With the onset of the Fall season many folks dread the inevitable affliction of coming down with a cold, the flu, or maybe bouts of both. This year the fear is heightened with the promotion of swine flu.
There are numerous remedies for these seasonal blights ranging from chicken soup, Echinacea, high–dose ascorbic acid (vitamin C), anti-biotics, colloidal silver, garlic capsules to name of few. What do you do?
In recent years, science researchers have found what the early nutritionists observed decades ago that people who have low calcium levels in the blood stream are ill-equipped (pun) to effectively combat the Fall season’s bacterial and viral infections. Actually, only about one percent of the body’s total calcium is circulating in the blood stream and is in the form of calcium bicarbonate, but it is this one percent that is critical for effective immunity and combating infections. In practice I have used a calcium based supplementation protocol successfully with illnesses ranging from colds and respiratory infections to shingles and pox.
The calcium mechanism is termed the calcium wave. It has been observed using special high-speed micro-cinematography[1]. The body recognizes the infectious organism as a danger and signals calcium to be sent to that site where it plays a vital part in destroying the offending organisms. It is almost too amazing to see and believe. But this is the inborn natural immunity mechanism our bodies use to combat infection every moment of our lives. Furthermore, It is thought fever occurs when the body is scavenging for more calcium from other body sites for infection fighting. Thus, calcium bicarbonate is referred to as anti-fever and spiking a fever is indicating an immediate need for appropriate calcium supplementation.
*Note- Do not confuse calcium bicarbonate with calcium carbonate. Taking the latter in hopes of creating the former is not efficient. I recommend calcium lactate or calcium citrate.
Today we hear about the miracles of vitamin D as being a new cancer fighter and health bolstering miracle. It is not new. It has always been that way. Guess what vitamin D has to do with calcium in the bloodstream? It plays a vital role in transporting calcium out of the gut and into the bloodstream. In other words it helps get dietary calcium digested as food into the blood where it is needed. There is another vital helper, too. Some researchers regard this nutrient as the fundamental key to the body’s immunity. It is essential fatty acids, or certain essential dietary fats. These fats play a key role getting calcium out of the bloodstream and into the tissue(s) where an infection is taking place. If you suffer from fat-phobia you are compromising your immunity. Perhaps it is the fat in chicken soup that has resulted in its reputation for being an effective flu and cold remedy. I recommend eating healthy fats daily as a vital part of a healthy lifestyle.
Other helps-
· Echinacea: proven effective for up-regulating the immune response to infections
· Vitamin C complex: plays an important role in the orchestration of immunity functions in the body. Vitamin C is a whole complex of factors and not merely ascorbic acid. Foods rich in the vitamin C complex or a nutritional supplement containing a whole food source(s) of vitamin C is the real deal.
If you have any questions about the calcium protocol for this Fall season you can call me at 208-743-4567, or email me at dr.glenn@wholebasics.com.
Yours in health,
Dr. Glenn Nicholas
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