Glutathione is an antioxidant. It’s actually the most powerful antioxidant because it is made in your own body, helping to protect you from the chemicals we are all exposed to each day. Glutathione is made in your liver. You need an extremely healthy liver in order to make sufficient glutathione. It’s not just alcohol that adversely affects the liver. Many common health conditions such as fatty liver, gut problems like irritable bowel, food sensitivities, chronic infections, nutrient deficiencies and immune problems all impair glutathione production.

Having a health problem can make you deficient in glutathione, but also having low glutathione puts you at risk of health problems. It’s a vicious cycle.

What is glutathione?

It is a small molecule made from 3 amino acids (building blocks of protein). These amino acids are glutamine, cysteine and glycine. Several nutrients are required for the manufacture of glutathione, especially selenium, vitamin C and glutamine. Being deficient in these will impair your production of this vital compound. Fortunately, there are several ways of boosting your production of glutathione.

What are the symptoms of low glutathione?

The following are possible symptoms:

• Brain fog
• Aches and pains (fibromyalgia)
• Fatigue
• Weak immune system
• Headaches
• Joint pain

How to boost your body’s production of glutathione

• Selenium is required for glutathione production. You probably know how important selenium is for the health of your immune system and thyroid gland. It is also a powerful antioxidant and this is largely because of its role in glutathione production. Many parts of the world have selenium deficient soils and very few foods are a rich source of this mineral. The best food sources of selenium include Brazil nuts, seafood, onion and garlic. Getting plenty of those foods in your diet is a good way of maintaining your health, but if you wish to improve your health, you may need to take a selenium supplement.
• N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is the precursor of glutathione and can be taken in supplement form. Studies have shown that most oral forms of glutathione are not well absorbed. The body tends to digest it to its building blocks and blood levels of glutathione don’t rise significantly. NAC supplements tend to be far more effective. This substance has a long history of use; it is given to patients who overdose on Tylenol because it can prevent liver damage. NAC also helps to protect the kidneys from potential harm caused by contrast dyes used in diagnostic scans. Taking an NAC supplement each day can help to protect your body from oxidative damage and help to make you a more efficient detoxifier.
• Methylation nutrients are important. Methylation is a process that assists your body’s production of glutathione. The main nutrients required for methylation are B vitamins, particularly B6, B9 (folate) and B12. B12 is found in animal foods such as meat, poultry and seafood, while plant foods are an excellent source of the other B vitamins. It is important to eat lots of vegetables each day, either as salads, vegetable juices, smoothies, or cooked vegetables.
• Sulfur is needed for glutathione production. Sulfur is found in cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, garlic, leek and eggs. If you don’t include much of these foods in your diet, you can take a natural sulfur supplement called MSM, which can be found in our Collagen Food powder. This stands for methyl sulfonyl methane. It is traditionally taken by people who want to improve their liver health and also reduce joint pain, but MSM is also necessary for glutathione production.
• Try to get some movement each day. Exercise boosts your body’s production of glutathione. As long as you don’t exercise to complete exhaustion, exercise acts as a minor stress on your body, boosts your immune system and improves your detoxification abilities. It is often said that “sitting is inflammatory” because inactivity raises your body’s production of inflammation generating compounds. Exercise helps to counteract that.

For more information about autoimmune disease see our book Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation.

Reference

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.

Fortunately, there is a lot that can be done, which includes staying away from problem foods and skin products that irritate your child’s skin. It is also critical to support the immune system and gut flora. Some children seem to grow out of eczema, but the underlying immune dysfunction can just change form and turn into asthma, hay fever or chronic sinusitis.

Eczema causes red, itchy, and inflamed skin. In severe cases the skin can crack, become weepy and an infection can develop. Approximately 60 percent of cases develop within the first year of life. Food allergy or intolerance are common triggers of eczema in children.

