Balanced Immune Health

A story in last week’s New York Times got me..and scores of others, I’m sure…thinking about our wired world. The story described new research showing the brain needs downtime, away from constant stimulus. This was illustrated in studies at The University of California San Francisco and the University of Michigan. The story discusses the growing habit in the developed world of people incessantly texting, checking mobile email and web alerts, gaming, watching movies, all during what might normally be some cranial breathing space. When my wife and I are on a walk on a trail near our home and we see moms pulling their kids in wagons while texting or listening to I-Pods (anything except interacting with their kids), it really makes me wonder.

The story points out that even when we think we’re relaxing by plugging into some kind of digital device, we’re still taxing our brain. Here’s a great piece that gives some thoughtful guidance to dealing with overworked brains and how that may impact immune response and long-term health. Balance, it seems, is not only an immune health concept, it’s a cognitive health concept as well.

Filed under: Balanced Immune Health, Research | Leave a comment

Late summer in Iowa means mosquitoes, especially this year. We’ve had a ton of rain in this area, with flooding and standing water in fields. Couple that with high humidity and hot temperatures, and we’re mosquito central.

I’ve had my share of bites, though I haven’t been literally feasted on. And I’ve noticed that when some bites appear, they really don’t last long and don’t drive me crazy with itching. It got me to wondering, is there anything happening with me that makes me perhaps a bit more resistent to bites or at least to the duration of bites?

Some nutrition writers are addressing the concept that B vitamins and brewers yeast may be a turn-off for mosquitos. That really got my attention because of the EpiCor immune support supplement I take. EpiCor’s starting material is a simple yeast that goes through a unique process to render a complex yeast culture containing high concentrations of B-vitamins.

However, insect experts at North Carolina State University say that “the results of several scientific studies do not support the claims that these materials are effective repellents for mosquitoes or other biting insects, mites or ticks.” Sanjay Gupta at CNN also has a similar conclusion. Seems to be one of those things where a lot of people have similar experiences to tell about, but no study can yet provide scientific basis for those experiences.

As for general immune health, many sources discuss animals with weak immune systems as ripe targets for mosquitoes and fleas. I wonder if that goes for humans, too?

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I can’t imagine running a marathon. Twenty six miles of hell. The farthest I’ve ever tried running at one time was a 5K run in downtown Des Moines 25 years ago. I darn near died. When I was in college, a psychology professor would assign a class project to all of his students: at the end of the semester, all students, using self-directing psychology methods learned during the year, would run a marathon. I never took that class.

One of my Facebook friend of mine…mother of four young kids… just told me she has been training for her first marathon to be run this weekend.  She had to drop out as she is just recovering from a week with pneumonia.”Too many long runs depressed the old immune system,” she said.

What a bummer. So, I’m trying to get the immune balance story to her. I’m convinced she may benefit from a more balanced immune function that kicks into gear during physical exertion when it might normally be in retreat.

This paper from PubMed kind of sums up the problem, with no real answers to address it. “Many mechanisms appear to be involved, including exercise-induced changes in stress hormone and cytokine concentrations, body temperature changes, increases in blood flow and dehydration. During this ‘open window’ of immune dysfunction (which may last between 3 and 72 hours, depending on the immune measure), viruses and bacteria may gain a foothold, increasing the risk of subclinical and clinical infection”

How about an EpiCor trial for marathoner in training?

Filed under: Bacteria, Balanced Immune Health, EpiCor, Immune Balance, Immune System, Sports, Sports/Exercise, Stress, Stress-Related Illness, Supplements, immune, virus | Leave a comment

Someone on Twitter not too long ago said, “Twitter is made up of 60% social media experts, 30% spammers and 10% real conversations.” Or something close to that. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thing is, if you’re targeted in who you seek out to follow and engage with on Twitter, that 10% is still a lot of people. So I do value Twitter interaction.

