21 Foods to Boost Your Immune System

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We know stress affects the immune system in a negative way, and many times we hold up during stress only to let down on vacation and get sick. Use the following food strategies to boost your immune system for any trip:

1. Take Extra Vitamin C Before You Travel

Adding extra vitamin C to your diet two or three days before you leave for a trip helps your immune system fight viruses before they make you sick and helps breakdown stress hormones. It is best to double what you normally do. This can mean taking supplements or by eating the proper foods.
Foods packed with vitamin C include:
  • Red bell peppers
  • Strawberries
  • Tomatoes
  • Broccoli
  • Citrus
  • Sweet potatoes
If you have been taking a vitamin C supplement, double the amount and try to choose a supplement with flavonoids for optimal absorption.

2. Mine for Minerals

Activate your immunce system with beta glucan-, zinc- and other mineral-rich foods such as:
  • Mushrooms
  • Barbanzo beans
  • Squash
  • Deep greens (turnip or beet greens are the best)

3. Add Color to Your Plate

To help nourish the thymus gland, which is responsible for much of the immune-system function, eat two servings a day of foods rich in carotenes. Foods high in carotenes include colored vegetables and dark greens, such as:
  • Yellow and orange squash
  • Carrots
  • Yams
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Cabbage
  • Cauliflower
  • Collard greens
  • Kale
  • Berries
  • Garlic

4. Boost Your Digestive Tract with Bacteria

The live active cultures of friendly bacteria in the following foods boost your digestive-tract health and are very helpful to the immune system:
  • Yogurt or Kefir

Sugar Free or Not?

by Marci Sloane, MS, RD, LD/N, CDE
March 30, 2011

Hello !
Sugar free items or no sugar added items remove the processed sugar (sugar, corn syrup, brown rice syrup, molasses, etc.) and replace it will a slower digesting carbohydrate known as “sugar alcohol”. Some familiar names of sugar alcohols are sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol and lactitol. Most of them end in “ol” just like alcohol. These sugar alcohols will still have an impact on your blood sugar, however, because they digest more slowly you may see less of a spike. The “regular” cookie has sugar and flour, etc. and the sugar free cookie will have sugar alcohol, flour, etc. Sugar alcohol is not as sweet as sugar, therefore, artificial sweeteners are used to enhance the sweetness.

It’s important to remember that there is an affect on your glucose levels from these foods so please discourage yourself from overeating them. Many of us forget that “free” may not mean “free of everything”! There are still calories (and the majority of us do not need the encouragement to eat more. “No sugar added” foods just means the sugar is replaced with sugar alcohol but the product contains a natural sugar (fruit sugar or fructose or milk sugar or lactose) so it cannot be called sugar free. When you shop for cookies, candy or ice cream that is “sugar free or no sugar added” please be careful to read the label and look at the total carbohydrates. Then remind yourself that it still turns into sugar and not to overeat! If you are not convinced of it’s affect on your glucose levels, then simply check your blood sugar before and 2 hours after your meal.

Do this with the “real” cookie and the “sugar free” cookie. Notice the difference and make your informed decision. Diabetes is a very individualized disease which is why testing blood glucose levels is encouraged. You may find that you like the taste of regular jam as opposed to sugar free jam – so you can use 1 teaspoon instead of 1 tablespoon of it. However, if you like adding a bit more jam to your food then you may benefit from using the sugar free jam since there are fewer total carbohydrates in it. You have choices. Make the right one for you.

Eating Fruit - An Eye Opener


Dr. Stephen Mak treats terminal ill cancer patients by "un-orthodox" way and many patients recovered. He believes in natural healing in the body against illnesses. See the article below.


Fruits and juices offer one of the strategies to heal cancer. As of late, my success rate in curing cancer is about 80%. Cancer patients shouldn't die. The cure for cancer is already found. It is whether you believe it or not. I am sorry for the hundreds of cancer patients who die under the conventional treatments.


God bless.
Dr Stephen Mak

EATING FRUIT...

We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths. It's not as easy as you think. It's important to know how and whento eat.

What is the correct way of eating fruits?

IT MEANS NOT EATING FRUITS AFTER YOUR MEALS!
* FRUITS SHOULD BE EATEN ON ANEMPTY STOMACH.

If you eat fruit like that, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.


FRUIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD. Let's say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so.

In the meantime the whole meal rots and ferments and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil....

So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals! You have heard people complaining -every time I eat watermelon I burp, when I eat durian my stomach bloats up, when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet, etc - actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the putrefying other food and produces gas and hence you will bloat!

Graying hair, balding, nervous outburst, and dark circles under the eyes all these will NOT happen if you take fruits on an empty stomach.

There is no such thing as some fruits, like orange and lemon are acidic, because all fruits become alkaline in our body, according to Dr. Herbert Shelton who did research on this matter. If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you have the Secret of beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness and normal weight.

When you need to drink fruit juice - drink only freshfruit juice, NOT from the cans. Don't even drink juice that has been heated up. Don't eat cooked fruits because you don't get the nutrients at all. You only get to taste. Cooking destroys all the vitamins.

But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it. You can go on a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body. Just eat fruits and drink fruit juice throughout the 3 days and you will be surprised when your friends tell you how radiant you look!

KIWI: Tiny but mighty. This is a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E & fiber. Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange.

APPLE: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants & flavonoids which enhances the activity of vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, heart attack & stroke.

STRAWBERRY: Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits & protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals.

ORANGE : Sweetest medicine. Taking 2-4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent & dissolve kidney stones as well as lessens the risk of colon cancer.

WATERMELON: Coolest thirst quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. They are also a key source of lycopene � the cancer fighting oxidant. Other nutrients found in watermelon are vitamin C & Potassium.

GUAVA & PAPAYA: Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content.. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene; this is good for your eyes.

Drinking Cold water after a meal = Cancer! Can u believe this?? For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

A serious note about heart attacks HEART ATTACK PROCEDURE': (THIS IS NOT A JOKE!) Women should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line. You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. Sixty percent of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive.
Hello BLOG Family,

With the lent season approaching (40 days beginning 3/9), let us be mindful of what we put in our bodies. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit so we should be careful of what we allow to go in our bodies that maybe damaging to us physically. There are some foods that can affect our moods and comprehension. Some of our health challenges will change when our diet changes. Try it, what do you have to lose, it's your body you only get one how well are you caring for it? Check out the “NO MORE” plan (I think I’ll publish this if it goes well. Watch out Atkins!). For those of you who dare to take the challenge with me - we can help keep one another accountable.



NO

French Fries (fried in fat or grease)
Donuts
Chips (potato or corn)
Soda Purified Water
Snack Cakes & Cookies
Crackers & Pretzels
Microwave / mostly processed foods

MORE

Fish and Free range poultry
Fresh & Frozen Fruits
Fresh & Frozen Vegetables
Beans
Nuts & Berries

*For Extra Credit:
Decrease
Sugar
Caffeine
Stress
Milk
Food Portions
Canned Foods Store bought / fast foods


Increase
Vitamins & Minerals
100% Juices
Rest / Sleep (bed before 12 a.m.)
Olive Oil
Number of small meals
Live Foods
Home-cooked meals
Laugh More, Pray More, Live More!