It is tough to stay well when a lot of people are sick this time of the year. H 1 N 1 vaccination is not an option for me to be ‘suppos­edly’ well and ‘protected’ at the moment. Being cautious and seriously taking steps to boost the body’s immune system is my weapon to ward off diseases. I am not a “vitamin supplement” per­son either, despite the advice I get to take supplements. Am I stub­born? Probably not, just scared to put pills in my mouth after all the years I have been so depen­dent on them. I call it “behavior modification” and a response to a ‘wakeup’ call to stop taking syn­thetic drugs that continually over­load the liver. I have experienced irreversible side effects which made me realize it is time to go natural through the years ahead. Diet is the primary weapon against being sick. When I say diet, I don’t mean weight loss diet. It just refers to the “food choices” that one takes which can either make you sick, maybe not right away, or healthy. For almost 3 months now, I have discovered diets which help me and my cli­ents towards better shape. I have discovered some natural tech­niques and recommendations as to how to control my own health challenges such as hyperacid­ity, migraine, PMS and “arthritic” attacks without pills. Simply put, these techniques include abstain­ing from acidic foods, eating fresh instead of fast and canned foods, and avoiding starches and sugars. These techniques I have tested myself and have worked well but may not work for other people depending on the health issues.
Many weeks ago while surfing the internet, I discovered the site of Dr. Mercola, a Natural Health Practitioner. I quoted his article but made it a bit shorter. Accord­ing to Dr. Mercola, here are the top 12 foods for healthy immune response.

1. Unpasteurized Grass-Fed Organic Milk
“Raw organic milk from grass-fed cows contains ben­eficial bacteria that prime your immune system and can reduce allergies. It is an outstanding source of vitamins, especially vitamin A, zinc, and enzymes. Raw organic milk is not associ­ated with any of the health prob­lems of pasteurized milk such as rheumatoid arthritis, skin rashes, diarrhea and cramps.“

2. Whey Protein
“Even if you don’t have access to raw milk, you can use a high-quality whey protein that comes from grass-f e d cows to receive much of the same health benefits. The protein in milk is whey protein. Whey is the liq­uid that separates from the curd during the production of cheese. When the liquid dries into pow­dered whey, the nutrients be­come concentrated, and it can be packaged and used in that form. Whey protein can help you fight off colds and flu because it contains beta-glucan and immu­noglobulin, which protect your immune system and support your body’s natural detoxifica­tion processes.”

Fermented Foods
Fermented foods include kefir, natto, kimchee, miso, tempeh, pickles, sauerkraut, yogurt (watch for sugar), and olives

3. Raw Organic Eggs from Free-Range Chickens (this may or may not appeal to many people including myself)

4. Grass-Fed Beef or Or­gan Meats Don’t confuse “organic” with grass-fed, since many organi­cally raised cows are still fed or­ganic corn, which you don’t want. However, most grass-fed cows are raised organically. And if you can find organic AND grass-fed, that’s ideal.

5. Coconuts and Coconut Oil
When selecting coconuts and coconut oil, make sure you choose organic ones that are un­refined, unbleached, made with­out heat processing or chemicals, and are non-GMO.

6. Locally Grown Organic Vegetables Appropriate for Your Nutritional Type
Make sure the veggies you choose are fresh. The nutrient val­ue drops to prac­tically zero once a fruit or vegetable is canned.

7. Blueberries and Raspberries

8. Mushrooms (especially Rei­shi, Shiitake and Maitake)

9. Chlorella Chlorella is a single-cell fresh­water algae that acts as an ef­ficient detoxifi­cation agent by binding to tox­ins, such as mer­cury, and carries them out of your chlorella that makes it so pow­erful. Chlorophyll helps you pro­cess more oxygen, cleanses your blood and promotes the growth and repair of your tissues.

10. Propolis Propolis is a bee resin and one of the most broad-spectrum antimicrobial compounds in the world, if not the broadest spectrum, accord­ing to master herbalist Donnie Yance. Propolis is also the richest source of caffeic acid and apigen­in, two very im­portant phenolic compounds that aid in immune response.

11. Teas Matcha green tea and tulsi tea.
Matcha is the most nutrient-rich green tea and comes in the form of a stone-ground pow­der, completely unfermented. The best Mat­cha comes from Japan and has up to seventeen times the anti­oxidants of wild blueberries, and seven times more than dark choco­late. Green teas are rich in poly-phenols, in the form of natural chemicals called catechins. The most powerful catechin in tea is epigallocatechin (EGCG), which was found in one study to be 25 to 100 times more potent than an­tioxidant vitamins C and E. Tulsi coming from the holy basil herb, has been used for thousands of years in the Ayurvedic medi­cine of India. Not only is this tea loaded with antioxidants, but it has multiple positive health ben­efits, including supporting your immune health, memory, heart health and vision.

12. Herbs and Spices - Garlic is antibacterial, antivi­ral and anti-fungal. You should be eating garlic every day. One of the best things about garlic is that bacteria, viruses, and yeast build up no resistance to it, unlike with synthetic antibiotics. For optimal benefits, garlic should be fresh since the active ingredi­ent is destroyed within one hour of smashing the garlic cloves. In other words, garlic capsules are basically useless. Garlic con­tains allicin, a chemical that is anticarcino­genic. It also has been shown to lower LDL, lower total cholesterol, lower blood pressure, reduce your risk of blood clots and stroke, lower homocysteine, and even prevent in­sect bites -- including mosquitoes and ticks.

Lastly, Dr Mercola said, “Complications arise when you experience an over-response to the infection, which is why H1 N1 is taking its toll on healthy young adults. Their bodies are over responding -- something called a “cytokine storm.” It’s basically a severe in­flammatory response.”

When Dr. Mercola mentioned about the whey pro­tein, there is one clarification I want to make .There are so many commercially prepared whey protein products in the market. One will certainly get the nutrition from them but there are certain amino acids that one cannot get from grocery whey protein preparations. The whey protein supplement I am taking, not available com­mercially, has a patented system that delivers specific cyteine, one of the amino acids that helps our own cells to produce glutathione (the body’s natural antioxidant produced by our very own cells, immune booster, and detoxifier). Companies manufacturing the glutathione pills, which claim to raise the glutathione levels in our body, available in the market and especially misadver­tised in the Philippines as skin whiteners are synthetic or man-made. It is introduced to the consumers as food supplements but there is an ingredient used in the pills and those given to patients suffering from paracetamol overdose, as an emergency room intravenous treat­ment, which are similar. Who wants to take that syn­thetic ingredient on a regular basis? Not me!! I have done my research, you should too before taking those pills or intravenous shots!

And when Dr. Mercola mentioned about the “cy­tokine storm” happening because of the vaccinations given left and right, it made me realize that the whey protein supplement I am taking not only raises the glu­tathione levels naturally but has CMP™ * (Cytokine M odulating Proteins). According to Immunotec: “Cyto­kines are small biologically active proteins used to coor­dinate the body’s immune response. Importantly, they also act as signals in the immune system to turn on or off inflammation. CMP can modulate the inflammatory response in cells and tissues. Inflammation plays a criti­cal role in the development of many health problems, so CMP is present to help act against soreness and in­flammation.”

Dr. Mercola endorses a natural way to optimize the immune system. And I am happy that we are on the same boat. There are so many people ,I am sure, who were not convinced that vaccination is the ultimate al­ternative to stay healthy. I have my reasons to refuse the vaccination, for myself and my children, and I equally respect other people's decision and choice to get one for themselves. With or without vaccinations, our health, at the end of the day, still our main concern.