A Healthy Immune System
The key to good health

For many years we at Health Products Guru have been strong advocates of proper nutrition and nutritional supplementation being the key to overall good health.  We also realize that it is imperative that we must also focus on maintaining optimal immune system function to the same end.

When our bodies are, as a whole, functioning properly we are said to be in a state of ease, that is to say without maladies.  Conversely when one or more of our bodies organs or systems are not functioning properly we are said to be in a state of disease.

Our bodies immune system is the front line of defense.  It protects our bodies from environmental contaminants be they biological or chemical.  Over the past decades we have been hearing more and more about viral contaminants.  In fact many of the maladies being treated by conventional medical practitioners today are being blamed on viral contamination which I believe to be only a half truth.

The other half of the above claim in that these viruses are having this effect due to suppressed immune system function.  Our bodies are constantly being subjected to both chemical and biological environmental contamination on a daily basis.  Our bodies have however been designed to cope with these issues and do so quite nicely when functioning optimally.  The problem is that we don’t get the nutrition that we need to keep our immune systems functioning properly from the foods that we eat alone.  In fact the diets of average Americans over the past few decades are the primary cause of the illnesses that are being suffered today.

Most people eat processed and fast foods because they are more economical in terms of time and money.  This, in my opinion is the primary cause of the illness that we see in most Americans today.  Childhood obesity is an epidemic in this country.  More people are suffering with allergic reactions than ever before.  More and more people are succumbing to the common cold and flu symptoms that ever before. And more people are suffering from chronic illness than ever before.

Generally speaking Americans, in terms of health and wellness are a mess.  And we, as a nation, are living longer lives in that condition.  Think about it.  How many people do you know that are presently taking some type of over the counter or prescription medications?  How many people do you know are suffering from some type of illness or disease?  More importantly how many people do you know that are in overall good health?

Many people claim that they simply don’t have the time to prepare healthy meals or that they can’t afford to purchase healthy food products.  Personally I believe these to be very valid points.

The question here is can we afford to be in ill health?

Even if we are fortunate enough to have medical coverage the price for that protection has been and will continue to be on the rise with no signs of slowing down anytime soon.  It simply stands to reason that the best way to avoid these costs is not to become ill and the best way to reach that goal is to keep our immune systems functioning at optimum levels.

Immune System Health

Overview
The immune system is the system of specialized cells and organs that protect an organism from outside biological influences.  (Though in a broad sense, almost every organ has a protective function – for example, the tight seal of the skin or the acidic environment of the stomach.) When the immune system is functioning properly, it protects the body against bacteria and viral infections, destroying cancer cells and foreign substances.  If the immune system weakens, its ability to defend the body also weakens, allowing pathogens, including viruses that cause common colds and flu, to grow and flourish in the body.  The immune system also performs surveillance of tumor cells, and immune suppression has been reported to increase the risk of certain types of cancer.

Natural Killer Cells
Natural killer cells (also known as NK cells, K cells, and killer cells) are a type of lymphocyte (a white blood cell) and a component of innate immune system.
NK cells play a major role in the host-rejection of both tumours and virally infected cells.
NK cells are cytotoxic; small granules in their cytoplasm contain special proteins such as perforin and proteases known as granzymes. Upon release in close proximity to a cell slated for killing, perforin forms pores in the cell membrane of the target cell through which the granzymes and associated molecules can enter, inducing apoptosis.  The distinction between apoptosis and cell lysis is important in immunology – lysing a virus-infected cell would only release the virions, whereas apoptosis leads to destruction of the virus inside. NK cells are activated in response to interferons or macrophage-derived cytokines.  They serve to contain viral infections while the adaptive immune response is generating antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells that can clear the infection.
Patients deficient in NK cells prove to be highly susceptible to early phases of herpes virus infection.

T Cells
T cells are a subset of lymphocytes that play a large role in the immune response.
The abbreviation “T” stands for thymus, the organ in which their final stage of development occurs.
Every effective immune response involves T cell activation; however, T cells are especially important in cell-mediated immunity, which is the defense against tumor cells and pathogenic organisms inside body cells.

B Cells
The human body makes millions of different types of B cells each day that circulate in the blood and lymphatic system performing the role of immune surveillance. They do not produce antibodies until they become fully activated. Each B cell has a unique receptor protein (referred to as the B cell receptor (BCR)) on its surface that will bind to one particular antigen. The BCR is a membrane-bound immunoglobulin, and it is this molecule that allows the distinction of B cells from other types of lymphocyte, as well as being the main protein involved in B cell activation. Once a B cell encounters its cognate antigen and receives an additional signal from a T helper cell, it can further differentiate into one of the two types of B cells listed below (plasma B cells and memory B cells). The B cell may either become one of these cell types directly or it may undergo an intermediate differentiation step, the germinal center reaction, where the B cell will hypermutate the variable region of its immunoglobulin gene (“somatic hypermutation”) and possibly undergo class switching. Other functions for B cells include antigen presentation, cytokine production and lymphoid tissue organization.

Stem Cells
Lastly and perhaps most important to understand is that many cells are formed from the stem cell.  Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth including the above mentioned cells. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

How can we help boost our body’s Immune System?

