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.

The story talks about preparing your immune system for cold and flu season, as though your immune system is a downhill skier and needs to be exercising regularly, otherwise, the start of ski season and that big downhill run will produce sore, stiff muscles.  It compares that to the idea that protracted symptom duration is a function of poor, “out of shape”  immune response, not the virulence of the bug itself.  That’s a big 10-4 in my book and I’ve posted similar views here as well.

The story also says that “one teaspoon of sugar decreases immune function by 50 per cent for four hours.” I had not heard that before now, and would like to get some sourcing on that. I written about consuming too much processed sugar harming immune function, but had not seen that kind of “response ratio.” Interesting.

The story ends with something about “flu kit” vials. Not sure what that refers to. But all in all, it’s a good reminder that people can do a number of things–diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, supplementation–to keep their immune system in shape and ready for the winter cold/flu season.

Now where is that pathogen? I thought it was here somewhere.

because the network location…and even password…are stored in the cache from the first time you accessed that wireless network.

Immune cells work the same way. They can “remember” viral and bacterial strains from earlier encounters, and be ready to pounce on them fast if those pathogens enter the body again. That immune cell memory can last for years.

This week comes a research finding that scientists say helps them better understand how that immune cell memory is actually implemented.  ”Hopefully, we can use this information to design vaccines that generate larger numbers of memory cells and can therefore provide better protective immunity,” says one of the study’s researchers.

Here’s my only intrepid question (and coming from a layman like me, it’s really, really intrepid): If scientists could isolate that memory function, replicate it and distribute it in a concentrated manner among existing and new immune cells, would they risk unleashing an intended consequence? Could the body’s immune system, equipped with new super-powered memory, go Rambo and be so relentless in its response to pathogens it remembers, that it produces overkill and actually does harm? That is what many health problems, especially allergies, are all about. Over-reactive immune responses that don’t end once the targeted pathogen has been neutralized. Where would the balancing or control factor be that “calls off the dogs” once the mission is accomplished?

Maybe such a development, if incorporated into vaccines as the news report suggests may happen, would be reserved only for the elderly who have low immune function and are more susceptible to illness because of that.

I’m sure the immunologists, who are far smarter than me on this stuff, will account for these potentialities as the research and testing move forward.

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.

High pollen counts will be with me for quite a while, as summer tassling season and fall harvest season follows after June.

My EpiCor regimen that I’ve been doing now for 3.5 years continues to deliver, at least in my opinion. And there is new published science showing EpiCor starts engaging immune cells in as little as one hour after ingestion. Within that hour, serum antioxidant levels start increasing. Within two hours, NK cells (natural killer cells) are ramped up. Two to three weeks beyond that, salivary IgA  levels (antibodies that are bacteria and virus attackers) increase, and serum IgE levels–associated with allergic/asthmatic reactions–flatten. (That’s the balancing that’s happening).

Here’s a link to the science explaining all this.

Kind of amazing stuff.

Bad viruses, bad!in the middle of summer. Cold sores are caused be a recurring virus.

The thing is, since my wife has been taking EpiCor, the cold sores have nearly become extinct. We can’t remember the last time she had one. Researchers have long known that the HSV-1 virus that fuels cold sores is very adept at hiding from immune cells.

Could the simple balancing of immune response — which includes activating aggressive immune response when something is detected — be an answer? I’m not a researcher, and certainly EpiCor does not have specific cold sore or HSV-1 research supporting it. It does have research showing EpiCor  activates NK cells and sIgA immune antibodies when ingested. Just wondering….

A nagging little chest tickle came on a couple days ago, along with some sinus congestion. In my earlier years, I could almost set my watch to what would happen next: the chest tickle turns to a cough; the sinuses turn into a cavalcade of infection; the infection makes its way to the chest, which turns the nagging dry cough into a crunchy, yucky hack that sounds like a St. Bernard barking.  Breathing turns into a wheeze fest. And after 10 days of this crap, I give in and go to the doc to get my Z-Pack. Which may or may not really work, since it may be a viral thing I’m dealing with.

Now, the symptoms don’t really grow into that potpourri of misery described above. They pretty much stay in check and then are gone in a day or two. To me, this is the picture of immune balance: immune defenses reacting proportionally to confront virus or bacteria.  Which means just enough to vanquish the bad stuff, but not too aggressively to cause a lot of overkill symptoms (endless phlegm, inflammation, etc.)  And this year, unlike the past two, I’ve not had the luxury of maybe getting some extra sleep in the morning to help the cause. My schedule this week made that sleep impossible.

I must stress, this is just a description of my experience and is not any kind of suggestion that everyone can have the same kind of result.  Peer-reviewed, published human trials (Alter. Comp Med. EpiCor Cold Flu) do support the kind of experience I’m describing. Still, the trials do not constitute settled science.

So here’s to another year of conquering the crud.

When the cold weather sets in, one question always in the mix is: Does cold weather cause cold and flu virus to proliferate and make more people sick?  And, does cold weather weaken your immune system?

Sounds like the answer is “no” on both counts. Some explanatory info from the American Academy of Pediatrics says that the reason people get the winter crud is because they are cooped up inside during the winter, where closer proximity to other people means an easier exchange of germs and viruses. When people spread out more in the warmer weather months and spend more time outside, that easy swap isn’t as much of a factor.

Another source says that cold weather doesn’t weaken the immune system, but viruses and germs may be more easily transmitted in the dry air that rules in winter. Why? 1) Your mucous membranes get dried out, accommodating greater germ and virus activity 2) the protective “shell” of a virus is stronger in winter, and tends to melt away in warmer temps 3) airborne virus droplets remain suspended longer in cold, dry air, whereas they sink to the ground in heavier, more humid air.

These explanations are not settled science, but they do give some insight as to what’s going on during the winter that makes cold and flu more prevalent. Bottom line: maintaining good immune health can serve you well in any season.

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?

That got me to thinking about alcohol and immune health. We’ve all read about the anti-aging properties of alcohol, especially red wine with its polyphenol and resveritrol content.  We’ve heard how daily alcohol intake can aid in long-term circulatory health and cognitive function. But what does alcohol, in general, do to immune cells? Certainly there exists valid research on immune system damage from alcohol abuse and alcoholism.  But what about moderate alcohol intake? In women, moderate amounts of alcohol has been found to reduce bone loss leading to osteoporosis, possibly through modulating activity of regulatory T-cells.  More research shows innate immune response affected by alcohol, depending on dosage. Moderate alcohol intake was linked with “attenuated” (weakened) inflammatory response, while heavy consumption was connected to augmented inflammation. Other findings showed moderate wine or alcohol intake in healthy males “may strengthen the immune response toward different types of viruses,” and “in nonsmokers intentionally exposed to rhinoviruses, alcohol consumption was associated with a decreased risk of common cold.” And atherosclerosis risk  may be beneficially impacted by moderate alcohol intake as well. “..acute alcohol consumption has dual anti-inflammatory effects that involve augmentation of IL-10 and attenuation of monocyte inflammatory responses involving inhibition of NF-κB. These mechanisms may contribute to the beneficial effects of moderate alcohol use on atherosclerosis.”

Yet, some studies have scanned meta-analysis data and concluded moderate or even low alcohol intake among women can increae risk of breast cancer, and possibly other cancers.

So when you’re invited for a little nip by the tree or under the mistletoe, keep that nip little or moderate, and keep your immune health in check.