What Is It?

This adaptogenic blend contains a plethora of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals to supercharge your immune system, boost your metabolism, and improve your gut health every day.

What’s In It?

This formula contains a mix of different mushrooms designed for supercharged immune function and longevity including:
Turkey tail – for its immune boosting, anti-cancer, and gut health properties,
Chaga – to support overall health,
Reishi – to enhance immune function and flood the body and mind with tranquility
Maitake – for metabolism support and immune-boosting power.
Elderberry – for rich nutritional and antioxidants profile
Vitamin C – to boost immunity and risk of chronic disease
Vitamin D – strengthen immune function and fights disease
Zinc – rich in antioxidants

What Does It Do?

Protect + Defend’s rich profile of phytochemicals such as polysaccharides, triterpenoids, amino acids, and polyphenols, as well as additions of vitamins B, B-12, C, and D and minerals will support your overall health and keep your body’s defense operating at its full capacity. It also helps with metabolism support, immune strength and support, anti-aging, and longevity, and strengthening liver function and gut health.

How Does It Work?

The Protect + Defend formula provides an intelligent array of fungal molecules demonstrated in the scientific literature to offer wellness properties.

Reishi mushrooms, for example, called “the mushroom of immortality” [1], have been studied for their immune-enhancing, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, and antimicrobial properties. [2] Ganoderma lucidum – the species relevant to this formula – is reported to have over 400 bioactive compounds mostly comprised of polysaccharides and triterpenoids. The immune-enhancing properties of reishi polysaccharides work by increasing the amounts of key immune cells such as natural killer, B-lymphocyte, T-lymphocyte white blood cells, dendritic cells, phagocytes that protect our bodies from foreign particles and may also be examples of white blood cells. A more robust immune system, in turn, is vital in cancer treatment, and reishi polysaccharides stimulate cancer resistance through their immune-enhancing capabilities, by inducing apoptosis (cell death) of cancerous cells, and through their anti-cancer preventing activity. [3,4] Reishi triterpenes offer anti-cancer properties as well, through their toxicity to cancer cells, anti-metastatic effects, and induction of apoptosis. [3-5] Reishi polysaccharides and triterpenes have shown antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, with the terpenes presenting higher antioxidative capacities. The mushroom’s polysaccharides have also demonstrated anti-aging properties through their ability to protect fibroblasts (cells that provides structural framework in mammalian tissue and aids wound healing) from harmful ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation. [6] The UVB treated cells revealed increased signs of aging and reactive oxygen species and decreased cell viability, but when cells were treated with UVB and reishi polysaccharides, the UVB reactive oxygen species were eliminated. Reishi mushrooms also have been used for their sedative, calming properties. In one study, a reishi extract showed similar anti-anxiety properties as the pharmaceutical drug diazepam. [7] Reishi powder also diminished fatigue, anxiety, and depression, and provided a better quality of life in 48 breast cancer survivors. [8]

Glucans from Grifola frondosa or maitake mushrooms provide strong antioxidant and immune-supporting properties [9-11], providing evidence for anti-aging capabilities. Antioxidative properties worked by augmenting key enzymes like superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activity, which in turn, catalyze the destruction of the superoxide radical and reduce lipid hydroperoxides to alcohols and hydrogen peroxide to water, respectively. Additionally, these glucans increased interleukine-2 (IL-2) production, an immunocytokine that has strong immune-enhancing properties providing the most effective cytokine for T cell biology (a type of white blood cell), as well as the ability to boost the activity of natural killer cells, another type of lymphocyte vital to our immune systems. Malondialdehyde (a common marker for oxidative stress) content in the liver was reduced, further demonstrating maitake’s antioxidant properties. [10] What’s more, α-glucan from maitake offers anti-tumor activity by promoting the production of cells that enhance our immune systems like tumor necrosis factor α, different interleukins, and through macrophage cell activation. [12] And a human clinical trial showed that maitake mushrooms led to increased antibodies in in response to influenza type A virus H1N1 after study participants took 20 maitake tablets per day. [13] Maitake mushrooms also help improve metabolism, showing increased fat metabolism [14,15] and other age-related metabolic issues such as glucose/insulin metabolism (e.g., hyperglycemia) [16].

Chaga mushrooms offer anticancer, immune-enhancing, antioxidant, anti-hyperglycemic, and anti-mutagenic (gene-protecting) properties. [17] Chaga contains compounds such as 3β-hydroxy-lanosta-8,24-dien-21-al, inotodiol (a triterpene), and lanosterol and each of these molecules showed effectiveness against multiple cancer cell lines with low toxicity to normal cells. [18] Polysaccharides extracted from chaga have reduced tumor size. [19] Chaga mushrooms also provide immune support, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activity, and anti-hyperglycemic properties. [17] For example, chaga mushroom dosing led to decreased DNA damage and an improvement in deformed structures in zebrafish exposed to UVB radiation. [20] Chaga antioxidant capability prevented the formation of reactive oxygen species helping lessen oxidative stress induced by UV treatment and reduced the amount of pro-inflammatory cytokines brought about by the radiation. [21] Like reishi mushrooms, chaga aids as an antihyperglycemic agent due to its antioxidative properties and its ability to provide protection against cellular damage. [22] Chaga mushrooms also provide protection against liver injury by eliminating free radicals, inhibiting the leakage of key enzymes from the induced damage, and decreasing malondialdehyde formation. [23]

Like the other mushrooms in Protect + Defend, turkey tail mushrooms provide strong antioxidant properties. [24] In addition to polysaccharides and triterpenes, turkey tail offers many phenolic species like flavonols and flavonoids like quercetin. And also like other mushrooms within Protect + Defend, turkey tail mushrooms demonstrate genoprotective capabilities. [25] In addition to its polysaccharides, turkey tail contains polysaccharides that are also bound to proteins in complexes called polysaccharopeptides. Krestin (PSK) and polysaccharide peptide (PSP) are two such molecules that have strong immune-enhancing properties. PSP, for example, has been shown to increase white blood cells [26] and PSK stimulates natural killer immune cells. [27] PSK has also shown powerful anticancer properties, with one study measuring an increased survival in colon cancer patients who received PSK as an adjuvant immunochemotherapy. [28] An adjuvant therapy seeks to keep the cancer from coming back post-treatment, and an immunotherapy targets the immune system. Turkey tail mushrooms also increase gut health since they contain prebiotics. One study found that consuming 3.6 g per day of PSP from turkey tail led to beneficial microbiome changes and reduced the growth of infectious bacteria such as E. coli and Shigella. [29] Another study measured higher concentrations of beneficial gut bacteria such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus while detrimental bacteria like Clostridium and Staphylococcus were lessened. [30]

The use of elderberry extract provides a well-known supplement for combating the common cold and influenza and has provided respiratory benefits to air travelers. [31,32]

Vitamin C is an antioxidant and supports cellular functions that improve immunity, in part through its supporting in the proliferation of key white blood cells. [33] It also helps treat and prevent respiratory and systemic infections.

Vitamin D3 helps fight disease such as reducing one’s risk of heart disease [34] and reducing the probability of influenza infection [35]. It also has been implicated as improving the symptoms of depression. [36]

Zinc citrate is a dietary supplement that provides antioxidant properties, strengthens the immune system, and promotes healthy aging. [37]

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

References

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