Archive for the ‘Enhance’ Category
Boost Immune System With This Fish Oil
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Less than 15 years ago a compound discovered in a particular fish liver oil was identified as providing an immune system boost. The physicians who researched this compound were seeking a way to boost their patients immune system against a particular cancer. The compounds that were identified as building immune system against the cancer were identified as alkylglycerols. These alkylglycerols were obtained from the livers of coldwater sharks such as the Greenland shark. The fact that cancer is very rare in sharks may be due to the presence of alkylglycerols in their livers. The researchers found that the biologic effects of shark liver oil include stimulation of blood leukocyte and thrombocyte production as well as the activation of macrophage and anti-tumor activity.
Put another way, alkylglycerols led to lowered cancer cell reproduction and a reduced ability of the cancer cells to invade healthy cells. The authors concluded that alkylglycerols possess both cancer preventative properties, as well as cancer treatment effects. Alkylglycerols are beneficial against other enemies of our health, because they are known to increase the production of certain cytokines that attack viruses. According to some researchers, viral infections such as influenza or the common cold, can be prevented or reduced significantly by the addition of shark liver oil, taken at the first sign of symptoms. This is very good news for seniors who are concerned about fostering their senior health with an immune system boost.
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Weakened Immune System Promotes Infection
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As seniors age their immune systems decline leaving them more susceptible to a host of infections including those from viruses, fungi, and bacteria. In the case of cancer cells unless the immune system inactivates them or kills them, they will spread and develop into a fully developed malignant tumor. Studies of the pathology of free radicals has shown the link between the damage caused by free radicals and the weakened immune system in aging seniors. For example between 1982 and 1992 deaths due to infectious diseases increased by 22% according to a report in a major American medical publication. The same publication laid much of the blame for this increase on lack of preventative health care.
The good news that seniors can take from this report is that they can take preemptive steps about how to boost immune system. The lack of preventative health care can be reversed by taking simple preemptive aging measures for building immune system. One of the most important steps that seniors can take is to follow a daily antioxidant regimen that includes fruits, vegetables, vitamins, and minerals that protect against free radical pathologies that suppress the immune system. It turns out that free radical pathologies have been implicated in most of the disease processes of aging. The main disease processes of aging include cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, and cataracts as well as other degenerative diseases.
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Seniors Can Preempt Winter Colds & Flu.
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As seniors age the strength of their immune systems begin to decline from a number of causes including chronic stress, poor nutrition, and previous illnesses. A weakened immune system can render seniors susceptible to coming down with simple colds, but these colds can progress to more serious illnesses such as full-blown pneumonia. For example, pneumonia and influenza continue to be one of the leading causes of death among Americans 65 years of age and older. Along the same line a weakened immune system will make a senior over 60 years of age very susceptible to suffering from outbreaks of shingles. Suffering from shingles is not life threatening like pneumonia, but it is very painful while it is active so that it deprives seniors of the enjoyment of their senior years.
The good news for seniors is that there are ways to achieve an immune system boost against colds, flu and cold facilitated pneumonia. Unlike the flu vaccines that target specific flu viruses, other means are available for building immune system that can defend against any cold or flu virus. A polysaccharide called beta-glucan that is derived from yeast can provide a powerful immune system boost. Similarly vitamin C is one of the vitamins to boost immune system, because it replaces the vitamin C typically lost during infections. The mineral zinc is needed for building the immune system.
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Vitamin K Aids Seniors’ Hearts and Bones
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When vitamin K was discovered back in 1929 it was initially believed to be required to insure healthy blood clotting. Only recently in the last ten years have other areas been researched that reveal that vitamin K has important contributions for bone and vascular health, apoptosis of cancer cells, immune support and suppression of chronic inflammatory factors. As we age one of the pathological processes that occurs is the calcification of tissues in the body. The risk of heart attacks is increased by arterial calcification. Vitamin K performs two important functions that benefit senior health. It regulates the calcium balance so that the calcium goes to our bones and not to our arteries. The good news is that vitamin K can assist in reversing arterial calcification which contributes to cardiovascular disease. In trials ingesting a higher amount of vitamin K reduced coronary artery disease by over 55%.
