Mold spores form under the leaves, enter the air, and transfer on water molecules directly into your sinuses causing stuffiness.  Such mold spores are not infectious organisms in and of themselves.  However, they are cousins of Candida albicans.  While such dampness-related stress is not a problem for many people, it is for others.  Those more likely to notice the issue have a history of Candida imbalance, are prone to congested sinuses in general, have sensitivity to molds, hate the smell of a damp basement, etc.

This form of weather stress is a factor that puts pressure on optimal immune function.  Any time one of the protective barrier surfaces of your body is challenged by anything, it involves an immune response so as to help sort out the issue.  This is all natural and normal function of your immune system doing its routine work.  However, the more sneezing that is involved the greater the irritation and histamine release.  Like emotional stress, it is just one more thing for your immune system to deal with.

To have optimal immune function available to deal with other issues, it is best to have clear sinuses as a baseline of healthy function.  Clear sinuses also reflect better overall lymphatic function, as described in my article, A Healthy Lymph System is Vital for Flu Fighting Immunity.

While this issue starts out as sinus stuffiness and pressures, it can develop into extra sinus mucous and a drop in energy.  It often leads to cravings for sugar – another factor that is highly stressful to healthy immune system function.

The moral of the story is do what you can to keep your sinuses clear during damper weather in the fall season.  Many nutrients can help.  Plant extracts like oregano oil or noni are popular nutritional support for sinus health. Quercetin helps to stabilize the immune cells that line your sinuses, assisting your body to deal with this type of stress.  And arabinogalactan is a popular lymph support compound that can assist with the sensation of pressure build-up.

Just as you must eat well and get adequate sleep for optimal immune function, so it is that you want to minimize any form of stress.  Sinus stress is just one on a long list of possible stressors, but it is an important one for many people at this time of the year.

The traditional understanding of bone as primarily a structural material has been transformed to the new understanding of bone as a vitally important endocrine organ – with leptin sitting right in the middle of everything.  This new information yields immediate practical applications not only for improved metabolism but also for better bone health and strength.

In a nutshell the new science shows that bone formation and bone strength are managed by the efficient function of leptin and thyroid.  Problems with either topic, such as overweight-related leptin resistance or sub-clinical hypothyroid (elevating TSH) directly impair healthy bones – making them weaker and more at risk for fracture.  A new metabolic role for bone has also been discovered, indicating that healthy bone function has a primary impact on blood sugar levels, insulin function, and body weight.  This newly identified role of bone as a metabolic endocrine organ is of primary importance in metabolism, not a secondary role of limited importance.  Bone health and metabolic health are highly integrated, in a chicken and egg manner, and mastering them is central to healthy aging and longevity.

A focus by the medical profession on the issue of bone density, as “proven” to the patient with two-dimensional pictures that prove little, leads to the widespread abuse of highly toxic bone drugs that directly interfere with bone metabolism and fly in the face of the new science.  These drugs cause swollen bone, like a sprained ankle, so of course it appears that bone density has improved when in reality the micro-architecture of the bone has been grossly disturbed and bones have been weakened.  It is now proven that taking these drugs for a number of years, a good patient just following doctor’s orders, results in seriously compromised bone health and increased fractures. 

Bone drugs can also cause life-threatening atrial fibrillation.  I have already covered this issue in detail in my feature article, “The Delusion of Bone Drugs,” so it will not be the focus of this current article.  I might point out that other commonly used drugs, such as antidepressants and diabetes medication directly induce bone loss as a side effect – not only compromising bone integrity but disturbing metabolism in fundamental ways.  The disgusting practice of putting seniors on a cocktail of toxic medications to manage numbers on paper is a primary reason for poor quality of health in the elderly population.

Those who wish to take advantage of the new science will focus on bone strength, and not just bone density.  A picture showing you that bone is there does not in any way show if that bone is metabolically healthy or strong, true predictors of fracture risk.  There is no shortcut to healthy bones.  There are no drugs that make them strong or metabolically fit.  To the contrary, the majority of drugs work in the unhealthy direction for bones, including the majority of drugs taken for other reasons than bones.  Western medicine likes everything to be very simple, so they can give you a questionable test and put you on a drug.  Bones are not simple and understanding them is not a simple subject.  Here is a basic overview, in English, that I hope you find useful.

Bone 101

Bones are in a constant state of regeneration, involving the breakdown of old or stressed bone and the replacement of it with new bone.  Keeping this process going throughout your life is vital for bone strength and healthy metabolism.  Anything that interferes with this process is stressful to optimal bone health.  Common stressors include malnutrition during high growth (teenage years), malnutrition at any time, high emotional stress, a lack of stimulation (mechanical force such as strength training), chemical exposure (especially the common PCBs), chronic inflammation, chronic illness, the drop in estrogen at menopause, and, unfortunately, bone drugs themselves.

A variety of primary nutrients are required for normal bone rejuvenation including protein, calcium, vitamin D, and magnesium (like plywood and 2 x 4s).  In addition to these primary basic nutrients, many other co-factor nutrients participate in the integrity of bone including zinc, boron, silica, manganese, vitamin C, vitamin K, and strontium (like nails and screws).  And nutrients that build connective tissue matrix, such as hyaluronic acid and glucosamine, have now been proven as vital in the bone building process (forming the blueprint to follow and linking it all together).

There are many options to support bone health with nutrition as part of an overall health program that offsets the stressors in your life.  A diet adequate in protein and rich in fruits and vegetables is fundamental.  Exercise, or at least lots of physical activity, is required, as is adequate sleep. In the final equation your bone regeneration checkbook must balance.  It is a reflection of your entire life.  No shortcuts.  No quick fixes.  Success is based on consistently doing the right things.  It is never too late to get started; bone health can be improved at any age.

