Fall has shown her annual “color-works” display. The mornings are now getting cooler and the daylight hours shorter. Fall wardrobes are in full swing, and we’re busy stacking firewood. Halloween has passed and Thanksgiving and Christmas (never mind New Year’s and Valentine’s Day) are right around the corner. One of the ways we can help ourselves stay healthy over the holidays is to keep our immune systems functioning as strong as possible. Here are five tips to increase your “know how”:
- TIP #1: Sugar slows our the ability of our white blood cells to kill germs. These are the cells in our bloodstream that help us develop antibodies to stop invading flu, other viruses, and infections. This gives these “bugs” an added “head start” in our bodies.
- TIP #2: Sugar not only suppresses the immune system, but keeps it in “slow-mo” for up to 5 to 6 hours. That’s even more time for unwelcome germs to multiply inside us!!
- TIP #3: Simple, refined sugars are not essential to our health. They are like “bank robbers.” They use up mineral supplies in our bodies to be digested, but they give nothing back. Would you allow anyone free access to your most valuable possessions if there was nothing in return?
- TIP #4: Sugar interferes with the ability of Vitamin C to circulate throughout our bodies. Vitamin C plays a major role in keeping our immune systems in full gear. I wonder if that is why all those Florida grapefruits and oranges appear right on time in the winter months?
- TIP #5: Sugar weakens the action of essential fatty acids and the protection they provide our cells. Healthy cells are insulated with a layer of essential fatty acids. This layer is weakened by sugar and makes it easier for germs to cross over and infect the cell. FYI: If you’re eating trans fatty acids, you are in “double trouble.”
Want to learn more reasons to decrease your sugar intake?
Check out Get the Sugar Out by Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, C.N.S. Three River Press, New York, 2008.
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