Stuart will wrap the topic into an interesting package of anecdotes and examples that anyone can understand. He does this very well, despite the fact he’s a scientist and researcher. I’m sure he’ll also expand on some the newer research involving immune balance and EpiCor, which we’ve also touched on here. Yet, we have not had Stuart’s original prose so eloquently breaking down the data into compelling scenarios and illustrations that make the science of immune balance hit home.

So I recommend tuning in July 19 or downloading the podcast later. You’ll need to register (free) to use the site and access the audio programs, but it takes about 30 seconds to do that.

So what about gut bacteria and immune health, amid all this?  This is where inflammation comes in, which we’ve also covered here.  Begley states: “…the precise way in which gut bacteria affect weight is a matter of intense dispute. The idea that different bacteria extract more or fewer calories from the food we send their way, as Gordon’s studies suggest, is only one possibility. Another possible explanation is that gut bacteria contribute to obesity (as well as to type 2 diabetes, which often goes along with being overweight) by altering the immune system. The idea here is that gut bacteria interact with intestinal cells in a way that causes them to secrete cytokines, molecules that can cause low-grade inflammation. This inflammation can, in turn, trigger insulin resistance (the mark of type 2 diabetes) and increased appetite, which is an effective way to put on weight.”

See more on this in Wired and in a drug industry trade. Also, an interesting Q&A in the Wall Street Journal Health Blog has some additional angles.

Maybe this is the core secret on why some people can eat anything they want every day and never gain an ounce.

1. I’m a coffee addict, at least during the work week. 5-6 cups a day is easy for me.
2. The whole field of brain health, especially the impact of brain function on other health conditions in the body, is of growing interest to researcher and consumers.
3. The data showing benefits of coffee on health just seems to be growing and growing. It apparently has a huge antioxidant profile.
4. The role of brain function in immune health, and vice versa. Some recent evidence shows there is an actual presence of immune cells in the brain that may act as an early warning system for brain abnormalities long before symptoms appear.  And, to the converse, mental function may, in turn, impact how the immune system responds to a host of health issues throughout the body, not just in the brain.

This story continues to show that, while  mind over matter is a legitimate, science-based health frontier, matter helping  mind (antioxidants and maybe caffeine) is also a way to make sure that the mind is a healthy mind so it can be at its best when it’s over the matter. Did I just make any sense?

The result of immune balance? The possibility of fewer sick days, fewer “dragging” days, fewer physical problems due to chronic stress’s impact on immune cells.

So what simple things can you do to balance and maintain your immune system?  Here are five:

1. Eat smart. Reduce processed sugar, increase fruits and veggies. The Mediterranean Diet is considered a very good immune health diet.
2. Get sleep. Research shows lack of sleep increases stress levels and weakens immune function.
3. Get exercise.
4. Wash hands often.
5. Take supplements containing 500 mg dosing of EpiCor. Human clinical trials show EpiCor balances immune response.

There you go. The Immune Balance Five. Go forth and do them.

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Ben Franklin.

British temperance movement in the 1830s.)  I do like to prudently imbibe from time to time. With summer now here, the imbibing opportunities seem to grow exponentially: Friday after-work get-togethers, the summer holidays, baseball games at my local Triple A club, the Iowa Cubs. But, as good sense dictates, one must be selective and responsible in how he or she chooses to partake.

For the past few years, I’ve tried to steer toward quality vs. price in my beverage selections.  I’ve had this general understanding that rich and dark is the way to go, vs. light and clear spirits. Now, my hunch has been validated! And on two fronts.

First, on the broad research front. A 2007 paper in the Journal of Nutrition suggests that lite (ooops, I mean “light”) to moderate consumption of alcohol, especially polyphenol-rich beverages like dark beer or red wine may have a beneficial impact on overall health and immune health. At the same time, regular, chronic over-consumption of alcohol negatively overwhelms any health benefit and can damage immune health, not to mention liver function, brain function and the like. So let’s not get carried away with this.

But back to the good part. Above I mentioned “polyphenol-rich” drinks. What are polyphenols? They are plant-originated micronutrients that exhibit anti-inflammatory and possible indirect, antioxidant-like properties in the body. EpiCor supplements are full of them. So are fruits and veggies. And, certain beers, wines and spirits contain polyphenols. Many have termed polyphenols a class of antioxidants, but researchers might not agree with that definition. Either way, they seem to be really good for you.

In fact believe it or not, I just found a Web-based tool called the Phenol Explorer, managed by the French equivalent of our U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. The site lets you look up foods and see their polyphenol content, broken out in a million different ways. And, in the fine French tradition, wine, beer and Scotch are listed.

