Shamefully, during the same year that 753 people died from flu complications,
3,454 Americans died from malnutrition — or 13 times as many people!
Isn't it a shame that we don’t immunize for starvation? [3]

Editor's Comment: The yearly National Vital Statistics Report: Deaths: Preliminary Data that is quoted above (Citation #3) has since discontinued breaking out the death rates for "Influenza and pneumonia" into 2 distinct categories, and now lump together the combined incidence, without identifying the deaths caused solely by the flu. My suspicion is that the vaccine industry "fix" is in, and that CDC (or their admin betters) have made it impossible for CDC researchers like Lone Simonsen, Ph.D. (see below) to continue to rattle their chain.

The Real Story on Flu Shots

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), which is one of the 21 research departments at the National Institutes For Health (NIH), decided to review death rate statistics over a 33-year period between 1968 and 2001.

Their statistics revealed that there were absolutely no reductions in death rates
between 1980, when only 20 million people got a flu shot, and the most recent
years when 80 million did.

The author Lone Simonsen, Ph.D. concluded that flu shots had NO IMPACT in reducing deaths from flu complications in people over the age of 65. Thus, flu shots appear to be failing to achieve their major objective, which is: saving lives. [4]




The Cold Virus

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the common cold is one of the leading causes for doctor visits in the United States. The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that 62 million cases of the common cold occur each year, costing 20 million lost school days and 22 million lost workdays.   These statistics also reveal that the *average* child contracts three to six colds a year, and adults two or three. [5] That’s a lot of misery, and a lot of lost time and lost income.

A virus is a strange duck.   They consist solely of genetic material (RNA or DNA) surrounded by a protective capsule. They are unique because they lack any of the characteristics that we normally use to define a living organism. They don’t eat, breath, or multiply by themselves. [6]

Unfortunately, they do mutate periodically, causing new strains which may be either weaker or more virulent than the original “parent” virus. [7]   More about that later.

How Do We Fight Viruses?

When the body's immune system detects a viral infection, it first responds in a generic way.
A process begins called RNA interference, which is crucial to fighting viruses, because it degrades viral genetic material, enabling hijacked cells to survive the infection.

After cellular attack, our immune system produces specific antibodies that can bind to the virus, making them non-infectious. Then T-cells are sent to destroy the virus (or bacteria).

Understanding this complete process is what encourages us to explore holistic methods for strengthening our natural immune response by taking immune-boosting nutrients.




Building Natural Immunity

The Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 50% of Americans
are deficient in the following immune nutrients:

This is partly because of our daily food choices, and partly because of how we grow and process our food supply.

That’s why we need to pay close attention to a randomized trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, because it demonstrated that even a simple, basic nutritional (supplementation) program dramatically increased immune function, specifically T-cell-mediated immune function, in an elderly (over 65) population.   [9]

A previous issue of HealthQuest discussed the internal or cell-mediated immune system in depth. The important take-away from that review is that robust immune function is completely dependent on a constant supply of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in our blood stream.

We also learned that diets high in cholesterol, and lives filled with chronic stress also depress immune function. That’s why a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, boosted by a sensible supplementation regimen supports immune function, thereby reducing the incidence of infection in the short term, and chronic disease in the long term.

The statistics from Shaklee’s “Landmark Study” [13] and the NHANES database [14] provide irrefutable evidence that people who used Shaklee supplements maintained better overall health, and experienced the lowest incidences of the diseases of aging:

heart disease, cancer, stroke, pulmonary diseases
(including pneumonia), and stroke.

Those are the top 5 killers of everyone above the age of 55. [15]

The cold, dry air of winter also imposes significant stress on our external immune system because it dries out and thins our mucus membrane barrier. During this same time period, we also celebrate 4 major holidays within 2 short months that involve foods loaded with sugar and fat, and are accompanied by oceans of sweetened drinks and/or alcohol.