Bone Carpenters: Osteoblasts and Osteoclasts

Bones are constantly remodeling themselves.  This requires coordination between the demolition crew (osteoclasts) and the new construction crew (osteoblasts).  Osteoclasts and osteoblasts are the carpenters of bone.

In healthy function, osteoclasts survey the existing bone looking for small micro-cracks (as induced from exercise).  Once they find a crack they clean it out by drilling a little hole through it, making room for new bone.  Then osteoblasts come along and use raw materials (like calcium, hyaluronic acid, and protein) to fill in the hole with new bone, attaching new bone crystals into their proper place within the existing bone matrix.

During childhood the activity of osteoclasts and osteoblasts is set to a very high pace of both – governed by higher levels of growth hormone active in bones.  Once you have finished growing, growth hormone activity declines and osteoclasts and osteoblasts work together to maintain the current size and strength of your bones for the duration of your life.  The normal activity of both osteoclasts and osteoblasts is vital to maintaining strong and healthy bones.

In women, the hormone progesterone favors osteoblast activity and the hormone estrogen helps balance or slow down osteoclast activity.

Whey protein is a bone superfood, proven to activate osteoblasts as well as provide important proteins that prevent bone loss during weight loss.

A novel herb, cissus quadrangularis, has been in traditional use for a thousand years as part of Ayurvedic medicine.  The Sanskrit name for this herb is Hadjod which translates literally to bone-union.  It is now available as an organically grown standardized extract.  Modern science confirms that it supports the bone building process, helping to activate one of the osteoblast’s key enzymes that triggers bone building, alkaline phosphatase.  Cissus quadrangularis has been shown to prevent osteoporosis in female rats that have had their ovaries removed.  Interestingly, the nutrient has been shown to assist in healthy weight loss (more on the relationship of bones and metabolism later in this article).

A Startling Bone Breakthrough

It has long been known that bone exists as a matrix of protein mainly in the form of collagen to which minerals are attached.  The protein matrix is responsible for the toughness and the minerals are responsible for the stiffness of bone.  In order to have strong bones it is vital to have a healthy relationship between the protein matrix and the attached minerals.

Up until the end of 2007 it was taught in all bone biology classes that the minerals were directly attached to protein molecules.  U.K. researchers from the University of Cambridge have quietly shocked the entire bone world and opened up a treasure-trove of natural options for individuals to strengthen bone. 

In a recent study they showed that it was actually sugar molecules that linked the minerals to the collagen-protein matrix.  These sugar molecules form the structural blueprint and the adhesive connections that make bone strength possible.  This is a dramatic new discovery.

Specifically, the sugar molecules identified by the researchers are called glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), which means many sugars strung together in repeating units – a type of complex carbohydrate.  Using advanced imaging technology, the researchers proved, for the very first time, that these sugar molecules are responsible for the linking attachments between proteins and minerals that enable bone to form.  In fact, they are directly responsible for the symmetrical formation of bone that enables bone strength.  GAGs are directly responsible for modulating mineral size and crystalline structure.

The most important GAG is called Hyaluronic Acid (HA).  It is a combination of two sugars (D-Glucoronic Acid and N-Acetyl-Glucosamine) that form one unit referred to as a disaccharide.  One molecule of HA has as many as 10,000 disaccharide units, making it a very large and long molecule.  For many years scientists thought this simple long molecule didn’t do much of anything except fill space and provide joint lubrication.  Now scientists understand that HA acts as a template to assist in the formation of new body structure, like a blueprint for the construction workers to follow.  In other words, HA is to the human body what soil is to a crop. 

HA is the fundamental GAG, but it is used as a building block to form other types of GAGs that play unique and important roles in different body structures.  These other GAGs have an HA spine, and then use sulfur to form more specific GAG structures such as chondroitin sulfate (cartilage), keratin sulfate (cartilage and bone), dermatin sulfate (skin and blood vessels), and heparin sulfate (cell membranes).  GAGs are the fundamental alphabet that enables any kind of body tissue to form and have shape.

The new research is groundbreaking as it proves that GAG molecules are the essential glue that not only holds bone together but also guides the formation of a bone’s proper three dimensional integrity and crystalline shape.  Without enough GAGs bone crystals form in an unregulated manner resulting in weaker bones. 

One newly identified risk factor for bone loss is a high homocysteine level, as it has been found that elevated homocysteine directly interacts with the collagen matrix of bone and disturbs the bone integrity.  This problems is readily prevented by taking B vitamins, especially folic acid, B12, and B6.

Another Profound Discovery

One of the major problems in maintaining healthy bones over the course of a lifetime is keeping a proper balance between osteoclasts (the demo crew) and osteoblasts (the new construction crew).  Both must act in harmony.  In cases of bone-related stress or wear and tear it appears osteoclasts get carried away and osteoblasts take a nap.

An answer to this problem has emerged from the new field of osteoimmunology.  The data shows that excess inflammation, i.e., excessively turning on the NF-kappaB gene signal, is the direct cause of too many osteoclasts forming which results in excessive bone loss. 

This new science shows that macrophages (immune cells) and osteoclasts (the demo crew) come from the same parent cell.  Thus, as cells begin to take form from basic stem cells there are options as to what they might become.  A key switch has been identified called NF-kappaB.  If the NF-kappaB switch is too active, then too many osteoclasts are made.  If the NF-kappaB switch is in more normal operation, then osteoclasts are produced at a healthier level, likely in better balance with its companion, osteoblasts. 

The NF-kappaB switch is actually part of the intelligence of a cell.  When it is on too often it means the cell is overheating or inflamed.  Stress is a major factor that causes excessive NF-kappaB activation.  Numerous nutrients interact with the NF-kappaB switch, and many have now been documented to interact specifically in bone to modulate healthy bone function by suppressing the excessive activity of osteoclasts. 

