Healthy Immune Response
If your family is like mine, you’re probably receiving messages from school and various authorities on how and what to do this flu season. I like to be proactive and so I would like to share some tips on how to support your family’s immune health.
Don’t Stress
Stress adversely impacts the immune system. So try to stay balanced, exercise, eat a diet that includes whole grains, lean meat, unprocessed carbohydrates and fresh fruits & vegetables. Try to stay focused on the big picture. I know that is easier said than done, but now that you’ve been reminded, work at it.
Stress Induces Immune Dysfunction
Nat Rev Immunol. 2005 Mar;5(3):243-51. Stress-induced immune dysfunction: implications for health. Glaser R, Kiecolt-Glaser JK. Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology & Medical Genetics, College of Medicine & Public Health and Institute for Behavioral Medical Research, Ohio State University, USA.
Folk wisdom has long suggested that stressful events take a toll on health. The field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is now providing key mechanistic evidence about the ways in which stressors–and the negative emotions that they generate–can be translated into physiological changes and how the immune system communicates bidirectionally with the central nervous and endocrine systems, impacting health.
Stay Positive
While stress impacts immune health, so do negative thoughts. Just visualize that every negative thought is a like a hammer & chisel chipping away at your immune and mental health. The average person has over 60,000 thoughts a day, many of which majority of which are negative. While conscious attempts to reverse this trend are beneficial, I like to recommend a natural product that supports positive, proactive mood, attitude. InSight Natural combines cocoa flavonoids with important B-vitamins and cofactors that are naturally supportive of a more positive state of mind.
Clinical and professional experience has demonstrated InSight Natural’s beneficial impact on mood repeatedly. In fact InSight’s “Winning State of Mind” description was coined by an endurance athlete who uses InSight Natural to train for competition to avoid “hitting the wall” – which is a mental state in training when a person’s mind leads them to believe that they can’t go on.
Research suggests that Cocoa Flavonoids impact brain function/circulation with the result being a calmer, more relaxed state of mind and positive attitude. We hear this from patients, physicians and athletes all the time.
De-Stress
If you want the “attitude adjustment” of InSight Natural but need more intensive stress management support, try InSight HT. InSight HT contains 3 additional ingredients that really help your body’s stress management skills. To learn more about InSight HT, click here: http://www.advantig.net/products/insight-ht.
Wash Smarter Not Harder
The best defense against germs is simply to wash thoroughly with good old fashioned soap and water. The research on antibacterial vs. regular soap is still not definitive. In fact, some research shows that people are sensitive to some of the chemicals found in antibacterial soap. So just remember that the best way to rid your skin of bacteria is exfoliation. Lather up, rub hard and sing “Happy Birthday” – which takes about the 10 seconds – the time you need to make sure your hands are clean.
I suggest patients avoid soaps containing drying chemicals and harsh perfumes that can make your skin dry, rough and irritated with more frequent washing. Look for emollients like coconut and olive oil, glycerin, aloe leaf extract, natural vitamin E and shea butter which help nourish the skin with regular washing. Avoid irritating detergents in common soap like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. Some liquid soaps contain formaldehyde-releasing preservatives like Soft Soap, Gerber Baby Wash with Lavender, Irish Spring Body Wash (Icy Blast & Aloe) Palmolive Aroma Therapy Liquid Handsoap & more. For a more complete list, go to click on the HHS List here or below: http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/htmlgen?page=advancedsearch&option=health.
Be sure to remember that dyes, parabins & fragrances can also be irritants.
Try: If you’re lucky enough to have a Trader Joe’s in your community, look for their “French Liquid Soap with Orange Blossom Honey & Vitamin E” which offers great natural ingredients at a reasonable price.
Dept. of HHS List
To search the US Dept. of Heatlh & Human Services database, click on the link below, chose “Personal Care Products” and try typing “Irritants”: http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/htmlgen?page=advancedsearch&option=health
Support a Healthy Immune Response
I designed On-Guard for my family. It is my personal product and I rely on it at the first sign of immune stress. On-Guard contains evidence-based ingredients with published, scientific references on their benefits for supporting a healthy immune response. Doctors have relied On-Guard clinically for over a decade to help keep their patients in optimal immune health during the toughest challenges.
