Total Immunity... Part 2 Continued from last week... The biggest piece of information that a person can ever use to be healthy is that a healthy immune system means a healthy body. This means eating nutritious food that is not fried, deep fried, bathed in gravy or any of the things we hold so near and dear. Because the fast food outlets are not going to go away, and the bakeries and coffee shops are not going to stop baking gooey sweets, it will be up to us as parents, care providers, and conscientious individuals to learn how to be healthy, and to teach our families what good food really consists of. That does not mean that we have to forswear any and all unhealthy fats and fattening goodies, but an occasional sweet is far different from eating prepared food day in and day out. Raw or steamed vegetables are still the best bet with very small quantities of meat, protein, complex carbs, and very, very little sugar and white flour. There are many known anti-oxidants that will boost our immune systems very quickly if our bodies are downtrodden. Foodwise, keeping in mind that winter foods are shipped weeks in advance of ripening, fruits and berries such as blueberries have become known as strong antioxidants.And they are harvested only when they are perfectly ripe. Vitamin C, found in citrus fruits, but especially in citrus bioflavonoids, the pulp of the fruit, is one of the strongest anti-oxidants known to man. We’ve all heard of Green tea, the unfermented tea leaves, so loved in the Orient as being good immune system helpers. But did you know that nuts, seeds, whole grains, garlic, pot barley, and red cabbage are all good for the immune system? Eating untreated, organic food is the best way to keep from overtaxing the body. Essentially, fibrous foods help the body eliminate toxins and keep the blood clean and circulating to maintain immune function. Vitamin E and DHEA are serious anti-oxidants along with Chlorella and Spirulina. Strong, effective, bioavailable (capsule) natural multi-vitamins are very important in light of the fact that the body uses up vital nutrients to process and eliminate the unhealthy food, pesticides and additives we tend to consume. Exercise and proper sleep patterns make us stronger and stress avoidance is crucial to a healthy body and a healthy immune system. Many people nowadays sleep seven hours a night or less, and think they are fine because they don’t feel overly tired, but 8 hours a night has been found through studies to be the amount most beneficial to body regeneration. Dental fillings and heavy metals in the system, either from water systems or from the environment cause a major depression in the immune system. They can be eliminated by eating wholesome foods allowing the natural waste removal system to work effectively. Otherwise they keep building up (especially in fatty tissue and the liver and kidneys) and overwork the body, often never to be the same again. Just recently, a study that might just close a scientific argument about cancer, has determined that the immune system can and does attack and devour cancer cells before they can “regroup.” When the immune system is depressed, on occasion, the “red flags” do not come up and the body does nothing to remove them. That is how tumours become cancerous and before we know it, we have a terminal illness. The study wondered how a “healthy” person could get cancer, but those people already seem to have depressed immune systems. The moral of the story is to keep up that immune system through good health maintenance. Eat properly and stay away from junk food and sweets. A good rule of thumb is that anything that is white and sweet is not healthy. The glucose in sweets is the very food that cancer cells are looking for to help THEM grow and take over their hosts. Stay Out of the Doctor´s Office Back to the Writing Index