Factors that raise the risk of eczema

• Not being breastfed
• Vitamin D insufficiency
• Not spending enough time playing outdoors in the soil, or with animals
• When antibiotics are given early in life
• Paracetamol use in pregnancy or early life

Babies born via C section have gut flora that resembles skin flora instead of intestinal flora. They don’t travel through the birth canal and pick up the mother’s flora on the way. The baby is handled and held by nurses and doctors, so the baby picks up microbes from hospital staff. This just means that extra help is required in establishing a healthy gut in these children.

Dairy products

Usually 80 percent of children improve once they are no longer exposed to cow’s milk protein. If mom is currently breastfeeding, she would need to remove all dairy products from her diet. If a cow’s milk formula is being used, changing it to a casein free variety should help.

Cow’s milk allergy is the most common food allergy in young children. Foods made of milk like yogurt, ice cream and cheese are also common triggers for eczema. A study of 132 children with food triggered eczema found that 39 percent developed an immediate reaction after consuming cow’s milk. A 2019 study showed that infants with eczema were six times more likely to have an allergy to cow’s milk, eggs, or peanuts at 12 months of age than infants without eczema. When doing a trial elimination of dairy products, make sure to check ingredient lists on food packages carefully for milk ingredients.

If a pregnant woman is vitamin D deficient, her baby is more at risk of developing allergies. Getting a vitamin D blood test and taking a supplement during pregnancy may be helpful.

Gluten, wheat and other grains

Wheat is the main ingredient in staple foods like bread, pasta, breakfast cereals and baked goods, while gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, which gives dough its structure and elasticity. Wheat allergy can trigger or worsen eczema and may also cause other symptoms such as hives, asthma, and digestive upsets. Eczema and skin rashes can also be due to a sensitivity to gluten, or coeliac disease. A type of skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis is a possible symptom of celiac disease. Blood tests and an intestinal biopsy can diagnose celiac disease. There is no test available to diagnose non-celiac gluten sensitivity other than an elimination diet.

Eggs

Egg allergy is one of the most common food allergies, affecting approximately 1.3 percent of children under 5 in western nations. Sensitivity to egg white is far more common than to the yolk. However, if doing a trial elimination of eggs, it’s important to avoid them entirely for the time being. Research has shown that infants with eczema are almost 6 times more likely to develop an egg allergy by 12 months of age compared to those without eczema. Fortunately a lot of children grow out of an egg allergy.

Soy

Soy allergy is becoming increasingly common. This is probably because soy is found in so many processed foods. Soy is a legume and the lectins found in legumes may trigger leaky gut in some people. Once the gut lining is leaky, incompletely digested foods can get absorbed into the bloodstream. This raises the risk of allergies and autoimmune disease. Food labelling laws have recently changed, making it far easier to identify allergens in the ingredient list.

Peanuts and tree nuts

Peanuts are a common allergen and are associated with a number of skin reactions, including rashes, hives, itching, and eczema. Peanut allergies are quite common in babies and toddlers. Most peanut allergies appear within the first 2 years of life. Sometimes peanut allergies are severe, leading to anaphylaxis, while other times they are much milder.

Tree nuts could worsen eczema for many people also. Studies have shown that tree nut allergies are very common and may affect up to 4.9 percent of children and adults. Apart from eczema, they may also be triggers of asthma and hay fever. Peanuts and tree nuts are found in many foods, and highly sensitive individuals will need to avoid foods processed in facilities where nuts are handled.

Usually a one month trial is sufficient to determine if one or more of the above foods are problematic. During this time it is best to base your child’s diet on unprocessed foods that don’t have an ingredient list, such as meat, seafood, poultry, vegetables and fruit. Legumes and gluten free grains can be tolerated well by most individuals.

Antimicrobial herbs such as clove, oregano and thyme can help reduce levels of bad gut bacteria and fungi that are often responsible for causing leaky gut. They are found in BactoClear capsules.

Glutamine is well known for its ability to heal and seal a leaky gut. Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in your bloodstream and is also found in high quantities in various tissues, including the gastrointestinal tract, liver, skeletal muscle, the brain and lungs. Your small intestine uses more glutamine than any other organ. Glutamine helps to strengthen tight junctions between intestinal cells and maintains the integrity of the intestinal lining.