One of the top nutrients in this regard is boswella serrata.  This herbal extract is clearly shown to reduce excess osteoclasts formation by turning off NF-kappaB in bone (the source of the problem).  Other nutrients proven to lend support in this way are quercetin, curcumin, guggul, DHA, tocotrienols (special vitamin E), R-alpha lipoic acid, green tea catechins, zinc, and of course magnesium.  A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is conducive to supporting this principle of bone health.

Many of these nutrients help bones in multiple ways.  For example, tocotrienols help calcium attach to bones as well as helping to prevent stress induced (high cortisol) bone loss - even bone loss induced by steroids.

A nutrient like lactoferrin has been shown to partly work by inhibiting osteoclasts, yet also work by other mechanisms to significantly help boost the architectural integrity of the bone leading to better bone strength.  A nutrient like vitamin K does not seem to slow down osteoclasts, but it does directly enhance the quality of bone once again leading to better bone strength (synergistic with the GAGs mentioned earlier).

Thyroid Health and Your Bones

A fundamental question arises: Who is managing the construction crew of osteoblasts and osteoclasts?  Herein the plot thickens and the complexity of the issue increases by many orders of magnitude.  I will try to keep this as easy to understand as possible, so that you can get the basic gist of what is going on and an understanding of where new science is taking us – as well as how you can use this information to your advantage. 

TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) is generally thought of as a message going from your pituitary gland to your thyroid gland, telling your thyroid to get going.  As TSH levels rise (subclinical hypothyroidism), it means your pituitary is yelling at your thyroid to get going, and your thyroid may or may not be responding. 

In addition to this primary function of TSH, the new science shows that TSH is directly talking to the osteoblasts in bone (the bone building carpenters), which have TSH receptors on them.  In fact, osteoblasts are listening for TSH instructions in order to pick up their hammers and go to work – while at the same time telling osteoclasts not to work too hard.

A number of studies, both animal and human, prove that a lack of TSH results in bone loss.  On the other hand, too much TSH also shuts down osteoblasts, a problem we might call TSH resistance (similar to leptin resistance or insulin resistance).  This problem has now been clearly demonstrated in postmenopausal women.

This means that it is absolutely vital to have a correct amount of TSH signaling to your thyroid as well as to your bone, as a basic need for healthy bone rejuvenation.

It has also been proven that the presence of adequate T3 (active thyroid hormone) is needed for osteoblasts to perform.  In this context think of TSH as the order to get to work and T3 as the signal the provides the energy to do a full day’s work.

Because individuals with hypothyroid, subclinical hypothyroid, or just plain sluggish thyroid function tend to have too much TSH and not enough T3, it is a double-negative bone-stressing situation that directly causes poor bone strength.

Prior to this new understanding it was simply thought that hyper thyroid induced bone loss due to an excessive metabolic state that “burned up” bone as an undesirable consequence (which is true).  Now we see that virtually every shade of gray in terms of hypothyroid proneness is adverse to bone.  This means fixing even small thyroid glitches is important for maintaining healthy bones.

Leptin is in Command

The overall function of thyroid hormone in your body is occurring with permission from the big hormone boss, leptin.  Not surprisingly, leptin regulation of bone is even more important than thyroid regulation of bone.  We now understand that leptin regulates bone in two primary ways:

1) Leptin signals your subconscious brain (hypothalamus) to turn on sympathetic nerves that directly regulate the activity of osteoblasts.
2) Leptin circulating in your blood goes into your bone and directly manages the behavior of osteoclasts and osteoblasts.  Leptin can also be produced in your bone by fat cells that are a normal part of bone structure.

This may be one of the most complex regulatory systems in your body.  The leptin-permitted message from your brain via your nerves actually slows down osteoblasts (meaning less bone formation).  On the other hand, leptin simultaneously allows the increase in TSH that tells osteoblasts to get going.  In health, this is some sort of a fitness system in signaling, a form or management flexibility to go either direction and to have a system of feedback that keeps the carpentry crew nimble yet under control.

In fact, it appears that leptin wants to make sure everything is working properly, so much so that leptin itself acts locally in bone, primarily to ensure bone building takes place. Thus, if you are normal body weight and have a normal appetite, then leptin will enter your brain in a normal amount and trigger complex signals that directly regulate your bone formation – as your body’s primary signal for doing such.  You will also have leptin, in a normal amount, acting locally within your bones to ensure bone regeneration.

Leptin enables the human race to withstand starvation.  Thus, situations that are similar to real starvation (malnutrition, anorexia, excessive exercise, malabsorption of food, etc.) lower leptin levels to withstand the withering effect of not enough nutrition.  Bone loss always accompanies this problem, and is always accompanied by low leptin activity within bone.  Bone regeneration is energy intense and cannot proceed in times of true malnutrition, so leptin controls the process and puts bone regeneration on hold until more nutrition is available.

However, when a person is overweight bone metabolism starts to go haywire.  An overweight person is leptin resistant, meaning there is too much leptin in their blood coming from the extra pounds of fat, yet that leptin isn’t getting into the brain (a false state of perceived starvation).  This causes central nervous system and thyroid signals to behave as if starvation is going on, while local leptin within bone is excessive.  This problem causes bone chaos with consequent bone weakening and disruption of overall body metabolism (discussed in the next section), even if bone density appears “normal” in a two-dimensional picture.

I mentioned previously that the parent cells of osteoclasts could either become macrophages or osteoclasts. If there is too much inflammation in bone then excessive osteoclasts are made that break down bone.  Well, the parent cells of osteoblasts can either become osteoblasts or new fat cells.  As a person gains weight then excess fat cells are formed within bone, depressing the formation of osteoblasts.  Furthermore, inflammatory immune cell activity takes place as a result of the extra fat cells, in turn stimulating the formation of too many osteoclasts.  This is how leptin problems damage bone health.

