Get Sick Often? Five Things To Help Your Immune System

by Arin Gragossian | ArinTraining.com

Understand that the immune system does not operate like an ON/OFF switch. There are many ways that the body can kill off viruses and germs and that by simply taking a vitamin-C or Emergen-C tablet won't help as much as you think.

Your immune system needs time to get stronger. And if you eat a diet of breads, grains, and other processed foods while thinking a simple pop of vitamin-C during a time when somebody has a cold next to you is going to solve the problem, well you better brace yourself because that's not gonna work.

You see, each time your quality of food is compromised so is your immune system. This includes the insufficiency of organic meats and wild game since organic acids protect our immune system. And without these organic acids, our immune system goes down the drain. This holds extremely true for....drum roll please....vegans and vegetarians who may be deficient in the many organic acids, homocysteine checking B-vitamins, and immune and thyroid-boosting vitamins and minerals that include vitamin D, zinc, and selenium.

Remember, an optimal immune system identifies organisms in the body that aren't supposed to be there and rapidly destroys them. But, if the immune system is compromised by poor diet such as inflammatory foods including but not limited to dairy, grains, corn, wheat, processed carbs, sugar, soda, cereals, etc - it will let invading germs cause problems and make you sick. Your immune system can be depressed by poor nutrition thereby allowing nutrient deficiencies as described above.

Having low vitamin D, zinc, and inadequate B-vitamins can compromise the immune system, but unhealthy gastrointestinal tract will put you at much greater risk of getting sick more often since the gut relies on live bacteria to digest food, absorb nutrients, and eliminate waste.

So what can you do instead of eating junk and popping a vitamin C pill to boost immune system and prevent colds?

1. Drastically Clean Up Your Diet: This in itself will solve more than half the problems. Eliminate all grains, wheat, corn, soy, dairy, and processed products including all types of sugar. Eat clean, organic, seasonal sources of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, tubers, and most importantly grassfed organic pasture-raised meats and wild game.

2. Supplement with L-Glutamine: Did you know that low glutamine is one of the reasons long-distance endurance athletes often get sick after athletic events or intense training sessions? Glutamine is absolutely important for immune function since it plays a role in soothing the lining of your stomach. It's extremely helpful in muscle recovery and acts in anti-inflammatory ways. This is why those with stomach issues can see remedy by taking L-glutamine on an empty stomach between meals.

3. Take Zinc & Vitamin C, Together: Vitamin C is essential for normal enzyme function and plays a role in strengthening tissue and bone since poor enzyme function is another reason for compromised immunity. Zinc is important because the mineral is crucial for optimal health. Low zinc levels is indicative of a myriad of health problems, not just immune system. Deficiency in zinc profoundly affects the immune system because low zinc results in a decline in T-cell function; which is responsible for fighting of virus when the system gets attacked. Without it, you're getting sick. Zinc and vitamin C play synergistic complementary roles in supporting the immune system and thus must be utilized together.

4. Increase Your Vitamin D Level: Did you know the lower your vitamin D level the higher your chances of getting sick? This is because when you have adequate levels (above 50ng/ml as determined by 25-hydroxy lab test) your immune system promptly acts as first line of strong defense for your cells to kill off germs and pathogens. Everyone can benefit from using a potent vitamin D3 supplement ranging between 2,000 iu to 8,000 iu daily depending on your levels and needs. Back in 2006-2007 when I was vitamin D deficient (under 40ng/ml), I would constantly get sick. Once the levels were boosted to above 50ng/ml, the problem was resolved. And let's not forget vitamin D is one of the profound hormones that's highly correlated with cancer prevention. The higher your vitamin D, the lower your cancer risk.

5. Take Quality Probiotics & Avoid Sugary Yogurts As Probiotic Source: A probiotic will help you have a healthy gut. Aside from helping you have more energy, probiotics can increase the production of T cells and other enzymes that elevate the immune response. Probiotics increase the number of flora in the gut and thereby enhance intestinal immune and liver function. But this is only true for quality probiotics with the highest level of good-bacteria organisms and adequate strains.

Further, use your quality probiotic with the amino acid l-arginine to boost the immune system and enhance the effects of probiotics. Arginine, like glutamine, is an effective amino acid for enhancing immune function among numerous other things including it being a useful tool to reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure, and improve blood flow. L-arginine is best absorbed with the availability of folate, a water-soluble B-vitamin that helps produce healthy red blood cells and reduce inflammatory markers. Thus, when taking probiotics, it would be wise to use all three products together at once: Probiotics + L-Arginine + Folate

So is fighting off colds and boosting immune system as easy as popping a vitamin C capsule and staying warm while continuing to eat the same inferior quality foods witnessed in the processed American diet? Certainly not. By correctly utilizing the supplements known to boost immune function (l-glutamine, zinc, vitamin c, vitamin d, probiotics, l-arginine, and folate) and working towards cleaning up your diet to eliminate processed, inflammatory foods that compromise the immune system, one can effectively fight off colds and stay strong for a very long time.

