Rotary speaker stresses ways to boost immunity
You can live in your body, or you can thrive in your body.
That’s a decision we all make, said Dorsey Ney, owner of Healthy Heart-Healthy Pleasures, 2354 S. Union Ave., during a recent visit with members of the Alliance Rotary Club.
With another flu season upon us, Ney gave Rotarians a lesson on how to boost their immune systems.
“We can definitely get through life and just exist in our body and take all the trouble that comes along if you don’t take care of it, or we can decide we’re going to thrive,” said Ney, a yoga instructor and herbalist who has owned and operated Healthy Heart-Healthy Pleasures for 26 years. “It has been my decision to try and thrive.”
Ney has been studying nutrition nearly her entire life, and was influenced by her late mother, a nurse who taught the Conway Diet at the Alliance YMCA.
Of course, Ney stresses that good health and a strong immune system start with a person’s diet.
“Diet is critical at making sure that you live well,” said Ney, referring to a rainbow chart of food. “You really should be eating many colorful foods. If you eat as many colors as possible, you are naturally ingesting what your body needs to survive and survive well.”
While food is the base for good health, getting plenty of sleep and reducing stress are also key factors in thriving and building a strong immune system.
Exercise and yoga are good stress reducers noted Ney, who also offered another very simple way to relax – breathing in and out through the nose.
“If you breathe through the mouth, it signals the Vagus Nerve in fight or flight,” explained Ney. “But breathing in through the nose and out through the nose will help to calm you. It not only reduces stress, but it will burn more calories.”
As far as building up the immune system, Ney suggested taking the following:
Vitamin C (1,000 mg per day or more), which is an antioxidant that helps wound healing, chronic pain, swelling, immune function, and depression. It also aids in strengthening blood vessels.
Vitamin D (1,000 to 2,500 IU per day or more if you are low), which supports heart health, improves mood, improves bone matrix, improves cognitive health, and increases resistance to viral and bacterial infection. She urged everyone to get a Vitamin D level test, noting many people are severely deficient in Vitamin D. Those looking for a supplement should look for D3, which is more absorbable.
Zinc (50 mg per day then reduce after two to three months to 50 mg every other day), which helps with diabetes and prostate gland function, regulates oil gland production, assists in collagen formation, enhances taste and smell, and increases immunity. Ney noted that signs a person is zinc deficient include a loss of taste and smell, thin fingernails, acne, impaired night vision, and high cholesterol. She cautioned, however, that too much zinc can have an adverse impact on the immune system.
Probiotics (one to two per day and look for supplements that contain at least 50 billion and 30 strains and are delayed release or enteric coated) or sporebiotics (a specialty probiotic that can withstand antibiotics). Ney explained that humans have 12 pounds of beneficial bacteria in their gut, which helps to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, modulate our immune system, and stabilize our mood and our emotions. However, we have diminished the 500 different types of beneficial bacteria that live in us and on us through processed foods, chemically-laden food, and medications like antibiotics and steroids.
Ney also went through a long list of herbs that are beneficial, including echinacea, oregano, garlic and elderberry syrup, which can resist eight strands of flu virus.
She suggested reading two books, including “Prescription for Nutritional Healing,” by Phyllis A. Balch, which she described as loaded with wonderful information as it reviews each chronic issue one after another and gives advice on how to manage those ailments with natural healing; as well as “The Great Gut Extinction” by Brenda Watson, which explores revolutionary new research that offers simple keys to your lasting health.
“In short, take care of yourself,” said Ney.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Rotary speaker stresses ways to boost immunity