Normalize Flora
Normal flora are the microbes, mostly bacteria, that live in and on the body with, usually, no harmful effects to us. We have about 10 cells in our bodies and 10 bacteria, most of which live in the large intestine.  Subsequently a healthy large intestine is critical for proper immune system health.
One of the most effective ways to help our bodies to maintain a healthy intestinal tract is to supplement our diet with Probiotics.  One of the best probiotic supplements available to day  is R-Garden-s Inner Garden Flora is a combination of eleven carefully chosen bacteria that can help to restore the proper balance of bacteria to your intestines while helping the other friendly bacteria survive and flourish. It is excellent for people of all ages, regardless of health. Inner Garden Flora can be helpful for occasional upsets such as diarrhea, bloating, or gas experienced while traveling. (Children need proportionately smaller amounts of this supplement.).

Detoxification
Intestinal tract cleansing is very important in the production and delivery of beneficial bacteria as mentioned above.  A gentle detoxification cleanse once every 3 months can be of great benefit to overall health and will be of great benefit in terms of immune system support.

Increase Stem Cell Production
One of the most studied adaptogens on the planet, a substance called Fucoidan (extracted from brown sea weed), has been proven, through clinical studies, (available at pubmed.com) to stimulate stem cell production.  Consuming 50mg of fucoidan can stimulate stem cell production in as little as 30 days and 100 mg in about 15 days!

We honestly believe that by cleansing (detoxifying) our bodies, consuming a good (multi-bacterial) probiotic product and stimulating stem cell production are the keys to helping our immune systems to function at optimal levels and subsequently greatly improve our general health and wellness.

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Our Recommendations:

Pro-biotic Product

  Item # RG050

Inner Garden Flora is a combination of eleven carefully chosen bacteria that can help to restore the proper balance of bacteria to your intestines while helping the other friendly bacteria survive and flourish. It is excellent for people of all ages, regardless of health.

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Detoxification Product

Item # 21011

Slender Fx™ Cleanse Fx™ is a proprietary blend of herbs formulated to effectively and gently cleanse the colon.  A healthy colon is essential to nutrient absorption and immune health. Restore balance following a cleanse by reintroducing healthy bacteria to the lower gastrointestinal tract.

Supplement Facts

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Fucoidan Products

Item # 3026

ZRadical™, featuring 50 mg of pure fucoidan, is an advanced biotherapeutic drink. Combining the best of nature and science, this powerful blend is formulated to support immune, cardiovascular, neurological, and joint health.  All in a great-tasting drink that the whole family will enjoy. Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide and has long been recognized as a key to long and healthy lives. It has been used for centuries for its health-giving properties in Japan, South America, and Europe.

Supplement Facts

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Item #3005

FucoidZ™ features 100 mg of pure organic and kosher certified fucoidan. A growing body of research suggests that fucoidan may support immune function and cellular health.

Click the links below to learn more about our Fucoidan products!

Fucoidan

ZRadical

FucoidZ

Click Here to Order or learn more about our products!

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As with all disciplines you only need to be proficient at those you practice.  In the case of health and wellness people often simply wait until they become ill and even they defer to their doctors.  They do not take the time to learn about what it takes to achieve and maintain health.

Most experts in the field of nutrition agree that almost all illnesses are caused, either directly or indirectly, by poor nutrition.  The foods that we eat or lack there of, as well as the quality and the quantity of those foods are directly related to our overall health.  Lack of proper nutrition makes us susceptible to any number of malady’s.  These illnesses are a result of one simple cause.  Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

The perfect illustration of this fact can be seen when looking at the aids epidemic.   The important lesson that we learn here is that people do not die from the aids virus directly rather from a secondary illness  allowed to ravage the body because it’s natural defenses could not protect it or destroy the invader once it has penetrated our natural defenses.  Our bodies are placed under stress daily by being subjected to  environmental contaminants both chemical and biological.  This is true of everyone that does not live in a bubble.

We all need to smarten up as people and a culture and learn the facts about our bodies and our health.  We need to learn about how our body functions and the important roll that nutrition plays in those functions.  For example in the case of immune system health there are a few things that we can do to insure that our natural defenses are maximized.  As mentioned in previous articles we at Health Products Guru honestly believe, in terms of proper nutrition, that the body needs nutritional supplementation because we do not get the nutrients we need from the foods we consume.

We also believe that a person can take 4 simple steps today that will greatly improve their immune system function.  The first is to begin to detoxify your body.  It is critical to optimal health to be sure that there are no foods left in the digestive tract to putrefy and release toxins into the body.   Secondly you must eat the right foods in the qualities that we need to maintain health.  This includes vitamin and mineral supplementation. Third, we must be sure that the foods that we consume are being broken down into bio-available nutrition.  Lastly we must give our body what it needs to assure that the now bio-available nutrition can metabolized.

In terms of supplementation this adds up to taking vitamin & mineral supplements, both digestive and metabolic enzymes (to break down foods & improve metabolism) eat as much organic food as you can (to insure better nutritional value of the foods that you do consume and to avoid adding toxins such as pesticides into your body) and use a safe digestive tract cleansing product.  We believe that simply adding to your digestive enzyme intake will aid this process in a gentle but effective manner.  It is important to
remember to be careful if you decide to use colon cleansing products.  Check the ingredients carefully and be sure that they work in a slow steady and safe manner as opposed to taking a fast acting laxative product for example.

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