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Your Immune System & Your Health

Your Health is determined by the degree to which your immune system is being effective. Therefore learning how your immune system works and doing everything to aid it is of the utmost importance.

In a booklet issued by the National Institute of Health called " The Immune System – How It Works", there is a concise description of the immune system on page one:

" The immune system is a network, of cells, and organs that work together to defend the body against attacks by "foreign" invaders. These are primarily germs – tiny, infection-causing organisms such as bacteria and viruses, as well as parasites and fungi. Because the human body provides an ideal environment for many germs, or microbes, they try to break in. It is the immune system’s job to keep them out or, failing that, to seek them out and destroy them…

The immune system is amazingly complex. It can recognize millions of different enemies, and it can produce secretions and cells to match up with and wipe out each one of them."

This site is dedicated to supplying its clientele with some of the finest fortifying and cleansing supplements available at reasonable prices, plus the knowledge needed to make the necessary lifestyle changes to achieve their optimal health. To help you more fully understand the importance of a well functioning immune system, please read the upcoming section entitled the "Immune System".



About Your Immune System And How It Protects You

A summary of chapter 24 from the "The Yeast Connection".

" All around you are harmful substances that can ‘do you in’…bacteria, viruses and chemicals. Yet, you survive. Here’s why: You possess ‘the most stunning, effective protection the world has ever seen, your immune system. Like the army, navy, marines and air force, your immune system is composed of a number of defenders with different capabilities.

These defenders hold harmful organisms in check and retard their growth. Occasionally, they even kill a few. However, in the end, it is your body itself which must destroy the harmful organisms. Your body must clean up the battlefield, seek out and destroy each germ. No matter where these germs hide, it is your body that must do the killing. Among your body’s defenders are several types of white blood cells. And one group of these cells (called granulocytes) chase germs and gobble them up.

If you put these white blood cells in a small dish of salt water, they’ll move around randomly in a tranquil manner. Yet, all you have to do is add one bacterium to the dish…just one…and the whole scene changes. The granulocytes, like a cat stalking its prey, creep relentlessly toward the bacterium. Then they attack. Later, they back off and let a different army of germ-fighting cells called macrophages take over.

Under the microscope you can see these different white blood cells fighting for your life. You can actually see them grab bacteria and hold them while they empty their granules on them; you can see the microbes twist and turn and finally break apart.

The second part of your immune system, your antibodies, are special proteins circulating in your blood stream. A protein, as you may know, is made of linked-together amino acids. And they can be made to fit around almost any "foreign" structure. In so doing, they help you conquer your enemies.

How do the antibodies work?

They clump microbes together and slow them down a bit, making it easier for granulocytes to eat them. They also unlock a series of physical events which lead to the microbes’ death.

In addition to white blood cells and antibodies, the third and perhaps the most important part of your immune system is a group of nine separate proteins made in the liver called "complement." When activated, these complement components unite and help destroy the bacteria.

Among the other parts of your immune system are lymphocytes. These white blood cells patrol the body, making their rounds a hundred times a day. They are manufactured in the lymph nodes. The outer part of each lymph node is filled with "B" lymphocytes and the inner part with "T" cells or "T" lymphocytes. These lymphocytes comprise the master mind of your immune system . They’ll attack bacteria, even ones you don’t have antibodies against."

All parts of your immune system are needed to keep you healthy

In his book, The Body is the Hero, New York, Random House, 1976, Dr.Ronald J. Glasser commented,
" To cure a disease, not just to treat it, you must help the body to do it itself. It is the body that is the hero, not science, not antibodies, not machines or new devices. It is the body making antibodies against the swallowed polio vaccine, not the iron lung, that cures polio. It is the body, not radiation or drugs, that must destroy cancer cells if the patient is to survive."



