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October Issue 2010
As many of us marvel at the kaleidoscope of fall colors around us, a few are
thinking about the cold and flu season ahead, so this month I thought it was time to
take a brief look at how to strengthen the immune system.
Knowing what's really happening with your immune system can
dramatically improve your ability to easily fight off
illness and enhance your overall quality of
everyday health.
Discover how to better understand illness resistance:
- What do I have to do to avoid getting sick
- If I do get sick, how can I minimize suffering from fever, aches, stuffy nose, etc.
- How do I protect myself when everyone at my office have colds or the
flu
- Why do people seem to get better, but symptoms linger and they lack
energy
I hope you find value in this information and thank you for allowing me to share my passion, training and experience with you. I welcome your comments & feedback!
Warm & Healthy Regards,
Diane McLaren C.C.Ir., R.O.H.P., R.N.C.P.
Natural Health Practitioner
Healthy You Naturally
(905) 855-3000
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How to avoid getting sick this year!
It’s that time of year again, when amongst other things, we all start to
worry about colds and flu, and how to do better than just survive the winter season.
Ben
Franklin said, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. You've
heard that before but ...
You
may be thinking, how do I prevent?
It’s a great question with a short answer; by keeping the immune system strong and healthy.
Here’s how it works...the immune system is like the security
system in your home, it is continuously monitoring the environment for anything
that is unusual or out of place and when a situation is
detected, it dispatches the most appropriate defense mechanisms.
What Is The Immune System?
The Immune System is not a single organ or group of cells (like other body
systems), it is the sum of the body’s defense functions, a complex collection of
cells, organs and tissues arranged in a body-wide communications network
equipped to detect and respond to constant invasion attempts by pathogenic
(disease causing) organisms.
The system protects the body from infection by employing three basic
strategies:
- Your 1st line of
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 the
invaders via a cough or sneeze If the front line is breached,
- The 2nd line or innate immune system is equipped with specialized cells
that detect, and often eliminate the invader before it is able to reproduce
and cause harm then,
- The 3rd and final line is the adaptive immune response against the
invader which represents a system memory of sorts that directs
counter-measures to the now invading organism.
The bottom line is a healthy immune system
is essential for good health because it is the only defensive system separating
you from debilitating sickness and disease.
Signs Of A Weakened Immune System
Today, enlightened thinking is that the aging process is more closely related to
the functioning of the immune system than the passage of time. A weakened
immune system results in an increased susceptibility to virtually all invading
viruses, bacteria, fungi, microbes, germs, free radicals, mutant cells.
As with most people, when the immune system is working
normally, we rarely take notice. However, when we get sick, only then do
we finally realize our
body is getting worn down, weakened and our immune system has been neglected.
Common signs of immune system weakness include fatigue,
listlessness, repeated infections,
inflammation, allergies, slow wound healing, chronic diarrhea and infections
that represent an overgrowth e.g. yeast infections, oral thrush,
candida, etc.
The reality is, when the symptoms begin to appear, we realize we are in a weakened
state when in a fact we are in the middle of a crisis, a battle to overcome the
invaders.
How To Strengthen The Immune System
Let’s start with a real example you might recognize:
There are ten people in the room and only one has a cold or flu. From that
event, 2 get it full-blown, 3 get less severe to mild cases and 5 had no
symptoms at all. Why? They were all exposed to the same
virus/bacteria/toxins at the same time!
- The answer is they all got it! The difference is
the 5 who experienced no symptoms had strong healthy immune systems that
were able to repel the invaders while the others had weaker to poor immune
systems that were partially or completely unable to.
- The good news is you can build and strengthen your immune system no
matter what state it's in today or past history of recurring illness.
- And even if your immune is strong, it's always a good idea to do some
prevention, because so many variables can weaken it quickly if you are not
vigilant. For example, events or situations often
happen unexpectedly and introduce high levels of stress which takes a
toll on the body and in turn opens it to possible infection.
So enjoy the coming months, instead of dreading them and
consider these key factors that directly influence the immune system:
- Quantity and quality of liquids and foods
- Sleep patterns
- Stress
- Exercise
- State of mind
There are so many occurrences out of our control in the world we live in so the best
thing we can do is focus on what we can control:
- Drink your daily intake of water and chlorophyll water based on your
body weight
- Eat lots of vegetables (5 cups ideal minimum) and two fruits per day (in
winter)
- Reduce your refined and processed foods intake
- Get to bed a bit earlier and take time to relax before going to bed
- Use the proper nutritional supplements that build your immune system
- Olive Leaf Extract (204-7) - Enhances the immune
system with its powerful neutralizing constituents, without harming
beneficial bacteria. It disrupts the growth of bacteria and viruses and
also stimulates the activity of important cells in the immune system
that fight infection.
- IMM-C (1034-0) - Nurtures the blood, normalizes the
immune system, which fights fatigue and degenerative diseases.
Traditionally used for impaired immunity, chronic poor health.
Supplements deficient conditions.
- High Potency Garlic (292-9) - Detoxifies the body
and protects against infection by enhancing immune function. Helps
fight bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. NSP Garlic has maximum
allicin potential to fight infection and is coated with chlorophyll to
stop “garlic breath”.
- Consider a consultation to asses your current situation and get a solid
recommendation on how you can strengthen your resistance to illness.
- Got questions? Call me at (905) 855-3000
Eat, relax & sleep well, your body will reward you with many years of faithful
performance!
Visit an NSP website (USA or Canada) to order nutritional herbs at member discounts.
If you do want to open your own account, please use sponsor # 342288-7 Diane McLaren (note Canada if you live in the USA so you get local US delivery
and our support). You'll
enjoy a 1 year membership of savings on all your supplementation needs.
Got questions about NSP? Ask me! I've
recommended NSP products since the 1980's
Interested in a personal consultation?
If you have questions about information in this article or would like to get
a personalized assessment of where you are and a wellness plan in place, I would be honored to be of service.
Warm regards!
Diane McLaren
(905) 855-3000
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