For more information about food sensitivities see the book Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation.

Reference

Reference

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.

In most cases liver damage can be assessed with a simple blood test called a liver function test.  This test measures levels of 4 different enzymes present in liver cells.  These enzymes are:

• AST (aspartate aminotransferase).  The normal range is 5-45 U/L
• ALT (alanine aminotransferase).  The normal range is 5-45 U/L
• AP (alkaline phosphatase).  The normal range is 30-120 U/L.  AP is sometimes raised in non-liver related conditions.
• GGT (gamma glutamyl transpeptidase).  The normal range is 5-35 U/L

These enzymes belong in your liver cells, where they carry out a range of important functions.  If your liver cells become damaged, the enzymes leak into your bloodstream and give an elevated reading on a blood test.

If you have recently finished a course of antibiotics, or you have been taking them long term, it is vitally important to ask your doctor for a liver function test to check on the health of your liver.

Besides antibiotics, a number of other medications also have the potential to cause liver inflammation; these include:

• Anticonvulsants, such as drugs used to treat epilepsy.
• Oral antifungal medication.
• Cholesterol lowering drugs called statins.
• Acetaminophen (paracetamol).
• Lithium
• Isotretinoin (Accutane or Roaccutane) used to treat severe acne.

Taking one of these medications places you at increased risk of liver injury; however taking two or more of these medications at the same time increases the risk substantially.

Ideally you would not need to take these medications at all, or for long because you maintain a healthy lifestyle.  However, unfortunately sometimes it is unavoidable and you must take one or more of these medications.  You can reduce the risk of your liver being harmed by following an appropriate liver friendly diet, such as found in The Liver Cleansing Diet book. My Liver Tonic is also available to support liver health.

Poor quality of life due to allergies was two and a half times more common in women than in men.

The Study

The research team wanted to understand which factors best predict a poor quality of life for someone living with a diagnosed food allergy. To do this, they turned to a well-established tool called the Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire (FAQLQ). It’s a validated survey that asks people to rate how much their allergy interferes with everyday things: eating out, socializing, managing anxiety around accidental exposure, and more.

How the research was done:

• 502 patients with confirmed IgE-mediated food allergy, across 19 centers in Spain were assessed
• the median age of participants  was 31.1 years old. 63.9% were women
• 86% of participants were adults; the rest were children (8–12) and teens (13–17)
• 1–7 scale used by the questionnaire, where 7 means the allergy severely disrupts daily life

Across the whole group, the median score was 4.55 out of 7. For most people in this study, food allergy was doing more than causing occasional inconvenience. It was meaningfully affecting how they lived.

Nearly 1 in 2 women in the study reported poor food-allergy-related quality of life, compared with roughly 1 in 5 men.

Women are more susceptible to allergies as well as autoimmune disease

Approximately three quarters of patients with autoimmune disease are women. Researchers have known for a long time that hormones play a big role, but have recently found that genes are involved too. Regarding hormones, women are at higher risk of developing an autoimmune disease following childbirth. Some autoimmune diseases fluctuate in intensity throughout the month, depending on the phase of a woman’s menstrual cycle. They tend to be worse in the week leading up to a period. Some autoimmune diseases and allergies go into remission during pregnancy, while others intensify markedly.

Women with allergies or autoimmune disease commonly experience an aggravation or flare in the second half of their menstrual cycle if they are not producing adequate progesterone. This is because progesterone has wonderful anti-inflammatory effects. This can be ameliorated well with the use of a natural bio-identical progesterone cream. You can also support progesterone production by ensuring your diet contains sufficient vitamins and minerals and healthy fats (since progesterone is mostly made of fat).

Regarding genes, a recent study published in the journal Nature Immunology showed specific gene expression differences between males and females that are associated with an increased risk of autoimmune disease and allergies. The researchers from the University of Michigan identified 661 genes that are expressed differently between the genders. Many of these genes are involved in immune function and inflammation, and are seen in autoimmune disease.

