I don't know that answer.
John Mills: I typically recommend taking them first thing in the morning. That's that's when I start and I prefer it on an empty stomach because it has a better chance for absorption as [00:24:05] it starts down the intestinal tract and you bring some food. You mentioned a green drink. That's exactly what I had for breakfast this morning was a green drink. So that green drink follows those though nutritional components down into my gut system and increases that opportunity for absorption. One thing I would like to point out and we've been talking about response to problems. I would like to say that really quercetin is probably better suited as a preventative. Taking it before you think you're going to need it because the opportunity they the studies that they can't come out recently in the last two years have indicated that if an individual is taking it three days prior to to, not three days prior to a potential challenge to their body that they have the benefit if they take a two days prior, they don't have the benefit. So really even though there is [00:25:05] a potential benefit present, it's not to the effect that if they've been taking it for the week ahead of time. So really right now, especially with all the challenges going on in our society today, I would really recommend taking it daily. Which is what I do I take it every morning first thing in the morning. I have over 500 milligrams going into my body and I'm utilizing it every day. There's not one day that goes by that I'm not taking it. That benefit is better.
Ed Jones: Yeah, and I would certainly agree with you. I just know sometimes people get pill weary and they, you know can only do so many things so I know what you're saying. Because I actually when you try to block histamine, once you're already full of histamines blocking more of it's not gonna make you feel better that day. You're gonna have to work through some of those histamines and keeping it from coming in. I remembered this [00:26:05] John from just it just popped in my head. I mean probably 20 years ago prostatitis in men can be devastating. It’s kind of under the radar people. Don't talk about it much but it's you know it is it destroys the quality of life for many men and quercetin has good studies on helping the prostate to be healthier in that arena. Doesn't it?
John Mills: Absolutely well, you know what then that's interesting because this particular product also has stinging nettle root at it and stinging nettle root has also demonstrated positive benefits associated with prostatitis type related to proselytize type activity. So it you know individuals can benefit definitely from using that and the one thing when we put this product together when I put the product together The one who actually formulated this the stinging nettle root was one that I that I did focus on because it has some it has some very positive benefits associated with [00:27:06] helping your body respond to viral challenges. And so you know, it helps the body prevent some some of those implantation type things have from happening. And so quercetin is along the same category in that same in that same category of of products from materials and that it also assists in that challenge process and preventing that from happening. So it's just one of those things where it just works well to look at it and take it on a daily basis. And you're absolutely correct. When you go back to talking about prostate health or talking about just general lung condition or any other variety of organs, which depend so heavily on a strong presence to prevent oxidative reactions from occurring any time you start looking at those. And that is you've already said is the single biggest aging factor in the human body is oxidative reaction.
Ed Jones: Absolutely, [00:28:06] great explanation. And it was interesting that I have forgotten that about prostatitis till it just popped in my head and so many men should do that. And also I love the stinging nettles because there's Nettles and they're stinging nettles. Stinging nettles are far more effective plant and most companies don't actually make that again. That's why I really love the formulation and you are the formulator and have done much of that over the years and just is exquisite how you can focus and put all this stuff together in such a package that is wonderful. Again I think many people may consider this as adding it to their regular protocol. If again, they have room in their little baggie like me and such. But I really value all this information today, and I know people who are listening due to in fact two of my other podcasts on the Holistic Navigator Dr. Rountree, and Dr. Michael Smith from Life Extension, which both of them were speaking their [00:29:06] heart and mind on what to do during this 2020 health challenge if we were getting sick. And both of them to my memory said quercetin is very important. Of course, they also mentioned the other parts to this NAC which is the other thing that helps the lungs to be healthy quercetin, zinc, NAC, vitamin D. Those were vitamin C. Those were the five big. He's initially vitamin A was number six. So if people want to hear more about this from the aspect of more protocols go to Dr. Rountree or Dr. Michael Smith on the Holistic Navigator. Well, John any last words you'd like to say about the quercetin zinc that Mount Angel makes?
John Mills: Well, yeah like this product like all the products that we have, I formulated for my family. So that's the one thing you talked about safety aspects of it before. I would not be giving us to any of my kids or grandkids [00:30:06] if it wasn't something that I would be willing to take myself. So that's one of the factors I look at. I try to look at the safety side of things as well as the effectivity side of things to make sure that I have a well-rounded, good product that I'm actually proud of that my family will use.
Ed Jones: I love that. And it really is coincidental. I will mention it again. I just finished a national television show and I sit the lady asked me she said I said do we need put together a team approach for our future health and that team approach will include a physician, but it needs to include other healthcare practitioners who understand lifestyle, exercise, nutrition, and then companies who offer the right products. And I said exactly what you said I said, I will not sell anything at nutritionw.com that I would not personally take myself. And I said we need to always find companies and it doesn't matter if it's a nutrition company or a hardware [00:31:06] store. We need to find companies that are transparent, ethical and whose bottom line is not just built by ringing up at the register. Who's built by offering the client customer ability to to satisfy their needs of the moment. And that is what Mount Angel does, it’s certainly what Nutrition World does and it will never change. I can tell you that's why we that's why I love companies like mine Angel. Well John Mills, thank you for such information as always and I'm sure we will be talking again in another six months about something else. And I want to encourage everyone listening to again stay tuned for the future episodes. I will be doing this as long as I can get out of bed and be breathing and I will be breathing because I'm taking quercetin with Mount Angel. So that'll help my lungs to stay healthy. And again, I've repeated this so often it's probably everyone's tired of it. I separate the world into two classes of people: Learners and non-learners. If you're listening to this. Congratulations, you are a learner [00:32:06] and you will profit exponentially. That's a big word, by the fact that you're spending time on here anything we can do to help you, you know, we're always here and so join us for the next episode of be Holistic Navigator. Stay calm, stay fearless and 2021 is going to be a great year for all of us. Take control of your health and let me help you. Thank you very much.
Brian Strickland: The information on this podcast in the topics discussed have not been evaluated by the FDA or any one of the medical profession and is not aimed to replace any advice you may receive from your medical practitioner. The Holistic Navigator assumes no responsibility or liability whatsoever on behalf of any purchaser or listener of these materials. The Holistic Navigator is not a doctor or doesn't claim to be please consult your physician before beginning any health regimen.