The research, a mouse study, showed that when two mice–one healthy, one obese with liver disease–were put in the same cage, the healthy mouse became obese. Many factors, including mice’s tendency to eat other mice’s feces, could enter into the equation. But, the bad bacterial strains from the fat mouse ended up in the healthy mouse’s gut. This change in gut microbe populations–more bad bacteria, less good–manifests itself in more disease susceptibility and weight gain (bad bacteria dominating the digestive track can inhibit nutrient absorption while also signaling for imbalanced immune response, triggering inflammation).

None of this, of course, is even close to being conclusive. But it does kind of relate to other research showing that a pregnant mother’s bacterial and pathogen exposure and the immune composition shaped by that exposure can be transferred to the fetus.

More new research this week. Yesterday, news about a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences was racing all over the news stream. The study showed that constant arguing and personal conflict can trigger cellular inflammation within the body, which, if persisting over the long term, can lead to serious health problems including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and depression.

Inflammation is an immune response. A bit of short-term, temporary inflammation can be protective and beneficial. Long-term inflammation is immune function running amok…out of balance. See my recent post on stress, the gut, and immune health.

During this political season, I’ll have a new perspective as I watch the election year unfold. Hope they are all taking EpiCor and doing The Five S’s.

The Five S’s refer to five things you can do to maintain optimal immune health. In my book, these measures will also impact many other health areas, including weight, cardio, skin and mental health.

The are:

Sustenance – Meaning diet and nutrition. A diet tilted toward fruits and veggies, less processed sugar, moderate lean fresh meat consumption, healthy fats, a good amount of water and maybe a red wine or dark beer here and there, can help feed healthy gut bacteria essential for immune health while also addressing cell inflammation that damages health. Think Mediterranean.

Sport – Moderate exercise can improve immune function. The science is there.

Stress – Managing stress helps impact gut health, where stress can upset the balance of immune-controlling beneficial bacteria.

Sleep – A solid 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night can do wonders for immune health.

Supplementation – Nutritional support with EpiCor can help optimize immune health, especially during stretches when diet, stress management, sleep or exercise might be lacking.

Keep these Five S’s at the fore. See how things go during the year. You may be surprised.

I’m as guilty as anyone. Just when I was doing pretty good throughout the fall with nutrition and exercise, suddenly it’s Thanksgiving, and since then, wow. I’ve abandoned a lot of discipline. Someone brought a pile of holiday treats to our office a couple days ago. Did I eat one or two and bow out? No. I had to take three or four back to my office, fearing the rest would be gone in an hour.

My wife and kids took most of a Saturday to bake up a storm Of course, I had to sample everything as it came out of the oven or off the wax paper. And of course, a sample means more than one.

Sugar may not necessarily lead to severely reduced immune function. But if obesity, cardiovascular damage, cellular inflammation are some direct outcomes of  long-term processed sugar intake, those conditions right there are enough to wreak havoc on immune function. Others make a strong cell-based argument that sugar can compete with and displace vital nutrients needed for proper support of immune cell structure, leading to weakened immune function.  Too much sugar can also trigger overreaction of immune response, feeding proinflammatory cytokine cells that lead to chronic inflammation, a fundamental driver of many serious diseases. Such imbalance within immune response results in immune cells frenetically going after healthy tissue, leaving depleted immune capacity to fight real pathogens that may enter the body (bacteria, virus, etc.)

So now that I’ve made sugar enemy No. 1, are you scared to eat even one more cookie?  Don’t be. After all, a little sugar does provide some short term energy. But remember to keep the sweets at a reasonably low level, while getting good exercise, sleep and a good dose of fruits and vegetables. That would be a sweet deal all the way around.

We’ve all known that stress and anxiety is something, when severe, you feel in your gut. That’s been known for centuries. However, more and more science is showing how that anxiety-driven upset stomach, if left unchecked long enough, actually can reconfigure the balance of beneficial bacteria in the gut, which can negatively impact immune function and overall health.

A very good description of gut health, stress and immune function can be found here. It’s a site about prescription meds, but the article itself is well done. In fact, they call the gut “the second brain” in this story. Very interesting.