Three Phases To Increasing Or Maintaining Health

Our commitment is to provide sound, proactive health tips, while always recommending the least force necessary to help you optimize your health. There are three phases of maintaining a high immune response:

Fortification of the body. Fortifying of the body occurs when proper and balanced nutrition is supplied by taking advantage of the advances in the scientific knowledge now available in the field of targeted nutritional supplementation.
Cleansing the body. In each normal, healthy adult, there are a number of "foreign" invaders due to the immune system’s occasional "misfiring", which create "body debris". This debris becomes toxic to the body. Anything in the body that is not working to optimize one’s health should be considered non-contributing "body debris" to be swept from the body. When this "body debris" has been neutralized by one’s immune response, it is removed as waste material. As this debris is removed, one usually feels an immediate benefit, increased body energy. We have a number of cleansing supplements on this site, and will recommend a few detox products.
Making needed lifestyle changes. Some of these needed changes are as follows; a) healthier food choices, b) an ample supply of water intake daily, c) 6 to 8 hours of sleep each night, d) fresh air to oxidize and expand the lungs, which helps to properly oxidize the brain cells and the rest of the body, e) six hours of sunshine per week will produce the proper amount of natural vitamin D in the body, f) a willingness to change from bad habits that are damaging our health to healthy habits that will extend your life, and g) daily exercise.

Lifestyle Changes

There is no way that your health will not be improved if you follow a consistent system of applying correct lifestyle principles. Remember, knowledge is the seed of change, but if it is not daily watered it will never reach its full potential. It is the same with our health, your health has to improve if you consistently and systematically apply proven lifestyle principles. No chance. No gamble. It has to improve.

Health Note

If you have been making incorrect lifestyle choices for a long period of time, change will not be easy. The following are goals for you to reach, not mandatory requirements. If you look at them as mandatory requirements, you may mentally discard them soon after you try to make the first couple of changes. Other people have found that the more lifestyle changes they were able to achieve, the more they were inspired to make other changes, due to the improvement in the quality of their health.




Dietary Considerations


Life actually occurs at the "cellular level." It is within the individual cells that energy is produced, metabolism occurs and nourishment is derived. For optimal health to become a reality, it must include all of the components that will supply the cells with what they need, and keep it cleaned so it can function at its optima level of performance. Because the cell is a microcosm of life, because each cell breathes, reproduces, takes in nourishment and excretes waste – lives and dies – the cell provides the perfect picture of what the entire body needs for health: namely, nourishment, oxygen and periodic cleansing.

It takes more than just eating and drinking the right components your body needs. It takes making sure the components arrive in a condition where the nutrients can be easily assimilated into the cell. Therefore, how the nutrients and minerals are delivered is as important as the food choices you make. For you to have the food you eat nourish the cells for optimal effectiveness, the following four phases need to occur.Phase 1) The food you eat has to be rich in over 40 nutrients your body needs daily. Phase 2) The digestive juices, starting with the saliva and then the stomach acids, can not be weakened or diluded, or proper breakdown of the food particles for maximum benefit will not occur. Phase 3) The small intestines continue the digestive process as the nutrients are separated even further from the food particles, for easier absorption through the wall of the small intestine into the blood stream. Phase 4) How successful the subtracting of the nutrients and minerals were in the small intestines will determine how many nutrients and minerals are assimilated from the blood stream into the cells. That absorption rate from the blood stream determines the entire health of your body.



Tips For Keeping Your Digestive Juices At Their Maximum Strength

Do not eat you food in a hurry. Relax as much as you can when you eat and chew your food thoroughly. Remember, mixing the saliva through your food allows enzymes that are in your saliva to begin the digestive process.
Do not eat when you are emotionally upset. It impairs your digestive juices.
Do not combine too many different kinds of food. Eating excessive combinations of food at a meal can impair digestion. Proteins and vegetables go well together, but fruits and vegetables require different enzymes for proper digestion. The stomach acids and enzymes often conflict with each other and thus cause the meal to be under digested. This often causes fermentation and intestinal gas. Fruits and grains seem to digest well together.
Drink any at least 8 ounces of water one half hour before your meal. In this way it provides you with bodily fluids to aid digestion, but does not dilute the digestive acids in the stomach. To keep your digestive juices strong for top efficiency, avoid drinking water or any other liquid with your meal. If you do drink a liquid with your meal, drink no more than 4 ounces.
Try to keep from snacking between meals, it spread the digestive juices further than planned. This generally means the snack will most likely be digested thoroughly, while the larger meal to follow will not.
Don’t exercise vigorously immediately before or after a meals. However, a short walk after meals will improve digestion and help control blood-sugar levels.



