Please read the following section carefully to find ways you can use to strengthen yourself.

Factors which Increase Immunity:

1.Diet
• use spring or filtered water
• use good quality fresh vegetables, cooked and raw plentifully, include some fruit
• if possible buy organic produce
• try beans and legumes instead of meat
• cook whole grains and whole-grain pastas. Use whole-grain bread.
• use meats and dairy products in moderation
• restrict simple sugars and alcohol
• some people with digestive problems may benefit by eliminating wheat because it easily breaks down into simple sugars which can promote Candida overgrowth resulting in intestinal gas and bloating. Others may need to eliminate gluten completely
• eat a good, balanced breakfast

2. Lifestyle Issues

• try to eat your larger meal in the middle of the day. Eat lightly with less protein at supper.

• cook on the stove and use the oven. The use of microwaves may be harmful and is thought to alter the shape of proteins rendering them more difficult to digest

• relax when you eat. Avoid disturbing distractions.

• chew well. Aim for 30 chews/mouthful.

• during the meal, restrict drinking in excess, even water. Drink enough good quality water between meals.

• sleep is important. Try to get six to eight hours nightly.

• Attitude. Happy contented people have fewer illnesses.

• Exercise. Moderate exercise such as walking helps a great deal.

Supplements to support Immunity

1.Take probiotics daily.

Having adequate intestinal friendly bacteria gives a tremendous assist to innate immunity. Traditional cultures that have people who live a long time have always eaten foods that contain probiotics, i.e. yogurt, sauerkraut(middle Europe),miso and pickles, (Japan), tempeh (Indonesia).

Most of the food we consume has no live beneficial bacteria. Even yogurt, unless it is specifically created with human probiotics is of little use.

Supplementing with high-quality acidophilus, bifidus and other friendly bacteria has been shown to increase immunity not only in the intestine but through the whole system. Recent studies have shown a benefit in treating irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel conditions like Crohn's and ulcerative colitis. Women who take acidophilus daily have been shown to have fewer bladder infections.

Please buy your probiotics from a store where they are kept cold or order them from a reputable company where it is kept fresh and shipped quickly. Keep your probiotics in the fridge. The bacteria die rapidly when warm.

There is a vast difference in the effectiveness of probiotics from different companies. Some just don't work because they are not effective in colonizing the intestine, thus failing to confer protection. Some just have virtually no live bacteria present and thus don't work. The probiotics I have found most effective in my practice are ones which are microblended with bluegreen algae and shipped rapidly from the source.(For more information)

In general, I recommend taking 1-3 acidophilus with breakfast and 1-3 bifidus with supper. You may wish to do this every day or intermittently take a break. Always return to this schedule if you are traveling or have had a period of increased stress, a episode of increased dietary indulgence or an illness.

Always take extra probiotics during and after using an antibiotic. Recent studies have demonstrated an increase in childhood asthma which correlates with antibiotic use. More antibiotics = more asthma. I believe that, for everyone, probiotics, taken during the course of antibiotics and for at least one month after would dramatically decrease this increase in asthma and other illness..

2.Take a diet rich in micronutrients

Every cell in our body requires a wide range of nutrients. For health, we require both a balance of macronutrients (protein, fats and carbs) as well as a smattering of micronutrient minerals ( boron, silica, manganese, zinc etc.). Vitamins are another type of micronutrient.

In addition to the usual vitamins, plants contain substances now being increasingly recognized as important for health. Leukopenes, flavinoids, plant polysaccharides are examples of this and are found in foods, bound together with other nutrients which make them easy for the body to absorb.

However, with modern "chemical" farming practices, the micronutrients in the average diet are deficient. In addition, many of the "nutritional supplements" which are currently offered for sale have been produced in a chemical laboratory. Our body perceives these supplements as chemicals and, in many cases, cannot use them or they are hampered by only partial effectiveness.

By contrast, foods, especially those organically farmed, contain a much wider range of micronutrients which can support your health.

One of the foods richest in mineral micronutrients is a family of foods known collectively as blue-green algae.This family of edible algae comes from three different sources; Spirulina-a spiral shaped blue-green algae grown in farmed ponds, principally in Japan and Hawaii. Chlorella is another farmed algae, mostly from Hawaii, and has a tough outer shell which needs to be mechanically ruptured prior to eating. Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, is an algae growing wild in a lake in the pure, contaminant-free, volcanic sediment-rich, water high in the mountains of Oregon.

