Boosting your immune system, the next steps.

 Boosting your immune system, the next steps.

( Original written 8/17/2020 compiled from previous writings)  Ready for video.

So if you look at the regular advice for improving your immune system you will have a now pretty obvious list of things like; stop smoking, eat more fruits and vegetables, get more sleep, exercise regularly, avoid or reduce alcohol, maintain a healthy weight, wash your hands, and cook your meat… wow.  Some of the most vanilla advice ever. 

What can you really do to improve beyond all that?

The basics are, well, basic.  Almost everyone knows some of that… but what next? 

Doing those things listed above is pretty much the advice touted by every trite site and doctor since forever… well not really, most of these things were considered benign to full quackery only a couple decades ago.   Vitamins have been seen as not at all helpful to downright harmful (But the supplement market is worth billions and you had better believe that every pharmaceutical and medical corporation is in on it).  I once worked for a pharmacist.  Not one of his clients were prescribed vitamins or any other supplements. He once told me, “if you want expensive urine, take vitamins.  They are worth nothing.”  That was a while ago, now it is a large part of any pharmacy, just go look for yourself.  Supplements are not researched like pharmaceuticals (prescription medications) because there is little to gain in trying to research, produce and market something that every person can get in the produce aisle of any market.  An old saying in chiropractic was that prescriptions were written in Latin so that the general public could not read what was needed.  If they could, they would go to the back yard and pick it for themselves…

I have been meaning to list this for a long time.  This pandemic has changed my focus to more mundane things and have just recently began to get the notes all set up.  All of this is what I tell patients every day… Most people are pretty confused about what to do other than the very simple ‘eat better’.   Most of the time I don’t even know what they mean…  I have been in practice as a chiropractor and acupuncturist for over 20 years, I have spent even more time studying herbs, supplements and foods as therapies.  I often prescribe and suggest foods, water, air, supplements, relaxation and movement for every patient, whether they have a sprained ankle or insomnia… from abdominal pain to zinc deficiency, these things can help and often show quick results.   None of these interfere with any medical or prescription that I know of.  You may have t]

Here are seven things that were not mentioned that you can do today to keep yourself and family healthier.  Improve the immune response and fight off infections before they get to you…

1. Water.  Yea another easy one, but super essential.  Did you know EVERY chemical reaction in the body requires water?  From making a protein, metabolizing carbohydrates, getting your medicines to where they need to be, storing and releasing fats, making neurotransmitters and hormones and yes, you guessed it, making and maintaining white blood cells and your lymph system, THE transport system for much of your immunity stuff.  

1. Drink about 1 ounce per kilogram.  Take your weight, divide by 2 and that is about how many ounces (Minimum) you need.  You must take more if you are taking supplements or any medications as they take LOTS of water to metabolize. 

2. No ice…  In acupuncture theory we talk a lot about heat and cold.  It takes effort and energy to keep you at the right temperature (which is best for you and your friendly bacterial residents) When you drink cold water, it first has to be warmed to body temperature to be absorbed.  Try this, only drink cold water for a couple days, then change to ambient temperature water and you will notice a difference in skin tone, urine color and volume and energy level…

2. Air.  Are we going even more vanilla?  Nope, this one was not related in any of the articles I reviewed.  

1. Breathing is THE main way to release carbon dioxide (which is acidic) and bring in oxygen.  Oxygen is used in every metabolic process you have, it is even a big component of our bodies,  we are in fact about 65% oxygen by mass.  

2. Breathe slow and deep, this changes the actual chemistry of your body and will make it work more efficiently.  It is relaxing and can help you release stored toxins as well as alkalize your body, an essential and factual necessity of a normally running body.  Even your blood is a bit alkaline (7.35 to 7.45 on the 1-14 potential of hydrogen scale) and must stay that way or you could go into a coma!

3. Moisture and particulates:  having a humidifier also helps get air moving too.  Not only in you but on you.  Circulating air is good air.  Still air is stale air… it can harbor and promote molds and other irritants. 

4. You release a lot of toxins from the body with breathing.  Don’t believe me? Did you know if you rub garlic on your feet, it will come out from your breath?  It does.  (that is an old remedy for colds… I would rather eat garlic though…)  Garlic has lots of sulfur which is used in the immune response and also is a part of many antibiotic drugs (sulfa drugs).

