Your immune system is your interface with the environment, and a healthy immune system is the cornerstone of good health: it allows you to interact with germs and not get infections, with allergens and avoid allergic reactions, and with carcinogens and avoid getting cancer.
Immune deficiency can be avoided with preventive measures:
- Maintain good oral hygiene (gum infections can use up a lot of the body's immune resources).
- Use antibiotics only when absolutely necessary and avoid immunosuppressive drugs unless there are no other alternatives left to consider.
- Cut back on sugar and stop eating polyunsaturated vegetable oils and artificially hardened fats - instead use extra-virgin olive oil and eat fresh fruits when craving something sweet.
- Don't forget moderate exercise - it helps keep every tissue in the body healthy and can raise levels of natural killer cells, a primary defense against cancer.
More news is coming about the remarkable health-protective effects of berries. The latest: using a topical application of the antioxidant ellagic acid - an antioxidant found in numerous fruits, vegetables and nuts, especially raspberries, strawberries and cranberries - researchers at Hallym University in the Republic of Korea prevented collagen destruction and moderated the inflammatory response. This effect was seen in both human skin cells and the skin of hairless mice after continuing exposure to UV-B, the sun's skin-damaging ultraviolet rays.
There is now a great deal of well-designed research showing that many compounds in berries, whether applied to the skin or eaten in the form of whole fruit, are among the most protective nutrients your body can utilize. I hope that topical ellagic-acid-based preparations become widely available for a variety of skin conditions. In the meantime, eating berries regularly is one of the best, not to mention tastiest, moves you can make for overall health.how to fight depression