Red wine and dark beer appear to be chalk full of polyphenols. Scotch also has some polyphenols, but not as many or as large of amount as the former. You can even select from among 5 assay methods to view differing analyses, although not all foods/beverages have data available for all assays. Basic chromatography seems to be the one standard used for all.  God, I love the French.

So, go forward and choose your aperitif wisely. And remember, drinking a Guinness is not a substitute for eating spinach, apples and nutrient-dense nuts and grains. And it won’t, by itself, cure what ails ya. But it’s still a pretty good choice when 5 p.m. Friday rolls around. Which, here, is now about 4.5 hours away!

Today, the Let’s Move organization, known more formally as The  Childhood Obesity Task Force, released a list of 70 action items that expert task force contributors recommended as necessary in achieving  significant reduction in obesity among America’s kids. The full report released today is available at this link.

My take? This is a great area for a renewed public and private sector effort because obesity contributes to so many health conditions it isn’t even funny. And yes, immune health deficiency is one of them.

As science has shown, “obesity can depress the immune system by interfering with the ability of white blood cells to produce antibodies. Research shows that overweight babies get twice as many infections as lean babies.”

If your immune health is distressed from an early age, that’s gotta set the stage for a lifetime of increased risk for all kinds of health conditions. Not good.

Just remember this: there is no FDA approved cure or preventive treatment for the flu or cold. There may be a number products that are effective against symptoms, or may provide proven immune health support, but at this point that’s about as far as any product can go in talking about efficacy. And, those symptom improvers should have some legitimate published, peer-reviewed clinical trials behind them in order to talk to consumers about the topic.

Social media is a big and growing forum where non-prescription health products get discussed. Within several of the forums I’m active in, I’m constantly amazed at the conversations about things such as “cancer prevention” or treatment.  And of course weight loss is the king of the hill when it comes to wild health claims.  Sometimes, these treatment and prevention discussions are coming from natural health physicians or even M.D.’s (or those who claim to be such). Sometimes those claims are connected to a product promotion. Sometimes they are not. Either way, these  health experts should know better.

What is legit in the social media world?  I’m not a regulatory professional. My take is that if someone is taking a certain product and is experiencing certain benefits, by all means, that can be talked about on a blog or other forums.  But that person should not extrapolate his or her experience to the general population, inferring that because something worked for them individually, it will work for everyone.  And any discussion about efficacy across the board, if supported by research, should still be presented in terms of ”possibly reducing risk”  or “may be associated with…” blah blah blah.  And if a blogger or health community high-volume commenter is being compensated by a product company for their writing, that must be disclosed. The FTC has some relatively new rules about social media and health products.

Just remember, even the celebrated medical breakthroughs in our lifetimes were not preventive cures. Mumps,  measles, tuberculosis were illnesses that many thought had been eradicated from the face of the earth, only to show up again years later. The vaccines that helped change the health outcomes of an entire planet were products that greatly reduced risk of these diseases to an extraordinarily minuscule level, but did not absolutely prevent or cure them.  So any consumer health product that talks about disease prevention, treatments or cures–even if the spokesperson’s last name is Salk– should be highly questioned or possibly ignored.

The companies are doing this not because the science is conclusive, but because they are tired of the hassle from consumer complaints and requests to get rid of the stuff, according the the story.

Indeed, many experts say some research suggests HFCS may add to belly fat more than other sugars, but there’s no proof HFCS is processed in the body much differently than cain sugar or concentrated fruit juice sweeteners.  A WebMD story said other countries that don’t consume many products with HFCS are still experiencing rising rates of obesity and diabetes. The problem is that people today are simply eating too much food and too many calories from foods with processed sugar, no mater what the form of sugar.

An old boss of mine, a Ph.D  plant biologist, said that there’s only one simple equation for weight loss and weigh management: calories in vs. calories out. Everything else is just a little fine tuning.

As for immune health, reducing sugar (a pro-inflammation agent), no matter what form, can make a difference in immune health, let alone weight.

Rebekah Winquest

I’m glad to present a post below from Rebekah Winquest, who runs a blog called Just Good Energy. She markets several natural food products, and also does product reviews by using the products herself.  And she does a fair amount of research about the product she’s taking. Right now, she’s taking EpiCor for an extended period. Posted below is her first review. I look forward to reading what she says about the rest of her EpiCor journey.