3. Your microbiome! My what?  Run out the bad guys with enough good guys.  Your body is covered, infused with and totally inhabited with bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites… Gross right?  Well, these are some good guys sometimes.  One of the most friendly of our inhabitants is lactobacillus and other bacilli (a type and shape of bacteria, found pretty much everywhere)  If you have a good balance and good relationship with these little fellas, it is much harder for other ‘bugs’ to inhabit your space.  Your immune system has grown to know and understand these good guys that actually help you metabolize some substances, detoxify you from others and make some vitamins for you.  

1. The best practice is to get outside and start gardening. The natural bacteria in the soil is very happy in and of us and it helps us a lot.  

2. The next best thing you can do is to eat fermented foods, pickles, kimchi, sauerkraut, and even one of my favorites, Natto. Are best.  

3. Taking a pre or probiotic.  Prebiotics are concentrated ‘good bacteria’ that will help bring you more good guys.  Now, not so long a go it was considered stupid to take such things as they would be destroyed by stomach acid.  But the stomach does not release acid all the time, it depends on what is there and other reasons related to digestion.   Once considered a dumb thing is now so accepted, people are advocating fecal transplants… yes you read right, putting poop from a ‘healthy’ person into an ‘unhealthy’ person… go figure… Remember this is from the group of ‘scientists’ that tried to originally debunk handwashing…(See my post on Ignaz Semmelweis)

4. Strategic supplementation:  Taking the one-a-day is fine.  When there is something going around it is also good to take some helpers… 

1. Zinc and other minerals.  Your body makes antibodies and runs on minerals to help make neurotransmitters that help you find out what is going on in and around your body as well as hormones to tell organs and glands how to work.  Some minerals also slow down the process of ‘bad guys’ reproducing or help in the mediation (control) of fevers and normal actions you need…

2. Vitamin C, ah, the tried, true and amazing panacea.  Well, no.  But research all points to Vit. C as being essential (which means your body needs it but cannot make it, so it has to be supplemented… see how that works?) in maintaining the cell membranes, keeping what is good inside and what is bad outside.  It also helps maintain mucus membranes.  Those are super essential in protection.  

3. Amino Acids.  These are the building blocks of every protein.  Proteins are not only neurotransmitters, but also enzymes, hormones, and antibodies… Get a good variation of them over time.  Your body will know what to do.  For foods, try ‘the three sisters’; rice, beans and corn.  That has all the amino acids you would need to build any protein.  A great one to help with fighting off viruses is lysine.  

4. Don’t forget the fats.  Yes they are good for you, and help with much of your body’s normal functions.  Eat well and you should be fine.  Getting some from oily fish like mackerel is one of the best though… it stinks, but it helps… You can buy supplements at the store.

5. What I do:  We take vitamin C, minerals like calcium and magnesium, zinc, and vitamin D3… 

5. Movement; not just outside but inside too…

1. Not only stretching and exercise which moves blood, air, other fluids helps with digestion and maintains your metabolism and other chemicals in normal levels, but it also helps release dopamine and serotonin, those are your ‘feel good’ chemicals which have a huge part in your immune response.  

2. Getting some sun.  One of the oldest and most effective therapies is 'heliotherapy’ or just getting some fresh air.  In the late 1800s and early 1900s sanitariums or sanitoriums and solariums were more common.  Someone with TB (tuberculosis) would be sent to a spa like this with plenty of clean air, good food and sun. if you cannot get out like you know you should, supplement with some vitamin D3… you are deficient, trust me… it helps.  VItamin D helps with mineral uptake as well as immune function, not only that but the main chemical of D3 (ergocalciferol-D2, cholecalciferol-D3, alfacalcidol) are also important in immunity function and production of hormones.

3. Yoga, Taichi, walking… whatever… just do something.  Get up and walk around and move your arms.  When I was in Southern California I would attend a temple that was near a park. If you got there early enough you could see hundreds of older people doing all sorts of tai chi like exercising.  Some would be standing in one place and doing chi gong, some would walk backwards, some pat their heads, some swing their arms about.  It was all to make the chi (life energy) and the fluids move...

