It makes me reflect on the early years in my career. I worked for a big publishing company. And I had a number of friends who worked for a big bank. Some of them worked for a guy whom I knew because we both worked out at the downtown Y. This guy was a VP, probably in his 60s, and they called him “Mr. Wonderful.” Believe it or not, they were not being sarcastic. “Mr. Wonderful” was his name because everyone loved working for him. Why? Nothing too complicated. He was kind, had a sense of humor, trusted people to do their jobs and supported them. Wow, what a concept. And his management style must have been successful because he had a long career there and had ascended into upper management positions.

I think fewer companies today place much emphasis on management training and development. I question whether they put the resources into developing managers who can engender positive attitudes in their staffs, retain great performers, and produce employees so good that others inside and outside the company want them.

Why the topic of managers for a health blog? Because bad managers can make employees physically sick. In the UK, The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence cited incompetent managers as the single biggest source of workplace stress and anxiety. And stress and anxiety are directly connected to imbalanced immune function, leading to physical illness. Even if you work for a struggling company that may be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy or being sold, a good manager may still make working for that company more fulfilling and less angst-ridden than working for a highly profitable company under a terrible manager.

I’m not just talking about managers who are outright jerks that anyone could identify: the bullying a-holes, the drill-sargents who think belittlement and verbal tirades motivate through fear, the boss who believes staying chained to your desk until 8 p.m. every night proves your loyalty and work ethic, regardless of how productive your aren’t.  I’m also about talking managers who stay holed up in their office, not communicating with staff all at except through policy updates on email; or managers who take staff ideas and success, and transfer complete ownership and credit to themselves, refusing to let a subordinate “shine” in front of the board or senior executives.  Or the manager who never assigns goals or objectives, then complains when those non-existent objectives are suddenly not being met. They all add up to big time stress, even if the management deficiencies are quiet and subdued (but deadly just the same!).

The list could go on and on. And here’s a really cosmic statistic:  That British project on incompetent managers mentioned above showed that companies with good management talent can decrease sick days by 28%.  When Embria Health Sciences teamed up with the city of Ankeny to track employee sick days while employees took nutritional supplements containing EpiCor, sick days also decreased by 28%. How wild is that?!?

But I think people need to realize your immune system, and how you take care of it, affect almost everything that has to do with your health. Immune function is at the center of digestive health and has a synergistic relationship with beneficial gut bacteria. Good digestive health impacts nutrient absorption, brain function, insulin function and potential diabetes, and other health parameters.

Immune health impacts the health of your skin. It can help drive respiratory and pulmonary function.

Recently, my brother sent me an essay from a leading heart doctor. The doctor is telling us to throw out all the conventional medical thinking about cholesterol and statins and heart disease. The problem isn’t plaque or choesterol, he says. It’s inflammation.  And what is directly influencing inflammation? You guessed it. Immune response.

So take care of your immune system with The Five S’s. Chances are, you’ll be taking good care of your entire health experience.

In fact, this group of farm kids is exhibiting even fewer allergy/asthma conditions than Swiss farm kids, who have been observed over the years as nearly allergy free. Why is this?

Years of observational research have shown kids raised on farms–and exposed to microbes in dirt, animals, barnyard refuse plus grain pollen and dust–generally grow up with few if any allergy problems. The hygiene hypothesis is that exposure to these microbes “trains” a child’s immune system early in life to recognize these microbes as either generally harmless…letting them pass with no immune attack…or, in the case of basic bacteria, as an immediate threat, in which killer cells promptly vanquish the germs. The result?  A balanced immune system that is passive when appropriate and aggressive when needed. This means health symptoms like allergies or cold/flu are minimized because the immune system does not overreact or under-react. This trained immune system can last for life, assuming other lifestyle factors remain health (nutrition, sleep, stress management, exercise).

Another demonstration that balance is key in maintaining good health.

A 2012 report by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation shows that three Tennessee cities — Memphis, Chattanooga and Knoxville–are among the top 10 cities in the U.S. for spring allergies. They also are in the top 10 for asthma symptoms.

The rankings, created by the Allergy and Asthma Foundation, are based on pollen count, amount allergy medications consumed, and number of allergy doctors in the area. I suppose when you’re located in or near the vast tree-laden Smoky Mountains, that will make a difference. And maybe somehow the country music in Nashville counteracts pollen and  keeps that city off the list.