All these algae are fine sources of mineral micronutrients. There are however differences which make Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA) my choice. AFA is also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, mineral micronutrients and chlorophyll.

AFA also contains a blue pigment, phycocyanin, which has been demonstrated to have a number of health benefits including being, what investigators think may be an anticancer agent and which may also promote stem cell growth and migration to sites in the body where immune defenses or regeneration is required.

My family and I have been taking this algae since 1985. I have visited the lake from which it is harvested a number of times and have closely inspected the immaculate production facilities. The production is also certified according to"Good Manufacturing Processes".

I was thrilled when a scientific team (Saker, 2005) published a study in Toxicon, a first class journal devoted to toxicology issues and found that, all of the samples of AFA containing products obtained from Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon in 2005 "..demonstrated the vigilance of the health food companies for controlling the concentrations (of a previously misreported toxin) within their products". I strongly recommend using this food supplement. (*More information on AFA)

Which blue-green algae should I use?

I strongly recommend AFA, from Upper Klamath Lake. For more information.

What follows may be the most important discovery in decades for improving our immunity.

3. Include a betaglucan supplement on a daily basis.

What is Betaglucan?

Betaglucan is a simple, highly purified, complex carbohydrate which provides a safe and extremely effective boost for immunity.

Introduction

Traditional healers in the East have known about betaglucans for a long time. They are found in the cell wall of many of the mushrooms (reishi, shitaki) traditionally used as immune boosting supplements. Betaglucans are also found in yeast and grains like wheat and oats where they create the structural element that reinforces the cell wall.

When cooked, betaglucans produce the thickening in sauces and gravy. Betaglucan is a complex carbohydrate; build of simple sugar molecules much the same way as is cellulose. It does not contribute in any way to problems with sugar intake in the case of diabetes.

In the 90’s , a patented process was developed so that betaglucan could more successfully be delivered intact to the small intestine. Previously, betaglucan, because it is like a starch, was subject to digestion, making the immune benefits of eating mushrooms less significant.

Betaglucan Description:

WGP betaglucan™, the new patented product is derived from the highly purified cell wall of baker's yeast. It has been of extraordinary benefit to many of my patients who, when they take it daily, have experienced a reduction in the number of viral illnesses, an improvement in energy and well-being and a reduction in Candida problems. It has helped my patients clear up illnesses, both bacterial and viral more rapidly than would have been expected. It can safely be used at the same time as an antibiotic. It is currently being researched as an adjunct in cancer therapy. During the anthrax scare, the Canadian military tested WGP betaglucan™ and found it extremely effective in preventing anthrax infections.

How Does WGP betaglucan™ Work?

The islands of lymph tissue in the small intestine are programmed to look out for yeast and to defend against it. WGP betaglucan™fools the immune system into thinking that immunity is in jeopardy thus, waking it up.

When yeast is present in the intestine, the macrophages in the lymph islands become activated to defend against an invasion.

In a usual type of yeast invasion which could be potentially harmful, whole yeast cells containing protein, chitin and carbohydrate, are identified by specialized lymph tissue in the small intestine. These special receptors pass the information to local macrophages which become activated, greatly enhancing immune surveillance.

WGP betaglucan™ gives the immune system in the intestine the signal that a yeast invader is coming. WGP betaglucan™ does this because it contains a highly purified carbohydrate molecule whose physical shape the receptors identify as yeast (and thus a likely pathogen).

These receptors take in the WGP betaglucan™ which is transported to local macrophages. They in turn activate other local macrophages and neutrophils. The local immune surveillance is thus 'ramped up'. Part of this activity involves making the white blood cells more able to travel to areas of trouble and rapidly deal with infection. Another benefit is that the 'turned on neutrophils' travel quickly through the body, reaching distant lymph tissues in a matter of minutes and waking them up too.

The body does not tire of this 'wake up' and clinical experience has demonstrated that people can use WGP betaglucan™ every day for years without the benefit diminishing.

My family and I, and many of my patients, take one Immusun™ daily. I strongly recommend this approach to everyone, except hose people who are highly allergic to yeast. For information on how to obtain this product, click.