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.

“He (a doctor interviewed in the story)  says that an allergic response is sort of a false alarm. Like an army launching an attack against a harmless enemy.  Somehow the immune system has gotten confused – and treats things like pollen, dust, mold or the proteins on the hair of your beloved pet as if they were a dangerous parasite or virus.”

That’s good. The story goes on to describe the hygiene hypothesis:  “The immune systems of non-allergic people detect ragweed and pet hair too- they just don’t sound the alarm.  The number of people with allergies in the United States and Europe has risen over the last several decades. One of the prevailing theories on the cause is that modern western societies are too clean.” Click the “hygiene hypothesis” category tag on the left column of this page.

But then, the story ends with a summary of treatments: OTC products like Claritin, cortosteroids, and homeopathic approaches such as allergy shots.

Too bad it did not discuss ways to balance immune response in the first place:  to retrain immune cells to let pollen pass and not attack it, thereby avoiding all the gunk that comprises allergic reactions.  Oh well, the world will catch on….some day.

• The Nashville Tennessean has a great column published this past week on immune system balance and the “dirt” exposure school of thought on immune system development. Good perspective and anecdotes.

• The Omaha World-Herald ran a story last Thursday on the possible return of H1N1. A new term was introduced, at least to me: “cytokine storm,” as in “some young people with H1N1 flu were sickened by their immune systems’ overreactions to the virus. That syndrome, called a ‘cytokine storm,’ can fill the lungs with fluid, among other problems. Cytokines are groups of molecules secreted by the immune system.”

• Vancouver would seem to be the most stress-free place in North America. Great scenery, beautiful city and architecture, moderate weather. I spent a little time there en route to an Alaskan Cruise. At one point it was known at the the city with the most outdoor sports enthusiasts in the Western Hemisphere.  Still, the Vancouver Sun published a piece yesterday on the Price of Stress. The story is a good tutorial on immune balance and stress.

• This Today Show video (below) has some good tips that address bacteria and inflammation, both of which are directly connected to balanced immune health.

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The balance thing.

The story went on to say that healthy people who live the right lifestyle have no need for immune boosting supplements. They’re immune system is as strong as it will ever get, and no supplement will improve it.

Now, rewind to last week. I went on a tour of Embria Health Sciences’ manufacturing facility in Iowa last week.  I had requested a tour for a social media colleague of mine who happens to run Smarty Pig, one of the great social media success stories  to date.  He was interested in the story behind Embria’s immune balance ingredient made at the plant, EpiCor (which I have taken for two years now and which supports this blog). Every time I hear a presentation from the Embria executive and technical staff during these kinds of meetings, I learn something new.

One question that was asked of Embria senior scientist, Dr. Stuart Reeves, during the presentation was: “Is there any one is this day and age who wouldn’t need or benefit from immune supplementation or some form of additional immune health support? ” Stuart had an interesting answer. He said if someone were born today on a farm or in a rural area where there was a good dose of dust and pollen present in the air, where they were living with a variety of animals–in the house, with a dirt floor–from birth on and exposed to diverse mix of animal dander always floating around, if they drank well water with a nice brew of microbial matter, and if they ate lots of unprocessed fruits and vegetables, preferably raw, and if they got 9 to 10 hours of sleep every night, and also lived a pretty stress-free life with lots of outdoor sunshine exposure each day, their immune system would most likely function just fine with no help needed.

But, who lives like that? Moreover, who is born in that environment?  For decades now, people in the western world have been born in sterile hospitals (which most certainly is a good thing for both mom and baby), and have come home to relatively clean households with modern hygienic conditions. While the modern environment may reduce germ and virus exposure, it also prevents exposure to common pathogens and harmless airborne particulates such as pollen that can train the immune system at an early age to produce an appropriate, proportional response to something that enters a person’s system. With nearly all people in developed countries now not born into this more primitive lifestyle, immune systems don’t get tested early in life, and therefore are likely to function erratically when the body does call on its immune defense against a microbial threat years down the road.

So, with that, the point is that our modern environment means we live cleaner, but we also are, in general, much more susceptible to troubling health conditions because our immune systems don’t know how to respond when the first threats arrive.  I truly believe supplementation, along with healthy diet, exercise and sleep, can make a big impact on correcting this imbalance.

Some archived information on this blog about inflammation and immune health is here.

