A simple way to boost your immune system
Posted by Henry Maitland on 9th Nov 2015
We live in the information age, a time of endless possibilities, a time of almost limitless access to information and with this information we have seemingly limitless potential solutions to the million and one problem’s that we may want to solve. This can however be very confusing when it comes to one’s health and very expensive if we are not addressing the primary origin of disease.
One of the issues that we face today in the west is that we have a primary focus on symptoms and finding a solution to the symptom or a ‘cure’. If we are only focused on the symptom and resolution of that issue then we lose the wider focus on what may be driving the symptom and get lost in the million and one solutions to a million and one symptoms as we are not dealing with the origin of the issue. This can become very expensive, frustrating and confusing rather like trying to build a drift wood boat with Titanium nails!
It is here that we can not only significantly simplify things but dramatically empower you to release your own immune, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential. We all have within us a substantial antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification power house just ready to be unlocked. So, do you want to know how?
Where do supplements fit into my health programme?
If we take a quick look at what a human being is from a truly holistic perspective we can begin to see why simply taking pills is not really going to build our immune strength. If we focus on the mind and how its perceptions are constructed we can really get to the bottom of where the true key to immune health lies.
Humans are comprised of literally millions of systems from the invisible energetic such as the chakras and pathways of chi flow to the physical micro chemical systems and pathways such the biochemical aspects of energy production or immune function. These systems then build up all the way to the global systems such as the circulatory or musculoskeletal systems.
All these systems, energetic and physical at whatever level, operate in the field or under the influence of the mind. These systems have direct effect on our thinking as much as our thinking affects the systems to varying degrees dependent on the nature of the system. To further clarify this I would say the more energy based the system is, such as the chakra system, the more the mind is at the effect of the system and the more physical the system is, such as the muscular system, the more it is at the effect of the mind.
So what on earth does this have to do with where supplements fit into my health programme? What this is telling us is that the biggest changes to building a robust immune system come from the energy based systems such as the chakras, the second comes from the biochemical systems (organic food and supplements) and the third from the physical systems.
This means that the primary solution in building a robust immune system comes in healing and working with the chakra and meridian systems along with general chi flow, second from optimal biochemical balance and thirdly from optimal physical health… and where do most of us start? The wrong end of the scale of effect!
The evolution of the human mind… why does our own mind reduce our immune function!
Through the evolution of the human brain we can see substantial development in function. The human brain has four primary layers. We start with the central reptilian brain, then the limbic or mammalian brain, the neo-mammalian brain or neo-cortex and then finally the prefrontal cortex. As the brain has evolved we have been left with the processes of the older brain as they merge with the newer. This has led to a situation in which although we are intelligent and very capable creatures we are mostly still dominated by our primal minds.
The focus of the Reptilian brain and limbic system is primarily on survival and maintenance, such as breathing, digestion, stress response and territorial instincts. So basically functions of self-preservation and territory. It’s fairly obvious that these primal instincts still govern much of humanity… just watch the news!
The third layer of the brain (Neo cortex) presents very different functions. Its focus is on spatial and mathematical thinking, dreaming, processing information and remembering. The left hemisphere of the Neo-cortex is focused on linear, rational, and verbal and controls the right side of the body, the right hemisphere focuses on the spatial, abstract, musical and artistic and controls the left side of the body.
Then we have the seat of higher thinking (Pre-frontal cortex) which is in charge of abstract thinking and thought analysis. It’s also involved in meditation, making decisions between the perception of right or wrong, and as a result of being the processing mechanism of information it’s where we make decisions.
How the mind is the primary link to robust immune health…
The majority of us are still dominated by our primal minds, by our primal instincts; they are hard wired and appear powerful. It’s the primal instinctual survival processes of the reptilian brain combined with the visionary ability of the higher brain (frontal cortex) that do so much damage to our immune, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential. It’s very common for us to get stuck in the ‘fight of flight’ response, to get stuck in lower brain function and the emotions that go with that.
The combination of the different elements of the brain mean that we see the world with the survival instincts of the reptilian brain linked to safety, security and protection however we have the higher brain function to imagine the future and remember the past. This means we spend the majority of our time locked in to the ‘fight or flight’ response because we can project our fearful reptilian thinking into the future and our brain does not know it’s not real so reacts to the future anxiety as if it was a present and a real threat.
This stress response gets locked on, everyday being chased by the same tiger, everyday imagining the future and remembering the past, everyday our bodies are flooded with damaging stress hormones. Every day our antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification potential is being suppressed with vital vitamins and minerals being hovered up by the body to cope with the stress.
How to break the cycle and build true robust health
In a word, meditation. It has been clearly demonstrated that those who practice regular meditation can calm the deeper more primal aspects of our thinking and come to witness their processes rather than being involved with them. The processes of the higher mind connected to meditation, abstract thought and decision making can become more dominant meaning that the information coming into the brain is dealt with differently than with an unconditioned mind. In a trained mind the information goes from observation to contemplation and in the untrained mind it goes from observation to emotional response. Bring on the drama and let the tiger lose!
So through meditation we can break the cycle of stress response, live free of the habitual activation of ‘ fight or flight ‘ change from left brain dominant linear, analytical, mathematical with stress hormone release to right brain dominant creative, abstract artistic along with healing hormones and increases serotonin (happy hormone) release.
There are however other key activities and some key supplements that will help to heal the higher brain and its functions and save it from the damaging cycle of degeneration triggered by the ‘fight of flight’ response. Meditation is central however activates such as cutting calories by 30% per day or fasting once per month and twice weekly aerobic training have been shown to significantly influence the bodies ability to kick start its own antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification pathways.
Some supplements will also kick start these pathways and these include:
- DHA in high quality marine oil: Eskimo 3 Fish Oil, Green Pasture Fermented Cod Liver Oil
- Turmeric from Organic India
- Green tea extract or Dr Mercola Matcha Green Tea
- Healthy Oils: Bulletproof XCT oil or Coconut Oil from Fushi
- And lets not forget the super powerful and now highly sought after liposomal glutathione from Altrient LivOn Lab.
These activities and supplements then provide the biochemical and physiological environment for our own optimal defence and healing. As we calm the ‘fight of flight’ response though retraining and healing our brain we can access antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification pathways within ourselves which are significantly more powerful than anything we could buy. Quite simply, with a little focus we have within us the power to heal ourselves.