While it is possible to balance your hormones, it’s not possible to change your genes. Fortunately there are still so many ways to treat allergies and autoimmune disease and reduce inflammation in the body. It is critical to heal leaky gut, eliminate gluten and other foods that inflame the gut. Correcting nutrient deficiencies and improving liver health are also vital for everyone with autoimmune disease.

When the intestinal lining is excessively permeable, gut waste products can make their way into the bloodstream. First they head to the liver and then spill out into the general circulation. This places an enormous strain on the immune system. Over time, and individual can develop food sensitivities. If autoimmune disease runs in their family, they may develop an autoimmune condition. Glutamine and slippery elm are two ingredients found in Ultimate Gut Health powder. They help to heal and repair a leaky gut.

Almost all people with allergies and autoimmune disease have an overgrowth of bad bacteria and yeast in their gut. This can inflame the gut and cause foggy brain, low mood and intense sugar cravings. BactoClear capsules are a herbal disinfectant for the gut, helping to kill off microbial overgrowth.

For more information see our book Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation.

Source: Fernández-Rivas M, et al. Study on determinants of food allergy-related quality of life, corresponding author affiliated with Hospital Clínico San Carlos, IDISSC, Madrid, Spain. Published online 19 June 2026 in Allergy.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.

FODMAPs are a group of carbohydrates that are poorly digested by many people. FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols. Some people have a very low tolerance to these foods, and eating them causes a great deal of bloating and discomfort.

FODMAPs tend to have a cumulative effect, so that people typically find they become more and more bloated as the day progresses. If you want to try a low FODMAP diet, you may notice an improvement in bowel symptoms within a few days. Many commonly eaten foods are high in FODMAPs, including apples, pears, onion, garlic, cauliflower, asparagus and snow peas. Legumes and lentils are especially high in FODMAPs, so it’s no wonder that many people with IBS find they cause a great deal of gas.

A low FODMAP diet is often recommended to help with irritable bowel syndrome, but research shows it can help more serious bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are both autoimmune diseases. They occur when the immune system attacks part of the intestines. Ulcerative colitis affects the large intestine (colon), whereas Crohn’s disease may affect the small and large intestine. They are both very common diseases and the symptoms they produce can significantly reduce quality of life. They also have the potential to become very serious and require strong medication or surgery. A few recent studies have shown that a low FODMAP diet may offer significant relief of symptoms.

Three observational studies and one randomised controlled trial have shown that a low FODMAP diet may improve gastrointestinal symptoms, including abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, flatulence, stool consistency and stool frequency. I see a large number of patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. I have written about the diet and supplement strategies I use in my book about autoimmune disease. Along with a low FODMAP diet, avoiding gluten, dairy products and healing leaky gut is essential.

FODMAPs can aggravate autoimmune disease

Interestingly, some research has shown that eating too many high FODMAP foods can cause a flare up of an autoimmune disease that has been in remission for some time. It’s not only autoimmune conditions that affect the intestines; it can also be rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, and probably others that haven’t been researched yet. Some FODMAPs can be more problematic than others; fructans and inulin can be most problematic. They are found in foods such as wheat, rye, onion, garlic, asparagus, bananas and chicory root. Inulin is found in many processed foods such as muesli bars and protein bars.

