Healthy You Naturally Monthly Newsletter

How to weaken your immune system

If you want to strengthen your immune system, these 5 strategies will help you be more resistant to the flu, colds and disease this fall, winter & anytime.

Most people are aware that their ability to enjoy good health is threatened when the immune system is performing poorly.  A weakened immune system does not cause illness, it is the inability to defend against invading pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms that causes illness and disease.

Why do people get sick?

Ever wonder why some people exposed to the same conditions, some get sick while others do not?  There are solid reasons why this happens and just a basic understanding can help you avoid or at least minimize your chances of illness.

Symptoms of illness are often the first noticeable signs that the body's immune system is waging battle with invaders.  How successful the immune system is at defending you against the onset, severity and duration of illness has everything to do with the strength and efficiency of your immune system.

Most common non-genetic illnesses can be traced to a weakened immune system, and in just the past few decades, research is finally catching up with knowledge that has been with us since before the days of Hippocrates.

Symptoms of illness such as headaches, sore muscles, fever, sneezing, congestion and so on are actually signals that your immune system is attempting to defend you against unwelcome organisms that have successfully entered the body.

How people weaken their immune system

Surgery, pharmaceuticals and other invasive treatments definitely weaken the immune system yet there are a number of far more common and pervasive choices that over time cumulatively weaken the immune system. Here are just a few popular choices:

1. Frequent high stress - rarely taking simple actions to reduce the level of stress.
2. Poor nutritional choices - skip breakfast, grab a fast food lunch and eat/snack on processed foods often.
3. Poor sleep - stay up late to catch the late show or surf the internet then rise early to beat traffic to work
4. Little or no exercise - run to your car and park close to everywhere you go
5. Poor hydration - drink lots of coffee, tea, alcohol, energy drinks and/or soda

If one of these sounds familiar to you, your ability to fend off illness is diminishing plus you risk possible weight problems, diabetes and more on top of just a flu or cold!

This year the W.H.O has warned N1H1 (Swine Flu) has the potential to become a global threat, particularly in the northern hemisphere.

If you have read or heard the dispatches from the World Health Organization (W.H.O) you're aware there is a potential threat in the N1H1 flu strain (Swine Flu) on top of existing flu strains, seasonal colds and other illnesses common during the fall and winter period.

Will N1H1 become an epidemic?  No one knows, but in the interest of awareness and prevention, building a healthy immune system is perhaps the best defense available.

What is the immune system?

The immune system may be one of the most complex yet under-appreciated of body systems because when it is doing its job well, most people take its amazing capabilities for granted, if they think about it at all! 

In very simple terms, the immune system is a cascade of inter-related detection and adaptation parts including organs, tissues and specialized cells culminating in a naturally holistic system that is remarkably effective. 

It protects the body from antigen infection by employing three basic strategies:

1. The front line defense is the skin with its natural pesticides of sweat, saliva and tears, stomach acids to dissolve and the mucus of nose or mouth which expel via a cough or sneeze
   
2. When the front line is breached, the 2nd line is equipped with specialized cells that detect, and often eliminate, the invader before it is able to reproduce and cause potentially serious injury and
   
3. The 3rd and final line represents an adaptive immune system (memory of sorts) that directs counter-measures to the now invading organism.

How does the immune system protect the body?

Antigens are substances that prompt the generation of antibodies including viruses, bacteria, cancer cells, fungi and yeast, protozoa (microscopic animals), free radicals or anything that challenges the immune system to respond. 

These uninvited organisms are persistent and constantly attempt to breach the body’s outer defenses and enter the bloodstream and tissues.  Once inside – they multiply quickly and given a chance, start destroying vital body cells.

In the face of all these harmful pathogens, your immune system has evolved key components that do battle in specialized and differing ways:

• Consume the antigens
• Cut a hole in the surface of the bacterium’s cell
• Poison to kill an antigen
• Cover the part of the antigen that does the damage
  

Some immune cells are born knowing how to locate and destroy antigens while others must wait until they receive specific instructions telling them what the antigen looks like.

The world is definitely a most unfriendly place

Every day, the body is under siege, repelling a continuous assault of disease-causing organisms.  This is the real “invasion of the body snatchers” that if left unchecked, leads to symptoms of illness and disease. 

The individual parts of the immune system are powerful, each in its own way but no single component of the immune system is a match for the many diseases eager to harm you.    Taken as a whole, the immune system is immensely powerful … when it’s in an optimum state of health.

What's the #1 Influence on Your Immune System

What you eat, drink and how you choose to live your life are key factors influencing your immune system and its ability to defend you from invading bacteria, viruses and so on.

• “Our mode of life itself, the way we live, is emerging as today’s principal cause of illness”.  - Dr. Joel Elkes, Director of Behavioral Medicine, University of Louisville

• “When your diet is deficient nutritionally, your defenses go down, permitting the proliferation of virus germs and increased risk of illness.”

• "Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside." - Albert Schweitzer

• "You do not have to be grossly undernourished – a few minor deficiencies can break down the immune system" - Dr. Chandra, professor of pediatric research at Memorial University in Newfoundland.

• "If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health." - Hippocrates

• “It is not that certain nutrients affect the immune system,  It is that every nutrient affects the immune system.” - Dr. Petro, of Purdue University

• "We are all dietetic sinners; only a small percent of what we eat nourishes us; the balance goes to waste and loss of energy.” ~ Sir William Osler

Top 5 Strategies To A Building A Healthy Immune System

1. Begin by nourishing your entire body with the necessary basics, lots of fresh in-season veggies, fruits as you reduce fast and processed foods.  In particular, reduce sugar consumption as it is a known immune suppressant.  You'll notice better results avoiding food with bar codes, just shop the perimeter of your local grocery store.  Consider:  Super Trio nutrients, vitamins and minerals ...
2. Hydrate your body.  Next to the air you breath, adequate water is required as a lubricant, conduit for the transport of nutrients through the body and normal waste elimination. Consider: Chlorophyll Liquid water supplement ...
3. Maintain proper waste elimination with adequate water and lots of raw veggies, unsalted nuts and whole grains. Cleansing the colon, liver and blood seasonally is recommended. Consider: Tiao He 10-Day Herbal Cleanse ...
4. Get some sleep and if you can not get 7-8 hours a day, establish a set bed time and make it your time, your rules.  Consider: Herbal CA
5. Keep your stress under control with finding time for regular exercise, investigate square breathing, take a 5 minute brisk walk during a break and find a hobby that will change your focus.  Consider: Fast acting Stress Formula  ... 

If your immune system is already weakened or you want to fight an infection, used together these are 2 excellent nutritional supplements that will help your body repair itself.  Consider: Silver Shield Liquid and Olive Leaf.

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To your lasting health!

If you, or someone close to you would like to develop a personalized program, please contact me and we can begin by talking about your needs. Then, if you like my approach we can develop a program that specifically addresses your needs

Got questions or want to book an appointment?

Call (905) 855-3000 or write ...

I offer complementary consultations by phone for new clients, assessments and counselling, wellness coaching programs plus therapeutic reflexology, wellness courses and premium nutritional health supplements so you are invited to discover for yourself just how effective and rewarding a natural approach to health can be.

Isn't it time you stopped guessing and found out where you stand on your own health needs ... naturally!

When you are ready, call me at (905) 855-3000 and lets talk.  Counselling and natural health products are available in Canada & the USA only.

To your lasting good health and happiness,

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