Believe it or not, this is a simple explanation of the complexity involved.  While leptin is the primary signal in your brain regulating healthy bone regeneration, numerous related brain signals also modulate bone health.  One in particular is worth mentioning, and that is the elevation of NPY (neuropeptide Y) which is invariably associated with excessive cravings for carbohydrates.  NPY slows down osteoblasts and increases osteoclasts.  Said another way, if you are overweight and craving food too often, especially carbohydrates, you are likely losing bone density and bone strength.

The bottom line is to keep leptin in good working order by following the Leptin Diet and you’ll be doing your bones a favor.  This is especially important if you are trying to lose weight, as you can lose significant bone density by losing weight improperly.  Any nutrients you use to help yourself stay on the Leptin Diet towards a successful outcome will be synergistically helping your bones even if you don’t think of such nutrients in the traditional bone-support category.  If you would like to read a comprehensive scientific article explaining bones and leptin, click here.

The Emerging Metabolic Picture

There is far more to this story.  So far we have been discussing this issue from the perspective of making your bones strong and healthy.  The new science shows that healthy bones play a major role in determining healthy metabolism.

It has been found that osteoblasts secrete a protein called osteocalcin that is not only involved in the formation of bone but acts as a hormone, communicating to stored fat and increasing the production of adiponectin. Adiponectin is a vital hormone that enables your liver to be sensitive to insulin so that you do not become glucose intolerant and eventually type II diabetic.  At the same time, ostecalcin also communicates to your pancreas and helps it make insulin in the first place, so that you have improved ability to transport sugar to places it needs to go. 

On the other side of the coin is research showing that extra osteoclasts, the cells that drive inappropriate bone loss, make too much of a specific enzyme called tartrate resistant acid phosphatase or TRAP.  They bred a strain of mice to generate excessive TRAP so they could study exactly what it did to bones – and much to their surprise it made the mice fat.

The research was able to show that macrophages (immune cells) acting within white adipose tissue (stored fat) used TRAP to generate new fat cells. Overweight people make 400% more TRAP than normal weight people. This lends novel proof to the existing body of science that the process which drives an expanding waistline is an inflammatory process, in no small part caused by immune cells operating within stored fat.  It is also likely that excess TRAP production within bone helps fuel the production of fat cells within bone, at the expense of osteoblast formation and consequent osteocalcin production – though this hasn’t been demonstrated yet.  It has been shown that the mineral boron lowers TRAP production by osteoclasts.

This problem of abnormally weak bones due to obesity has now been documented in children and teens.  Considering the obesity epidemic in these young people, we can expect serious bone health issues in their later years.  Messing up bones while you are growing is a huge problem that causes a failure to reach genetic potential – ground that will be very difficult, if not impossible, to make up later.  It is also important to lose weight in a healthy way so that bone density is not lost while weight is lost.

The bottom line is that too many osteoclasts tilt metabolism towards bone loss, obesity, inflammation, and impaired insulin function.  On the other hand, adequate osteoblasts help guard against obesity, excess inflammation, and help improve the function of insulin in multiple ways while at the same time building new bone.

This data means that anything you do to improve your bone health will have a profound effect on improving your overall metabolism.  For example, by lifting weights you can stimulate osteoblasts to repair bone that you are now using more.  As you stimulate osteoblasts, then osteocalcin levels will rise, in turn boosting adiponectin and helping to correct insulin resistance or reverse type II diabetes.
 
Any nutritional strategy that helps osteoblasts while reducing osteoclasts will directly improve your blood sugar metabolism.  We have known for a long time that proper blood sugar metabolism is a key to longevity.  We have also known for a long time that healthy bones are present in people who live longer.  Now the dots are connected.

Our bodies are used to fighting infection and we have very advanced weaponry or we as a race would not have survived earlier battles.  Your body is the superpower, not the virus.  Do you know how to unleash your potential?

Fundamental to any aspect of health is energy.  You must have energy to do anything and you must have lots of energy to effectively prevent an infection or to mount an efficient immune response.  Your immune system in a time of need is an energy intense operation.

Your brain coordinates your deployment of energetic resources during a time of infection, as commander and chief.  The language it uses is heavily reliant on a system of short-lived immune system signals called cytokines.  Cytokines are communication molecules that share connections between your nervous system, your immune system, your thyroid function, and your adrenals. 

Cytokines are involved in inflammation and anti-inflammation.  Those who have so far died from this new Swine flu have suffered from a “cytokine storm” leading to mortality – meaning that this critical system of natural function was unable to keep up with the demands of the infection.  Why?

Intruder Alert

Just as you would be somewhat panicked by a stranger entering your home, your body sends out 911 signals to the command and control center of your brain (hypothalamus gland) once an infection has been identified.  In essence, your body is preparing for battle and is going on high alert.  This initial process is highly inflammatory and is a vital part of ramping up your defense system.  It is initiated by cytokine signals cross-talking between immune cells and your hypothalamus gland.

Because this process is highly inflammatory your brain knows that it will need an extra supply of anti-inflammatory lubrication to keep things cooled off, like making sure you have enough oil in your car engine to keep it running faster without overheating.  In your body, this function is performed by your adrenal glands.  Thus, cytokines directly talk to your hypothalamic/pituitary/adrenal axis and tell it to ramp up production of inflammation-quenching lubricant (cortisol). 

What happens if you are already low on adrenal lubricant?  In other words, what if you are already stressed out, tired, fatigued, anxious, irritable, and in a general trend of wear and tear?  Answer – there is no way you will make lubricant in the proper amount because your system is either out of shape or already running on a credit card that is overdrawn.

