Leafy Green Vegetables May Boost Your Immune Defenses

Edward Group explains how leafy green vegetables boost your immune defenses.

Despite their most valiant efforts many parents still struggle with their kids about eating their nightly serving of greens. Visiting your local farmers markets, fresher produce and more interesting/flavorful recipes have been helping to slowly turn the tide, but arming yourself with a little extra knowledge before going into battle doesn’t usually hurt either.

According to newly presented research, eating green vegetables may be an even better way to our bodies healthy than we could have possibly guessed. In addition to being a well-known source of vitamins, minerals, and essential nutrients, not to mention both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber, it seems that green vegetables of all types are also a key source of specialized chemical signals that our immune systems use to self-communicate. Read more

Vitamin D "Triggers and Arms" the Immune System

Vitamin D is crucial to the fending off of infections, claims new research.

The so-called sunshine vitamin, which can be obtained from food or manufactured by human skin exposed to the sun, plays a key role in boosting the immune system, researchers believe.

In particular it triggers and arms the body's T cells, the cells in the body that seek out and destroy any invading bacteria and viruses.

Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that Vitamin D is crucial to activating our immune defences and that without sufficient intake of the vitamin, the killer cells of the immune system – T cells – will not be able to react to and fight off serious infections in the body. Read more

Green Superfood to Boost Your Immune System

Nutritionists agree that consuming more fruits and vegetables - especially deep green leafy vegetables - is beneficial to the body. Green superfoods are natural foods that are loaded with an abundance of nutrients that are above and beyond what is contained in most foods. In some cases, a green superfood is not only considered a source of nutrition, but also a means of treating various types of health conditions.

Green Super Foods such as Spirulina, Chlorella, and Blue-Green Algae all contain chlorophyll, protein, vitamin B-12, essential fatty acid GLA, trace minerals and other nutrients in a form that is easily assimilated by the human body. These green foods are one of the four basic supplements that I recommend for health.

Green cleans. It helps to purify the liver and eliminate toxins from food additives, pesticides, fertilizers, and drugs. It is also helpful in removing heavy metals from the body. Read more

How do you keep your children and yourself from getting sick? Be proactive with Vitamin D, probiotics, and immune boosters, says Margaret Durst.

‘How do I keep my kids from getting sick?’ is a question I get asked a lot this time of year. I think it is an important question for adults as well as kids – especially as we head into the holidays. It always seems to me that some of the worst cold and flu outbreaks occur right after the holidays.

I have several theories. The first is about exchanging bugs (virus and bacteria) with our cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, etc. The second theory is our exposure to extremely rich food, upsetting our digestive tract which holds a significant part of our immunity. The third theory is about cold cloudy days without enough sunlight which reduces our daily vitamin D levels.

I don’t get very concerned about my first theory. It is a necessary part of family life which I wouldn’t want to be without. So see if you can have the biggest Christmas ever and make sure you see everyone you are even remotely kin to. Follow the advice below to keep your immune system tuned up so that the virus and bacteria do not take hold in your system. Read more

Eat Your Way to a Healthy Immune System

If you trust natural remedies more than you do flu vaccines, Dr. Joseph Mercola's list of the twelve best foods you can eat to protect yourself from the flu is a good place to start.

The 2009 flu season is upon us.

Staying well while those around you sniffle and sneeze requires that you extract as much nutrition from your diet as you can, loading up on the foods that pack the biggest nutritional punch.

Avoiding processed foods, grains and sugar will go a long way toward strengthening your immune system. However, you can do even more by selecting foods that are loaded with specific immune boosting nutrients.

Eating a diet rich in the following foods will be far better for your health than loading up on handfuls of supplements, or worse yet, falling victim to vaccines that expose you to health risks far worse than influenza.

Below, I have outlined what I consider to be the absolute best foods you can eat to help protect yourself this season, although the list is certainly not exhaustive. Read more

How to Win the Cold War

The common cold is caused by one of more than 200 viruses. Symptoms can include a fever, watery eyes, a runny nose, a sore throat, and a cough. Enhancing your body's immune system will help you avoid catching a cold, says Kristin Bjornsen.

Unless you live in a plastic bubble, you can’t seal yourself away from all germs in life. They’re everywhere—especially this time of year. Your best bet to stay healthy is to strengthen your immune system so it can defeat any microscopic invaders before they lay siege.

But if you took all the immune boosters recommended by magazines, books, and Mom, you’d not only empty your pocketbook, but you’d likely harm your health too. “Don’t get trapped into thinking you want to boost your immunity as much as possible,” says Mark Moyad, MD, director of preventive and alternative medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center. “Allergies and autoimmune diseases are examples of a hyperreactive immune system.” Moyad suggests taking most immune-bolstering supplements during cold season but then scaling back for the rest of the year (with the exception of multivitamins and vitamin D3).

But the question remains: Which of the myriad supplements and strategies out there really work? We asked our experts, and you’ll be surprised at how simple and effective their top picks are. Read more

How to Make Herbal Master Tonic

Master Tonic, which contains garlic, horseradish, ginger, cayenne peppers, and onion in an apple cider vinegar base. fixes colds, flu, and respiratory problems. It's also an immune booster, anti-allergy, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti anything that can hurt you. Even though "HealthyHerbalist" took the formula from either Dr. Richard Schulze or Sam Biser (see formula on Biser's website) without acknowledgement, the directions for making it are good.