ummm, no, this whole "taking stuff to boost your immune system" stuff is a
marketing exercise really. What I can suggest is both far more basic and far
more radical:
1. The far more basic bit: - daily exercise and daily meditation (both of
which are scientifically proven to up your immune chemical and immune cell
levels).
2. The far more radical bit:- intravenous vitamin C every few days
On the other hand, whether you ought to be taking a multi-vitamin tablet is
another question altogether. The only reason that I can think for you to do
that is if your calcium intake is below 1 gram/day. Here is how you figure
out your calcium intake from your diet:
Each of the following will provide 300 mg of calcium
240-250 mL (1 cup) milk
30-60 g ("1 -2 ounces") hard cheese
480mg of cottage cheese
200 g tub yoghurt
5 cups Chinese vegetables
150 g almonds
20 slices wholemeal bread
1 kg broccoli
12 dried figs
6-8 oranges
1.5 lattes
150 g tinned red salmon (with bones)
100 g tinned sardines
Here's a useful tool:
www.osteoporosis.ca/english/about%20osteoporosis/calcium%20calculator/default.asp?s=1
The ideal vitamin tablet has the following collection of ingredients:
Vitamin A ¨C no more than 2000IU (~500mcg)
Folic Acid ¡Ý400mcg/day
Vitamin B12 ¨C 6 to 50mcg/day
Vitamin C ¡Ý500mg/day
Vitamin D ¡Ý800 IU/day (but less than 2000IU/day)¡NB: the conversion factor
for mcg to IU is that 2.5mcg=100 IU
Vitamin E ¨C no more than 400IU/day
Elemental calcium 1.0g/day
I've never investigated which company would make such a one, but I can tell
you that it's none of the one's that you would find in a pharmacy. You'd
only find this level of stuff in a naturopath's office or in an alternative
health food store.
Alternatively, you could just begin taking a zinc supplement, though I'm not
sure if it'd do anything positive because I doubt that you're zinc-deplete.
The other thing that you could take is probiotics. In our fridge in the top
shelf on the door of the fridge is the only company whose probiotics are
worth their salt. Can't remember what they're called unfortunately - they're
made in theUS
I don't offer them to you sammie - they've been kept because of their link
to my mum.
Having said all this there are berries that the chinese chew that are meant
to boost the immune system, and for a while I was doing this when I was back
in Oz. I know what they look like by sight but couldn't tell you the name
because they are always in chinese packaging in chinese food stores. We
could go and try and hunt them down when you come toToronto
I don't think that taking "echinacea" or "goji berry juice" or any of the
other stuff that is advertised as being an immune-booster will do anything
for you because it is all diluted, and manufactured/processed in labs these
days - i.e. it's not the real deal. However, you could try and get some
Hilda Hemmes (a reputable company) herbal teas. I'm not sure if they make
astragalus or ivy- I can't remember if they do and can't find their website
- but those would be reasonable things to drink. I remember that we used to
collect our own ivy and make tea from it but I can't remember how we did it
- sorry - dad might be able to tell you how to spot the right type and then
how to harvest it and make tea from it.
I'm reluctant to recommend that you start eating some of the chinese
mushrooms that are meant to be immune boosters. I don't feel that I know
enough about them. Once again, the proviso about packaged tablets of the
extracts of these mushrooms being useless holds.
One thing that you could take is Propolis - once again, the real stuff, that
you get as a wax from the refrigerator of a health food store who have just
gotten theirs from one of the few farms that collect them, and that you then
scoop out with a small teaspoon - and not the processed tablets that you
find on the shelves. That'll help.
There's also no question that getting deliberately bitten by a bee
(apiatherapy) is an immune booster, and the guy that lent me his bike in
germany
have this done.
Saunas followed by ice-cold baths in the true scandinavian or russian
tradition are also immune-boosters, but we don't have access to those in Oz.
You could try and join the brighton icebreakers club and swim with them -
that'd be a viable alternative.
The last thing that I could recommend is going and seeing Jim Veljanovski in
Preston and having him craft something personal in the of homeopathics to
take. I trust him very much. His address is3 Willow Street Preston , Vic
3072 and the phone number is 9484 6848.
Oh, and two last thoughts:-
1. On my bookshelf (the one furthest from the door) you will find a
red-coloured book - my very first ever book - called "The Power of Chi".
Have a read on what he says in the first 100 or so pages about water
therapy. That'll no doubt help, as will the exercises that he outlines.
2. On a similar note of doing stuff to help with the circulation of your
chi, you could do the buteyko exercises that are taught by John Wilson. His
address details are on a magnetic sticker on teh fridge at our place - I
think it's on the SIDE of the fridge though - for both him and Jim you could
say that I recommended you come.
Oh, and one more thing: for a localized immune boost of your nose/throat,
you could do what the lumberjacks do and snort powderized vitamin C. It
works well. In our laundry, on the left hand side as you enter it, is the
powder that I would recommend. There should also be a nasogastric tube
there, which I've cut down, and is how I used to do it. You could just
sanitize it and use it. Here's the other way to do it:
http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/surefire.htm. It can be irritating to your
nose though.
marketing exercise really. What I can suggest is both far more basic and far
more radical:
1. The far more basic bit: - daily exercise and daily meditation (both of
which are scientifically proven to up your immune chemical and immune cell
levels).