6. Really relax:  Four ways you can do this now!

1. Guided sleep meditations:  I have used them for years with great success.  Look up these: (Stephen Halpern’s Trip to the beach) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JyoHcF5oQ4

1. Here is Swami Kriyananda, and the Land of Mystery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJuuJxP4V-o

Those are but two of many you can find all over the place. 

2. Acupuncture:  one of the best ways I know to not only relax but to stimulate the chi (life energy) and to mediate (help and control) your natural immune response of inflammation.  

3. Meditation;  Just sitting and breathing, observing has shown to help all sorts of ailments.  

4. Supplement with all sorts of vices… I am talking CBDs or cannabinoids which can make you much more relaxed.  I do not like them for myself but others swear by them.   THC (at least in Colorado where it is legal) also shows some promise when used in a limited way to promote sleep, relaxation and calm.  Also, now hear me out… alcohol.  A nightcap to ‘take the edge off’ is useful in my opinion.  Of course, all of these in less than moderation is good…  

7. Your lines of defence…back to basic physiology and biology for some of you.  There are three basic lines of defence.  We can improve all of these with the steps above.  

1. Your first line of defence is all around you.  It is your largest organ and one of the least understood but most abused.  Your skin.  The skin has plenty to offer in the forms of defence.  Sweat, a normal and important function of the skin releases some chemicals that are toxic to other bacteria, fungi, and viruses.  It has even some attributes similar to wasp venom and skunk spray.  The skin also helps keep good stuff in and bad stuff out with a protein it makes called keratin.  Not only that, but it can be a bid indicator of your general health.  Tone, color, texture, moisture, integrity (i.e. no holes or scratches) and thickness all play a role in protecting you. 

2. Mucus membranes… all the holes going in and out of you… yes all of them.  Whether digestive, respiratory, reproductive or sensory, holes are lined with mucous membranes.  Mucus is an amazing defence that may be acidic or alkaline, thick or thin.  This is by design and helps keep all sorts of bad guys out of us.  Some areas even make a chemical called ‘lysozyme’ that can destroy many bacteria, viruses and molds…  I always think of it as the ‘Lysol’ of the body.  To keep it healthy, make sure water and minerals are well balanced and abundant.

OK, I get it, that is A LOT of information for some pretty simple things to do to improve your immune system.  This will keep you healthier, help you fight off disease and live better.  I have no idea why improving your immune system is not promoted more… well, yes I do.  Profits.  

The orange juice council spends thousands to get people to drink more orange juice, but the pharmaceutical companies spend millions telling people that drinking juice does nothing and they spend millions more telling you to take their concoction which was made from oranges in the first place… 

I have always wanted to “KISS” keep it simple silly, when it came to health and wellbeing.  I think that too much fussing around with technology and chemistry do not help as much as being closer to nature and folk remedies.  Of course, there is a time and a place for medicine, surgery, technology and modern diagnostics, but trying some simple and safe things in the meantime can not only help the process to health along, but also may even help you avoid costly and sometimes harmful surgery, pharmaceuticals and procedures that limit your own ability to fend for yourself. 

References:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-boost-your-immune-system

https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2020/mar/5-ways-to-boost-your-immune-system/

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/strengthen-your-immune-system-with-simple-strategies/

https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/boosting-your-immune-system.html

https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2020/boosting-immune-response.html

https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-6-human-physiology/63-defence-against-infectio/lines-of-defense.html

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/lysine-benefits#section4

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3750756/#:~:text=Both%20oral%20and%20parenteral%20feeding,to%20optimizing%20the%20immune%20functions

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4272512/

https://aminoacidstudies.org/immune-system/

https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/natural-remedies-6009109

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358962/

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/garden/104757851/ancient-medicine-the-herbs--cures-we-still-use-today

Nutrition and your mood

So over the past few years of teaching anatomy and physiology to college students it became very apparent we eat like crap.  Like all of us... Every morning on the way to the school to teach I would get a coffee and some little snack at McDonald's.  (Not that I want to pick on McD's, actually like the food on occasion.  It reminds me to eat better by the way I feel afterwards).