This problem is what would set you up for being more at risk for a cytokine storm.  During an intense infection your body must balance the need to make highly inflammatory compounds with the need to protect your body from the inflammation.  If the infection is intense, you must make a lot of inflammatory compounds.  If you don’t have an adequate supply of relaxation reserves because you have already spent them on day-to-day living, you could be in trouble.

This may be a wake up call for many people to find better balance in their lives, especially at the time of a potential pandemic flu.  Depleting yourself from stress or pushing it too hard in general, especially when combined with a lack of quality sleep, puts your immune system at a significant disadvantage.

The best way to test the health of this system is to do some aerobic exercise.  In this case the stress of the exercise actually activates the same higher need for anti-inflammatory reserves – raising your cortisol up to five times normal resting value.  Cortisol at this level then activates endorphins and you get a runner’s high (or at least feel refreshed).  Too much exercise will tire you out and those who aren’t fit enough to exercise are also of questionable fitness to fight an infection.

By the way, if you feel on the verge of fighting a bug, cut back on intensity or eliminate aerobics until you are done fighting the infection.  This is because the aerobics demand is too intense when your body needs to also activate an immune response.

There are many nutrients you can use to boost adrenals, including a high protein breakfast, pantethine, Q10, magnesium, B complex, and vitamin C.  There are also numerous nutrients that can help your adrenals quench inflammation, including quercetin, bromelain, and curcumin – to name a few.  Of course, there is no making up for a lack of sleep. 

Energetic Competence

The next issue of great importance is the function of your thyroid system, as it facilitates the pace at which energy can be produced by your body.  Many individuals struggle with poorly functioning thyroid and this is a clear weakness that can handicap available energy, especially during a time of increased energy need such as fighting an infection.

Relatively new science has pinpointed how the toxins coming from infections are a major challenge to your thyroid function.  This information shows that when toxic infectious particles are sensed by your hypothalamus gland, thyroid function is progressively turned down in response to the initial inflammatory gene signals that are needed to fight the infection.  This is most likely a survival system in and of itself, as energy needs to be diverted to immune function and away from general metabolic needs.  However, it appears a line can be crossed where too much toxicity can simply crash your thyroid function – creating a major problem for immune function.  Additionally, infections directly inflame the thyroid gland itself.

This inflammatory problem will be magnified by pre-existing thyroid problems, especially in those with pre-existing elevated thyroid autoantibodies.  Even sluggish thyroid issues are a problem, as they will handicap general energy production.  By the time a person has elevated thyroid autoantibodies (5% of the population), it means that the anti-inflammatory reserves of the adrenals are also already lacking. 

Leptin resistance causes a similar thyroid problem in your brain, as your body gets the false notion you are starving and so turns down your metabolism by deactivating TRH (thyrotropin releasing hormone).  This means that following the Leptin Diet is a really good idea so as not to be placing your thyroid function in a state of pre-existing stress based on how you are eating. 

The infection anti-thyroid response targets the same TRH signal in your hypothalamus, but is orchestrated by non-food signal inputs.  There are special glial cells called tanycytes that line key areas within your hypothalamus gland.  These cells sense the infection particles and actually producing extra T3 within your hypothalamus gland only, which makes your brain think your body has enough T3, at which point your brain turns down TRH production and consequently reduces thyroid output for the rest of your body.  Interestingly, this is one reason why people with sub-clinical or chronic low grade viral infections typically have sluggish thyroid problems.

Another significant thyroid stress is the toxicity of the drugs used to fight viral infections.  While no specific studies exist on Tamiflu and thyroid, the fact that Tamiflu causes mental derangement in a percentage of children is evidence that it interferes with normal adrenal and thyroid function.  We know that other viral therapies, as applied to HIV or hepatitis, can be very toxic to the thyroid.

This means that viral drug treatment is likely to take a toll on the thyroid anyway, so it is a good idea to ideally have your system working so well that you don’t get sick and if you should have to battle the flu you want to keep your thyroid as functional as possible.

Strength training exercise helps to condition your thyroid to work better, as one final end point of thyroid metabolism is to combine smoothly with growth hormone to rejuvenate muscle recovery.  It is an especially good idea to have fit muscles going into any potential flu pandemic, as your muscles act as a bank account of protein that your body will use in a time of need to make antibodies.  The more muscle you have, the better chance of survival.  I have noticed for many years that when people keep their muscles fit they are much less prone to getting sick.

Summary

Your immune systems need to activate various germ-killing troops in order to defend you. Fundamental to this task is having energy on demand, much like having money in savings for a time of need.  You help promote this savings by living in harmony with your hormonal systems.

Eating in harmony with leptin helps your adrenals, thyroid, and immunity.  If you aren’t aerobically fit or muscularly fit, then there is no better time to get started.  Even if the U.S. is spared the Swine flu this summer, there is a high probability it will be back next fall.  This might give you a little extra time to be better prepared.

Maintaining optimal function of your adrenals and thyroid are key to many aspects of health, including immunity.

The whole flu process gets going by breathing it in and then swallowing, or coming into contact and then touching your face and eventually swallowing the virus.  From there it goes to your digestive tract – where your first line of defense is death by hydrochloric acid.  This is not a good time to be on any acid-suppressing medication – which is clearly known to double your chances of getting whatever flu comes around.

A great deal of immune system activity is constantly going on in and around your digestive tract.  Half of your lymph system is located around your digestive tract to deal with “foreigner issues.”  You actually have more foreign cells in your digestive tract than cells that make up your body.  Your relationship with these non-self entities plays a large role in your immune competence.

For example, if you have too much Candida albicans and too much of a hostile bacteria, these issues have already strained immune function within your gut.  In many cases these foreign gangs of thugs are communicating to your front line troops and telling them not to work properly.  This makes it more likely that some other type of problem, such as the new Swine flu, can get a toehold in your digestive tract and begin multiplying.