For anybody who constantly gets sick, this ought to be welcoming, encouraging news to finally wake up and become proactive in helping yourself achieve better health. As the new year rolls around and cold-seasons begins to dominate, this information is something that can help many in the coming months.

Meat Revisited: Meatless Monday or Wheatless Wednesday

by Arin Gragossian | ArinTraining.com

The Los Angeles times is reporting that the L.A. City Council has unanimously passed a campaign to endorse eating vegetarian once per week. The campaign, "Meatless Monday," aims to reduce overall meat consumption for health and environmental reasons since previous evidence has shown that cutting meat may help in reduction of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. The Los Angeles Times article can be found here.

Now, if anybody has been following this blog you'll be quick to know that we've already addressed this issue ad-nauseum on previous blogs and that I'm a strong advocate for pushing organic grassfed meat consumption.

Is it because I like to increase the rates of heart disease, obesity, and cancer by prompting meat consumption? Is it because I love meat so much that I'm in full denial? I certainly hope not.

But does this also mean eating vegetarian once per week is bad? Most definitely not. However, it does make an impression on individuals who know little about nutritional science that just because the City of Los Angeles has endorsed no-meat it must mean all meat is bad. This silly thought process often reminds me of the age-old tattoo argument: Do lot of tattoos, especially those on the neck, automatically mean you're bound to go to prison? Certainly not. Just because you have tattoos doesn't make you a thug. Likewise, just because it's meat doesn't make it bad. Yes, most are bad and must be avoided. But it's the good that cannot be eliminated for the sake of better health.

For starters, let's be fully aware that you have to be absolutely and utterly insane to not consume meat; unless you're one of the very few who is absolutely aware of the organic acids needed to balance hormones and build muscle while supplementing correctly and managing to somehow find enough high-quality biologically available protein on a vegan diet without having excess belly around the waist or a compromised digestive system and immune function. And this trait is so rare and seldom practical among vegans or vegetarians that it doesn't warrant consideration.

After all, if the vegan or vegetarian diet is indeed superior, then why do so many chronic vegetarians who have eaten this way for so many years continue to have excess weight, trouble losing weight, and poor body composition? Shouldn't this meatless diet solve the weight issue? Perhaps this is where one ought to begin thinking critically and understanding the many detoxification pathways and hormones of the human body.

This is because amino acids derived from meats are the deciding factor in the detoxification process of liver. It is the tool needed to for protein synthesis - the repair, rebuilding, and promotion lean muscle tissue. And as your lean tissue increases, so does your metabolism. Amino acids are the tools needed to guide the detoxification pathways that improve your immune health, adrenal health, pituitary health, thyroid health, and liver function. Without it, you're dead.

And if you think grain-eating, vegan advocating, alternate soy-meat consumption is enough to help fulfill the biologically superior amino acid profile of organic pasture grass-fed beef, then you're highly mistaken. Aside from the fact that we have well over 200 clinically confirmed reasons why not to consume grain or wheat foods, let it be known that meat consumption in your diet helps yield a much leaner body and better health. Not because it's an opinion or that I've seen anecdotal evidence, but because there's scientifically published evidence pointing us this way.

Although studies suggest that eating conventional factory farmed grain-fed red meat is a bad idea, a recent review in Nutrition Journal shows that organic grass-fed meat provides a great nutritional bang for your buck because it is packed with vitamins, omega-3 fats, conjugated linoleic acids (CLA), and antioxidants.

Conventional factory farmed grain-fed meat (with its industrial chemicals derived from unnatural grain diets) is on the negative end of the spectrum while organic grass-fed meat (with its fat-soluble vitamins and phytochemicals from plant grazing) is overwhelmingly helpful if not vital for the many systems of the human body.

THE LOW DOWN ON MEAT RESEARCH:

A study published in Nutrition Journal suggests that including a wide variety of organic pasture grass-fed meats can help improve body composition by providing an excellent protein source that contains the most biologically available amino acids ready for optimal absorption without increasing risk markers for heart disease (Daley et al, 2010). These superior meats provide healthy fats that support insulin sensitivity, the fat-burning enzyme L-carnitine that helps bind to androgen receptors to improve muscle composition, and antioxidants that protect and boost the immune system (Daley et al, 2010).

Conversely, grain-fed beef contains excess myristic and palmitic acid which can increase inflammatory markers that can lead to cancer, heart disease, and obesity (Segers et al, 2011). Whereas grass-fed beef contains more of a cholesterol-friendly stearic-acid, the myristic and palmitic acid from conventionally raised industry cows that are grain-fed can lead to disease. This is why previous studies from Harvard University showed individuals who consumed factory farmed industrial meats (usually processed like hot dogs and deli meats) increased their rate of mortality. To this day, no clinical study has been able to show increases in heart disease, cancer, or obesity from consuming organic pasture farmed grass-fed meats!

