We have such fantastic immune systems--better than any computerized system man could design.  Did you know that you have something in your immune system that "interferes with" foreign, harmful invaders like viruses?  Appropriately, it is called interferon.
Learn how interferon works as an essential component of your immune system at this website:  http://www.immunityfacts.com/index.html   There is also a great section called "Understanding the Immune System".  If you have any questions contact me. 

Health is a choice, and so is our diet!  

Have you noticed that you are seeing more frequent reports coming from the scientific community that poor diet and chronic diseases are closely related?  The chronic diseases most often cited are heart disease, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, stroke, and cancer.  It just so happens that heart disease and cancer are the #1 and #2 killers in the U.S.  Yet, much of the suffering and heartache from these chronic illnesses could be prevented.  According to the American Heart Association, 80% of all heart disease in women is preventable with proper nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices.  The American Cancer Society reports that 60% of all cancer-related deaths can be prevented by improving lifestyle choices like being physically active, losing weight, stopping smoking, and getting proper nutrition.

So how is diet connected to disease prevention?  Your body contains trillions of cells.  Billions of new cells are created every day.  Each cell is like a high-performance engine.  It needs high-quality raw materials (nutrients) to function properly.  The quantity and quality of nutrients you ingest affects every system and organ in your body including heart, lungs, kidneys, nerves, brain, bones, muscles, etc.  In other words, how you look, feel, and perform is directly affected by your daily nutrient intake.

Unfortunately, our Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) plays a big part in the obesity epidemic and disease incidence.  Our busy lifestyles drive us to make compromises of convenience so that 

• our foods are fast and our metabolisms are slow; 
• our drinks are soft and our arteries are hard; 
• our nerves are fried, and so is the junk we put into our bodies
• we are overfed, and undernourished.

We need to cut out the highly processed foods and add more fresh, whole foods.  Fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods are rich in healthy phytonutrients in addition to vitamins, minerals and fiber.  They have positive effects on the body over the long term--effects such as inhibiting tumor formation, lowering cholesterol levels, blocking the cancer-promoting effect of certain hormones, and fighting against chronic inflammation, which is linked to such diseases as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, certain cancers, and Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists define a vitamin as a compound essential for life.  Since your body cannot manufacture most of these vitamins on its own, they can come only from the food you eat and the supplements you take every day.  Over the long term, proper nutrition impacts every aspect of your health--from its ability to maintain health to its role in preventing nutrition-related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.  

Every day you make choices that will either improve your health or harm it.  Studies show that if you don't eat right, get to a healthy weight, exercise regularly, and supplement your diet, you increase your risk of developing certain chronic diseases.  Good health is a choice, which means that disease (in many cases) is also a choice.