On-Guard replaces over 11 classes of immune support products which can be categorized as follows:
- Stabilized Allicin
- Transfer Factors
- Colostrum/Immunoglobulin/Lactoferrin
- Nutraceutical Mushroom Extracts
- Larch Arabinogalactan & Other Important Polysaccharides
- Andrographolide
- Oregano Oil
- Astragalus, Rhodiola & related Botanicals
- Olive Leaf Extract (specifically Hydroxytyrosol)
- High Molecular Weight Aloe Vera Fractions
- Isatis, Withanolides, Curcuminoids, Forsythia & more
Stabilized Allicin: Stabilized Allicin represents a technological breakthrough in the delivery of garlic’s broad spectrum activity. Allicin is what you momentarily smell when a garlic clove is crushed. Allicin is also one of the most important health constituents in garlic. Up until now, preserving Allicin has been impossible. A new patented process makes it possible to stabilize Allicin. On-Guard contains certified, stabilized, pure Allicin.
If you would like more technical information on the science behind On-Guard, leave a comment or a question.
Why Advantig Products Don’t Contain Artificial Colors & Preservatives
Filed under: A Message from the Doctor, Caring for Your Children
Artificial Colors in Kids' Food
Additives like artificial colors & pre
servatives negatively impact brain function
The Lancet 2007, Nov. 3:370(9598) 1560-7. “Food Additives & Hyperactive Behavior in 3 Year old and 8/9 Year Old Children in the Community: A Randomized, Double-Blinded Placebo Controlled Trial.” McCann D., Barrett A., Cooper A., Crumpler D., Dalen L., Grimshaw K., Kitchin E., Lok K., Porteous L., Prince E., Sonuga-Barke E., Warner JO., Stevenson J. School of Psychology, Dept. of Heatlth, University of Southampton, UK. 300 Children Studied.
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From Dr. Schlesser:
Kids are conditioned to select brightly colored products. This extends beyond toys — to foods, which results in consumption of non-nutritive food additives like artificial colors, artificial flavors and preservatives. Published research now confirms that many of these non-nutritive molecules can alter brain function in kids.
This 2007 Lancet Study is a very well-designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that finally settles the controversy over the impact of non-nutritive food additives on behavior and learning in kids. This trial took place in Great Britain and studied 300 children. The conclusion was that food additives adversely impacted behavior, directly contributing to hyperactive behavior. The findings were so profound that Britain’s Food Standards Agency issued an advisory to parents immediately.
It has been nearly two years since this study’s findings were published and yet there has been no response by the US Government.
For many years, pediatricians have downplayed the impact of artificial colors & preservatives on behavior – even though many parents have been convinced of the link.
American Academy of Pediatrics – Grand Rounds
ADHD & Food Additives Revisited – Alison Schonwold, MD, FAAP, Developmental Medicine Center, Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, American Academy of Pediatrics, Grand Rounds 2008; 19:17.
ADHD & Non-Nutritive Additives
“The overall findings of the study are clear and require that even we skeptics,
who have long doubted parental claims of the effects of various foods on the
behavior of their children, admit that we might have been wrong.”
From Dr. Schlesser:
Just last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics weighed in on the issue of Artificial Colors and Non-Nutritive Food Additives and after a thorough evaluation of the available scientific literature, including the landmark 2007 study in The Lancet. Their conclusion: “the overall findings of the study are clear and require that even we skeptics who have long doubted parental claims of the effects of various foods on the behavior of their children, admit that we might have been wrong.”
This is an official position statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Do artificial colors have a scientifically justifiable place in our children’s food supply?
We would love to hear your comments.
You Can Control Stress
Stress is not only a harmful state of mind, it can also become a harmful condition for your overall health because it actually changes your body chemistry. These chemical changes over time can adversely impact your immune health, your cardiovascular health and your entire well being.
We’ve collected some great stress relief tips that are posted to the Advantig website to help reduce anxiety and maintain a balanced life. Take a look at some of these time tested techniques to help you optimize your day-to-day management of stress:
Relaxation & Meditation: Structured relaxation & meditation can help control stress and improve your physical and mental well-being. The options are almost infinite. We’ve summarized just a few here:
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Biofeedback: a method of learning to relax, control stress responses, or modify the body’s reactions through the use of monitoring equipment, training the autonomic nervous system (the part we don’t consciously use) to relax.
