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INTRODUCTION
The immune-defense system ensures physical survival. It maintains our physical integrity and protects us against internal and external biological threats.
Immune system activities take place on three levels:
LEVEL ONE: Barriers and behaviors protecting the body against attacks by foreign and non-nutritive organisms or substances.
LEVEL TWO: Molecular chemical interactions that limit or destroy foreign and non-nutritive organisms or substances.
LEVEL THREE: Intelligent molecular interactions and cellular behaviors directed against non-self and non-nutritive organisms or substances.
LEVEL ONE
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"
Avoidance is the best method to prevent bodily attacks from microbes. To prevent these attacks, we identify their source, and determine an effective means of preventing the infection. Sterilization is a Level One activity. When we wash or treat food and other materials with sterilizing agents, we reduce the chances of getting an infection. By eliminating invasive microorganisms, particles, or chemicals, we decrease the chance of an attack on Level Two or Three. Microorganisms enter the body and deplete cellular nutrients in order to grow and multiply. Particles and chemicals can't multiply like microorganisms; however, they can trigger lethal cascade reactions, like allergic reactions to bee stings.
LIVING BARRIERS
Some organisms are essential to our body's health, because they create a barrier against invading organisms, foreign particles, and toxic chemicals. Beneficial bacteria normally live on our skin and in our digestive system. They work hand in hand with the Level Two and Three systems to fight off disease-causing invaders. Beneficial bacteria also form a living barrier against these invaders. An opportunistic microbe can invade and infect our bodies if we wash away beneficial bacteria. Having damaged skin or intestines increases the chance of our being infectively invaded by an "opportunistic" microbe. Food provides us with some "friendly" bacteria; however, for complete "living" nutrition, we also need supplements containing many strains of "friendly" bacteria and health-promoting compounds (e.g., fructooligosaccharides).
DIET AND BARRIERS
Poor diet can erode the health of the skin and the digestive tract by starving the bacteria living there. Bacteria, living on the skin, scavenge "waste" nutrients. This rejuvenates the skin. Intestinal organisms, digesting dietary "waste," protect us from toxic substances or gases.
High sugar (fructose) and fatty (triglycerides and trans-fatty acids) diets deliver fuel for invading bacteria. Also, if you wash beneficial bacteria from your skin with antibacterial soaps, you open your door to invasion from opportunistic bacteria. Eating a healthier diet creates healthier skin, and makes bacterial invasion less likely.
CHEMICAL BARRIERS
Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) is a cleaning agent that reduces the spread of bacteria. It is environmentally friendly and non-toxic. Washing food with GSE protects you from infections. When camping or traveling, you must have pure, safe drinking water. Water filtration systems containing iodine or bleach can eliminate microbes, but GSE is more effective and non-toxic. GSE enhances our immune barriers, so that we are not overwhelmed by invading bacteria.
VITAMIN REINFORCEMENT
Vitamins maintain the integrity of the skin barrier. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that protects the skin from oxidative damage. Vitamin E has a similar role, and is known for its renewing and reparative properties.
Vitamin C, as well as the minerals zinc and silica, helps build strong skin and hair. Vitamin C also builds a strong connective-tissue barrier, preventing entry of invading organisms.
LEVEL TWO
LIPIDS
Lipids (medium chain fatty acids) are the "first line of defense" against invading bacteria, viruses, or fungi. These substances, found in the skin and other parts of the body, defend against invading microbes. Wherever these invaders are present, this chemical defense system goes to work.
A woman's body synthesizes the antibacterial monoglyceride called monolaurin. This synthesis occurs in breast milk. The resulting strong, antibacterial agent protects the breastfeeding infant.
Essential fatty acids deliver immunological benefits. They create healthy cell membranes and are also essential for prostaglandin synthesis. Prostaglandins regulate inflammation starting with an inflammatory response that kills invading microbes. They then extinguish the response when the invasion is stopped.
Incorporation of trans-fats (from partially hydrogenated oils) into cell membranes can disrupt the body's immune response. A healthy diet helps our body do its immune work consistently. Dietary change may hamper an immune response to a virus or bacteria, even though we have already been vaccinated! After they reproduce, these intracellular microbes "wrap themselves" into our cell membranes, and spread infection. Dietary-fats change cell membranes, making our immune system less able to recognize "trans-fat disguised" invaders.
CARBOHYDRATES
Sugars, like the polysaccharides, play a potent role in immune defense. They bind with bacteria and limit their spread. Some polysaccharides contain bioflavonoids, which modify the body’s immune response. "An apple a day will keep the doctor away," because fruits, plants, and herbs contain immunologically active polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are important sources of nutrition for our "friendly" digestive bacteria. By feeding our "friends," we keep our "foes" from mounting an invasion.
Some glycoforms are structural carbohydrates located on cell membranes, which help the immune system and surrounding cells distinguish "friend from foe" (self-markers). They establish cell-to-cell communication, and strengthen the skin-tissue barrier. Some bacteria exploit these "self-markers" by binding with them. Once bound to the glycoforms, the invading bacteria release chemicals and enzymes, which enter or kill the cell. Once bacteria successfully attack, they multiply and spread to other parts of the body!