From time to time I like to round up some of the more notable Twitter chatter on immune health that I’m seeing out there. My Twitter handle  is ImmuneDude. And my comments to some of these tweets are in italics:  Here they are:

RawHealer @ImmuneDude EpiCor is amazing! One of my favorite immune boosters!  (I agree, Raw, but it’s “balancing,” not boosting.)

NotOprah : 6 #Foods that boost your #immune system : apple, yogurt, zinc/beef, whey protein, garlic, carrots. (Balance, balance, balance!!!)

NotOprah :  Certain types of #bacteria boost the #immune #system. #Health #science http://bit.ly/9pji6p (I gotta follow this NotOprah.)

E_PenEbus_Unum Word to the wise: if something says that it “enhances digestive & immune health” stay away from it. Unless you want your tummy to rebel! (Now why do you say that, E Pen??  Do you have a wimpy gut?)

tweetinggenie Health: thank the universe for your own healing. Laugh, stress free happiness will keep you healthy. Immune system will heal itself  (I can dig that. However, very few people live a totally happy life totally free of stress. That’s where we need a little help to mitigate immune deficiencies due to stress.)

Thee_Gemma I gotta start takingg better care of myy health.. myy immune systems SUCKS. smh.  (Next time, plain English, please.)

yournutrition Probiotics; Healthy Digestion = Healthy Immune System – http://bit.ly/9zcxV #health #wellness

(Yes, yes!)

Filed under: Allergies, Bacteria, Balanced Immune Health, Boosting, EpiCor, Flu, Gut Health, Immune Balance, Immune System, Nutrition, Prebiotics, Prescription Drugs, immune | Leave a comment

My wife and I moved our daughter into her college dorm room yesterday. Her freshman year has arrived. My first child in college is now a reality. I’ve kind of been mentally preparing for this for about 4 years now;  going over in my mind the anticipated emotions that could form when saying goodbye and walking back to the car.  But still, it was difficult. She’s been a joy of a child to raise.

I think my wife had a pretty easy time of it. She was jovial the whole drive back to our home. And I don’t think she was just in denial. One day later, I’m getting along OK.  Unlike a dog or an infant, I don’t think I’m going to delve into full-tilt separation anxiety. If  a little stress does work its way in, I’m ready. Plus, heck, my daughter is only two hours away and will be back in two weeks for the Labor Day weekend.

Still, it weighs on me a little bit from time to time.

Especially when I’ve got to repeat the whole process with her twin sister at another university in two days.

Filed under: Stress | Comments (1)

UPDATE  2:20 PM CST (about 17 hours later). Well, seems there’s improvement. Chest is better, nose is clearing, head is not as dizzy (no comment from my friends, please). Somehow I knew and was hoping that this summer crud onset would just be a fleeting thing that’s on the way out within a day or so. That’s usually the way things go with me, whether allergy, summer cold or winter crud. The immune balance phenomenon continues to amaze! And, the published research on EpiCor so far has mirrored this very experience. Study participants report significant reduction in cold, flu  and allergy symptom severity and/or duration.

Original Post OK, I feel like crap today. I’ve been in New York City the past week, walking all over kingdom come in 90 degree weather with killer humidity. In and out of air conditioning. In and out of boiling subway tunnels.

I came home to Des Moines two days ago, which welcomed me to 98 degree weather with killer humidity. Plus some flooding to boot, though my suburban area did not get hit.

Now, some kind of sinus irritation has set in. It has the potential makings of a classic summer cold. Thick feeling head, heavy chest, raspy voice. I was out to dinner tonight with my wife and kids. My daughters said I was spacing out, staring into a zone, acting kind of out of it.

The key is, can my immune system…going on 2.5 years with EpiCor… make this be nothing more than a short-lived irritation that doesn’t balloon into a flow-blown crud attack that takes 10 days to kick?  I think so. We shall see. I’ve taken no OTC meds, though I did use a little nose spray last night. I also had a beer with my brother after work, which probably did not help, either.