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Meditations: Focusing on religion, spiritual beliefs or purely on physical relaxation, meditation is one of the most popular techniques to achieve physical and mental relaxation.
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Progressive Muscle Relaxation: A method developed in the 1930s in which muscle groups are tightened and then relaxed in succession based on the idea that mental relaxation will be a natural outcome of physical relaxation.
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Qigong: (pronounced “chee gong”) This ancient Chinese Martial Art/health-care system combines physical training (such as isometrics, isotonics, and aerobic conditioning) with Eastern philosophy and relaxation techniques.
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Tai chi: “Meditation in motion” is characterized by soft, flowing movements that stress precision and force.
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Yoga: Yoga’s goal is to restore balance and harmony in the body and emotions through numerous postural and breathing exercises.
Exercise: Exercise promotes overall fitness and helps you manage emotional stress and tension from the release of endorphins. Being fit and healthy also increases your body’s ability to deal with stress. Start slow by taking the stairs, walking in your neighborhood, riding your bike. Just get moving!
Time management: Learn to prioritize tasks, avoid over-commitment, being overscheduled and feeling pressured. Check your calendar, planner, or PDA before commit or learn to say “let me get back to you after I check my calendar” to avoid commitments made under pressure that can cause you stress later.
Organization: Schedule time to organize your physical surroundings (office, desk, kitchen, closet, car) so that you won’t be faced with the stress of constantly searching for misplaced items or being overwhelmed by clutter. Take 10 minutes to periodically sort through and organize piles of paperwork and clutter.
Take 5: Take a 5 minute deep breathing break, look away from the computer screen, close your eyes and visualize a relaxing place, stand up and stretch your arms, neck or legs. Breaking the monotony and changing the pace helps to refresh your perspective.
Lend a Helping Hand: Do something nice for another person. Studies show that altruism is good for your emotional well-being, and can measurably enhance your peace of mind. When you feel stressed and overwhelmed, you may feel like you’re least able to give; however, altruism activates the area of the brain associated with positive feelings, lifting your spirits, making you feel better the more you give.
Support systems: People with strong social support systems experience fewer physical and emotional symptoms of stress than their less-connected counterparts. Loved ones, friends, business associates, neighbors, and even pets are all part of our social networks. Cultivating and developing a social support network is healthy for both body and mind.
YOU CAN CONTROL STRESS
In addition to the mind-body techniques listed above, you can combine these products to help you control stress and support a balanced state of mind:
Healthy Attitude – Proactive State of Mind – Balance. InSight Natural is a cocoa flavonoid-based dietary supplement. Cocoa flavonoids are scientifically linked to brain function and healthy brain oxygenation. We say that InSight supports a “winning state of mind” – which is a phrased coined by one of our customers who found that InSight Natural helped him “break through the wall” in athletic competition. Endurance athletes are finely tuned individuals who benefit from InSight Natural. If these highly specialized individuals can benefit, no fears – so can you. You can learn more about InSight Natural’s here: http://www.advantig.net/products/insight-natural.
Mental tranquility – Calmer Mind – Mental Relaxation. InSight HT is designed for people who want to experience the positive mental state InSight Natural offers, but need more intensive help for “High Tension” (which is why we call it HT). InSight HT blends InSight Natural with 3 additional ingredients that have a scientific basis for supporting a more relaxed, calmer mental state required to manage stress: 5-HTP, L-theanine & Vinpocetine. For more information on these ingredients and InSight HT, got to: http://www.advantig.net/products/insight-ht. If you can take the time for a relaxing massage, take 1 InSight HT an hour before your treatment for ultimate relaxation.
Deep, Restful Sleep & Refreshed Awakening. When you’re under stress, sleep is the ultimate mental recharge. The problem is that sometimes the mind just keeps repeating scenarios as though it were on a loop as a way to problem solve or cope. This can leave you feeling drained and even more tired in the morning. For those times, take 1 Z-Cap an hour before bedtime for the deep sleep your body needs. Unlike prescription sleeping pills, Z-Caps will help you feel refreshed and ready for the day. You can read more here: http://www.advantig.net/products/z-caps.