“I recently wrote an article on the top 20 most recommended and popular supplements for 2010. Included in that list is a product called Epicor. I had not personally taken this supplement but heard a lot of feedback that it helped people’s allergies, immune system, frequency of colds, etc. I have been in contact with the company Embria Health Sciences, who created Epicor, and have been taking it daily for the past 2 weeks along with researching and learning about the science behind Epicor.

Epicor starts off as the simple yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae, otherwise known as baker’s yeast. It is given oxygen to grow and is then put through a specific and unique fermentation and drying process, also known as “yeast fermentate”. It is the fermentation process that creates this unique product. The result is a superfood in my thinking – a whole food supplement that provides the body with not only extra nutrients but potent antioxidants and the ability to help balance the entire immune system. Nutritionally Epicor provides vitamins, minerals, aminos acids, antioxidants, and even beta-glucans.

What is interesting to me is that Epicor helps to “balance” the immune system compared to “boosting” the immune system. Keep in mind that autoimmune disorders, inflammatory disease and even allergies are overexcited immune systems that attack itself so obviously someone in that position could not take immune stimulating supplements. If you think about it, most immune-related products on the market are all about building the immune system but rarely have I found one that focuses on bringing it to an ideal balance or neutral state. We want our immune system to be ready at any given time to strengthen, as with the flu, or back down if needed, as with allergies. This balance is ideal and Epicor seems to have found a niche in this arena.

Now to my experiences… As most of you know I eat extremely healthy, drink green superfoods daily, consume plenty of antioxidant-rich foods and superfoods, stick to organic, and eat about 70% raw alkaline foods. I rarely get sick or catch colds and viruses from others. Here is the catch… From the day I got pregnant 2 years and 11 months ago I suddenly for the first time had allergies. I had a runny nose and sneezed daily until the day my son was born. It was so bazaar because I had never had an allergy in my life and now I had a very strong reaction to dust, and all environmental pollutants and even pollen! As soon as I stopped nursing my son the allergies kicked in really strong again. I tried all of the natural remedies that I had studied but nothing worked.

I began taking 500mg per day (1 capsule) of Epicor 2 weeks ago and suddenly realized a few days ago that I had sneezed and blew my nose maybe 4 times in the past 2 weeks, even with the pollen-rich air outside. I don’t want to jump too far down the road and say that I am 100% cured because of Epicor, but I do know that I feel better with my allergies and the only thing I have done different is take Epicor.

I have researched further that Epicor is not only great for helping to prevent occurrences of colds and the flu but can also help with inflammation. I am going to write about my experience with Epicor again in 2 weeks, after taking it for 1 month total and am curious to see if the inflammation that I often experience in my sciatic will improve (also started after having my adorable son).

For those concerned about taking Epicor while having a yeast infection or candida overgrowth: They claim that there is no similarity between the yeast used to make Epicor and Candida albicans, which is the unhealthy yeast strain that can flourish in the body causing infections and candida.

I would love to take it for the remainder of the year and see how I feel – it can be taken year round. Stay tuned for more updates.

Reference: “Epicor, The Key to a Balanced Immune System” by Larry Robinson, PHD, Vern S. Cherewatenko, MD, Med and Stuart Reeves, PHD”

Postscript from Craig: Thanks, Rebekah.  Since EpiCor is a nutritional supplement, I’m betting the people behind the product won’t assert that the ingredient will cure or prevent anything. But I do know that mulitple placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trials have demonstrated a reduction in allergy and cold/flu symptom severity and duration among healthy people who took EpiCor. Hope your experience is similar.  

However, a lot of people may not realize that bursts of short-term stress–taking a final exam, getting scared out of your wits at a movie, sweating a job interview, watching your kid’s first piano recital, walking down the aisle at your wedding–may actually improve your immune system.

Me, I just got a new car. I’m going to let my daughter’s prom date drive it to the prom, to the pre-prom dinner and to the post prom. They’ll have it back home by 6:30 in the morning. This before I’ve even put 500 miles on it. Oh well, at least my immune system will thank me for that stressful episode. Just as long as I don’t put myself through that kind of stress every day.

A meta analysis aggregating 293 studies on stress and immune response showed some surprising findings:  “The study confirmed that severe stresses over long periods of time were indeed bad for the immune system. These situations usually caused a wearing down of the immune system.

“The real surprise, however, was that short bursts of stress, like one might experience in a test or public speaking, jump-started the immune system response. The two psychologists surmised that this was the fight-or-flight response which helps the body react to danger. They actually likened this response to a workout for the immune system.”

So when someone says “don’t sweat it,” don’t worry. If you actually do sweat, your immune health should be just dandy.