Remember, seasonal allergies are, in the simplest terms, an over-reaction of the immune system. A balanced immune system may make difference in reducing allergy symptom duration and severity.

For immune health, research shows a variety of nuts may be helpful, especially walnuts, almonds (for good gut health, which drives immune function) and Brazil nuts.  Here’s a slide series that hones in on specifics.

All in all, a handful of mixed nuts a day could really help overall health.  Just don’t overdo it. Nuts do pack a lot of calories, and some of the flavored ones with added salt and sugar can defeat the health benefits if you overindulge. Someone in a bar watching baseball and eating a can’s worth of beer nuts is not doing himself or herself any favors.

The video crew invited the Embria staff over to watch the production. And, of course, the Embria team took over a supply of EpiCor to hand out, which the crew snapped up.

Maybe an extra dose of immune support will be the difference in putting Shawn on the Olympic team again!  If so, we’ll call it the EpiCor karma.

Another hot pepper story is when I bought my college daughters some cans of pepper spray for self defense a few years ago. A year or two later when they were home during a break, I took a can outside on the deck to spray test it and make sure it was still in working order. Of course, right as I sprayed it, a gust of wind came up and blew some of the spray back into my face. I only got a small whiff of the stuff, but it was enough to burn like the dickens for the next 30 minutes or so. Had to flush my eyes with water during that half hour.

Capsaicin is the chemical naturally found in hot peppers that provides the heat. Some research has suggested that capsaicin may play a role in helping mitigate tumor growth through activating dendritic  cells, which are important in aggressive immune response. It’s also an antioxidant with a good dose of Vitamin C and beta-carotene, a precursor for Vitamin A.

So, I say, keep it hot and spicy. To a reasonable “degree,” anyway.

That high quality protein got my attention, and I’m wondering if eggs could also contribute some “high quality immune support.”  Eggs are dense in many nutrients, including selenium, which can aid in better immune function. Some omega 3 concentrated eggs may also have higher immune support value.

And now you can get “hyperimmune” eggs, in which the laying hens have been treated with vaccines to produce antibodies that fight viruses. Those antibodies are passed on to consumers of the eggs.

I also remember years ago when many doctors had strict prohibitions against eggs, before we really knew the difference between good and bad cholesterol,  healthy and bad fats, and other micronutrients like lutein that exist in the yolk.

I’m already looking forward to my omelette this weekend.

Enter EpiCor. EpiCor helps balance immune response, making it aggressive when it needs to be (cold, flu, etc.) and passive when needed (allergies, etc.).  While controlled, human trials have illustrated these efficacious qualities of EpiCor among people with cold/flu and allergy symptoms,  EpiCor theoretically may also assist immune function when it is naturally out of balance during periods of high physical or emotional stress.

The folks at EpiCor are interested in providing 2-month samples of the supplement product to intense workout fans who are avid distance runners, triathletes, bikers or weight trainers, and who have an active, regularly updated blog discussing those activities. Documenting their general health experiences with EpiCor during training regimens would be of great interest.  If you are one of these people, just leave a comment with some contact info, and I will be glad to follow up.

I’ve written a quite a bit about sugar on this blog. Processed, refined sugar that is. It can inhibit immune function–depress production of white blood cells–and contribute other problems like obesity, diabetes, etc.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a 60 Minutes piece on new research about sugar and health (video above). One of the new findings on sugar that was highlighted on the piece was that sugar produces an LDL cholesterol called “small dense LDL.” I had not heard that term before. The researcher interviewed in the piece says that most doctors do not know about small dense LDL.

Just another reason to watch your sugar intake. What is a reasonable sugar intake per day. According to Rodale:

“Surveys have also found that the average American consumes around 22.2 teaspoons of added sugar every day. According to the new guidelines, we should really be eating a fraction of that amount. The recommended sugar intake for adult women is 5 teaspoons (20 grams) of sugar per day, for adult men, it’s 9 teaspoons (36 grams) daily, and for children, it’s 3 teaspoons (12 grams) a day.”

I don’t know. To me, even 36 grams seems like a lot.