Strategies for healing the gut and calming autoimmune disease

• Avoid sugar: Sugar is not only inflammatory to the body but it feeds the bad bacteria in the gut. Candida and bad bacteria thrive off sugar and can grow out of control when given lots of it to eat. Removing sugar and high carbohydrate foods from your diet is really important for those with digestive complaints or those with autoimmune disease.
• Apple cider vinegar: This vinegar is amazing for improving overall digestion and nutrient absorption. When apple cider vinegar is taken before a meal, it stimulates hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) which is required for digestion. If you are lacking in bile and stomach acid when you consume food, it cannot be properly broken down, leading to reflux, poor nutrient absorption and bloating. Taking a betaine hydrochloride supplement is an even more powerful way of increasing stomach acid.
• Glutamine: You have probably heard about this amino acid in the fitness industry for improving muscle growth and recovery. What you may not know, is that glutamine is amazing for your gut! It is the major fuel source for the cells of the intestinal lining. When the gut is damaged or inflamed and in cases of intestinal permeability (leaky gut), glutamine is effective at healing the damage and bridging the gaps between cells. It can heal leaky gut! You can achieve glutamine supplementation with our Glutamine Pure Powder or our Ultimate Gut Health  Powder.
• Reduce stress: Surely, you’ve heard that it’s bad to eat while you’re stressed or angry? This is because when you are stressed, your body produces adrenalin and activates your ‘fight or flight’ response, which basically causes a large amount of blood flow to your muscles and your brain. The blood flow to the digestive system is neglected during this period, and is not able to properly digest food, leading to symptoms of indigestion, bloating and cramping. High levels of stress hormones can also cause leaky gut. Take a few deep breaths before your meal to ‘rest and digest’. Daily magnesium is very helpful to alleviate stress and improve sleep quality.
• Anti-microbial herbs: If you have candida overgrowth, bacterial overgrowth or a parasite hiding in your intestines, this can cause inflammation, irritation and damage to the gut lining, interfere with nutrient absorption, suppress the immune system and lead to symptoms of bloating, headaches, constipation, diarrhea or reflux. Oregano, thyme, clove and berberine are anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, anti-parasitic and anti-viral and are fantastic for killing off this overgrowth. These herbs are found in BactoClear capsules.

Reference

Reference

Mast cells are immune cells found throughout your body. They act as sentinels, detecting threats and triggering protective responses. Sometimes, though, they fire when they shouldn’t, or fire too strongly. That’s when problems can arise.

The two main reasons mast cells cause problems can be a genetic mutation causing the body to produce too many mast cells, or faulty ones. Or, normal mast cells react too strongly to something like an allergen, insect venom, stress, or medication. Anaphylaxis is an extreme example of this type of reaction.

What does mast cell activation feel like?

Symptoms can be local (a skin rash) or affect the whole body. Doctors look for signs in two or more body systems at once to confirm mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS).

Possible symptoms include:

Skin

Hives (urticaria)

Flushing or redness

Swelling (angioedema)

Gut

Nausea or vomiting

Diarrhea

Abdominal cramping

Heart & circulation

Low blood pressure / fainting

Rapid heartbeat

Breathing & eyes

Wheezing

Nasal stuffiness

Red, itchy eyes

Common Triggers of MCAS

• Episodes can be triggered by ordinarily harmless external or internal factors such as:
• Specific foods or drinks (e.g., alcohol, high-histamine foods)
• Temperature changes (hot or cold)
• Stress (emotional or physical such as injury)
• Insect stings or certain medications
• Environmental exposure such as mold, dust or pollen
• Infections or hormonal changes
• MCAS is often seen in people with other complex chronic health conditions, such as Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Ehlers-Danlos syndromes or hypermobility spectrum disorders, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

What is histamine?

Histamine is a chemical your mast cells release to signal the immune system. In small amounts it’s helpful. In excess, or when the body can’t break it down fast enough, it causes the flushing, hives, gut symptoms, and brain fog that many MCAS sufferers know well.

How is MCAS diagnosed?

Diagnosing MCAS can be difficult because symptoms mimic other conditions. Doctors usually rely on a combination of clinical history of symptoms, elevated levels of mast cell mediators (like tryptase and histamine) during a flare, and a noticeable positive response to mast-cell targeted medication.

How to help MCAS

MCAS is a chronic condition but is highly manageable. Treatment focuses on avoiding or minimizing exposure to triggers; identifying and avoiding specific things that cause flares. Medications such as antihistamines (both H1 and H2 blockers), mast cell stabilizers (like cromoglicic acid), and leukotriene inhibitors to block the release of mast cell chemicals.