It’s such a refreshing story to read when compared to the recent spate of trouble some prescription drugs have encountered when promoted or used for off-label applications to “treat” a variety of conditions for which the drug was not intended.

As the story points out, food and supplements don’t work the same as drugs. Drugs are created to provide a relatively fast therapeutic effect.  Food and supplement regimens can also make an impact on health conditions, but they take time and persistence and commitment to stick with the program. But the results can be compelling and even dramatic.

Many dietitians are proponents of  “food-only” solutions for condition-specific health problems. I remember Dr. Jeff Blumberg, a leading antioxidant researcher at Tufts University and a big food proponent as well, telling a conference of nutrition industry experts that “you need both. You need food and supplementation.”  To get enough of a certain nutrient to spur a change in serum content of that nutrient delivered to the body, one might need to eat 5 big servings a week of fish for DHA or 3 big bowls of romaine lettuce a day for chromium or manganese. That’s just not practical or real for the everyday Joe or Josephine.

See the Tribune/Times story here.

No, I like Vail because it and other Colorado cities and towns seem to have a lot of nutrition-minded people who understand the ways of natural health and virtue of harnessing nutritional science to address health challenges. Maybe its because Colorado is the home to the city of Boulder.  A 2005 story in Food & Wine stated: “Boulder was recently voted ‘Number One Running City’ by Runner’s World, ‘Best Place to Be an Überjock’ by Outside and ‘Thinnest City in America’ by Self.”

A recent story in the Vail Daily by a naturopathic physician illustrates this well. The story is about allergies and the author talks about the benefits of a balanced immune system in helping modulate over-reactive immune responses. The author uses “natural anti-inflammatory products” when assisting patients with allergy conditions. She’s right in my wheelhouse.  And I’m sure she’d make a great trophy wife for someone, too.

And, here’s some new video footage (below) on the same topic by an M.D. that seems to also make a great case for regulating the over-active immune system. I like how he talks about immune cells “being bored” and kind of looking for something to do. Hence, they jump all over harmless pollen when it enters the body, causing the familiar irritation associated with allergies.

I like its basic approach: Balance. Not just immune balance but balance in how your manage your kids’ health. The clip instructs people not to ignore vaccines and antibiotics –they’re important. But also, don’t try to protect your kid from every microorganism out there. It’s foolish and won’t work anyway. Wash hands, exercise, get good nutrition, all the basics that your mom preached are good things to do now and in the future to help build a high-performance immune system. 

Germ Proof Your Kids (MWV26) from microbeworld on Vimeo.

Now comes research showing that pregnant farm wives may actually be helping their unborn babies by passing on to the fetus low level bacteria, dust and other microbes that women are exposed to on the farm. Regulatory T-cells, an important component of immune defense, are higher in number and more effective in function among infants whose mothers lived on the farm during pregnancy. 

According to the study, “Two factors seem to be particularly important for this effect. First, an early influence on the fetus’ immune system during pregnancy seems to have a strong effect on reducing later allergy development. Second, microbial exposure has been identified as a crucial “entity of allergy-protective exposure.” The microbial exposure refers to several germs found in barns and stables including on livestock, as well as milk straight from the cow.”

I didn’t grow up on a farm, but I lived near a pasture as a child. Not good enough, apparently, as I had allergies early on. Up until my immune balance supplementation started 14 months ago, that is.  Now, I’ll take on any farm boy who want to match up his corn-huskin’ leukocytes against my city-boy neutrophils any day. 

I’ve been an allergy sufferer since childhood. Mine is classic hay fever and everything that feeds that sneezing beast. Well, during these two days, there was every opportunity for me to go on a non-stop sneezing bender. I was exposed to more hay and straw–used for both feed and cow-stall bedding–in two days than I had been my whole life. Add to that the fact my exposure was in barns which all had ventilation fans running to spread the airborne particulates around.  

However, by virtue of my balanced immune system, I hardly experienced a sniffle during the tour and after. No needing to front load massive doses of antihistamine every morning. Bring on that barnyard any day!

Another interesting finding as I was snooping around for info about farms and allergies: A study showing exposure to cow manure–which I slopped through in droves–may reduce risk for lung cancer due to the body’s immune system recalibrating itself as a result of exposure. It’s the hygiene hypothesis coming through again.