When it comes to eating the right type of meat, grass-fed meat contains high amounts of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which serves as a potent anti-carcinogen. Grain-fed beef contains one-third less CLA than it's superior grass-fed counterpart. This is important because studies demonstrate that CLA works best in high doses and does little to nothing in terms of it's cancer-preventing properties if it's less than 1 gram per day (McCrorie et al, 2011). Additionally, grass-fed beef has a much higher content of omega-3 fats and a better omega-6 to omega-3 fat ratio than industrial grain-fed counterparts (Aldai et al, 2011). Research has consistently shown that grass-fed beef provides a healthier beef fatty acid profile making it an ideal choice for those who wish to increase insulin sensitivity that can yield for better body composition and health.

Just as beneficial for health is the high content of glutathione in grass-fed meat. Glutathione, alongside a handful of other amino acides including glycine, is directly responsible for detoxification of the liver. Glutathione is an amino acid composite that acts as an antioxidant in capturing free radicals and protecting from DNA damage; damage that's closely linked to cancer. In addition, grass-fed beef provides enzymes that enhance the body’s natural ability to produce glutathione and fight all forms of stress that causes not just cancer, but other diseases.

Dr. Sean Lucan, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, notes:

"It may be less about whether meat is red than about what the animal was fed or how it was bred that is causing ill health, disease, and all these negative media reports about red med. Factory-farmed beef and organic pastured beef are drastically different. The former comes from animals raised on mixtures of genetically modified corn, chicken manure, antibiotics, hormones, and ground-up parts of other animal, whereas the latter comes from animals raised on grasses and other vegetation diets.” (Lucan, 2012)

Thus, all this confusion about the health value of meat comes from the inability of many if not all of the negative studies failing to differentiating grass-fed unprocessed organic meat with highly processed meat as well as factory farmed grain-fed meat with hormones.

WHY STUDIES ARE FLAWED:

1. Conflicting Interest: Conflicting interest and ulterior motvies. Who has funded the study? Who paid for the researchers and why? How is the data being manipulated and why? Does this study have validity and reliability in that can it be redone over and over again with similar results?

2. Special Populations: Studies continuously test special populations. For example, studies showing too much protein consumption negatively affects kidney health, however, they fail to mention in the headline that study was done on individuals with diseased kidney or preexisting kidney failure! Studies on general populations without preexisting conditions show specifically that high-protein consumption doesn't affect kidney function since amino acids are extremely helpful in organ function (Calvez et al, 2011). Thus, we one is looking at the study, it's important to ask how many people it's performed on and whether or not these were special populations.

2. Too Observational: Often, most the studies are sheer observational. And in the scientific community, we know that observational research is close to junk. One can observe something and determine a million different conclusions. This is because humans can lie. But numbers do not.

3. Wrong Group of Meats: Wrongfully grouping processed meats & grain-fed meats with organic grass-fed meats. They are not the same and must never be in the same category. That's like comparing a bag of sugar to a stick of celery by saying both are food and since sugar can make you fat, celery will too! Now how stupid does that sound because those who eliminate meat because of 'meat is bad' studies are essentially telling me exactly that. How can you research something without questioning the real truth behind the science and how your body works?

4. Shouldn't Vegetarianism Make People Skinnier? If so, then why don't I see evidence? Why then if meat is the real killer are we having record rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer if we're also currently at record rates in veganism and vegetarianism? Indeed, figures from a few years ago show vegan and vegetarian consumption is currently at an all time high with no slowing down (Tatge, 2004). Vegetarian food sales have more than doubled to over 1.6 billion dollars in 2003 and still growing at an incredible rate today!

One would think since vegan and vegetarian diets are so popular based on the data that we would be seeing a plateau or a decline in rates of cancer, heart disease, and obesity. However, disease rates continue to sky-rocket despite vegetarian industry more than doubling in profits. Not to mention my own clientele is increasingly consisting of chronic vegan and vegetarian eaters who as lab results show have high markers of food sensitivities to grains, poor cortisol to DHEA ratio, inflammation, and extremely high body-fat percentages with the inability to lose weight. Again, shouldn't this ideal vegetarian diet that eliminates the devil you call meat supposed to make you healthier? If so, then why the extra weight and lack of energy?!

When governing and influential bodies like the L.A. City Council and The Los Angeles Times endorse something like 'Meatless Monday' without giving rhyme or reason to the confounding variables, conflicting interests, and ulterior motives of highly flawed studies that promote eating less meat, one begins to question the motives behind this move and ultimately comes to the conclusion that it's based not on science, but on ignorance and politics.