If the cells cannot maintain the self-identifying glycoforms, normal cell-to-cell communication is disrupted. The body, trying to remove these misidentified cells, creates a weakness that invading bacteria can exploit. Glyconutrients enhance the cell's "repair-renew" capabilities, helping us win the battle against infection.
Glycoforms are also found on the lipoproteins. Lipoproteins provide strong immune defense. If they are oxidized, they cannot function normally. Lipoproteins act as decoys, binding microbes to their glycoforms and carrying them to the liver for destruction. Microbe-coated lipoproteins are sometimes deposited on blood vessel walls. As a result, microbes sometimes hide in the fatty deposits. The body may use lipoproteins and other molecules to contain this infection, causing "hardening of the arteries."
LIPOPROTEINS
The lipoproteins collect fat-soluble wastes and toxic substances, limiting their destructive action. These wastes are then taken to the liver for removal or detoxification. If they cannot be readily eliminated, the body stores them in fat cells.
ADIPOSE ACTION
During weight loss, fat cells release stored wastes, causing immunological and toxic reactions. As weight loss continues, people may feel ill and achy, or inflammatory disease may worsen. By drinking lots of water, and taking supplementation, you aid the body's cleansing actions.
WATER
Water is a potent means for removing body wastes. Dehydration concentrates waste, and intensifies immune responses by changing the concentration of immune molecules. Water dilutes and helps eliminate them.
Mucus, a sugar-rich substance, traps microbes, particles and toxic chemicals on surfaces, so they cannot damage underlying cells. Water thins mucus and enhances its flow, making it more effective.
ANTIMICROBIAL PROTEINS
Lactoferrin and proteins protect us against microbes. Lactoferrin binds the iron required for the microbial growth. Deprived of iron, microbes can't grow and infect the body.
LEVEL THREE
IMMUNE INTELLIGENCE
The immune system is amazingly intelligent! It creates specific responses to specific threats. Over time, it mounts these responses quicker and more powerfully.
Immunglobulins and immune receptors are distributed throughout the body. These glycoproteins defend the body against foreign invaders and cancer cells. If malformed, glycoproteins trigger potent autoimmune reactions. Proper nutrition prevents, or reduces, the development of abnormal immunoglobulins.
DIETARY PROTEIN
Dietary protein is important for producing immunoglobulins and other body proteins. If your diet doesn't provide enough protein during illness, your body metabolizes muscle to produce essential immune proteins. Recurrent infections waste muscle mass and other body proteins. Dieting or starvation causes protein malnutrition, leading to a vicious cycle of infections and protein loss.
VITAMINS
Vitamins regulate immune response. For example, Vitamin B-12 protects us from infections and Vitamin B-6 boosts immune protein production. Vitamin C, the carotenes, Vitamin E, and tocotrienols are all antioxidants, which control the body's inflammatory response. Vitamin C may also have natural antiviral properties. For a strong immune defense, enzymes need vitamins to produce energy and sustain metabolism.
POLYSACCHARIDES
Polysaccharides trigger immune cell production. When microbes invade our body, the immune system mounts a pre-emptive strike, killing the invaders before they multiply and spread.
Chinese folk medicine practitioners make extensive use of herbal polysaccharides. The health-promoting properties of these herbs have been known to them for centuries.
LIPIDS
Fats are used to produce specialized lipids (such as monolaurin), which control immune activity. Immune cells, which control inflammation, are regulated by the prostaglandins. If immune cells don’t mount an inflammatory attack, they can't remove defective or malignant cells. Prostaglandins also manage cell repair and renewal.
The body uses cholesterol to produce steroidal hormones. Cortisol, one of the most potent immune hormones, is capable of shutting off the immune system. In so doing, it can purge the immune system's memory. For example, too much cortisol causes cells to "forget" to mount an immune response against a microbe, even after an immunization or previous infection.
The sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen) also regulate the immune response. Testosterone may play a role in allergies. Excess estrogens (from foods, estrogenic pesticides and environmental contaminants) can interfere with immune responses that prevent autoimmune disease and cancer. A diet free of these hormones reduces these risks.
Cell membranes depend on cholesterol to maintain their structural and functional integrity. Proper nutrition allows the body to manufacture enough cholesterol. Low cholesterol, associated with limited fat intake, appears linked to cancer and other immune risks.
COLOSTRUM
Colostrum is the first milk produced after birth by mammalian mothers. Its protein composition is similar to blood serum. Colostrum is rich in vitamins, immunoglobulins, and other immune molecules. It contains growth factors and other proteins, which increase the ability of the infant's digestive system to absorb nutrients and resist microbial attacks. Human colostrum contains monolaurin and medium-chain lipids, providing energy and protection from microbes. It has been highly treasured for centuries as a nutritional supplement.
When we reach the ages of thirty or forty, we produce less insulin-like, growth factors (somatomedins). As a result, healing is slower and less effective. Growth Hormone stimulates the liver, helping it produce these healing factors naturally found in colostrum. Being less expensive and more bioactive, colostrum is a practical alternative to expensive human Growth Hormone supplementation.
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Copyright©2002 MEND. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission.
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