Here’s a pleasant way to de-stress as well as stablise your immune system – inhale fragrances like lavender and lemon. Scientists in Japan have discovered that certain scents can alter gene activity and blood chemistry to the extent that stress levels are reduced.

In a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Dr Akio Nakamura and his colleagues reported that stressed-out lab rats showed reduced stress levels when they were exposed to linalool, a chemical found in citrus fruits and flowers like lemon and lavender. Over 100 genes are active in stressful situations, and inhaling linalool reduces their activity. Breathing in linalool helped the lab rats’ levels of neutrophils as well as lymphocytes – key components of the immune system – return to near-normal levels.

Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in mammals. Their job is to squeeze through the capillary walls and into infected tissue to kill invaders like bacteria, and then engulf the remnants by surrounding the bacteria cell and absorbing it. Stress factors, like heavy doses of radiation and chemotherapy used in cancer treatment, can reduce the numbers of neutrophils so that formerly harmless bacteria begin to proliferate. Life-threatening infections may then result.

Lymphocytes are white blood cells which help to protect the body against disease and abnormalities like tumors.

For centuries, people have been known to inhale the scent of certain plants to help reduce stress, banish depression, treat inflammation and induce sleep. Even today, people relax with the help of essential oils or pillows stuffed with flowers like lavender. The next time you bring some lemons home, why not put them out in a basket or bowl to scent the air with their fragrance?

Posted: August 5th, 2009 under Alternative Remedies, Cancer, Immune System Health, Rest & Sleep.
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Billy loves to chew on pineapple leaves. Whenever I bring pineapples home, I place them on the ripening rack next to the kitchen window. Not long after that, Billy will show up and start chomping on the leaves. Because he loves them, I usually try to get pineapples with a big crown.

Billy’s my cat, by the way. Given an opportunity, both cats and dogs naturally seek out grass to eat to heal upset tummies and for other health benefits as well. After doing so, both Billy and Ginger, my dog, will throw up the grass and other stomach contents, and trot away happily, all well again. When it comes to pineapple leaves, however, Billy doesn’t regurgitate anything. He keeps it all down. He must know something most of us lesser mammals don’t know.

This much I do know – pineapple is an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin Bl, vitamin B6, copper, magnesium, manganese, and dietary fiber. Pineapples also contain the enzyme bromelain, which is effective for digesting protein. It is often consumed as an aid in digestion, for this reason. It is also used in alternative cancer therapies like the metabolic / laetrile / vitamin B17 / amygdalin cancer protocol to help break down the protein membrane which surrounds each cancer cell. Metabolic therapy rationalises that this cancer protein coating must be broken down before other elements of the protocol can attack and kill the cancer cell itself.

Bromelain may actually do more than digest the protective protein membrane around cancer cells. Researchers at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) in Brisbane, Australia, studied two molecules found in bromelain. One, called CCS, appears to block a protein that is defective in nearly a third of all cancers. The other, called CCZ, activates specific immune cells that are prompted to recognise and kill cancer cells. After carrying out studies on animals, the QIMR team concluded that the one-two punch of CCS and CCZ worked together to control four cancer types: lung, breast, ovarian and bowel.

Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, bromelain is a common ingredient in supplements for joint health. It is taken for arthritis and rheumatism to help reduce swelling and inflammation.

The greatest concentration of bromelain is found in the pineapple stem and core, the part that most people tend to discard. The riper the pineapple, the less bromelain there is. I include pineapple in my blended juices almost every day. I don’t let the pineapple over-ripen and I always use the core. A nice juice combination is orange-pineapple-green papaya. For a really refreshing blend which packs a punch, I love pineapple-carrot-apple-celery-grapefruit. To sweeten, I use raw honey. Remember to always add ice cubes and cold water before blending, as heat kills enzymes.

Posted: July 20th, 2009 under Alternative Remedies, Cancer, Healing Foods, Immune System Health.
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One of the top marathoners in my city has leukaemia. That came as a great shock to many because this guy has been competing in marathons around the world for years, even in the Arctic and Antarctica, and he seems super fit. Few can match his stamina and endurance levels. What went wrong?

No one can say for sure in this particular case but Dr. Ben Tan, sports physician and head of Singapore’s Changi Sports Medicine Centre, warns against overdoing exercise. Regular exercise has been proven to boost the production and circulation of immune cells, the frontline soldiers against bacteria and viruses. However, going overboard will drag your immune system down.

“Excessive exercise stresses the body and taxes the immune system” says Dr. Tan. “Cortisol – a stress hormone that is released following prolonged, high-intensity exercise – suppresses the immune system.” In addition, the immune system will be made to channel its resources to repairing tissue damaged from excessive exercise, at the expense of its defence function.

The key to building up your immunity lies in REGULAR and not sporadic exercise. This is because the benefits which the immune system gains are not lasting. “The immune system is enhanced immediately after exercise, but returns to its baseline within a few hours,” he says. Regular exercise, therefore, prolongs the positive benefits.

Weekend warriors, take note! If exercising daily seems difficult to fit into your schedule, try doing something achievable, like a 20-minute walk after lunch or dinner. Take the stairs whenever possible. Park the car a little further away so you’ll have to walk a bit more. Make these little changes a daily habit, and you’ll boost your immune system and see an improvement in your health overall.

Posted: July 17th, 2009 under Exercise & Fitness, Health Basics 101, Immune System Health.
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