YOUR HEALTH

Dr. Jerry Lee Hoover N.D. Dr. Hoover Costa Rica for three years. He is a Doctor of Naturopathy and operated a Natural Health Clinic in Florida. He have written many articles that have been published in Health magazines in the U.S. and has authored a book titled Natural Medicine which has also been translated into Spanish.  Dr. Hoover likes living in Costa Rica and enjoys sharing health information that can be beneficial to all those who read it.  If any readers have any questions they can be sent to: DrJerryLeeHooverND@Yahoo.com

 
THE BODY´S IMMUNE SYSTEM PART II
By Dr. Jerry Lee Hoover N.D.
 
 
The best way to stay healthy is to strengthen your immune system. How strong our immmune system is will be affected by our type of lifestyle. But it is also determined by our genetics. Some individuals are born with a strong constitution, which means their immune system is strong, and some are born with  weak constitutions. If you were one of the fortunate ones who inherited a strong constitution you do not have to be as careful as someone with a weak constitution.

Many times we hear stories of persons who live to be 90 years old, smoked for 75 years and did not get lung cancer or emphysema, why? Because they had a strong constitution, but if they had not smoked they would probably have lived to be one hundred. Just by looking at a person you can tell if they inherited a strong constitution! (Take a close look at their ear lobes, the longer their ear lobes the stronger their constitution is, it is a genetic sign)..

There are many poor lifestyle habits that individuals have that lower their immune system. Some of these are smoking, drinking, using drugs, eating the wrong foods, not drinking enough water, not getting enough sleep, breathing poor quality air, living in unsanitary conditions, having to much stress, etc.  In this article I will be dealing only with diet, as it is the major cause of most all diseases, as a poor diet lowered the immune system. Hippocrates the father of medicine back in 400 B.C. said "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food". The American diet has changed dramatically in the last 80 years. It has gone from a low-fat, high fiber plant based diet to a high-fat, low-fiber animal based diet.

Today the average American diet is over 40% fat and very low in fiber. Excessive intake of animal fats, such as red meats and high-fat dairy products, such as butter and cheese, trigger free radicals which are unstable molecules that can harm the immune cells.

High meat consumption is one of the major causes of heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, gout, kidney diseases, etc. There are many appropriate foods high in protein that can replace or supplement meat. 

Some of these foods include all types of whole grains, (whole wheat flour is approx. 15% protein), all types of beans, especially soy beans and all types of nuts. 

The same is true about fiber, a low fiber diet is the major cause of colon cancer. We need to eat more high fiber foods in order to keep our immune system functioning properly. Some foods high in fiber  are most all fruits, vegetables, and all whole grains.


For example; one slice of whole wheat bread has 8 times more fiber than one slice of white bread. 

We should be eating approx. 8 servings of fruits and vegetables everyday, most are fat free and contain immune-system boosting nutrients such as Vitamins A & C as well as phytochemicals  which help to fight disease. Ideally half of each meal we eat should consist of raw fruits and vegetables. This type of diet will also help one to be at an ideal weight, as all overweight individuals have a lowered immune system. 

White refined sugar also lowers ones immune system. Scientific studies have shown that 25 teaspoons of sugar,(one soda contains approx. 10 teaspoons of sugar), will hinder 92% of your white blood cells,(thats your warrior cells I wrote about in part I), from doing their work for approximately 5 hours.

When I see a sick child with a cold and runny nose drinking a soda I think about how his mother does not realize that the soda she has given him is lowering his immune system, which will indirectly cause him to stay sick for a longer period of time. If you want something sweet to eat, try some grapes, apples, mangoes, bananas, raisins, etc. which contain natural sugars that will not rot your teeth or cause diabetes or obesity or lower your immune system, etc. In part III I will be writing about more poor lifestyle habits which lower the immune system.

If you are interested in other topics you can purchase my book called NATURAL MEDICINE by contacting me at my E-mail address listed above.

Click here for Part 1


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