I am sure you have heard that so and so's uncle smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and ate bacon every morning and live to be 90. While another healthy person dies early of some disease. The immune system is the key to preventing any illness, including cancer. Some folks have lousy immune systems and need extra help. Others have over active immune systems and need to be toned down (allergies, asthma, or an autoimmune disorder). Thus, you need something that’s "immune-modulating" to help regulate your body's immune response (and turn it down, if necessary).
The
immune system works by recognizing antigens and producing specific antibodies
against it. Antibodies are a type of protein custom-made by
the immune system to fight specific antigens.
Your
immune system can get off track with poor eating habits, various drugs, and
most of all toxins. A weak immune system leaves your body wide open to defeat
from foreign invader and renegade (cancer) cells to take over.
Here
are personal stories of close relatives who have died of cancer. All had different
problems from a weak immune system.
My
sister died of cancer starting in her lymph nodes and eventually took over her
body. She was a healthy girl, eating fresh local foods, and living in the
country with fresh air and water. After 25 years of marriage, she divorced her
husband. Stress can kill.
My
father smoked for 30 years and quit for 20 years. He was healthy and worked in
his yard. After his home was flooded and RV burnt to the ground along with his
daughter, dying of cancer stress took over. His weak lungs were the problem and
he died of lung cancer.
Some
cancers can be related to the surrounding environment. My mother-in-law and her
sister died of a rare form of bone cancer. Both grew up in the Midwest. Most of
the Midwest's ground and water is saturated with pesticides from commercial farming.
My
short list of immune killers: smoking, stress, pesticides, processed foods,
lack of activity, and toxins.
Herb Tonics are used to address the health of
your entire bodily system. They can be taken for an extended period of time and
be very safe. Tonics are typically used to shore up systems that need
"toning" or "tonifying" (meaning it's failing or just
performing below par). Barberry, Echinacea, and goldenseal boost your immune
system.
Herb Adaptogenics help you deal with ill effects
of stress.
Exercise is a
proven immunity booster; it flushes bacteria and other pathogens from the
respiratory and urinary tracts via skin and sweat. Exercise even raises your
body temperature, which acts like a fever to kill of infectious microbes.
While conventional
medicine has traditionally focused its immune-system strategies on curing
infections, herbalism has centered on the belief that supporting and nourishing
the immune system will result in fewer and less severe infections--and better
health overall.
My favorite
sites:
Antioxidant Definition (What are free radicals)
I also have to
tell you I got some specific information from a good herb book called: Everything Guide to Herbal Remedies
*Next blog will
be about:
What is Organic?
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