Tune Up Your Immune System

The information below is a must read! Thanks to my friend

Dr. Steve Chaney for sharing it with us. Check it out!!
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Hi Friends,

Many of you have been saying to me:

"All I hear about in the news is shots and drugs. Is there a holistic approach
for strengthening my immune system?"

My answer is yes! Here are my suggestions:

1) Start by eating a balanced diet composed of whole, unprocessed foods

without a lot of fat and simple sugars. A great place to start designing a

balanced diet that is perfect for your age, gender and activity level

is www.mypyramid.gov.

2) Get plenty of sleep. The experts recommend 8 hours of sleep a night,

but a majority of Americans get far less than that.

3) Exercise on a regular basis. Both too little and too much exercise

can weaken the immune system (You might have guessed that the

problem for most of us is the "too little", not the "too much"). The

experts recommend at least 30 minutes every day.

4) Maintain ideal body weight. Those excess pounds really zap

our immune system.

5) Minimize your reliance on medications. Many common medications

weaken the immune system (Just listen to the disclaimers in the TV

commercials for examples).

But you must work with your physician on this. Once your physician

knows that you are willing to do take personal responsibility for your

diet and lifestyle, they will generally be willing to minimize the number

of medications that they prescribe.

6) Focus on the positive. Studies show that optimists are healthier

and life longer than pessimists. And the good news is that anyone can

cultivate an attitude of optimism. For most of us it is a lifestyle

choice - not something that we were born with.

7) Add a supplement program to assure that your immune system is

functioning optimally. In the ideal world supplements wouldn't be

necessary, but there are very few "saints" who do a great job in all

6 of the areas that I mentioned.

A well designed supplement program fills in the "gaps". We want to make

sure that we are getting adequate:

- B vitamins and protein because our immune cells need to divide

very rapidly when we have immune challenges.

- Antioxidants because our immune cells create lots of free radicals.

- Trace minerals, especially iron and zinc, because they are required by
important enzymes of the immune system.

- Vitamin D because it is vitally important for a strong immune system

and most of us are not getting enough.

- Probiotics (healthy bacteria) because "bad" bacteria and yeast in our
intestines can weaken the immune system.

- Omega-3 fatty acids to modulate the immune system once it has taken

care of the invading bacteria or viruses.

We don't need megadoses. We just need enough.

One final thought: A holistic approach to strengthening our immune

system is not an "either - or" proposition.

The flu short is 66% effective in preventing the flu for people

with a strong immune system and only 33% effective in preventing

the flu for people with a weak immune system.

To your health!

Dr. Stephen Chaney, PhD
Shaklee Master Coordinator
http://www.chaneyhealth.com

P.S. My personal recommendation for the supplement component of your

holistic approach to a strong immune system is the Shaklee Vitalizer

Wellness Program (Vitalizer, Cinch and Nutriferon) with Defend and

Resist Complex in your medicine cabinet for when you first sense that

you are "catching" something.

P.P.S. For more on tuning up your immune system, order my "Tuning

Up Your Immune System CD" at:
http://www.chaneyhealth.com/