Natural ways to reduce inflammation in MCAS

Vitamin C

Research shows vitamin C helps the body break down and clear histamine. It is a cofactor for the enzyme diamine oxidase (DAO), which is responsible for degrading histamine in the gut and bloodstream.

When histamine accumulates faster than the body can neutralise it, symptoms flare. Getting adequate vitamin C supports the body’s own clearance system.

Beyond histamine, vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It also acts as a natural antihistamine by preventing histamine secretion from immune cells at high concentrations.

Quercetin

Quercetin is a plant pigment (called a flavonoid) found in foods like onions, apples, capers, and green tea. It’s one of the most researched natural compounds for mast cell support.

Studies in cell and animal models show that quercetin can stabilise mast cells, meaning it helps prevent them from releasing their histamine in the first place. It also appears to inhibit some of the downstream inflammatory signals that mast cells trigger.

In practical terms, many people with MCAS report that increasing quercetin help reduce the frequency and severity of reactions. Allergy Relief tablets contain quercetin.

Low histamine diet

If your body is already struggling to handle the histamine it produces internally, it makes sense to reduce how much comes in through food. Many foods either contain histamine directly, or cause mast cells to release histamine themselves.

A low-histamine diet reduces your overall histamine burden so your body isn’t constantly overwhelmed. High-histamine foods to limit or avoid include fermented foods (aged cheese, yoghurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, wine, beer), processed or smoked meats, tinned or leftover fish, vinegar and pickled products, tomatoes, spinach, avocado, strawberries, alcohol, and most soy products.

Freshness matters enormously. Histamine builds up in food as it ages. Fish left at room temperature for even a few hours can develop high levels. Cooking and eating food promptly, and freezing leftovers immediately, can significantly reduce your histamine load even without changing what you eat.

Stress reduction

The link between stress and mast cell activity is well-established in the research. Mast cells are found throughout the body in close proximity to nerve endings, and they respond directly to stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline (epinephrine). When you’re under stress, your nervous system signals danger, and mast cells respond accordingly.

For people with MCAS, this creates a particularly difficult loop: symptoms cause anxiety, which triggers more mast cell activity, which causes more symptoms. Finding activities that calm and relax you reliably is very helpful. Magnesium is a mineral that calms the nerves and muscles of the body, improving stress coping abilities.

If you experience recurrent episodes of troubling symptoms with no clear cause, ask your doctor if mast cell activation could be a factor.

Reference

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.

Scientists at UC San Diego and Creighton University have disputed the recommended intake of vitamin D set by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Institute of Medicine (IOM), claiming that their Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin D underestimates the requirement by a factor of ten.

According to the paper, the recommended intake of vitamin D stated by the IOM is 600 IU/day until age 70, and then 800 IU/day for older adults. To quote Dr. Cedric F. Garland, adjunct professor at UC San Diego’s Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, “Calculations by us and other researchers have shown that these doses are only about one-tenth those needed to cut incidence of diseases related to vitamin D deficiency”.

This is a strong statement to make but one that I agree with.

Over the years I have found that the vast majority of my patients have insufficient levels of vitamin D in their blood. The reference range on most pathology forms is the bare minimum required in order to prevent rickets or osteoporosis. We have recently learned that vitamin D has powerful benefits to the immune system and cardiovascular system, and increasing your intake can offer numerous advantages.

Of course taking too much vitamin D could become a problem, and it needs to be balanced by other fat soluble vitamins, such as vitamin K, A and E. If you are concerned about your vitamin D level it’s best to consult a healthcare practitioner.

Reference

Fascinating new research has shown the body reacts to a junk food meal in a similar manner as to a bacterial infection. This finding comes from a recent study from the University of Bonn. Eating unhealthy food makes your immune defenses more aggressive in the long term. Even if you switch to a healthy diet, the inflammation generated in your body through regular immune challenges becomes heightened.

Such long term immune changes may raise the risk of arteriosclerosis and type 2 diabetes, both diseases linked to excess inflammation and a Western diet. The results of this finding were published in the journal Cell.

