Fight the Flu – The Missing Link Nobody Talks About

Here is another health blog brought to you by the Queen of Nutrition Ann Louise Gittleman. This is by far the most important piece and everyone should take this into account when trying to fight the flu.

Sleep Is Critical to Healthy Immunity.

People exposed to a respiratory virus are three times more likely to get sick if they get less than seven hours of sleep at night, a recent study finds. Trouble is most Americans only sleep about six and a half hours—one hour less a night than we slept in the ’50s.

News from scientists at the University of Chicago and at NIH in Washington DC is even more sobering. We actually need nine and a half hours of sleep at night for at least seven months out of the year—preferably between October and June—for healthy immunity.

“Maintaining the immune system may be the reason sleep has evolved,” explains Brian Preston, PhD, a researcher at Germany’s Max Planck Institute. Mammals that sleep the longest have six times the immune cells as those that sleep less.

Besides fighting the flu, nature’s “missing link”—sleep—helps your immune system ward off diabetes, heart disease, cancer, obesity, and severe depression. Lack of sleep even disturbs normal brain activity and vision, causing over 100,000 car accidents a year.

Now that we’re plugged in 24/7 with our iPhones and iPods, who wants to sleep when you can check your emails, chat with friends, and text the world—anytime of night? Talk about unremitting stress!

When we turn our clocks back next week to end daylight savings, we also disturb the body’s internal clock. This throws off our natural sleep-wake cycle and impacts hormones like cortisol and melatonin that influence this critical “missing link.”

Dr. Ann Louise’s Take:

The most dramatic event humans have experienced happened less than 80 years ago. Electricity and bright lights at night have changed us forever.

When it’s dark, the body naturally produces the hormone melatonin to ready your system for sleep and help you snooze through the night. Five times stronger than vitamin C, melatonin is a potent antioxidant that controls immunity.

What to Do?

Exercise outdoors in the sun to boost melatonin. Start dimming lights when the sun goes down to ready your body for sleep. I even wear special amber glasses to knock out the melatonin-blocking rays from blue light.

When I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I use special nightlights that block blue rays. Don’t flick on those strong overhead lights because they’ll zap your melatonin and you won’t be able to get back to sleep. Taking 3 to 15 mg of melatonin a night can also be helpful.

Balance Hormones

Other hormones also impact how well women sleep. Starting in puberty, fluctuating hormone levels make females two and a half times more likely than males to suffer insomnia.

During perimenopause and menopause hot flashes disrupt women’s sleep. (We all sleep more soundly when we’re slightly cool.) Progesterone is the hormone that helps women sleep well in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy—before heartburn, leg cramps, and frequent urination disturb sleep.

Chill Out

Unfortunately, the female hormone estrogen raises levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Women have higher levels of this stress hormone when estrogen rises during their menstrual cycle—but progesterone helps even cortisol out and improves sleep.

It’s important to relax at night for sound sleep—so turn off those scary news stories about swine flu. I also recommend Adrenal Formula to combat stress in today’s 24/7 lifestyle.

The Bottom Line

Stack those Zzz’s to stay healthy—especially in cold and flu season when your immune system needs all the help it can get. Take 400 mg of Magnesium before you go to bed. I rotate between melatonin, tryptophan—the precursor for relaxing serotonin—and magnesium.

Sources:

http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=632118
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19840243
http://discovermagazine.com/2009/apr/22-new-theory-about-why-sleep-maintain-immune-system

http://cheryl.my4life.com/shopping/categoryview.aspx?cid=68

Pass Up the Sushi - and Worms

Parasites Cause Liver Cancer.

Liver fluke, a dangerous parasite that infects millions of people, is a major cause of bile duct (or liver) cancer in humans. Symptoms include right-upper-quadrant abdominal pain as the liver becomes enlarged and tender.

New research at George Washington University shows that this parasite produces hormones that lead to uncontrolled cell growth—or cancer—in its human hosts. Common in undercooked fish and seafood, liver fluke eggs are also passed on by cattle and sheep.

Water from contaminated pastures can spread these parasites to aquatic plants like watercress. Other vegetables—fresh bamboo shoots and water chestnuts—harbor encysted liver fluke larvae.

Scary as it is, liver fluke is only one possible parasite in sushi (raw fish). A recent news story reported a 9-foot tapeworm in one sushi fan. This worm can grow to 25 feet!

The largest parasite in humans, fish tapeworm is common in Alaska, Canada, the Great Lakes, parts of Asia and Europe, and Australia. This worm causes digestive problems—include pain and a feeling of fullness in the upper abdomen, nausea, and anorexia.

Pacific rockfish (red snapper) and salmon as well as cod and herring carry another worm. Anisakine larvae cause severe inflammation and pain that mimics appendicitis, ulcers, or stomach cancer.

Dr. Ann Louise’s Take:

Parasites are responsible for an enormous panorama of human health problems. Worms are very well equipped to gain access to the human body, where they can reproduce through unique life cycle processes that evade our own defenses.

Previous research reveals yet another human parasite in fish—the eustronglides worm found in a once-a-month sushi eater who complained of severe abdominal pain. During an operation for appendicitis, the surgeon found the patient had a normal appendix—but a 10-inch pinkish-red worm.

Raw fish dishes—especially sushi and sashimi—have become increasingly popular in this country. To avoid parasites in raw fish, choose safe sushi dishes made with avocado, cucumber, or cooked crab and shrimp.

But you don’t need to eat raw fish to find worms in your food. Because microwaves don’t always cook evenly, seafood cooked by this method is often underdone and can harbor live parasites.

Other research reports a case in which a woman noticed worms squirming around in an uneaten piece of fish she had cooked in her new microwave. Lab examination shows they were anisakid worms.

Always check the internal temperature of fish cooked in a microwave in several different places. Fish must reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees F for at least 5 minutes.

Look for Pacific salmon or rockfish (red snapper) that has been commercially blast-frozen to help eliminate parasites. Unless you are an experienced sushi chef—and know which species are likely to be infected by parasites and can spot larvae—don’t prepare raw fish at home.

Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19816559
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19758828
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19729549
http://infectiousdiseases.about.com/b/2009/06/18/9-foot-tapeworm-from-sushi.htm

I thought this blog was extremely important for those of you who enjoy eating sushi. To better protect yourself as explained above, probiotics puts good bacteria in the lining of your digestive tract to prevent you from the harmful effects of the live bacteria you are ingesting.

http://cheryl.my4life.com/shopping/categoryview.aspx?cid=191