Your 21st Century immune system The next-gen iPhone. The new Droid. The technology continues to bedazzle. We all know how the cell phone has evolved. First it was a clunky box you installed in the trunk of your car, wired to a hand set holstered in your center console. You could only use the phone to make and receive phone calls. Period. Now, many people use their mobile phones more than they use their laptop or desktop (do they still make those??) computers. And making phone calls may rank t... Read Full Story

You’d think by now a settled knowledge base on Vitamin C would prevail in the nutrition world. But it seems we still don’t fully understand what C does and does not do with regard to immune health, prevention and symptom management.  Not only is the science still evolving, the folklore and wives tales of Vitamin C, plus myriad personal experiences  in taking C during or “before” an illness, all blend together to make for a confusing story.  I won’t try to set any... Read Full Story

I read some interesting stuff in a new post from a fellow member of the Wellsphere online health community. Her name is Cindy and she is beginning a series of 15 treatments using NAET: Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques. As she wrote in her Wellsphere post after a visit to her integrative medicine clinic: “I ran into Dr. Olsen on my way out and asked him about his work on allergies. He confessed how skeptical he was about the method, which is called NAET (short for Namb... Read Full Story

The band was sick…literally Is my immune system balanced?  No one can say for sure. All I know is this:  I’ve made it through the fall pretty much unscathed. I did feel the need to sleep in an extra 90 minutes one day, but that’s been the extent of anything close to what one might pandemically call the  crummy, cruddy experience.  And, I’ve gone without shots this season. Which doesn’t mean anything as far as anyone else is concerned. If you feel the need ... Read Full Story

This week Chicago Tribune nutrition writer Julie Deardorf posted a piece on nutrition and immune health.  She laid out a lot of good information, especially regarding so-called immune “boosting” pills/products such as the “Airborne” over-the-counter cold/flu remedy that had to cough up nearly $30 million in settlement money for labeling their packaging and advertising with unsubstantiated claims. The column talks about basic functions of  immune response and cell signa... Read Full Story

I remember back in the day when the movie The Exorcist came out. It was a watershed event for the movie industry. No film had ever scared the bejeepers out of audiences like that movie. “On the day after Christmas,” began a 1974 Newsweek cover story, “a film called ‘The Exorcist’ opened in 22 cities across America. Since then, all hell has broken loose.” Just reading about it creeped me out. I avoided going to it until several years later, when it was at a... Read Full Story

I recently joined WEGO Health, an online health community that appears to have  lot of activity. It doesn’t have the bulk numbers that other places like WebMD has (who does??), but it is growing and is generating a lot of original discussion. My friending activity has produced several dozen cohorts in just a few weeks. Recently, I asked the forum about flu shots? Who is getting a flu shot? Why or why not? Some of the answers were very interesting and very genuine: Janeen:  “I alre... Read Full Story

The immune balance story continues to wend its way through the nutrition-and-health world.  And with the state of things right now–pandemic updates, new research published every hour, piles of junk science and unbelievable claims to muck through, new health conditions to define, etc.,–I thought it would be worth a few minutes to list some of the sites I think would be useful to anyone interested in immune health and its connection with everyday health and quality life. CDC’s... Read Full Story

If I ruled the world, or at least was a health and wellness director of some organization, I might try to persuade the top brass that a new company policy should be put into effect from October 1 through Dec 31. That policy would decree that official business hours begin at 9:30 a.m. This policy would encourage people to get as close to 8 hours of sleep each night as possible during the three-month stretch that ushers in the cold and flu season. I’m confident this would not only result ... Read Full Story

I’m listening right now to Madhu Gadia being interviewed on public radio. She is an Indian cuisine expert, nutritionist (Univ. of Illinois) and author who touts the benefits of vegan diets, nutrition as medicine and is even a diabetes counselor. She edited books for Meredith Corp. (publisher of Better Homes and Gardens) and knows her stuff. She talks about flavors and spices in Indian food as a key reason why many people enjoy Indian cooking. I can’t argue with that. I’m all... Read Full Story