Vitamin K is found in two forms, K1 and K2. Foods such as organ meats, eggs and dairy provide K2. K1 is found in green leafy vegetables. The K2 in foods is much more easily absorbed into our system than is K1. Fortunately for seniors supplements containing both vitamin K1 and K2 are available at affordable prices. A caution for folks who are on anticoagulant drugs; they need to work with their physicians to achieve the optimal therapeutic INR range between the drugs and vitamin K. In conclusion vitamin K has been shown to assist getting the calcium into the bones which stops the slide into osteoprorosis. In the trials used to evaluate fracture risk vitamin K reduced hip fractures by over 70%.
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Nothing Fishy About This Healthy Food!
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For seniors who are concerned about eating foods that are healthy for them this particular food is a real powerhouse. It is just loaded with nutritional benefits including protein, potassium, coenzyme CoQ10, and a long list of other nutritional winners that energize senior health. It is one of the very best sources of the heart-healthy omega-3 oils that benefit the heart and the circulatory system as a first line of defense against cardiovascular disease. Additional advantages include providing anti-inflamatory benefits and nourishing healthy skin. Seniors who are concerned about maintaining healthy bones can depend on it, because it is rich in vitamin D and calcium.
The key to its anti-aging power resides in its rich source of anti-aging proteins called nucleotides that help our bodies repair and rebuild tissues. These nucleotides provide a substantial immune system boost as well. Foods that are rich in nucleotides include brewer’s yeast, anchovies, and oysters, but the food that is number one in anti-aging nucleotides is sardines. This is good news for seniors who are concerned about improving their health by eating the foods that have both high nutritional value and strong anti-aging benefits. The genuine sardines are caught in the Mediterranean waters. They make a tasty snack when served with lemon juice and olive oil according to the preferences of the folks consuming them.
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The Top Foods To Boost Immune System
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With the imminent arrival of winter, folks have major health concerns about contracting colds and the flu, especially the H1N1 flu. Instead of waiting until a cold or the flu has already arrived and is causing illness, why not take preemptive measures before any respiratory infection occurs. It turns out that a number of common foods can provide an immune system boost. More than a dozen are included among the top immune system booster foods. For breakfast orange juice and oatmeal are first class contributors to a healthy immune system. The oats are a source of beta glucans an immunity system booster and orange juice supplies more than the daily requirement for vitamin C. Pouring milk fortified with vitamin D over the oatmeal will provided additional strength to the immune system to prevent upper respiratory infections. To provide further protection drink a cup of black tea and continue through the day, because black tea builds up your immune system’s T cells into super T cells that end up successfully fighting flu and cold infections.
Later in the day you can snack on yogurt that has been fortified with Lactobacillus acidophilus as well as Bifidus and L. rhamnosus, because they appear to stimulate the white-blood cells that fight infection. For lunch make sure that you include chicken soup several times a week, because it thins mucus and relieves the symptoms of a stuffy nose. By adding garlic and onions you can increase the immune boosting strength of the soup. The allicin in garlic is a strong bacteria fighter. For dinner a soup of clam chowder or oyster stew will provide selenium that helps the white blood cells fight viruses. For the main course make certain to include some fish like salmon, mackerel or herring in order to get the benefits of the omega-3 fatty acids that boost the activity of the cells that eat up the bacteria. For dessert a slice of pumpkin pie with black tea can round out the day. The pumpkin contains abundant vitamin A that will combine with zinc from the shellfish like oysters to fight infection.