It's not the meat that's killing us or making us fat and sick. It's the extremely high consumption of grains, wheat, refined carbohydrates, sugar, artificial sweeteners (which still excite an insulin response that stores fat even though it's zero calories), preservatives, hormones, and chemicals. Instead of blaming a bunch of fatty acids and amino acids for your poor body composition, perhaps it's time to take a look at the high amount of carbohydrates you're eating and the lack of fresh, biologically available protein in your diet. And if you are indeed eating meat already, perhaps it's time to ask what the animal was fed rather than if the meat should be red or white. Quality of meat is of utmost importance!

As a health and human performance specialist, it is my job to analyze food consumption of clients and advise what's best for their body composition goal or performance requirement. And I can tell you firsthand that in 8 out of 10 cases - individuals are reporting to me diets extremely high in carbohydrates and extremely deficient in protein. And then we're supposed to sit here scratching our heads?

What's deemed "healthy" for one person isn't necessarily healthy based on what science has taught us. A typical American "healthy" diet you see on the local morning news or Yahoo! recommendation would be a breakfast of oats (carbohydrates), a cup of fruit (carbohydrates), some quinoa and side-salad for lunch (carbohydrates), and brown rice (carbohydrates) with some type of deli meat (hormones, nitrates) for dinner. Do you see the trend? Carbohydrates! Carbohydrates! Carbohydrates! Why in the world do you need all those carbohydrates? And how do you expect to not get sick, have proper immune health, fight off cancer, and improve body composition by getting that flabby belly out of the way without having high-quality grass-fed meat and all the essential fatty acids that come with it?

It is certainly no coincidence that some of the heavier, less toned, flabby folk out there happen to eat more carbohydrates and less protein. It is no coincidence that those who continuously get sick have a weakened immune system are individuals who happen to be vegan/vegetarian and simply omit proper biologically available protein and all the essential fats, vitamins, and minerals that come with it that's geared towards fighting disease and improving immune function. Indeed, the strongest, healthiest, and most toned individuals I've worked with to this date are individuals who feed their body what their body needs: Essential fats, high-quality protein, loads of fresh seasonal vegetables, and tons of supplementary nuts and tubers for energy.

For this reason, I think we ought to begin a new campaign called 'Wheatless Wednesdays' instead of the cheap tricks they market for 'Meatless Mondays.' After all, 'Wheatless Wednesdays' will be based on scientific fact that's practiced and preached by individuals with lean muscle while 'Meatless Mondays' will be based on myth, lies, and hogwash propaganda based absolutely nothing on science and practiced by clueless overweight individuals wondering why they cannot drop a pound despite eating so many veggie and no meat! Duh! Duh! Duh!

To all the vegans, vegetarians, researchers with ulterior motives, the L.A. City Council, The Los Angeles Times health writers, and those who insist on putting organic grass-fed beef in the same category as inferior grain-fed meats please read carefully:

"The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about." -Wayne Dyer


References

Aldai N, Dugan ME, Kramer JK, Martínez A, López-Campos O, Mantecón AR, Osoro K. (2011). Length of concentrate finishing affects the fatty acid composition of grass-fed and genetically lean beef: an emphasis on trans-18:1 and conjugated linoleic acid profiles. Animal, 5(10), 1643-52. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.p.atsu.edu/pubmed/22440357

Calvez, J, Poupin, N, Chesneau, C, Lassale, C, and Tome, D. (2011). Protein intake, calcium balance and health consequences. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 66, 281–295. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v66/n3/abs/ejcn2011196a.html?WT.ec_id=EJCN-201203

Daley, C., Abbott, A., et al. (2010). A review of fatty acid profiles and antioxidant content in grass-fed and grain-fed beef. Nutrition Journal, 9(10). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20219103

Ji, Sayer. (2012). Wheat: 200 clinically confirmed reasons not to eat it. GreenMedInfo. Retrieved from http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/200-clinically-confirmed-reasons-not-eat-wheat. Accessed on 12 November 2012.

Lucan, Sean. (2012). That it’s red? or what it was fed/how it was bred? the risk of meat. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 96(2), 446. Retrieved from http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/96/2/446.1.citation

McCrorie, T., Keaveney, E., et al. (2011). Human health effects of cla from milk and supplements. Nutrition Research Reviews, 24, 206-227. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22296934

Segers JR, Stewart RL Jr, Lents CA, Pringle TD, Froetschel MA, Lowe BK, McKeith RO, Stelzleni AM. (2011). Effect of long-term corn by-product feeding on beef quality, strip loin fatty acid profiles, and shelf life. J Anim Sci, 89(11), 3792-802. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.p.atsu.edu/pubmed/21642492

Tatge, M. (2004). Vegetarian foods plant stronger sales: No signs of slowing down for growing industry. Forbes. Accessed on 12 November 2012. Retrieved from http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6008949/#.UKH-1IfAf74