Last week, I flew to Baltimore with my husband and son for a three-day nutrition conference and to visit with my family who live nearby. Traveling from Honolulu to Baltimore takes about 16 hours, the majority of which was spent with a toddler in my lap. My son is still nursing (I plan to nurse until he’s two), which is great for his immune system but not so great for my back when he wanted to nurse off and on for almost the whole plane trip! After this trip and the three days of sitting in a conference room all day I started to really understand the importance of stretching to prevent and to relieve back pain. Here are just a few benefits of stretching:

• Stretching increases the flow of blood to the afflicted area. This promotes repair and helps to oxygenate tissues.
• When you take a moment to stretch, you are also taking a moment to calm the mind which can help relieve stress. Excessive release of stress hormones can increase pain!
• Stretching increases your range of motion, which helps to prevent injuries. Maintaining flexibility is one factor that has been linked to healthier aging. In fact, the ancient yogis used to say “you are as young as your spine is flexible.”

For a few easy yet effective back stretches that you can do anywhere, please see the Mayo Clinic slideshow on the subject.

Probiotics (also known as “friendly bacteria”) are an integral part of immunity and may be a key to prevention during cold and flu season.  There are a variety of strains of friendly bacteria, all of which work in concert to help to maintain a healthy intestinal tract and provide a barrier to invading organisms while encouraging your immune system to fight off illness and disease.  The amount of probiotics in your body is constantly fluctuating so it is important to replenish the levels of friendly bacteria in order to keep harmful bacteria and other pathogenic organisms from growing out of control.  Stress, poor diet, and antibiotic use may all lead to loss of probiotics which in turn may cause gastrointestinal problems, digestive problems, and many other health issues.

To restore lost probiotics and keep the balance of bacteria in the body healthy, include plenty of naturally cultured or fermented foods in your diet and use a probiotic supplement during times when you need an extra boost such as flu season or times of stress.  A few examples of naturally cultured or fermented foods include kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut or other cultured vegetables, and kombucha.  For information on how to make your own cultured and fermented foods see the “Cultured Dairy Products” and “Fermented Vegetables & Fruits” section of the cookbook Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.  There are also several probiotic-rich fermented food recipes available at the Body Ecology Diet website’s recipe section.

During flu season a common question that comes to us here at Marilyn Farms is how often Echinacea containing products such as our Immune Boost should be taken to help prevent a cold. Echinacea is one of the most highly recommended and extensively researched immune boosting herbs due to its amazing ability to help the body rid itself of infection. Echinacea contains active ingredients that act in similar ways to antibiotics, as well as other components that are antiviral.  It is most commonly used internally, but has been found to be effective when used topically to help prevent and treat infected wounds and even as a mouthwash to treat gingivitis!

Contrary to popular belief, Echinacea is not effective as a daily immune support aid, but works best when taken in cycles. This is most likely due to the fact that Echinacea works by stimulating and supporting the immune system, and if taken every day for an extended period of time the body may become “immune” to its effects. During a chronic and active infection, Echinacea can be used continuously for several months, but for preventive use during times of health it is most effective to use Echinacea for 2 to 3 weeks on and 2 to 3 weeks off throughout the year (just follow dosing instructions on the label of the product you are using). During active cold and flu season, Echinacea can be used for 3 weeks on and 1 week off each month. This pulsing of dosage actually allows the immune system to adapt and get stronger during the breaks, while constant daily use of Echinacea in times of health may actually be stressful for the immune system!

It seems like this year’s flu virus is already making its rounds! Lots of people I know either are sick now or just got over being sick, including my own household. Once a virus takes hold, there’s not much you can do medically to stop it. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses and cold medications only treat symptoms (which is still important if you’re especially miserable!). The best thing to do is start boosting your immune system as soon as people around you get sick. If you still get sick despite this, here are a few tips to help stop a cold from progressing. This is not an extensive list, but it’s a great place to start.

1.     Eat garlic. Garlic, especially when eaten raw, has antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial properties. Taken at the first sign of illness, it can help shorten the severity of a cold.  I like to eat it crushed raw on salads (I double up and add the immune boosting SuperForce tincture as salad dressing) or mixed into soups. If you don’t like the taste of garlic, you can do what a friend of mine does and just peel the cloves and swallow them whole like pills. This keeps you from having to taste the garlic on the way down but I can’t promise it prevents garlic breath!

2.    Take vitamin C. Whenever I feel the first signs of a cold, I do a vitamin C flush, which is basically taking vitamin C in large doses over the course of the day. I personally find it to be one of the most effective ways to prevent flu.  Complete instructions on how to do a flush can be found in the Marilyn Farms Blog Vitamin C For Cold and Flu.

3.    Take elderberry. Unlike Echinacea, which is best taken preventively as an immune booster during flu season, elderberry can be effective even after illness has set in. Elderberry has been extensively studied for its antiviral effects, and in many studies has even been found to be effective against the flu virus in particular, including the H1N1 strain. Elderberry extract is one of my favorite herbal preparations because it has a nice flavor and is safe for children as well as pregnant and nursing women. Elderberry preparations vary, so follow instructions on the label for dosing.

