Everyone experiences some stress every
day; when unrelieved, it’s been widely shown to have a huge negative impact on our health. “Imbalance can be negative or positive, and so can stress,” says Chopra. “Winning the lottery is just as stressful as going through a divorce. So the challenge isn’t to achieve static balance, but to suc- cessfully thrive in stressful surroundings.”
Internal Communiqués Medical science now generally agrees that the greatest part of the immune system resides in the gut. “We need those trillions of bacteria that live in the digestive tract. Without them, we are unable to defend ourselves from all types of assaults, including the autoimmune diseases, in which the body turns upon itself,” says Ji. “Te immune system lines the large and
small intestines,” says Dr. Susan Blum, of Rye Brook, New York, author of Te Immune System Recovery Plan: A Doctor’s 4-Step Program to Treat Autoimmune Disease. “Te microbes in the gut lining speak to the immune system. Anything that alters the microbes in negative ways—like antibiotics or viral illness, among others—can also negatively alter the immune system.”
Unavoidable Toxin We can’t avoid the toxic exposure that underlies much of the immune dysfunction we are experiencing today, says Wendy Myers, a functional diagnostic nutritionist
in Los Angeles, California, and author of Limitless Energy: How to Detox Toxic Metals to End Exhaustion and Chronic Fatigue. “Toxins, especially heavy metals like lead and mercury, are in the air, water and soil. Since we can’t escape them, we need to know how they are affecting us and work to neutralize them.” Experts agree that immune challenges
can be neutralized and overcome with the right diet and lifestyle, stress management and appropriate supplements to restore and maintain the whole system balance needed to flourish in a world of our own making that stresses us on every level.
Te Right Food Eliminating wheat and dairy can end half of current immune system dysfunction through helping to repair the microbiome and healing the immune system, Ji believes. As one example, “If my mom had known I was allergic to cow’s milk when I was a child, I wouldn’t have suffered for 20 years with bronchial asthma,” he says. An anti-inflammatory diet also speeds
gut healing and strengthens the immune system, says Blum. Highlights of her program for a basic clean-up include eliminating anything white (sugar and all products made with flour); eating quality fats (cold-pressed vegetable oils, nuts and seeds); protein (grass-fed beef, organic and free-range poultry, wild game and wild- caught fish); organic fruits and vegetables
as much as possible and fermented foods daily; limiting and preferably eliminating dairy; and reading labels and banishing additives, chemicals and processed foods. According to CDC statistics, almost ev-
eryone has some level of immune dysfunc- tion, so this clean-up diet will benefit most of us, Blum says. Aſter a basic regimen of three weeks or longer, she recommends exploring an elimination and challenge diet in which gluten, dairy, corn, soy and eggs are all eliminated for three weeks. People with arthritis should also eliminate nightshades like tomatoes and potatoes. “Ten add back in the eliminated foods one at a time and carefully note the body’s reaction. It’s not that hard to get a clear picture of what aggravates inflammation such as arthritis pain,” Blum says.
Te Right Supplements
Multivitamins: “High-quality vitamin and mineral supplements are foundational to immune health,” Murray says. “Vitamins C, E and B and selenium are especially important.” Digestive enzymes: “Digestive
enzymes are key to restoring gut health, and thereby healing the immune system. Tey’re useful in reducing immune-medi- ated inflammation in autoimmune disor- ders,” Murray explains. Australian research from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research confirms
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