General Nutrition Tips For Forming Better Eating Habits
Eat a variety of foods from different food groups.
Reduce your sugar and salt intake.
Increase fiber–rich food intake.
Eat organically grown foods when possible. Eat less canned, and other pre-made and preserved foods.
Avoid creating hunger by skipping meals unless you are fasting. Hunger causes your body to attempt to save energy, rather than burn calories.
Don’t call a cup of coffee and a sweet roll breakfast. This kind of breakfast causes blood sugar imbalances. The goal of the body is to remain insulin-sensitive, and thus to readily burn fat for energy.
Reduce fried food intake as mush as possible. The heating of hydro-reduce fried food intake as mush as possible. The heating of hydrogenated oils, and other heated oils, alters fats. Hydrogenation creates fats that are not commonly found in nature and which are known to be exceptionally hazardous to health. "In fact, the molecular structure of hydrgenated oils has been so radically disorganized that is it largely unrecognizable and unusable by the body," states The Kellogg Report.




Nutritional Distribution

The major nutrients which your body derives from food are:
1. Protein
2. Fat
3. Carbohydrates
4. Fiber
5. Vitamins
6. Minerals

Some formulas for different nutrients your body needs daily:



Protein

As a general rule, it takes .42 grams of protein per one pound of body weight. For example, for a person weighing 125 pounds the math would be as follows: .42x125=53.75 about 54 grams of protein a day. Of course protein needs, like calorie needs, can vary greatly depending on other factors.



Fat

You only require about 20 grams of fat per day to satisfy your need for essential fatty acids. Ideally, this fat should come from an uncooked source such as raw nuts and seeds or cold pressed vegetable oils.



Calories

It is generally understood that women need to consume about 14 calories and men 16 calories per pound of body weight per day to maintain their ideal weight. For example, if you are a woman weighing125 pounds, your caloric needs would be as follows: 14x125=1,750 calories per day.



Carbohydrates

No minimum daily requirements for carbohydrates have been set, because if your caloric needs are met then your carbohydrates needs will likely be met also.



Fiber

A high fiber diet is one that contains at least 25 grams of fiber per day. A moderate intake is about 15 grams.


Vitamins & Minerals

Today, due to over-cultivation of farm land, our food often lacks the needed nutrients. Therefore, it is wise to supplement one’s diet with vitamin and minerals.



Healthier Food Choices

Healthier food choices make a dramatic difference in your health. The old saying, "You are what you eat" is still true. Here are some additional health consideration for improving your diet.

Good nutrition is based on supplying yourself every day with more than forty essential nutrients. It is impossible to receive all the nutrients you need from a limited food selection. It is more enjoyable and healthier to include a wide verity of foods.





Grains

Use whole grain products in place of white flour products whenever it’s within your power to do so. When eating out, your choices are often limited, but do the best you can. Why do we hear different health professionals say, " Stay away from white flour?" During refining, wheat goes through up to two dozen processes. Nutrient-poor, starchy material is extracted from the wheat and the nutritious seed at the center – the wheat germ - is discarded. The mineral-rich wheat bran that makes up the high-fiber shell is also trashed. At least twenty-five different nutrients are lost during refining. The results – white flour.




Fruits and Vegetables

Based on government research, The National Institute of Health and some other government agencies are promoting eating at least 5 fruits and 5 vegetables per day for optimal health. That program is called "5 a day – for better health". Eat organically grown fruits and vegetables whenever possible. By eating both fruits and vegetables you will be getting a good balance of nutrients. When fruit is eaten raw, you are getting live enzymes and nutrients. To retain the high enzymes and nutrient value of vegetables, it is best to eat them raw or only lightly steamed.

One of the best ways to start your day is to eat a breakfast made up of what is called the "3 Fruit Shake". This shake can be made in minutes in your blender. Take any three fruits, for example, 1 banana, 1 apple and 3 strawberries. Place them into the blender and add 1 cup of water and a couple of ice cubes. Blend till all the ice is crushed into small pieces. It is a wonderful way to get three of your fruits for the day in a delicious form that you will look forward to every morning. You may want to vary the three fruits each morning to create variety.



