The immune system is the body’s defense mechanism – your army with which the body protects itself not only from foreign invaders (bacteria, virus, fungus, yeast etc) but also from diseases like diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. Many of us are under the impression that our immune system consists primarily of white blood cells. But the truth is your entire body is your immune system! So the next time you ask your self, “How can I boost my immune system?” you really need to be asking, “How can I make my entire body function at its optimum?” Now you can see why downing an extra cup of orange juice or swallowing an Emergen-C as you run out the door isn’t going to cut it!
Your Organs Of Immunity:
Skin, Liver, Fat, Brain, Lungs, Arteries, Veins, Heart, Spleen, Bone Marrow, Thymus, Stomach, Large/Small Intestine. If you haven’t figured it out by now – IT’S ALL OF THEM!
The Main Immune Weakening Culprits
SUGAR: It competes with Vitamin C and has been shown to suppress your Immune System for up to 4 hours with as little as 1 tsp! You can see that would be a problem as the average American consumes 19 (!!!) tsp per day.
FRIED FOODS: Hydrogenated and rancid oils are seen as a foreign harmful object by the immune system. This requires extra energy and time to be spent neutralizing and eliminating the fats instead of disease! Look out for vegetable oils, and canola oil in particular.
POOR SLEEP: Less than 8 hours of restful sleep results in increased cortisol – an immune suppressing hormone! A recent study linked poor sleep to an increase in heart disease. Weak immune system = weak heart = heart disease!
SUBLUXATION: Spinal mis-alignments affect all function of your body, which as we’ve established, is your immune system. Specifically, subluxation of the C1 (Atlas) vertebrate [when corrected] has been shown to boost immune markers in your blood instantly!
ANTIBIOTICS: While your MD may tell you taking this will help you to “fight infection,” recent studies show they do more harm than good to your immune system. Firstly, they kill the good bacteria in your gut (80% of your immune strength). Secondly, they train your body to rely on the antibiotic power, thereby weakening your natural antibacterial mechanisms. Thirdly, they have side effects just like all medications.
SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE: Exercise and moving your body strengthens your immune system, makes it more efficient. Conversely, sitting around all day weakens your immune system. This correlates with social isolation, which also weakens your immune system. So get up, get out, get active, hang out with loved ones or make new friends. I’ve found getting a dog basically does all of that for you.
Natural Ways To Build A Titanium Immune System
Before mentioning these, I think you should know that every single one of you reading this newsletter (and all your friends and family) can benefit from a stronger immune system – wouldn’t you agree? As you can imagine, there is A LOT that can be done naturally to boost your immunity once you realize that your immunity is your body’s organ function. Simply put: increase organ function = increase immune system.
How to increase organ function:
Significantly increase your diet’s nutritional quality, i.e., juice green vegetables, detoxify your liver, clean your gallbladder, flush your gut, re-inoculate with the proper probiotics, consume more immune boosting foods, take immune stimulating supplements and enzymes, begin rebounding, start earthing, check and monitor your Vitamin D levels, relax more, drink green tea, exercise for 10-12min a day and the list goes on and on and on.
The frustrating thing is which one (or in what quantities) is right for your body. Most of you may be doing some of these already however do you think there’s room for more? And we are often constrained by time and other factors. The first step to healthy immune system–a healthy life really–is proper nutrition. Focus on that first, get it under your belt, get comfortable with it, get proper nutrition to where you don’t even think about it or struggle with it at all. Then you can start focusing time and energy on other aspects of your health. Nutrition is the foundation. Without it, you can’t build anything else.
Dr. Aaron Ernst, D.C. is host of News Talk 1110 WBT’s “AskDrErnst” show and clinic director of Maximized Living Charlotte.
He specializes in providing customized nutritional and detoxification total body healing programs, utilizing the 5 Essentials of Maximized Living.