2. The far more radical bit:- intravenous vitamin C every few days
On the other hand, whether you ought to be taking a multi-vitamin tablet is
another question altogether. The only reason that I can think for you to do
that is if your calcium intake is below 1 gram/day. Here is how you figure
out your calcium intake from your diet:
Each of the following will provide 300 mg of calcium
240-250 mL (1 cup) milk
30-60 g ("1 -2 ounces") hard cheese
480mg of cottage cheese
200 g tub yoghurt
5 cups Chinese vegetables
150 g almonds
20 slices wholemeal bread
1 kg broccoli
12 dried figs
6-8 oranges
1.5 lattes
150 g tinned red salmon (with bones)
100 g tinned sardines
Here's a useful tool:
www.osteoporosis.ca/english/about%20osteoporosis/calcium%20calculator/default.asp?s=1
The ideal vitamin tablet has the following collection of ingredients:
Vitamin A ¨C no more than 2000IU (~500mcg)
Folic Acid ¡Ý400mcg/day
Vitamin B12 ¨C 6 to 50mcg/day
Vitamin C ¡Ý500mg/day
Vitamin D ¡Ý800 IU/day (but less than 2000IU/day)¡NB: the conversion factor
for mcg to IU is that 2.5mcg=100 IU
Vitamin E ¨C no more than 400IU/day
Elemental calcium 1.0g/day
I've never investigated which company would make such a one, but I can tell
you that it's none of the one's that you would find in a pharmacy. You'd
only find this level of stuff in a naturopath's office or in an alternative
health food store.
Alternatively, you could just begin taking a zinc supplement, though I'm not
sure if it'd do anything positive because I doubt that you're zinc-deplete.
The other thing that you could take is probiotics. In our fridge in the top
shelf on the door of the fridge is the only company whose probiotics are
worth their salt. Can't remember what they're called unfortunately - they're
made in the
I don't offer them to you sammie - they've been kept because of their link
to my mum.
Having said all this there are berries that the chinese chew that are meant
to boost the immune system, and for a while I was doing this when I was back
in Oz. I know what they look like by sight but couldn't tell you the name
because they are always in chinese packaging in chinese food stores. We
could go and try and hunt them down when you come to
I don't think that taking "echinacea" or "goji berry juice" or any of the
other stuff that is advertised as being an immune-booster will do anything
for you because it is all diluted, and manufactured/processed in labs these
days - i.e. it's not the real deal. However, you could try and get some
Hilda Hemmes (a reputable company) herbal teas. I'm not sure if they make
astragalus or ivy- I can't remember if they do and can't find their website
- but those would be reasonable things to drink. I remember that we used to
collect our own ivy and make tea from it but I can't remember how we did it
- sorry - dad might be able to tell you how to spot the right type and then
how to harvest it and make tea from it.
I'm reluctant to recommend that you start eating some of the chinese
mushrooms that are meant to be immune boosters. I don't feel that I know
enough about them. Once again, the proviso about packaged tablets of the
extracts of these mushrooms being useless holds.
One thing that you could take is Propolis - once again, the real stuff, that
you get as a wax from the refrigerator of a health food store who have just
gotten theirs from one of the few farms that collect them, and that you then
scoop out with a small teaspoon - and not the processed tablets that you
find on the shelves. That'll help.
There's also no question that getting deliberately bitten by a bee
(apiatherapy) is an immune booster, and the guy that lent me his bike in
have this done.
Saunas followed by ice-cold baths in the true scandinavian or russian
tradition are also immune-boosters, but we don't have access to those in Oz.
You could try and join the brighton icebreakers club and swim with them -
that'd be a viable alternative.
The last thing that I could recommend is going and seeing Jim Veljanovski in
Preston and having him craft something personal in the of homeopathics to
take. I trust him very much. His address is
3072 and the phone number is 9484 6848.
Oh, and two last thoughts:-
1. On my bookshelf (the one furthest from the door) you will find a
red-coloured book - my very first ever book - called "The Power of Chi".
Have a read on what he says in the first 100 or so pages about water
therapy. That'll no doubt help, as will the exercises that he outlines.
2. On a similar note of doing stuff to help with the circulation of your
chi, you could do the buteyko exercises that are taught by John Wilson. His
address details are on a magnetic sticker on teh fridge at our place - I
think it's on the SIDE of the fridge though - for both him and Jim you could
say that I recommended you come.
Oh, and one more thing: for a localized immune boost of your nose/throat,
you could do what the lumberjacks do and snort powderized vitamin C. It
works well. In our laundry, on the left hand side as you enter it, is the
powder that I would recommend. There should also be a nasogastric tube
there, which I've cut down, and is how I used to do it. You could just
sanitize it and use it. Here's the other way to do it:
http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/surefire.htm. It can be irritating to your
nose though.
