To fight or not to fight

Most of this newsletter is borrowed from an article written by Dr. Diane Clayton.

The weather is completely confused at present it seems. As a result, it seems a lot of people are coming down with various ailments such as flu (various varieties), diarrhea etc.

The question is, do you curl up in bed and ride out your storm. Go to your local doctor and attack your bugs with a myriad of drugs (in other words, treat the symptoms). Or do you take a proactive response and boost your built in immune system and allow your built in immune system to fight the bugs naturally and hopefully win before they multiply too much?

There is powerful evidence to support the strong role that nutrition plays towards our health. And what in life is more precious to us than our health, and that of our family! We must all do the maximum to build up and protect our health. Together our immune system provides biological, biochemical and even chemical weaponry to keep our body defended and to help it repair and recover from challenges. We need to improve our RESILIENCE as much as we can! Optimum nutrition plays a powerful role here.

Our body is equipped with first-line defenses such as our skin and the lining of our respiratory tract and digestive system. These are protective barriers and we call these our first-line defenses and they contribute to what we know as our innate or built-in immunity. Thankfully, we also have many second-line defenses which function inside our body. There are many team players that play a role in our second-line defenses. White blood cells are very important immune cells. We have B-cells and T-cells, which talk to each other and have a variety of different jobs to do. These specialized cells also help orchestrate the recovery process of the body and provide us with memory cells which retain the ability to combat certain infectious agents if we encounter them again. This ability is known as our adaptive immunity. This all requires a lot of energy and nutrients!

Even though we have these first- and second-line defenses, the body often gets damaged by illness or injury and the immune system is equipped to deal with this – to help the body repair itself and RECOVER to get back to normal. Our immune system works together with processes of inflammation in the recovery process as well.

Inflammation is part of the immune response to potentially harmful agents, with the aim of neutralizing and then repairing the damage. Immune cells receive signals and go to the site of damage. When everything works well, we could compare the immune system to a finely-tuned orchestra—all players work together in perfect harmony or synchrony and the conductor is a good one! But at times things can go wrong, and in these instances, it seems that our immune system is out of balance or not well-tuned anymore! At these times there can be persistent, or chronic, low-level inflammation. Lack of good quality nutrition as well as poor diet and lifestyle contribute directly to harmful chronic inflammation and cause the immune system to under perform.

The good news is that lifestyle factors such as high-quality nutrition, a healthy quota of sleep, exercise in moderation, stress management can all help our immune system perform at its best.

KEY NUTRIENTS FOR IMMUNE HEALTH We know that a balance of all the key nutrients involved in human health are essential for optimum immune response. The way in which some nutrients benefit the immune system is only just beginning to be understood from the exciting field of “Immuno-nutrition.”

Immune cells are very active and have a need for a constant supply of energy as fuel. Immune cells also depend upon a constant blood glucose level and good glycemic control. A quality protein shake can help provide steady energy at times of need and helps bring quality protein power to your immune system. High quality protein provides the building blocks so that the immune system can make more cells and produce antibodies and other defense substances.

There are many good research papers demonstrating the key role of omega-3 fatty acids to our overall immune balance and capability.

A wholegrain supplement provides a wide range of lipids (essential fats and sterols) from whole grains for building cell membranes which work at their best to help cells to be nourished, also allowing for good communication within cells and between cells. With respect to immune cell function it is important to note that flexible and dynamic membranes are vital to the ability of the immune cells to move around the body to areas where they are needed, such as for example the site of infection or injury.

Many, many research studies have shown that optimal levels of carotenoids in the diet are important to the proper functioning of our immune system.

A comprehensive multivitamin and mineral supplement helps you have a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals to add to the nutritional support for optimum immune balance and function.

A food sourced, slow release Vitamin C is known to work together with zinc to shorten recovery time, for example, and also to assist wound healing.

Zinc is a classical nutrient with many functions such as helping to build our DNA and protein and supporting our antioxidant enzyme functions. It reduces the severity and duration of common cold symptoms, and the healing of wounds, working in partnership with vitamin C.

Garlic (and other allium plants) offers the multiple benefits from active allicin and other bioactive compounds. Part of the benefits of garlic include supporting a healthy immune response and normal cell growth and renewal.

With this brief look at the workings of our immune system, we can see that our first and second-line defenses play an important role in protecting our body from harmful foreign substances. We need to ensure that our bodies are RESILIENT to combat the many challenges it may face—we need optimal nutrition.

Should you like to know which products I have found to work the best for me, please feel free to reply to this email or message me direct.