Protein

Out of all the nutrients needed for good health, getting quality protein seems to raise a number of questions. The main question is, can you get quality protein strictly from vegetable sources or are dairy products and meats your best source? This is an age old argument between vegetarians and meat eaters. Both sources have their pros and cons.

The following information is not to try to convert vegetarians to meat eaters or visa versa, but to help you make wiser choices within your belief system. Recent scientific research reported in "Protein Fundamental" by Dr. Donald G. Snyder,Ph.D may hold some answers. The following is a summary of his research.

According to government figures, your body requires at least 40 – 50 grams of protein per day. Without protein, the repair of cells and the constructing of new ones would come to a halt. The nutritional value of various proteins is often measured by a unit of worth called biological value. Biological value is a measure of the food nitrogen in protein that the body retains. The more nitrogen from ingested protein that is actually retained in the body, the better the quality of the protein is assumed to be. Enhancement of the quality of the protein is dependent on the relative abundance of certain amino acids. There are two types of amino acids. There are essential amino acids and limited amino acids. Essential amino acids are those we must consume in our diet for good health because they can not be manufactured in your body. The amino acids that can be produced in your body are called limited amino acids. The age old argument between vegetarians and meat eaters centers around how best to supply the body with "essential amino acids" since they are very important in both increasing your level of health and maintaining it.



Vegetarianism

Here are some of the pros and cons of vegetarianism. There is protein in all vegetables, but there are much higher concentrations of protein in the legume family. Legumes are beans and lentils. The highest concentration of protein is found in lentils, soybeans and soy products (soymilk, soy analogs and tofu. For example, one glass of soy milk = 7 grams of protein. Vegetables play a very large role in giving you many important nutrients that you cannot get anywhere else. They are vital to your overall health. But they are not high in essential amino acids. This may be a result of the depletion of the soil due to over-cultivation. Therefore, supplementation of these essential amino acids is important. Most of these amino acids are concentrated in fish. That is why most vegetarians supplement their diet with "omega 3 fatty acids" from fish. If you are a vegetarian, it would be wise also to supplement your diet with "B" vitamins, especially B12 and B17. Supplementation for vitamin B12 can be found where vitamins are sold. Remember, too, that Vitamin B17 is found in seeds of apples, pears and apricots and in grains such as quinoa and millet. These are great, hot-cereal grains for a good healthy breakfast.




Dairy or Animal Protein

If you choose dairy or animal products to get your protein, it is always wise to choose products that are free from antibiotics, pesticides and steroids - such as Maverick Ranch Brand Beef and Coleman Natural Beef, free-roaming poultry, eggs from free-roaming poultry, and fish from the ocean. Most people eat out, and it is not probable that you will have these choices available to you in that setting. More and more restaurant owners are becoming more selective in their choice of meats, because they are aware that many of their clients are concerned about the three pollutants just stated. In certain parts of the country, restaurant owners are advertising their pollutant-free selection of meat as a drawing card. One of your safest meats when eating out is either tuna or salmon that come from the sea, not farm grown.

When it comes to getting proper protein from meats, Dr. Vartabetain’s "Nutripoint" evaluation of all meats show that fish is your best source. (See expanded information about Nutripoints section below). Fish is high in protein, low in fat, and a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are high in essential amino acids. Your best nutritional value in fish is tuna packaged in water, baked salmon, pike, and bass. Even if you get your protein from fish, remember that due to man’s pollution of the water, there is a level of mercury found in all fish. We have found in our research that the Pacific Whiting, a small fish found in the Pacific Ocean, is a good source of protein with very low levels of mercury. These low levels are due to the Pacific Whiting’s diet of mainly plants, instead of other fish. When fish eat other fish, they continue to increase the mercury level in their body. For those with digestive problems, Health Choice USA has a body-ready protein product in capsule form derived from the Pacific Whiting called "Sea Protein". It is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which we have already stated contain high levels of essential amino acids that your body cannot manufacture. It takes very little digestion to assimilate this protein right into the body. Six capsules per day will provide body-ready protein full of Omega 3 Fatty acids which will aid the quality of the protein used for cell repair and the creation of new cells.