If you’re gonna stay healthy this winter (or anytime for that matter) you gotta have a healthy, balanced immune system. What is the “media” that distributes immune cells to where they need to be? Lymph and blood. How does that media stay in prime form? Water. You gotta have enough water to allow immune cells to do their thing. It’s not too surprising, especially since water makes up 50% to 65% of the human body.

Water works in several different ways to aid immune function. Some might be a bit surprising, such as impacting depression, insomnia and arthritis, all of which intertwine with immune health.

Some people say you’ve got to drink bottled, purified water, not tap water. I don’t know. I am not yet convinced that all public water is crappy or dangerous. New York City prides itself on having some of the cleanest water in the world. And it’s tasted good when I’ve drunk it. The City of Charleston, SC has a nice overview of its public water system, and answers a lot of questions about health and safety standards.

Some might ask, “What about soda or juice? They both contain a lot of water. And diet soda has no calories.” Yes, but I’m leery of drinking soda or juice as you’d drink water, for basic hydration. I’d drink it as a periodic treat, not a staple. Soda has carbonic acid, which your stomach can easily handle in moderate quantities. But if you bulk up on soda, it may be a different story.

Maybe one of the best ways to explain water intake is to explain it to a child. Beautiful prose, in my book!

• The London Daily Mail Online has a story about research showing the immune health benefits of going on vacation (or holiday, as they say in Europe) wane two weeks after returning to work. That’s kind of a bummer. I was thinking vacation refreshes you for months, maybe even until your next vacation. The story also mentions the propensity to actually get sick when you go on vacation. “… in some cases, the immune system may be left out of kilter when the stress of the working day is suddenly taken away.”
• A new health community called Care2 (actually it’s not that new…I just stumbled upon it) has many groups formed around various health conditions and interests, such as stress. It also features some informative articles, such as a recent piece on antibiotic resistant bacteria, and the need to maintain a naturally healthy immune function, include pre- and probiotic food intake, to lower risk of bacteria-driven problems in the gut resulting from good/bad bacterial imbalance.
• A dental journal article goes into some detail on how immune health can influence periodontal disease formation and vice versa. I’ve written here about the “healthy mouth, healthy body” concept, that poor dental health can lead to other health problems, and all are connected by healthy immune function.
• A PR piece appearing in the  San Francisco Chronicle online talks about new acupuncture methods that may help alleviate seasonal allergy symptoms.  Allergies, of course, are an over-reaction of the immune system. “Acupuncture offers a relaxing, natural alternative that refreshes us, without the side effects of pills,” says a source in the story. Hmmmm. The same might be said of EpiCor, only without the needles.

For example, do most people know that allergies are a direct result of an over-aggressive immune response?  Do they also know that immune response can be a big part of joint and muscle inflammation?  Or how about cellular inflammation? That affects heart disease, obesity, etc. And don’t forget digestive health, where 70% of immune response starts. Digestive tract microflora, also known as beneficial gut bacteria, helps drive overall immune response, absorption of nutrients into the body, even brain health and cognitive function.

And I’m sure I haven’t even begun to cover all of the health ramifications of good immune health.

So when you talk about maintaining a healthy, balanced immune function,  just know it’s much more than colds and flu.

One thing about highly trained athletes: their immune health can be compromised when their exertion levels are at their peak. Regular exercise in moderation can certainly improve immune health, but the stress extreme training and exertion puts on the immune system can weaken it. In a report from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, the conclusion states: “Many components of the immune system exhibit adverse change after prolonged, heavy exertion lasting longer than 90 minutes. These immune changes occur in several compartments of the immune system and body (e.g., the skin, upper respiratory tract mucosal tissue, lung, blood, and muscle). During this “open window” of impaired immunity (which may last between three and 72 hours, depending on the immune measure), viruses and bacteria may gain a foothold, increasing the risk of subclinical and clinical infection. Thus risk of upper respiratory tract infections can increase when athletes push beyond normal limits.” Certain classes of immune cells appear to alter their activity during periods of extreme physical stress on the body.

So, the lesson is: anything an athlete can do to provide immune balance–supporting greater immune response during periods of immune suppression that come from prolonged training and exertion–would be a good thing.