4.    Include coconut in your diet. Coconut contains lauric acid, a type of fat that has been found to break down the protective membrane surrounding certain types of viruses. Coconut oil has been widely studied for its effectiveness against viruses including those that cause the flu, herpes, mononucleosis, and even AIDS. Easy ways to include coconut oil in your diet when you’re feeling sick include eating coconut milk based soup such as Thai curry, making a smoothie with coconut milk and fruit, or even melting a tablespoon of coconut oil into a hot cup of tea.

5.     Take care of yourself! Sometimes succumbing to a cold is just a sign that your body needs a rest. Do all the things you know to do to help support the immune system—rest, drink plenty of water, eat chicken soup or other healthy foods that make you feel better, read a good book or watch a funny movie, and try to think happy thoughts!

Since the weight management webinar earlier this month, I’ve been taking care to follow my own advice (shocking idea, I know!) and make sure I get enough protein.  Truthfully, it hasn’t been easy as I spend much of the day chasing my 10-month old son who has a fascination for all things hazardous around the house and it’s easy to forget to feed myself regularly.  So, after committing to eat enough protein, I dug my bottle of Marilyn Farms Protein Power out of the cabinet and at least once (sometimes twice if I need it) per day have started drinking a scoop or two mixed into a glass of diluted pomegranate to help boost my protein intake.  In researching whey protein I came across some interesting benefits, which I wanted to share with you.  Enjoy!

• Whey protein contains a type of amino acid called “branched chain amino acids” that specifically build and repair muscle tissue, which makes it especially beneficial after a workout.
• The amino acids in whey are required to help the body generate glutathione, which is one of the most (if not the most) potent and important antioxidants in the body.
• Since it is from an animal source, whey contains important immune compounds that boost our immune function.
• Whey protein contains many of the same compounds found in human breast milk, which is why it is commonly used in infant formula.  This makes it an excellent protein supplement for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers who aren’t getting enough protein in their regular diet.

Whey protein is one of the richest sources of leucine, an essential (meaning the body can’t make it) amino acid that has been linked to improving body composition by helping the body to increase muscle levels and burn body fat.

I have been finalizing my lecture for this weekend’s webinar on immunity and thought I’d share with you a few of the exciting things I’ve been learning while researching this topic! 

• Most people over 60 years old have natural antibodies to swine flu in their blood because their parents were exposed to the 1918 flu virus.

• Having sufficient levels of healthy bacteria in your gut makes it less likely that you’ll suffer side effects from vaccinations containing thimerosol (mercury).

• All of us have cancer cells in our bodies all the time, but for most of us our immune system continually identifies and destroys them before they are ever able to take hold and grow into a tumor.

• Occasional exposure to children that have chicken pox boosts your natural immunity and helps keep you from getting shingles, an adult expression of the chicken pox virus.

• Mild childhood infections (cold or flu, chicken pox, strep throat, etc.) help the immune system mature and may play a part in preventing autoimmune disease as an adult.

• Regular use of nasal irrigation, such as with a neti pot, can drastically reduce the likelihood of catching the flu even if you have been exposed to the virus because it keeps the virus from reproducing in the nasal cavity and causing infection.

This is just a “teaser” so if you want to learn more you have to attend the webinar!  To register, click here

Registration cutoff is Saturday morning, so make sure you get in before that!

As we head out of summer and into the cooler months, the attention on cold and flu season starts to set in.  That attention has definitely been amplified this year with all the press surrounding different strains of the flu!  There is a lot you can do to prevent the flu including diet, lifestyle, and in some cases medication, but I thought to take this blog entry to provide info on zinc.  

Zinc is one of the most important nutrients for immunity, and can usually be obtained from the diet if attention is given to eating protein rich foods (although extra may be needed in supplement form if you are around people who are sick with a cold or flu or if you are starting to show symptoms). 

Below is a link to an in-depth entry on zinc from the Linus Pauling Micronutrient Center that also includes a table listing amounts of the mineral found in several zinc-rich foods.  Happy eating!

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/minerals/zinc/

Iowa Gardens are in full production and a group of us recently had a great opportunity to work with Annie and learn a new way to preserve produce from our gardens and local markets. While enjoying a warm summer day, surrounded by friends, we made fermented or cultured veggies and not only learned a great new way to preserve food, but also how to enhance the nutritional value of winter veggies such as cabbage and root vegetables.

Most of you are probably aware of one  popular cultured vegetable, sauerkraut.  But the art of fermenting veggies goes way beyond cabbage, enabling you to create your own colorful and delicious masterpiece.   Here are a few fun facts to consider as you prepare to make your own first batch.

• Cultured foods have been used since ancient times for their medicinal benefits.
• Captain Cook sailed with large barrels of sauerkraut which supplied his crew with vitamin C and prevented scurvy.
• When vegetables are cultured, the Lactobacillus acidophilus and other beneficial bacteria break down the sugars and cell walls in the vegetables making them much easier to digest.
• Our gut is directly connected to our immune system. When we consume cultured veggies on a regular basis, we strengthen our immunity by enhancing the flora of our gut. This beneficial flora not only fights off dangerous invaders such as microbes and pathogens, but also produces vitamins and converts nutrients into neurotransmitters such as serotonin.
• Cultured veggies are said to have hundreds of times the amount of nutrients as veggies that have not been cultured. Simply eating a few bites of something fermented with your meals will not only help you digest your meals, but will also promote good energy and health.

Okay, time to get started! Click here for the ingredients and instructions – it’s easy and fun!