Reduce Refined Cane & Beet Sugar As Much As Possible

As much as possible, try to reduce the use of refined cane and beet sugar. Instead try to replace it with limited amounts of fructose (fruit sugar) or honey for sweetening or baking. Excessive sugar of any type in the body can cause blood platelet clumping (stickiness), which restricts the supply of oxygen and fuel (nutrients) to the body's cells for energy production.

For example, "Refining of raw cane sugar into white sugar removes most 93% of the ash, and with it go the trace elements necessary for the metabolism of the sugar: 93 percent of the chromium, 89 percent of the manganese, 98 percent of the cobalt, 83 percent of the copper, 98 percent of the zinc and 98 percent of the magnesium", says Henry Schroeder inThe Trace Elements and Man. Beet sugar is processed similarly.

Not only is refined sugar not an essential, since even the trace elements that are necessary for metabolism of the sugar are gone, it is actually a "negative nutrient." In order to metabolize refined sugar, it must confiscate nutrients from the body. Thus, the more sugar you eat, the less nourished you become.



Nutripoints

It is very important to make sure that you and your family are choosing the right foods to supply the highest nutrients to your diet. We encourage you to purchase Dr. Roy Vartabetain’s "Nutipoints" package. He has successfully analyzed over 3000 different foods. His analysis is amazingly revealing. Almost every food contains at least 26 elements. He has developed a software program that when these 26 elements are entered into the computer will automatically analyze each food item and give it a nutritional value. These food items fall into six categories:
fruits
vegetables
grains
legumes
dairy, and
meats

An Ample Supply Of Water

This is a summary of Dr. F. Batmanghelidj, M.D. called "Your Body’s Many Cries For Water."

Drink plenty of water to help your body eliminate waste material. The body has approximately 100 trillion cells, their make-up being 75% water. Brain cells consist of 85% water. Your body needs water for many vital functions: for maintaining proper cell and body temperature, for cellular communication, for nutrient absorption, for protein transmission from cell to cell, for all metabolic and digestive processes, and for cleansing and waste removal.

Cellular dehydration is one of the major causes of bad health. It is estimated that 73 percent of North Americans suffer from dehydration. An adequate supply of pure water is critical. Water transports nutrients to the vital organs in this order - brain, heart, kidneys, liver and lungs.

A shortage of water intake will cause a loss of water volume in the cells. This affects the efficiency of the delivery of nutrients and excretion of waste products. The result is a deficiency of nutrients in the cells and a build up of waste, which is called "body debris".

Water makes up 83% of our blood. It creates vitality, life, and youth as it flows through us. But we need pure water and it must be continuously replaced. An important function of water is flushing out toxins, foreign matter, and excess body salts. Drinking a glass of water is like taking an internal shower. It is believed that water should be taken 30 minutes before a meal, to insure that water is not taken from other organs to produce the digestive juices of the stomach. If you can avoid drinking any water (or juice) with your meal that is ideal, because any type of fluids dilute the stomach acids that are designed to break down the food. Excessive fluids impair digestion, thus allowing much of the nutrient value of the food to be lost. If you have a hard time not drinking fluids with your meal, try to limit it to about four ounces.

Next to oxygen, water is the substance we need most. When we were born, we were about 98% water. When we reach adulthood we are about 70% water. As we age, our bodies harden as we lose the ability to store and to use water. Aging is literally a slow process of dehydration.

Most people today suffer from chronic dehydration. Our society has lost the ability to recognize thirst is the body crying for water. When we feel thirsty, we drink a soda, most often containing a drug like caffeine or saccharine in it. One of the greatest causes of human illness is water mixed with other substances, especially caffeine, which acts as a dehydrating agent. Caffeine tells the kidneys to actually flush out more water.