Filed under: Balanced Immune Health, EpiCor, Immune Balance, Immune System, My Experience, cold, crud | Leave a comment

Rebekah Winquest

EpiCor is the immune balance supplement ingredient. Life balance can go hand in hand with immune balance. A proper balance of sleep, exercise, balanced diet, in-check stress levels, and avoidance of harmful substances can aid in achieving a healthier balance of your immune system.

Just Good Energy, a blog by natural food and supplemental nutrition enthusiast Rebekah Winquest, is asking for people to submit their stories of how they achieve balance in their lives. Rebekah will select a winner this Wednesday, Aug. 4.  Why Rebekah?  As you’ll see, her blog has a ton of posting volume on natural foods and recipes that she personally tries and recommends.  She also uses the same approach with select supplements. EpiCor is one supplement she has been taking now for several months. So she’s a fan…(as am I).

So visit her blog and enter your life balance story. And if you win, please let me know because I’d be interested in knowing about your 3-month experience with EpiCor and how it goes.

Filed under: Balanced Immune Health, EpiCor, Immune Balance, Nutrition, Stress, Supplements | Leave a comment

The Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare released a report showing Japanese women lead the world in life expectancy at 86.44 years. The ministry officials attribute this to the Japanese diet, high living standards and access to quality medical care. Hong Kong women came in second, France third and Switzerland fourth.

Japan male life expectancy is ranked 4th. Qatar is first, followed by Hong Kong with Iceland and Switzerland sharing third.

Where did the U.S. rank? Women ranked 35th (80.7 years) and men 28th (75.7 years).

What’s the take away? Japan likely benefits from better  and nutrition (fish, vegetables, tea, lower sugar), maybe more exercise (walking). Switzerland probably ranks high in both columns because…well…it’s Switzerland. One of the coolest regions on the planet. Who wouldn’t live longer if you had the Alps in your front yard and could dance across the mountain fields like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music and eat the world’s best chocolate.

The stress level might come into play as well. Japan workers, in general, work long hours and have job pressures. So do U.S. workers. Somehow, Japanese may handle it better. I wonder how.

Anyway, diet, stress, quality of life. They all feed into immune health and mitigating long-term health conditions. I’ll drink a spot of sake to that.

Filed under: Balanced Immune Health, Immune Balance, Immune System, Nutrition, Sports/Exercise, Stress, immune | Comments (1)

The Old Spice guy in a towel is my favorite TV ad and the fav of about 50 million others, too.  Smelling like a man (and turning tickets into diamonds) is now top of mind for many U.S. males…and females.

A little info digging on my part came up with some interesting theories–even a little research–on how and why we give off our natural scent, before the Old Spice is applied. Seems the immune system and its state of health might play a role.

One report–which sounds pretty legit on the surface but doesn’t cite any real sources–says a poorly functioning, even overactive, immune system interacting with the bacteria it’s fighting may cause body odor.

Another article says immune system genetics create a scent that is noticed by women much more so than men. The more divergent a man’s immune genetics are from a woman’s, the more attracted she may be to him. That’s nature’s way of fortifying offspring with the most robust, diverse and adaptive immune system possible.  Hmmmm. I don’t know, especially when “sniff tests” of shirts were used to gather data. But, crazier things have happened.  Another piece also cites the immune sniff theory as well, plus gets into everything from ovulation to foods to ethnicity as contributors to body scents.

I also just read a theory that in cultures where people don’t shower every day–and hence probably have a stronger odor than us American hygiene freaks–healthier, more balanced immune systems and overall better health may prevail. Those people are not washing away bacteria every day, and therefore are giving their immune systems fuel to exercise themselves and build up better function and performance. Kind of dovetails on the hygiene hypothesis.

So hey, Old Spice guy, keep up the good work. God knows between garlic, bacteria, immune cell genes, gender-based olfactory sensitivity, we’ll need your help.

Now look at me. Now look away.

Filed under: Bacteria, Bacterial Environments, Balanced Immune Health, Germs, Hygiene Hypothesis, Immune Balance, Immune System, immune | Leave a comment