During a potential pandemic you should avoid all junk food, snacking on sugar, excess alcohol, or anything else that interferes with your digestive processes.  It is a top priority to maintain your digestive tract in excellent working condition.

First, let’s put what we do know in perspective.  Many of the Mexicans who have died are lower income individuals living in unsanitary and crowded conditions which are ideal breeding grounds for germs.  It has been reported that they cannot afford to take time off work to seek medical care.  Their diets are often lacking in key nutrients that would help the immune system behave normally.  Nevertheless, there is still serious and legitimate concern that young adults can be killed by this flu.

The first death in the U.S. occurred in a 23-month-old Mexican infant who was in Texas at the time of outbreak.  What has concerned health authorities here is that they were unable to save the child despite the use of anti-viral drugs, breathing assistance, and the best care that could be mustered.

The flu pandemic of 1918, also a swine flu, struck many young adults.  Only recently did scientists figure out that this earlier swine flu was able to hijack the host’s own immune response and ramp up the inflammatory aspect of that immune response and thereby increase its level of attack in a healthy person.

It is important to understand that your immune system is not just one type of response, it is many.  If you get the flu you absolutely must have the energy and nutrition to be able to make antibodies.  The speed and efficiency you can do this will determine the severity of infection and your odds of survival.

For example, in cases where humans contracted the bird flu in Asia, if they began making enough antibodies to the infection by day 7 they lived, if they didn’t start mounting an effective response by day 9 they died.  This pattern appears similar to the current reports of people dying in Mexico – by the 9th day of a significant battle it is too late unless your own immune system has kicked into gear.  In this context you must have the nutritional horsepower to fuel antibody production or you could be in for a very unpleasant experience.

Another aspect of your immune response is its initial inflammatory reaction – which is of course normal.  This is one aspect of immunity that occurs before antibodies are made, and is part of the process that leads to antibodies being made.  It is possible for a younger or healthier person to have a more exaggerated inflammation response than an elderly person, infant, or person with compromised immunity.  In this scenario, inflammatory cytokines may become their own problem – think of this as a “cytokine storm.”  This was the case with the similar flu in 1918.

This problem does not mean that you should not attempt to naturally boost your immune system.  It does mean that you should use nutrients as part of your immune support protocol that reduce inflammation so as to help “put a lid” on how much inflammation is generated.  The single best nutrient for this is quercetin, which has been proven to help prevent the flu.  However, there are many nutrients that are anti-inflammatory in nature and any of them would be helpful, including the fresh fruit and vegetables that should be part of your diet.

It is also important to understand that a younger adult who is stressed out, not sleeping enough, eating poorly, is too anxious or wound up, and is in a general trend of wear and tear has already primed the inflammatory pump.  This means that a flu entering into such a person is much more likely to have a magnified inflammatory response because this person’s anti-inflammatory and relaxation reserves are already running on empty.

During the time of a potential flu pandemic the last thing you want to do is let yourself get worn down.  Besides lifestyle management, any nutrients that help you sleep better, feel calmer, or manage stress better will also help your immune system not hyper-react to a problem.

While this may seem like common sense, there are many people out there who are generally healthy but are running their bodies into the ground trying to get things done.  This is definitely a time to re-evaluate your priorities as doing so can put you into a high risk category if this flu begins to spread.

This study should come as no surprise, as nutrients are obviously needed to facilitate millions and millions of healthy chemistry reactions on a daily basis.  Any young child is in the rapid growth mode and being short on needed nutrients has an adverse effect on optimizing genetic potential during this crucial growth time.

I formulated Super Mini Multi to meet these levels of nutrients with the finest forms of the nutrients available.  I know of no other multi vitamin for children that uses the superior co-enzyme forms of B vitamins along with natural carotenes, lycopene, lutein, and the best form of iron for health as well as not inducing digestive distress (iron glycinate).*

Most consumers do not understand dietary supplement ingredients and quality differences, and tend to think multiple vitamins are created on an equal basis.  This naïveté plays into the hands of all-hype mass marketers of cheap junk that has little under the hood.  Many tricks are attempted to promote rather meaningless “advantages” such as whole food concentrates, food form nutrients, liquid vitamins, and other nonsense.  This article will help you understand the real story of nutrients in a multiple vitamin.

One misguided premise is that a multiple vitamin need only supply 100% of our government’s concept of how much of a nutrient you need to prevent a flagrant nutrient deficiency disease.  These Stone-Age concepts were often established by observation of prisoners and what disease developed based on a type of diet they were consuming (like a lack of B1 causing beriberi due to eating polished rice).  Such guidelines have little to do with optimal health, offsetting stress, or producing energy.  These latter issues are the basic concerns of just about anyone who lives in the typical high-stress world and is trying not to have their health compromised by all the demands they are under.

Modern science shows that vitamins, minerals, and many other nutrient co-factors participate in millions of chemistry reactions in your body that are required for optimal health.  It is rather obvious that the more stress you are under and the harder you are pushing your body, the greater your need for these vital health-promoting nutrients.*

It is popular for many dieticians, doctors, and public health officials to claim that you can get all your vitamins, minerals, and other nutrient co-factors from your diet.  This argument falls short for a variety of reasons.  The majority of Americans don’t take the time to prepare and eat true high quality food.  Even many seemingly wholesome foods are grown in nutrient-depleted and polluted soils and also contain a dose of pesticide toxins in every bite.  We obviously must eat something, but true quality food is in short supply. 

If you truly eat an organic and wholesome diet, your energy level is great, your fitness is very good, and your stress demands are well under control, then maybe you don’t need any extra help.  However, the majority of people falling in to this category are the very people who also tend to take a variety of nutrients to further bolster their health, not wanting to get any older any faster than they have to.