These 3 “pseudo-food groups” (sugar, hydrogernated fats and alcohol) weaken our internal, or cellular immune system, partly by suppressing immune cell function (fat) [16], and partly by gobbling up important immune nutrients that are diverted to help us metabolize and excrete them (sugar and alcohol). [17] This combination of nutrient loss and the thinning of our mucus barrier is why the winter months generate the highest incidence of colds and flu.




How to Keep Your Family Healthy All Winter

Our Immune System is structured like an onion, because it provides numerous external and internal layers of protection. [18]

And as we just learned, foods high in cholesterol, sugar or alcohol, along with a life filled with stress, can also depress our immune function. This is why we must eat a diet rich in plant-based proteins, fruits and vegetables, and supported by a sensible supplementation program.

THAT is what supports immune function, thereby reducing the incidence of infection in the short term, and development of chronic disease in the long term.


So, let’s start peeling back the layers of our Immune Onion.




The External Immune Barrier

The first layer of the Immune Onion includes our skin and the mucous membranes that line our nose, throat and lungs. [19] They are the first barriers against viral and bacterial invasion.   Our digestive and respiratory tracts are hollow tubes, lined with hard-working goblet (mucus-producing) cells.

Besides making it easier for us to swallow and breathe, these cells also produce an enzyme called lysozyme, which destroys the cell walls of bacteria, killing them before they can induce an infection. [20]

Our skin also protects us from invasion by maintaining the acid mantle, a low pH (or acidic) environment that is hostile to most pathogenic bacteria. [21] The skin also secretes natural oils called sebum to lubricate and waterproof our skin. [22]

Functional Breakdown

When the temperature drops, so does the humidity. This is why you see your breath when it’s cold outside ... cold dry air leaches away moisture from your respiratory tract, thinning and stressing the mucous membranes. While we remain indoors, constant exposure to dry-heated air accelerates this process. This drying process also happens to our skin, causing chapping and cracking, further compromising our external immune barrier.

Soaps and detergents also assault our skin, because lye-based soaps are very alkaline. These soaps neutralize the protective acid mantle, while also stripping away protective skin oils. [23]

Dr. Shaklee was brilliant at creating skin care products that avoided the use of harsh alkaline soap.

Protecting Our External Immune Barrier

The original Meadow Blend Soap-Free Cleansing Bar is a
nutrient-enriched, biodegradable, and pH balanced solution for skin
cleansing, while helping to maintain the protective acid mantle.

Hand Wash Concentrate [a liquid version of Meadow Blend]
provides similar skin protection at the bathroom sink and shower, and
Dish Wash Concentrate can provide similar protection at your kitchen sink.
As a side note, you can also protect the integrity of your respiratory tract by keeping an old pot of water boiling in the kitchen. Rediscover that lost humidity of summer. It’s more convenient and cost-effective than running a filter-based home humidifier system.   Now let’s review




The Internal Immune System

According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the common cold is one of the leading causes for doctor visits in the United States. [24] The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that 62 million cases of the common cold occur each year, costing 20 million lost school days and 22 million lost workdays.

The average child contracts three to six colds a year, and adults two or three.   [25] That’s a lot of misery, lost time, and lost income.

Considerable holistic research suggests that the following items inhibit or weaken our immune system:

• Sugar and alcohol use
• Poor diet
• Exposure to environmental toxins
• Insufficient rest
• Stress, either emotional or physical

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The Sugar Disaster

Although processed white sugar has been added to prepared foods since canning first began, its use as a preservative has long since been eclipsed by its use as a primary flavor enhancer.   In the last 3 decades there has been a dramatic shift towards using high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), because farm subsidies make it less expensive than than using table sugar in food processing.

According to Department of Agriculture statistics, the average American consumes 142 pounds of sugar EVERY year, along with an additional 61 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup. [26] That's an astounding 203 pounds of sugar, per person, per year.

