About immunity
Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God, and value it next to a good conscience; for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of; a blessing that money cannot buy.”
-Izaak Walton, English biographer and author (1593-1683)
We all know by now that a flu shot contains one dose of mercury. As we enter the key months for influenza, are there more ways we can protect our health and lessen our chances of getting sick? You bet.
According to the CDC, 36,000 lives are lost annually to influenza. There are ways to hedge your bet. By boosting your immune system with the right food, attitude and supplementation, and by avoiding stress and being physically active, you can make a difference.
Dr. Harold H. Bloomfield, in his book “Healing Anxiety with Herbs,” also agrees that stress dramatically reduces our ability to fight colds, infections and disease, leaving us wide open to invasion.
According to Dr. Andrew Weil, a leading authority on integrative medicine, “Breathing is the bridge between mind and body, the connection between consciousness and unconsciousness, the movement of spirit in matter. Breath is the key to health and wellness, a function we can learn to regulate and develop in order to improve our physical, mental and spiritual well-being.”
My wife, Sandi, and I escape the heaviness of life like this: We seek a quiet place, sit comfortably and begin to focus on our breathing. Slowly inhale 10 deep breaths through the nose, count to eight, and then slowly exhale each one through pursed lips for nine seconds. If you whistle, you are disqualified.
Who among us would not relish the satisfaction of taking control of our health destiny, hedging our bet and reducing the severity and morbidity of our ailment? It really is up to each of our choices — and a few good genes don’t hurt either.
Dr. Joseph Mercola, director of the Optimal Wellness Center near Chicago, said people die from the flu because they are already sick from eating too much sugar and refined carbohydrates, get inadequate rest and have unresolved emotional stress.
Cut back on good ol’ processed sugar, friends. Socialized white sugar, besides directly spoon-feeding hungry yeast cells, is treated as a toxic foreign agent by our immune system, owing to its unnatural chemical structure as well as the nasty industrial contaminants it contains from the refining process. Try sucanat or evaporated cane juice. Anything but white, refined sugar!
The average person consumes three pounds of sugar a week — a practice that diminishes more than 90 percent of our immune function within 15 minutes of indulging. And this deficiency lasts for two hours. Count the Hershey wrappers you discreetly stuffed into drawers. Practice moderation.
Immunity, our internal mercenary, is eagerly willing to take on any task. It is in essence our body’s Department of Defense. From the wee age of 2 and beyond, our immune system protects us from bacterial and viral pathogens, pesky parasites, external threats and carcinogenic environmental toxins. The physician within also provides us protection from internal hazards such as cancerous cells, arteriosclerotic plaque, cholesterol deposits and free radicals.
I’m not surprised that the flu generally peaks just before, during and after the stress of the holidays, given its drubbing from copious glassfuls of alcoholic beverages, alluring buttery/sugary treats, open-buffet gluttony, second-hand cigar smoke and lack of sleep. Innocently, we get swept up in the sweet, addictive emotion of the holidays, turning a blind eye to the healer within, not to mention the forthcoming consequences?
Team up with your internal physician and embrace some enlightening suggestions for strengthening your immune Take a daily, food-based, multi-vitamin.
• Take a vitamin D supplement
• Prepare loads of fresh, raw fruits and veggies bursting phytochemicals found naturally in plant foods
• Avoid white rice, white potatoes and white flour, junk food, fast food and foods with unpronounceable ingredients. Substitute with whole-grain flours, brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, honey, stevia and real maple syrup.
• Exercise daily
Do your research and take the steps to a healthier life.