I have always been interested in the nutritional aspects of health whether it was physical, chemical or emotional health.  I mean, chemical health is all the aspects of your hormones, neurotransmitters, and cell structures and abilities as they should work normally. Healthfully...

This brought me years ago to pro-biotics, when it was still considered 'witch craft' by some and just plain quackery by others.  I was into making Kombucha at home.  It went crazy and I couldn't give the stuff away because my 'scoby' had over produced and I had to get used wine bottles to get the stuff contained.  I also made home made sauerkraut, that was easy and fun, but still always seemed to make way more than I could use myself.  I did notice that I felt better with that in my diet.  I included Miso, and Natto (a fermented soybean delicacy... well I think it is... everyone else thinks its gross).

Now we are starting to broadly accept and understand that there is an entire 'biome' not only in us but on and around us.  We are like a little planet.  We have environments and areas of different species etc.  (check out this great NPR animation... https://youtu.be/5DTrENdWvvM )

That is the animation I use in my class when the computers work!

I recently went to a licensing seminar which was focused towards nurses and other practitioners such as dentists and medical doctors.  It was basic for what my understanding already was, including the 'fecal transplant procedure' which has not gone so well in human trials.  It basically is exactly what you think.  In a clinical setting, fecal material (poop) is taken from a 'healthy subject' and 'processed' then transplanted in a clinical setting (I assume this means sterile and all that) into the rectum of the more 'ill' person.  The idea is that the healthy person's biome or flora will populate the ill person's body and therefore make them healthier.  In fact this idea is not that uncommon... since kissing is really a symbolic reception of food from the mother... (you know you were not just breast fed until one day you jutted into steaks and stuff.  You needed pre-chewed food and the best way to do that was mouth to mouth... Later we see (mostly in movies, but there is some truth to it) a bowl of water passed around (Vikings) at a table to rinse their faces, drink, clear their noses etc... You can watch the series Vikings or you can watch the 13th Warrior and see it in action.  That too spread the biome from person to person enhancing them and keeping them similar and therefore healthy.  Lastly you can now see in some cases, especially those births that have doulas or midwives present, cesarean births will have vaginal fluids from the mother swabbed in the newborn's mouth, nose, eyes etc, as this populates the newborn with the mother's outer biome...

Anyway.  We find that the internal and external flora can have something to do with depression, anxiety and other mental illness.  It is assumed that since the biome can help make serotonin having the Vagus nerve and the enteric nervous system 'pick that up' or sense it helps us be more happy and calm.

https://www.longdom.org/scholarly/nutritional-psychology-journals-articles-ppts-list-3729.html
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/09/food-mental-health
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on-food-201511168626

Nutritionally speaking though, when we talk about mood, we also need to have a chance to look at the neurotransmitters and hormones that have to do with mood.  Basically; Serotonin, Dopamine, Nor epinephrine, Endorphins, and others that regulate and determine 'mood'.  Basically if you have no building blocks of these chemicals you cannot make them.

So here are the ones that make a difference based on articles and research I have read.
1. Magnesium (helps in neuron conduction and relaxation)
2. Vitamin D3.  (Helps with the production of melatonin for sleep as well as serotonin and dopamine)
3. Fish oils or other Omega 3-6-9 oils that help with nerves and the processing of many nutrients.
4. Calcium (this is used by the nerves and as a buffer for acids in the body)
5. Water... yea.  water... it is what EVERYTHING is mixed with and produced with..
6. Zinc (has to do also with the maintenance of cells an such)
 here is a link to an article about that.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5492454/

Basically, the above six care helpful in many other ways.  If you are taking any psychotropic drugs or medications prescribed for anxiety, depression or even bipolar disorder (for which I suggest you supplement Pellegrino water which has lithium in it.  A typical drug for bipolar disorder).

We have now added all of these to my and my families diet.  We are happy and healthy,,, at least we are getting there.  Turns out, taking the proper supplements can help you eventually get off many drugs or at least get them decreased over time with your counselor.

Good luck, and be healthy.
I just had to get this all off my mind.

Also do your stretches!

Dr. Sean

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032719333713