Our body calls for lots of water every day. Individuals’ body weights differ, therefore their water intake should differ also. In speaking with a couple of doctors about water intake by weight, here is a rule of thumb they use for their patients. For every two pounds of body weight, your body should have one ounce of water daily. Weigh yourself and then divide your weight in half. That number is the number of ounces your body needs daily. Example - (150 lbs. divided by two = 75 pounds. That means that the person’s water intake daily would be 75 ounces. Divide the 75 ounces by 8 to get the number of 8-ounce glasses that a person should be drinking each day. Eight divided into 75 ounces = nine 8 ounce glasses a day)

Some people don’t drink very much water and some don’t drink any water at all. For those of you in that category, if you were told to drink half your body’s weight in ounces of water a day, you just would not even attempt it. Here is our suggestion concerning increasing your water intake. Start out with three 8 ounces glasses of water per day. Every three days add one more 8-ounce glass. Build up to at least six 8 ounce glasses a day. After a couple of weeks of drinking at least six 8 ounce glasses per day, something unusual often occurs. You will begin to create a natural thirst for water that nothing else will satisfy. And you will find it easier and easier to increase your intake. In the beginning, you'll go to the bathroom often to relieve the excess water. But in about 4 to 6 weeks your holding organs expand to handle the increased supply, and you will find yourself going to the bathroom less frequently.

Many find water helps to bring relief to some of the following: stomach pains, depression, ulcers, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver and kidney damage, exhaustion, dry lips or mouth, and bodily pains of every kind. When you supply your body daily with the proper amount of water, (filtered, distilled or spring – NOT TAP WATER) you may experience the relief others have in the areas mentioned above.




Six To 8 Hours Of Sleep A Night

Sleep is defined as an unconscious state from which a person can be aroused by sensory or other stimuli. Sleep is absolutely essential to both the body and mind. Impaired sleep, altered sleep patterns, and sleep deprivation impair mental and physical function. Many health conditions, particularly depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia, are either entirely or partially related to sleep deprivation or disturbed sleep patterns. In addition to the fact that getting enough sleep may help your grades or work performance, sleep helps keep you healthy by slowing your metabolism, heartbeat, and respiration enough to re-energize you after everyday physical activities. It is also the time when the body does its repair work for damage that has occurred during the waking hours. The deeper the level of sleep, the more repair that is done. The body performs its best repair work between the hours of 9 p.m. to 12 a.m

Eight hours of sleep is recommended for everyone, but as people grow older, many find they perform better with only 6 hours of sleep. Often those that only sleep six hours a day find they need a "pick me up". A short 15 to 20 minute nap in the afternoon does exactly that. That nap often works wonders by clearing the mind and increasing one’s energy. Swedish researches have found that one can take a 20 minute nap and wake up refreshed, but if you go over 20 minutes your metabolism slows down and you wake up tired. So if you take naps to be refreshed, time your naps to achieve the best results.




Fresh Air (oxygen)

Along with water, oxygen is actively involved in about two thirds of the human body.

Nearly all plants and animals require oxygen for respiration. Even fish respire with the aid of the free oxygen dissolved in water. Body tissues contain carbon and hydrogen compounds that are constantly being oxidized in the same way as burning wood; that is, they combine with the oxygen in the air and return to the air as carbon dioxide and water.

With the continued destruction of the rainforests, and global pollution ever increasing, our available supply of oxygen is slowly being depleted. Poor diet, inadequate exercise, the use of alcohol and cigarettes, medical and recreational drugs, and stress in its many forms, contribute to shallow breathing, and are compelling reasons to believe that many of us may be oxygen deficient.

Try to take time each day to spend outside in the fresh air. To make sure your body is getting the oxygen it needs so that it is not oxygen deficient, do some deep breathing exercises. If you find yourself getting sleepy at work or anyplace else, the following is what we recommend. Get up and drink at least 16 ounces of water, then go outside in the fresh air and do deep breathing exercises for about five minutes. Breath deeply, filling your lung capacity and hold it for about 1 minute. Each time you do this exercise you are dramatically increasing your oxygen supply. Our brains function much more efficiently when ample oxygen is made available. The combination of the water and the extra oxygen should refresh your whole system.



Sunshine & Vitamin D

Vitamin D promotes the body’s absorption of calcium, which is essential for the normal development of healthy teeth and bones. It also helps maintain adequate blood levels of minerals, such as calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D is also known as the "sunshine vitamin" because the body manufactures the vitamin after being exposed to sunshine. Ninety minutes to two hours of sunshine three times weekly is adequate to produce the body’s requirement of vitamin D. It is the absorption of sunshine into the temple areas on the face that makes the natural manufacturing of vitamin D possible.



