TABLE OF CONTENTS:
FEATURE STORY
Pump Up Your Immune System

IN THE NEWS
Maximize Your Minerals

CHECKLIST
Helpful Herbs & Supplements

COOKING CORNER
Banana Berry Nog

VITAMINS & MINERALS
Zinc for Winter Wellness

HERBAL REMEDIES
Relax with Lavender

EVERYDAY ANSWERS
How Can I Keep My Family Healthy?

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Stay Healthy and Hearty This Winter
Pump Up Your Immune System

The immune system is a complex network of tissues, organs, cells, and chemicals that protects the body from infection and illness. According to research or other evidence, the following self-care steps may help boost your built-in bodyguard:

What you need to know

• Aim for total nutrition with a multivitamin. Get extra vitamins and minerals every day to help prevent deficiencies that make you a target for infections.
• Use exercise wisely. Take advantage of the benefits of moderate exercise on immune function—but be careful about prolonged or intense exercise, which can temporarily increase your risk of infection.
• Get the good bacteria. Stimulate the intestine’s immune system and slow the growth of infectious organisms in the intestine by regularly eating yogurt and other foods containing live cultures, or take a supplement containing 10 billion colony-forming units a day of acidophilus or bifidobacteria.
• Avoid alcohol binges. Keep your alcohol intake low or moderate to avoid damaging effects to your immune system
• Update your vaccinations. Consult your medical provider to see if you need vaccines for influenza, pneumonia, hepatitis, tetanus, and other infections

About immune function
The immune system is an intricate network of specialized tissues, organs, cells, and chemicals. The lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, thymus gland, and tonsils all play a role, as do lymphocytes (specialized white blood cells), antibodies, and interferon.

Two types of immunity protect the body: innate and adaptive. Innate immunity is present at birth and provides the first barrier against microorganisms. Adaptive immunity is acquired later in life, such as after an immunization or successfully fighting off an infection.

Dietary changes that may be helpful
Alcohol intake, including single episodes of moderate consumption, interferes with a wide variety of immune defenses. However, moderate alcohol consumption (less than three) has not been associated in preliminary studies with an increased risk for upper respiratory infections in young nonsmokers.

Low-fat diets with moderate levels of monounsaturated fat from olive oil appear less likely than other fat sources to compromise immune function and may provide small benefits. Conclusions about the desirability of diets high in either omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acid supplementation await further research.

Many studies, in both animals and humans, have demonstrated immune-stimulating effects from yogurt which contains live cultures, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and other probiotics. In preliminary human studies, consumption of live probiotic-containing yogurt has been associated with a reduced incidence of several immune-related diseases, including cancer, infections of the stomach and intestines, and some allergic reactions.

Lifestyle changes that may be helpful
Both excessive thinness and severe obesity are associated with impaired immune responses. The detrimental effects of both appear to be offset when people regularly perform aerobic exercise.

The effects of exercise on immune function depend on many factors, including frequency and intensity of exercise. Regular moderate physical activity has positive effects, at least on some measures of immunity, and has been shown to reduce risk of upper respiratory infection

Vitamins that may be helpful
Most double-blind studies have shown that elderly people have better immune function and reduced infection rates when taking a multivitamin. In one double-blind trial, supplements of 100 mcg per day of selenium and 20 mg per day of zinc, with or without additional vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene, reduced infections in elderly people, though vitamins without minerals had no effect.

Vitamin E enhances some measures of immune-cell activity in the elderly. This effect is more pronounced with 200 IU per day compared with either lower (60 IU per day) or higher (800 IU per day) amounts.

Vitamin C stimulates the immune system by both elevating interferon levels and enhancing the activity of certain immune cells. A review of 20 double-blind studies concluded that while several grams of vitamin C per day has only a small effect in preventing colds, when taken at the onset of a cold, it does significantly reduce the duration of a cold.

Supplements of probiotics such as Lactobacillus acidophilus may help protect the body from harmful organisms in the intestine that cause local or systemic infection according to published research. The effective amount of probiotics depends on the strain used, as well as the number of viable organisms.

The thymus gland is responsible for many immune system functions. Preliminary studies suggest that a thymus extract known as Thymomodulin may improve immune function, and double-blind trials in children and adults with a history of recurrent respiratory-tract infections have found reduced numbers of recurrent infections with Thymomodulin supplementation. Thymomodulin has also been shown in a double-blind study to improve immune function in cases of exercise-induced immune suppression, and in preliminary studies to improve immune function in people with diabetes and in elderly people.

Herbs that may be helpful
In general, human studies have found that echinacea taken orally stimulates the function of a variety of immune cells, particularly natural killer cells. The balance of evidence currently available from studies suggests that echinacea speeds recovery from the common cold, via immune stimulation (as opposed to killing the cold virus directly). Evidence on preventing the common cold with echinacea is largely negative, suggesting its immune-stimulating activity may be mild in generally healthy people. Many doctors recommend 3–5 ml of tincture three times per day for up to two weeks to improve immune function.

Asian ginseng has a long history of use in traditional herbal medicine for preventing and treating conditions related to the immune system. A double-blind study of healthy people found that taking 100 mg of a standardized extract of Asian ginseng twice per day improved immune function.

Ashwagandha is considered a general stimulant of the immune system and has been called a tonic or adaptogen—an herb with multiple, nonspecific actions that counteract the effects of stress and generally promote wellness. More research is needed to better evaluate these claims.

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