The core product in any person’s common sense approach to health is the multiple vitamin.  That multiple vitamin needs to energize you and help you feel better.  You should be able to tell a difference when you take it.  When designing a multiple vitamin the core base of the product is the B vitamins.  You can tell a great deal about a company by the amounts and types of B vitamins they put in their products. 

What are B vitamins?

B vitamins are nutrients that cannot be synthesized in adequate amounts by your body to sustain your health – thus you must consume them.  Fresh unprocessed food is an excellent source of B vitamins.  B vitamins are found in many different foods including whole grains, animal meats, beans, vegetables, and fruit.  Eating a varied diet of whole and unprocessed foods is the best way to get these nutrients from your food.  At least half the American population is lacking adequate B vitamins for optimal health.

In dietary supplements the B vitamins are made by microbial fermentation.  This is similar to the idea of friendly flora in your digestive tract fermenting your dietary carbohydrates, protein, and fiber and producing useful metabolic by-products.  After the B vitamins are grown under controlled conditions they are purified, stabilized, and then ready for use in dietary supplements.

Quality variables are one issue with the B vitamins – especially how well they are purified.  The entry of China into the dietary supplement raw material market has caused low-cost B vitamins to be dumped onto the consumer market.  Production standards in China are not dependable at this time. 

Really cheap B vitamins tend to stink a lot.  Any B vitamins have a slight odor that will get stronger with age of the product.  The cheap B vitamins start out in a foul smelling condition.  This is why so many companies put them in tablets and then coat the tablets – trying to cut down on the smell.  Open any box of B vitamin-fortified cereal and take a deep smell of the contents – you’ll see what I mean.

In addition to basic product purification the actual final form of the B vitamin that is produced makes a huge quality difference.  At Wellness Resources I focus on the co-enzyme forms of B vitamins in our products as they are easy to absorb and already in the exact form your cells need – a major metabolic advantage. 

These types of high grade B vitamins cost much more than the inactive forms most often used in supplements, but they make a huge difference to your health.

An inactive form of a B vitamin must have energy (ATP) donated to it so as to make it useful.  This process may not work well in people who are already stressed or short on energy – thus they don’t feel any better from their vitamin.  In my Daily Energy Multiple Vitamin I rely on the co-enzyme forms of B vitamins. 

B12 Tells the Story

The most expensive component in any multiple vitamin is the B12.  Thus, you can immediately tell the quality of any multiple vitamin, regardless of the hype that promotes it, by looking at the form of the B12 in the product and the amount of B12 in each capsule.  Since I have been repeatedly stressing the importance of higher quality forms of B vitamins as a quality standard, many companies are now using them.  The problem is, they often don’t use very much of them, especially the extremely important B12.  Rather, they try to boost up their prices by putting a lot of cheap “whole food herbs” into the product – a silly ploy to cover up a lack of money spent on the ingredients that actually matter most to your health.

The cheapest form of B12 is called cyanacobalamin.  Your body cannot actually use this nutrient in this form, thus you must first strip off the front end molecule which happens to be cyanide and then detoxify it.  Then you must have the energy to turn it into one of the co-enzyme forms (methylcobalamin or adenosylcobalamin).

Why are companies putting cheap B12 in products when it makes you have to detoxify the cyanide?  Answer – it is 1/10th the price of methylcobalamin.  How much cyanide do you want to take?  This issue takes on great importance for those with existing chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue, or fibromyalgia. 

Any company still putting cyanacobalamin in their multiple vitamin, B complex, or homocysteine reduction formula is simply using a cheap ingredient and hopes you don’t care about the quality of what you are taking.  Don’t listen to their hype – realize the simple fact – they will cut similar corners to save money ON EVERY SINGLE PRODUCT THEY MAKE. 

If a company is using methylcobalamin then the next important question is, how much?  Be careful, labels can sometimes deceive you.  The serving size may be as high as 8 capsules/tablets – so it sounds like you are getting a larger amount but each capsule/tablet only contains 1/8 of the amount listed.  Whenever a manufacturer lists the directions on the bottle, such as 1-2 capsules up to three times a day, then the supplement facts panel must list the serving size as 2 capsules – the commonly consumed higher dose. 

I have seen some deceptive companies list the serving size as 8 capsules/tablets, even though you are only expected to take 4 at a time.  Such labels are not in compliance with labeling law, and are done to make the consumer think they are getting more than they really are.  Many people think they are getting that amount in 1 capsule/tablet, simply because they don’t understand the number of capsules/tablets in a serving.

With a little bit of math you can quickly calculate the relative value of one product to another, based on the idea that the B12 is the most expensive component.  Unless you are buying a family size, most multiple vitamin products are a 1 month or 30 day supply.  Thus, figure out how much B12 is in a daily dose and divide the cost of the product by 30, which will give you a relatively accurate estimate of how much you are actually paying for the quality in the bottle. 

In my Daily Energy Multiple Vitamin, there are 90 capsules in a bottle (a one month supply for one person).  In each 3 capsules there are 400 mcg of methylcobalamin and 400 mcg of another form of co-enzyme B12 called adenosylcobalamin.  Our every day WEB price for this product is $22.40 or $0.74 for 400 mcg of daily methylcobalamin.

Once you start comparing this to other products you will quickly see the true value that you are getting in the Daily Energy Multiple Vitamin.  Many companies are charging you $50.00 a month for a multiple vitamin with 100 mcg of daily methylcobalamin, more than 6 times the price of Daily Energy Multiple Vitamin. 