LifeStyle Changes

This is a hard area for many people, because we are addressing addictions. Many times these addictions are such a "comfort zone" that people choose to keep them, rather than try to reach their optimal level of health. You have to make clear-cut decisions here. If you need assistance, seek local help. If you are a spiritual person, praying to God for His assistance in overcoming any addiction is a way many people have found the strength they were seeking.

Smoking

Studies have shown smoking is one of the most significant causes of disease. Smoking causes or contributes to many mortal afflictions, such as cardiovascular disease, cerebro-vascular accidents, and various cancers. It is estimated that each cigarette smoked can take 2 to 5 minutes off a persons life. Second hand smoke, or inhaling the smoke exhaled by others also poses a significant risk. It is a well-known fact that smoking reduces fitness. It does this in a number of ways, mainly by reducing the amount of oxygen available in the body. Since oxygen plays a major role in energy production, even a minor depletion has an impact on physical performance.



Consumption of Alcohol

Alcohol is a mood-altering, depressant drug. The reason that alcohol can cause such extensive damage to the body is because it can go everywhere. There is no body cell resistant to alcohol. The first stop is the stomach, where, without food, alcohol is absorbed directly into the blood stream. Alcohol dehydrates the brain. But did you know that even moderate drinking, under certain circumstances, is not risk free? If you drink more than moderate levels, you may be putting yourself at risk for serious problems with your health and problems with family, friends, and co-workers. In the end, alcohol destroys the liver. The liver is a major organ of the body, which makes alcohol a dangerous drug. Remember: No one starts drinking to become an alcoholic. It can gradually create an addiction that most are never able to overcome. If you do drink, a glass of wine with a meal is preferred.



Caffeinated Drinks

Be careful of caffeine drinks, they can be very habit forming. They are both a stimulant and a low grade toxin. Right after you consume caffeine, your body sees it as a toxin and increases your metabolism to eject it from the body as quickly as possible. Dr. Patricia Daniel, says she has observed severe damage to her patient’s adrenal glands, with those that over use caffeine beverages. In some cases it has stopped the production of the adrenal glands completely. Over use can also effect the lining of the stomach to a point that it causes severe digestive problems. It would be best if you do not drink them at all, but if you use them, please use them in moderation.



Misuse of Over-The-Counter Medication

For optimal health, our philosophy is to first always try natural sources to overcome a health-related problem. If the problem is severe, consult your health care physician right away. There are times when natural ways of restoration are not quick enough, and you will need drug intervention to be prescribed by your doctor. Once the health-related problem has been taken care of, make sure to wean yourself off the medicine. We have millions of people who have become addicted to over-the-counter medications, which are doing great harm to their overall heath. You can be addicted to this kind of medication as easily as a drug addict can be addicted to illegal drugs.



Daily Exercise

Exercise plays a dual role as both an immune builder and a cleanser. Exercise has a vital part to play in building one’s immune response. You can supplement all you want, but supplements alone will never bring your immune response as high as combining this with daily exercise. With daily exercise, you automatically provide another health benefit: The increased circulation of the blood is a wonderful cleansing agent.

One of the best exercise routines is brisk walking. It is estimated that if a person walks briskly for twenty minutes, three days a week, their immune response will dramatically improve, as well as benefit the heart. Also, researchers are finding out that a brisk walk for 1 hour or more per day "kick starts" your body into a fat burning mode for at least 12 hours. There are many other ways to exercise besides walking. Another exercise, for example, is water walking, or simply walking laps in a swimming pool, while moving your arms as if swimming. Water walking is "low impact", with less strain put on the joints, and thus can be very beneficial for older people or those with arthritis. You need to choose the exercise that best fits your lifestyle.

The information contained above is intended for general reference purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice or a medical exam. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment. Medical information changes rapidly and while Community Bridges Integrated Healthcare and its content providers make efforts to update the content on the site, some information may be out of date. No health information on Community Bridges Integrated Healthcare site, including information about herbal therapies and other dietary supplements, is regulated or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a medical doctor.