Your Diet can Boost or Bust the Immune System

 by
Ron Lagerquist

“diet is the biggest factor to either clog or boost your immune system"

Any auto mechanic will tell you the best way to avoid costly and unexpected repairs to your car is through preventive maintenance. Even though your car is made up of inorganic metal parts, the most important component to preventive maintenance is an organic material called oil. Changing your car’s oil regularly can save you the expense of a total engine overhaul. Dirty oil can destroy a $50,000 Jaguar just as quickly as a $1,000 Plymouth Horizon.

Human fuel is also made up of organic materials, and depending on the quality consumed, can either make or break the body. With proper maintenance, the body will run like a well-oiled machine for many years. The good news is that unlike a car, the human body has a miraculous built-in ability to self-repair.

A great example of the self-repairing capacity of the human machine is the immune system. Antibodies travel throughout the blood and lymph system to identify foreign molecules. They latch onto and neutralize foreign invaders, even coating microbes to make them palatable for scavenger cells. Antibodies respond swiftly to toxins and enable the body to fight and resist infections.

The immune system has the ability to create 1,920,000 different types of specialized antibody constructions. Macrophages living in the lungs are actually able to ingest foreign particles like smoke and dust, keeping the lungs clean and healthy. Experiments have shown that white blood cells, called lymphocytes, can attack cancer cells and hold them in check. One B lymphocyte can pump out more than 10 million antibody molecules an hour.

Protection From Viruses and Bacteria
Lately we have become increasingly conscious of the invisible world of viruses and bacteria. Most of us now wash our hands with antibacterial soap. I hate to burst your soap bubble, but a recent study has shown that antibacterial soap is no more effective in washing away bacteria on the hands than standard soap. So what can we do to protect ourselves from harmful bacteria? Like the car in desperate need of an oil change, many of us run our bodies on filthy fuel, which disables our natural internal defenses against infection, and then we are forced to fix the problem with scalpels or dangerous drugs. Our greatest protection is not antibiotics, surgical masks or antibacterial soaps, but the very thing we abuse: the immune system. And your diet is the most important component on either clogging up or boosting the immune system.

To emphasize the power of the immune system, think of what happens when you die. Within hours your body will be invaded by a variety of bacteria, microbes and parasites. Two weeks is all these organisms will need to completely dismantle your flesh down to your skeleton. These are the very same organisms your immune system had effectively protected you against, day in and day out for many decades.

When you have a cold or flu, this is a visible sign that your immune system failed to stop the germ in time. Not to fear though, it is not Vicks VapoRub or decongestants that cure the cold, but the hard work of your immune system. Cancer is another sign of immunological failure. In most cases, a healthy immune system can detect the early stages of cancer and eliminate the cancerous cells.

A healthy body is able to seek and kill most harmful bacteria. Only when cells became weak and the immune system is overburdened do bacteria have an open door on a vulnerable body. When cells are healthy and vibrant, the immune system is effective in fighting and controlling bacteria. However, through poor eating habits, cells become weak and sick, and harmful bacteria are able to multiply. Medicines powerfully adjust the body’s metabolism in an attempt to stimulate healing. The symptoms can retreat for awhile and there may even be healing, but the cause of the imbalance, usually a toxic diet, is often ignored.

Continue the same harmful eating habits, and back to the shop you go for more pills or worse. If you are tired, stressed out, and living on junk food, the immune system, your God-given defense, will break down just like a car running on dirty oil. Medicine may keep you breathing but will not supply the vibrant energy and internal protection you need to have a quality life.

It is clear that our greatest defense against sickness and disease is built within the body. Preventive maintenance for the human machine means eating in a way that will enhance our God-given defenses, not tear them down.