Now, let’s compare that to our yearly (average) vegetable intake:

In 2003, the average American ate:

1.3	pounds asparagus
8	pounds of bell peppers
8	pounds of broccoli
12	pounds of carrots
6	pounds of celery
3	pounds of green peas
10.8	pounds of dark lettuces
27	pounds of melons (all types)
4	pounds of mushrooms
21	pounds of onions
19	pounds fresh tomatoes

All told, that only adds up to 126 pounds, or 77 pounds LESS than the sugar
we consume.   Are you beginning to see the problem???

If we were to also factor in the average of 91 pounds of French Fries consumed by every American, EVERY YEAR, it should be pretty apparent that more than half of the American diet provides non-nutritious (unhealthful) calories from all those hidden pounds of sugar in our food and drink. [Data recently removed]

Research from the 1970s first demonstrated that sugar has a significantly depressing effect on neutrophils (the most common white blood cell). [28] This pioneering study at Loma Linda University revealed that various forms of carbohydrates (including glucose, fructose, sucrose and honey) all dramatically decrease the capacity of neutrophils to engulf and destroy bacteria.   [29]

This is a disaster in the making, because besides destroying bacteria, neutrophils are also the first step in the immune process that leads to antibody production. [30] Antibodies are our “ace in the hole” for the NEXT time we are exposed to a given germ or virus that we have been exposed to in the past.   If your neutrophils are sleeping on the job, enjoying that soda or energy drink you just chugged, you may not have developed antibodies for the next time you are exposed to that same germ or virus. [31]

Besides depressing immune function, sugar also depletes important nutrients, including all eight of B vitamins. This is quite significant because low levels of the Bs are associated with metabolic syndrome [32], diabetes, kidney disease, and disrupted blood sugar management.   [33]

Even worse, high-fructose corn syrup and other simple sugars readily attach to cellular proteins (a process called glycation) causing them to malfunction, [34] and the resulting advanced glycation end-products (or Age Proteins) are associated with onset of diabetes, [35] reduced cell function, cell death, [36] and many other age-related diseases.   [37]

Please don’t misunderstand ... we NEED to have sugar in our blood at all times to fuel our muscles and brain. However, it ought to come from foods that have a low glycemic index (GI scores below 50). The GI Index is a measure of how quickly, and for how long a particular food releases sugar into your blood stream.

A low-GI food is ideal, because it releases small amounts of sugar over a prolonged period of time. This is why Shaklee’s various soy products (with a GI in the mid-30s) are preferable to a bag of French fries, with a GI score of 75.

High GI foods flood your system with “fast sugar”, dramatically elevating your insulin levels, and setting you up for diabetes and other debilitating diseases.

NOTE:   This does NOT mean you MUST stop eating higher GI foods... it simply means you need to adjust your portion sizes down for foods with a higher GI rating.

Please refer to the following GI charts for fruits, vegetables, and grains, so that you can make healthier dietary choices.   [38, 39, 40, 41, 42]




Inflammatory Stress

A diet high in meats, grains, fats, or sugars is also pro-inflammatory. [43. 44]

A recent randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study, performed at the State University of New York at Buffalo fed participants a 910-calorie, fast food breakfast, including sausage, cheese and fried potatoes.

Blood testing revealed an immediate suppression of a key genetic molecule, called Nrf2, which is the coordinator of antioxidant protection within every cell in your body. [45]

If you saw the Oscar-nominated documentary
Super Size Me, you will recall how rapidly Morgan Spurlock’s health declined during the month he lived on fast food. In part, this is because suppression of the Nrf2 gene. Nrf2 also manages Phase II detoxification within the liver. Phase II detox enables the body to excrete xenobiotics, or compounds like drugs and other toxic chemicals that Phase I detox cannot easily eliminate. [46]

Disruption of the Nrf2 gene can also lead to severe respiratory inflammation, which contributes to the development of asthma [47] and emphysema. [48]

This diet-induced inflammatory and oxidative stress has also been tied to the onset of many other disease processes, including Parkinson's [49] and Huntington's disease [50], lung cancer [51], and various other inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. [52]

