Super Immune System Booster - For thousands of years, garlic has been used as both a food, and as a medicinal herb, and with good reason. Garlic contains an amino acid called "alliin". This acts as an antibacterial and antifungal.

Eaten regularly, garlic is said to help prevent heart desease, lower blood cholesterol, wash out fats, and increse the protective HDL's (high-density lipoproteins) while decreasing the heart damaging LDL's (low-density lipoproteins).

Garlic is also able to inhibit clot formation, which in turn reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Garlic has been used for treating high blood pressure, and has been made note of in several studies regarding anticancer activity.

It has also been shown that garlic may slow or stop the growth of various fungi and molds, including:

Histoplasma capsulatum, a fungus carried by dust, which causes a disease similar to tuberculosis

Onion

Immunologists have found that the onion is an anti-thrombotic known to inhibit blood clots and also acts as a serious stimulant for weak heart muscles in cardiovascular ailments.

The onion bulb develops a substance of sulfuric acid known as "alliin". (Sound familiar?)

The onion is also a source of "quercetin" which is an anti-cancer substance that fights bacterial invasion.

DID YOU KNOW?

The average person hosts up to FIVE POUNDS of bacteria in the colon! The quercetin in onions and other yellow vegetables helps to regulate and eliminate the danger this poses to your health and immune system.

Include several garlic cloves together with several small onions in your daily diet. They add flavor to salads, sauces, salsa, and entrees. To combat the effects of odor on your breath, chew raw carrot sticks after your meal, or chew peppermint leaves that you grow in your herb garden, or in a pot on your kitchen window.

Out-of-Shape Immune Systems

We all know the signs that prove that our bodies are "out of shape". Our body fat increases, we tire more easily, walking short distances can tire us or cause us to be short of breath, and we usually find it hard to become motivated to make changes. We get depressed more easily, we don't eat right, and we don't care about exercise. What does this have to do with our immune system? ...just about everything...

When the immune system is "out of shape", we feel fatigued, we lose the fight against depression, our hearing and eyesight begins to fail, we have muscle aches, digestion problems, find it hard to get restful sleep, and have no energy for even the most mundane of things. Just as we have to keep our bodies healthy, we have to do the things that will keep our immune systems healthy.

* - Improve the diet

* - Get more sleep

* - Get the right kind of exercise in the right amounts

* - Improve the attitudes that dicate how we handle stress

9 Essential Immune Boosting Nutrients

Vitimin A and Beta-Carotene
Found in most fruits and vegetables, especially yellow - carrots, cantaloupe, yams (sweet potatoes)

Protects against tumor growth and cancerous disordersBoosts white blood cells that detoxify your system

Vitimin B6
Whole grains, potatoes, nuts, lean meats, poultry, dark leafy vegetables

Helps to distribute the needed amino acids that build and repair the cellular walls of your immune system to resist infectious diseases

Folate
Found in legumes, salmon, dark leafy vegetables, eggs and liver (eggs and liver are high in cholesterol - consume in moderation)

Essential in the formation of cells, especially red blood cells

Vitamin C
Citrus fruits, tomatoes, cabbage, and other raw leafy vegetables, strawberries, melons, kiwi (excellent source in small package - 2 kiwi provide a day's RDA of Vitamin C)

Essential to the healing of wounds, formation and maintenace of the capillary walls, guards against infection by stimulating white blood cells

Vitamin E
Wheat germ, whole grains, vegetabel oils, cereals

Strengthens the immune system at several levels. Prevents damage to cells, stimulates white blood cells. Effective and lifesaving antioxidant

SeleniumSeafoods, lean meats, poultry, eggs, whole grains, and garlic

Guards clees against damage, builds resistance to tissue breakdown and counteracts the effects of toxic byproducts

Zinc
Whole grains, oats, seafood, eggs, meat and poultry

Boosts energy levels, is a helper in many immune functions, needed for insulin to work and for carbohydrates to metabolize

Iron
Liver, green leafy vegetables, raisins, whole grain breads and cereals, prune juice, wheat bran, and brewer's yeast

Oxygen carrying element of the blood, and an essential part of every cell.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Seafoods, trout, mackerel, and salmon

Valuable in increasing the activity of the white blood cells and are important in the cleansing and detoxification of your system