The reason you need extra B12 is because it is the primary nutrient that keeps many brain and liver chemistry reactions going, a need that rises in direct proportion to the stress you are under.  Our government’s B12 level is set for the prevention of a form of anemia related to B12 – which is irrelevant to your daily stress-related needs.  Methylcobalamin sits in the middle of hundreds of vital energy and health-related metabolic reactions – and if you don’t have enough these important health-sustaining activities are not going to happen at an optimal pace.*

You will also notice that the Daily Energy Multiple Vitamin contains the other co-enzyme form of vitamin B12 known as adenosylcobalamin – a form seldom included in most multiple vitamins.  This is in our product because the two co-enzyme forms of B12 form a “pool” of active B12 metabolites.  If that pool is lacking adenosylcobalamin then your body will convert methylcobalamin into adenosylcobalamin rather than use it in ways you would like.  In essence, this is a waste of methylcobalamin. 

Adenosylcobalamin is needed to assemble proteins into your physical structure, and as such is an anti-physical wear and tear nutrient.  By providing both active forms of B12 in a single product a new quality standard is set – one that provides enough of these vital nutrients to support your health.

Compensating for Low Quality

Don’t be deceived by “bells and whistles” that appear as “added value” to a multiple vitamin.  They are generally smokescreens to cover up the lack of money spent on the B12 that actually matters to your health.  All form of consumer manipulation is in play. 

There is the “whole food” marketing scam.  This ploy grinds up a lot of plants of different types and shoves them in the capsule to fill space.  It sounds good but these nutrients are really cheap fillers that have very low levels of actual active ingredients.  It makes it sound like the product is some type of whole food wonder pill, when in fact it is mostly full of cheap ingredients that cover for the lack of B12 and other important nutrients for energy production.

Then there is the “food form” nutrient, made by fermenting vitamins with yeast and making some form of concoction that is then claimed as a food form nutrient.  Many individuals are highly reactive to the yeast components in these products – making them significant allergens for many who take them – especially if the individual has a history of Candida or mold issues. 

And then there are companies that just throw yeast into their multiple vitamins, again producing a lower quality and often allergy provoking product.  Such a company will almost always use a cheap form of the B12 and other B vitamins, hoping you don’t know any better.

Liquid vitamins are for the most part a joke.  Water accelerates chemistry reactions and anyone taking a liquid B vitamin will be lucky to be getting anything.

Of course, stay away from any multiple vitamin in a tablet.  Compressing a bunch of ingredients into a mini-rock reduces their absorption and increases the likelihood they will pass through your system undigested.

At Wellness Resources all of our capsule products use V-caps (vegetarian cellulose capsules).  These capsules readily dissolve in your digestive tract, at which point our fine quality and easy to absorb nutrients are released.  And they contain no animal byproducts.

All Wellness Resources our products have been designed to work in a clinical environment, oftentimes needing to help people who have lost all hope.  This need of many of our customers has forged the quality difference that has become the Wellness Resources brand.  When you are trying to fix your health the last thing you need is taking products with little chance of working.  Of course, fine quality products work the best for healthy people too – and are the first choice for the quality-minded discerning consumer.

It does cost more to put real quality in a product.  We have been in business, as a family business, almost 25 years.  We’ve done it by providing real quality for a fair price – something you won’t find from network marketing companies, hype-oriented health professionals, and corporate cost-cutting giants.  Compare the B12 form, amount, and price – try our product – and form your own conclusions.  Energy is the backbone of health.

Granted, Daily Balancer wouldn’t be a daily formula if not for the fact that we live in a polluted environment and encounter multiple man-made toxins on a regular basis that we have little genetic experience dealing with.  These toxins can damage your brain, your liver and kidneys, the DNA of your cells, irritate your cardiovascular system, throw a monkey wrench into thyroid function, and generally interfere with metabolism.

I don’t believe that most people understand just how serious the problem is for any person of any age.

Once upon a time our Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted a program called the National Human Adipose Tissue Survey (NHATS).  In 1982 and again in 1987 it analyzed human fat samples from cadavers from across the country – looking for the types of toxins that accumulate in human fat.  Four industrial solvents and one dioxin were found in 100% of the fat samples.  Another 9 chemicals, including 3 more dioxins and 1 furan were found in over 90% of the fat samples.  In general, 83% of the fat samples contained PCBs. 

It is important to understand that toxins only sore in fat when your natural detoxification system cannot keep up with demands.  To find over 90% of fat samples with serious amounts of toxic chemicals means that all Americans are being exposed to too much pollution – more than their body’s can readily dispose of.

Tracking this data was mandated by law, the funding for which was conveniently cut from the budget by the Reagan administration (unfortunately that administration, like all since, have been pollution friendly).  The final reports are now mysteriously missing from the above EPA website, but were reported on rather thoroughly in Alternative Medicine Review, and dioxin and furan levels from this data were specifically analyzed by the American Public Health Association.

These chemicals accumulate in the food chain in animal, dairy, and fish – which are then consumed by humans.  We don’t actually know how bad the exposure is right now, but PBCs last hundreds of years and decompose into even more toxic dioxins and furans (dioxins and furans are also produced as part of industrial pollution today).  We do know that a 2007 EPA report shows that farm soil across America is polluted with PCBs and related chemicals. 

Daily Balancer contains truly helpful levels of potent liver-protecting and natural detoxification compounds, and the core of that support is based on chlorella (a natural toxin chelator), milk thistle/silymarin (an herb that protects your liver and brain from toxins), and R-alpha lipoic acid (a potent protector of your liver and nerves).  Other cofactor nutrients are included that help with various aspects of detoxification, including trans-resveratrol, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), taurine, glycine, ornithine Alpha-ketoglutarate, and carnosine.* 

The combination of nutrients in Daily Balancer gives you comprehensive support to help your liver with various detoxification systems (referred to as Phase 1 and Phase 2).  There are plenty of stressors in today’s world, and pollution is high on that list for one and all.  The reason I made Daily Balancer a daily formula was because of this pervasive pollution problem in our society.  It is wise to support your natural detoxification systems as part of a basic health program.*