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Enhance Your Immune System
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Our first defense against diseases and infections is our immune system. For seniors concerned about their health finding a way to boost their immune systems naturally would be very beneficial. A number of foods supply a compound that provides a natural immune system boost. Cereal grains such as barley, rye, oats, and wheat contain this compound as does baker’s yeast and shiitake mushrooms. The compound is beta glucans and we have to get it from outside sources, because our body does not make it. Extensive research has shown that beta glucans make the immune system more efficient. The beta glucans stimulate the two important defenders of the immune system including the immune cells called macrophages that attack invading pathogens and the lethal white blood cells the destroy tumors and viruses.
In one study the beta glucans from oats was used to test the efficacy of lowering cholesterol. The study showed significant reductions in total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein. The folks who had received the higher amount of beta glucans achieved greater reductions in the total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein. In several other studies the beta glucans were used successfully to prevent or mitigate the duration of upper respiratory infections. Finally, beta glucans have been used in Japan to reduce tumor activity in cancer. The particular beta glucan was found in shiitake mushrooms has been used as an immune system stimulant against cancer in Japan since the 1980s.
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Can Vitamin D Bind the H1N1 Flu?
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By all indications the H1N1 Flu is already beginning to pay a return visit to the Northern Hemisphere. In the USA the Government is promising that a vaccine will be ready in time to head off the H1N1 and protect us from the consequences of this disease this fall of 2009. Due to the short time required to prepare the new, H1N1 vaccine we do not know how well it will work in the general public. The second issue that has been raised concerns the availability of and accessibility to the vaccine by the general public. Putting all our hope on this new, H1N1 vaccine to provide protection from the H1N1 flu is like putting all our health protection in one basket. Common sense says that we should have a layered defense in place that will preempt the H1N1 flu. The key to such a layered defense will be to take steps that will strengthen a weakened immune system.
Taking the path to boost immune system has strong support from diverse groups that are concerned about preventing the spread of the H1N1 flu. An agency of the Canadian Government is studying the role of vitamin D in preventing the onset or mitigating the severity of the flu infection. Numerous studies have shown that a deficiency of vitamin D is linked to influenza infections. The Harvard Medical School, that normally recommends getting vitamins through food, makes an exception for supplementing with vitamin D. The good news is that the vitamin D supplements that duplicate the form D3 made by our bodies in sunlight are very inexpensive. The D3 form that is more readily absorbed by our bodies is preferred over the less potent form D2. Together with eating a healthy diet and getting enough sleep, supplementing with vitamin D3 will support a layered defense against infection by the H1N1 flu.
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Build Immunity Against Flu Viruses.
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The H1N1 flu virus did not infect many people on its first visit this year, but it may cause many more infections this autumn if it returns. This was exactly the pattern that played out during the Influenza Pandemic in 1918. The current H1N1 virus is a member of the same flu family as the 1918 flu. In the Southern Hemisphere where people are experiencing their winter weather the H1N1 is currently causing havoc. We have time to make the necessary preparations that will build up our immunity before the onset of our flu season beginning in autumn.
In addition to some well known natural substances that have been proven to boost immunity, such as the vitamins C and D, a number of new arrivals have entered the immunity field. When coupled with the old standbys vitamin C and D, these new arrivals can form a strong, synergistic immunity team to fight the H1N1 flu virus and any other virus. Several new arrivals on our immunity team are resveratrol and Green Tea extract. Substances in the Green Tea extract act in a way similar to the substance in the flu drugs Relenza and Tamiflu that fight the flu. Complementing the Green Tea extract, resveratrol interfers with the path the flu infection follows in the cells of our body. Using all the members of the immunity team will provide an immune system boost.
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Do Aging Individuals Have Weakened Immune Systems?
The history of immunology goes back to ancient Greece. The earliest known mention of immunity was during the plague in Athens around 430 BC. Thucydides noted that people who had recovered from a previous bout of the disease could nurse the sick without contracting the illness a second time. But it would not be until 1891 that microorganisms were confirmed as the cause of infectious disease.
A progressive decline in hormone levels with age is in part responsible for a weakened immune system in aging individuals. The immune system is enhanced by sleep and rest, and is impaired by stress.
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