A recently published study by neurologists at the Oregon Health & Science University reveals that diets high in trans-fats (junk food) actually causes shrinkage brain tissue and reductions in cognitive function. They also found that the diets highest in vitamins B, C, D, E, and omega-3 fatty acids was most protective for mental function in older individuals. [53]

Let’s review the Shaklee products that build immune function
and protect us from any infection:


Protecting Our Internal Immune Barrier

Vita-Lea, Vitalizer and the Shaklee Life Strip: Because most of us do not get all the nutrients we need from diet alone   –AND–   the American Medical Association now recommends that all adults take a multivitamin/multimineral supplement to prevent chronic diseases and build immunity.

Nutriferon:   Developed and extensively tested by immunologists in Japan, this proprietary blend of natural plant extracts is derived from pumpkin seeds, safflower flowers, plantago seeds and Japanese honeysuckle flower buds.   It supports and stimulates the immune system by increasing the activity of macrophages (white blood cells) and inducing natural interferon production.   It optimizes the body’s immune response against environmental irritants and airborne substances (as with allergies and asthma).

Sustained Release Vita C:   For continuous antioxidant protection against environmental assaults, this unique all-natural formula slowly releases Vitamin C into your blood stream over a 5-hour period and provides nutrients from the entire vitamin C complex. Vitamin C has been found to protect against pollution, poor diet, stress, bruising, varicose veins, chronic infections, allergies, asthma, colds and flu, swollen glands, anemia, and slowed healing.

Vita-E Complex:   Vitamin E and selenium are natural antioxidants that help protect us from the cancer-causing oxidations that occur daily in our bodies   -AND-   most of us don’t get enough of these essential nutrients from our diet.

CarotoMax:   Contains the essential phytonutrients found in the fresh fruits and vegetable that we may not be eating on a regular basis   -AND–   they have been shown to significantly boost immunity, as well as reducing the risk of cancer, heart, and eye disease.

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Optiflora System:   A healthy digestive tract contains trillions of “friendly” microorganisms. Most of them live in the colon and perform a multitude of health-supporting tasks. The most common cause of imbalance in normal microflora populations is the use of antibiotics. Other factors include age, poor food choices and low fiber intake. Shaklee’s patented state of the art triple encapsulation process permits guaranteed delivery of 2 strains of beneficial bacteria to the intestine... with no refrigeration required. Adding these microflora can enhance the body’s total immune response.

The Natural “Medicine Cabinet”

A sound nutritional program will help prevent most viral infections. When you do succumb to a new virus, the Natural Medicine Cabinet can help you recover faster. And you can always rely on Shaklee potency and purity to protect your family.

Defend & Resist Complex:   Contains Echinacea, one of the best studied herbs used in the U.S. and Europe. [54]   It activates the immune system, promotes production of white blood cells, enhances resistance to infection, both viral and bacterial, and is anti-inflammatory, promotes wound healing, reduces mucous production, and can relieve boils, gangrene, ulcerations, bites, abscesses, and even fights candida infection. D&R also contains larch tree and elderberry extract, thought to surround viruses and prevent their reproduction... it’s most effective when taken at the onset of a cold or virus.

Garlic Complex:   Garlic is traditionally used for its anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. People often take it to reduce symptoms of allergy, asthma, colds, flu, sinus or yeast infections, and diarrhea. It also has heart protective properties of lowering elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels. [55]

If you feel the onset of a cold or flu, the Shaklee products mentioned previously can halt or reduce the symptoms and duration, if you start taking them immediately.

The traditional recommendation is to take:

6 tablets of Defend & Resist Complex (or you can make a delicious tea!) and
3 tablets of Garlic Complex, along with
3 tablets of Sustained Release Vita C

EVERY 4 HOURS, for the first day (or 2, as needed) until your symptoms subside.

To Keep Your Family Healthy All Winter,

Take your Shaklee nutrients every day!