But that got me to wondering about vampires in general. The thing is, I’m guessing vampires must have an immune system to die for, literally. Because, like, they never die. And no matter whose blood they drink, they just keep going and going.

A regular person’s mortal’s blood consists of, to varying degrees, a system of immune cell responders that all have different roles in finding and vanquishing antigens (foreign bodies) that enter the body.

But what does a vampire’s blood have that us mortals don’t?  The vampires immune system must be in perfect balance because he/she never ages, never gets ill. And I don’t understand the “fear of garlic” thing among vampires, because garlic is considered a great immune support agent by nearly anyone in the medical nutrition field.

For those wanting answers, this site, The Vampire Project, provides a wealth of information about the the blood lust of vampires and how they stay healthy. If you come across any secrets that might be worthy of an NIH research grant, let me know.

In a nut shell, some bacteria, in trying to vanquish the enemies, recruit immune cells to come to their side, making the immune cells think the enemy bacteria is the immune cells’ enemy as well. With this new wartime alliance, a bacterial garrison can potentially win the battlefield and with it, the right to colonize.

However, I just wonder if a balanced immune system might not eagerly and naively swarm to the aid of the summoning bacteria, perhaps backing off until both bacteria armies nearly kill each other off, and then sweep in to bayonet any remaining stragglers.  Who knows?

"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!

One of my kids getting her diploma

two months when they head off to college.  They are going to state schools,  so we won’t be paying Ivy League-level tuition. Plus, bless their hearts, they have earned some very nice academic scholarships. Still, it’s expensive enough.

When one is in college, it’s probably in one’s best interest to stay healthy.  One in four college students get the flu during a given year. A few days or couple of weeks laid up with a virulent strain of whatever can put a student in a real hole, maybe even ruin a semester.  Can you say, “Buh-Bye”  to that money market fund you used to pay that semester’s bill?

The school nurse at my daughters’ high school sends a big supply of EpiCor to her daughter who is in college in Nashville, TN. She wants her kid to take it every day to maintain healthy immune balance and reduce risk of missing classes.

If you have a kid in college, or if you are in college yourself, (on campus or online) here are some tips on how to get through a college sick day

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.

Another supplement? Pass the cactus.

Many have heard or read about an oft-repeated prescription drug story involving elderly (or maybe not so elderly) people: patients who are taking many prescriptions prescribed independently by multiple doctors. Then someone finds out about the potpourri of pills, throws out all of the meds, many of which might have been working against each other, and starts over with a much smaller, basic medication plan. And the patient’s health improves.

Sometimes, I kind of apply that same picture to the nutraceutical and supplement field. I try to at least read a sampling of nutrition industry headlines regularly, and every day there seems to be new studies suggesting this compound or that nutrient may prevent this or reduce risk for that. Here’s just sampling in the past few weeks:

Chilli compound may boost energy burning and help weight loss

Study supports astaxanthin’s immune boosting power

Red clover may counter depressive symptoms in older women

Cactus extract may help manage weight, water loss

If we were to take all the supplements that appear to impart some health benefit, we’d be taking red clover, cactus nectar, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, licorice root, hawthorn berry extract, 15 kinds of mushroom powders and 70 other products every day. Maybe we might have room left over to eat some meals, too.

I’m taking more supplements myself. But at some point, I’ll ask myself: “What are the basic health benefits that are important to me? What portion of those benefits can I get through exercise? Through diet? And through supplementation? I’m almost of the mind that if I can get regular exercise, eat a balanced diet, and take just a basic regiment of maybe 3-5 supplements a day, that might be all I need to give my health a fighting chance well into old age. It’s my KISS method: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

I know exercise can impart multiple health benefits: weight management, better mental health, pulmonary function, sleep and stress reduction, and a long list of others. Balanced food intake can impact digestive health, weight, energy level, immune health, bone and joint health, and, also, a long list of other health factors.  Supplementation can then be layered over the exercise and food regimen, although many nutrition purists say the right food is all you need; supplements are not necessary. I disagree with that. As Dr. Jeff Blumberg of Tufts University, one of the leading antioxidant and aging researchers, has said, ” You need both. Food and supplementation.”

For me, I look at supplementation as a way to fill in gaps that may occur in my diet (there may be a few days where I don’t get the fruits/veggies I need), or because my family history or individual health profile indicates I could use more of something.  So I keep it simple: A multivitamin to start; fish oil (because I may benefit from extra heart and cognitive health benefits as I get older); immune supplementation (EpiCor) because balanced immune function impacts everything, including my allergies and cold/flu exposure; Vit D, because it also impacts almost everything and research shows even people with healthy diets don’t get enough D; chromium, because I have some family history of diabetes/blood glucose management issues. And that’s about it. I’m not sure what else I’d need. And I always use up what I buy. I’m confident I won’t be throwing out dozens of bottles of outdated supplements anytime soon.

I also hear the some H1N1 activity has started up Georgia. Not a widespread thing…yet. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) blames low vaccination rates in Georgia as a contributor. Imagine that, in the state that’s the home of the CDC!

The government’s flu portal has an up-to-date map of seasonal flu activity, influenza-like illness (IFI), H1N1 lab results that shows where some hots spots are. Nothing in the epidemic or pandemic realm; Most of the country is color-coded as “sporadic” or “no activity” for influenza and H1N1. But for IFI, the southwestern U.S. shows up as “widespread.”  We’ll see what the next month brings.

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.

What does this have to do with immune balance? Well, for one thing it might be interesting to look at some consumer health trends that can effect a healthy, balanced immune system. Diet and nutrition for one.

For example, fruits and vegetables in the diet can be a beneficial factor in maintaining a healthy immune system. Did you know that fruit consumption per capital in the U.S. actually decreased from 1980 to 2007, from 265 to 263 lbs. per person? With the health movement that’s been churning over the past decades, I would have thought an increase would be a no-brainer.

There is some good news. Vegetable consumption increased during that same time from 338 to 417 lbs per person.  Onions almost doubled, and broccoli increased more than fourfold.

Weight can also impact immune function. Body mass index tracked from 2003 to 2006 as a measure of obesity is not surprising. 70.6% of U.S. males are either overweight or obese. That figure is 60.5% for women. Women are also a bit lacking on the exercise front compared to men.  40% of women in 2007 said they engage in no leisure time physical activity.  29% get moderate to vigorous regular physical activity, and 17% take part in endurance and strength training.  For men, the percentages are somewhat better: 38%, 33% and 22% respectively.  As people get older, the percentages get worse.

The number of U.S. adult smokers has decreased from 25.3 % of the population in 1990 to 19.7% in 2007. Smoking among women decreased from 23% to 17.5% of the general pop. For men, the decrease was from 28% to 22%.  All age groups of women– from 18 to 64–currently tend to smoke at a population percentage of just over 19%.  Then at age 65 up, smoking drops dramatically to 7.6%.  Kentucky has the highest percentage of smokers;  Utah the least.

There’s a lot more in this abstract. Part II coming next.

Harvard Medical School online pub about the immune system

“The idea of boosting your immunity is enticing, but the ability to do so has proved elusive for several reasons. The immune system is precisely that — a system, not a single entity. To function well, it requires balance and harmony.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

The article goes on to discuss many factors impacting immune health: diet, exercise, stress. It’s almost a microcosm of everything that’s been posted on this blog for the past year and a half.

Way to go, Harvard. You get a gold..no, crimson…star.