The study was conducted on mice, which were placed on a Western style diet. They all developed a strong inflammatory response throughout their body, very similar to suffering with a dangerous bacterial infection. According to Anette Christ, postdoctoral fellow in the Institute of Innate Immunity of the University of Bonn, “The unhealthy diet led to an unexpected increase in the number of certain immune cells in the blood of the mice, especially granulocytes and monocytes. This was an indication for an involvement of immune cell progenitors in the bone marrow”.

Fast food caused their body to quickly recruit a huge and powerful army of immune cells. When the researchers switched the mice back to their usual diet, the acute inflammation disappeared. Interestingly, what did not disappear was the genetic reprogramming of their immune cells and cell precursors. Even after four weeks of going back to a healthy diet, many of the genes that had been switched on during the junk food phase were still active.

We all know highly processed, sugary food and fast food is not good for us, but understanding exactly how it can harm your immune system may motivate you to stay away from it. Inflammation is an underlying driver in nearly every health problem. It exists whenever there is pain, fatigue, allergy or autoimmune disease. Inflammation is also a driver of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver and cancer; some of the most prevalent diseases in Western society.

Reducing inflammation is critical if you want to protect your health. There is a great deal of helpful information in the book Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation. The majority of inflammation usually originates in the gut where there is an overgrowth of bad bacteria and yeast. This creates a leaky gut. Gut wastes get into the bloodstream and travel to the liver. My Ultimate Gut Health powder helps to heal leaky gut and my liver tonic Livatone Plus repairs damaged and inflamed liver cells.

Reference

The latest virus to worry officials was the coronavirus in China which had manifested in December 2019. Thai health authorities ramped up monitoring at Thai airports for the new mystery virus from China ahead of Lunar New Year, during which Chinese visitors in large numbers visit Thailand. This increased vigilance comes days after a Chinese woman was quarantined in Thailand with the new mystery strain of the coronavirus; this was its first detection outside of China.

Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that can cause respiratory infections ranging from mild to severe. The virus that causes SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is a coronavirus. SARS started in China in 2002 and has killed over 800 people worldwide.

In the Chinese city of Wuhan 41 people have been diagnosed with pneumonia thought to be caused by the new virus and there is the possibility of human-to-human transmission of this new virus.

Research has proven that malnutrition contributes to the emergence of new viral infections.

Selenium deficiency creates a weakening of the defense against infectious diseases, especially those caused by viruses. Selenium deficiency may lead to viral genome mutations from a benign (mild) virus to a highly virulent (dangerous) virus. An adequate supply of macro- and micronutrients is vital to support host immune defense and resistance against dangerous disease-causing microorganisms. The modern-day diet is often not sufficient to meet the increased demands for micronutrients in infectious diseases. Many areas of the world have selenium deficient soils.

Dietary multimicronutrient supplements containing selenium up to 100 to 200 μg/day have potential as safe and inexpensive additional therapy in viral infections. Dietary supplementation with selenium-containing multimicronutrients might also be useful to strengthen the immune system of patients suffering from newly emerging viral diseases, such as in the current epidemic of Ebola fever in West Africa. Populations in several countries most afflicted by past and current outbreaks of Ebola fever (e.g., Liberia, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo) show a high risk of selenium deficiency. Interestingly, the lowest dietary selenium supply in Africa was reported from Liberia, with a daily intake of only 23 μg Se.

People battling with the aftermath of an acute or chronic viral infection with such viruses as the Epstein Barr Virus (glandular fever), Coxsackievirus, herpes, Ross river, etc may be able to improve far more quickly with supplemental selenium. I would also ensure plenty of zinc and vitamin C for their proven anti-viral effects.

References:
Adv Nutr. 2015 Jan; 6(1): 73–82.
Published online 2015 Jan 7. doi: 10.3945/an.114.007575
The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 133, Issue 5, May 2003, Pages 1463S–1467S, https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/133.5.1463S
Seleniumfacts.com