Health and Wellness and Immune System

The health and wellness movement is basically all about the immune system. Wellness is defined generally as the absence of disease which requires a strong immune system working to its fullest potential. To maintain a perfect state of health and wellness, proactive health and wellness people focus on prevention of disease rather than letting disease get a foothold and then hope the health ("sickness") system can fix it.

Our immune system is working constantly to rid our bodies of pathogens. When our immune system becomes overwhelmed our bodies are dis-eased, meaning they are out of balance and more susceptible and vulnerable to pathogens. While you see a lot in the health and wellness literature about how we can help prevent heart disease, diabetes and cancer, you don't see much on boosting or fortifying your immune system even though it is our only line of defense against all diseases. Maybe it's because the immune system is a very complex system that defies a simple description and can't fit into a 30 second commercial very well.

The consumers who regular take vitamins and minerals are really trying to give the immune system the tools it needs to do the job. Such supplements can range from a mass market multi vitamin, to Vitamin C, Vitamin E and recently Vitamin D has gained some credibility. Even my medical doctor mused once that he might even try Vitamin D. (nothing else). These vitamins are classed as exogenous antioxidants because they are not manufactured by the body and must be added via our food supply and/or capsule/pill form. This is why a balanced diet is really important so the immune system  gets the fuel it needs to do the job.

There is a lot of debate as to whether vitamins and minerals actually work. If you're a patient in the health system , you are most often told by the dietitians and doctors that you can get all your vitamin and mineral needs from your food provided, of course, you eat the right food in the right quantity. Organic choices are usually not recommended because they are considered too expensive or no different nutritionally than regular food. Likewise, vitamin and minerals in any other form than basic food are usually not recommended because they apparently don't work.

It's obvious then that proactive and self educated consumers don't buy the standard medical opinion on organic foods and vitamins.  Notice the vast number of health food products including organic food and vitamins and minerals that you see in the marketplace. It seems that there are "not working" pretty good. Demand for such products is growing on an annual basis despite all the negative publicity you often see coming from so called medical experts who quote so called clinical medical studies that debunk specific vitamins. (if you check a little, you will often find that such studies are often done by pharmaceutical outfits). People who buy organic food can't buy the main street pitch which says regular food is just as good as organic. Organic produce buyers just can't accept that regular corn is sprayed 10x with herbicide and pesticides before we eat it. Can that really be good for you? Can all these chemicals have zero impact on the human body?

Dr. Linus Pauling caused quite an uproar among the medical community in the 70's when he published his book "Vitamin C and the Common Cold". While the medical profession did not accept his findings, many consumers did, so Vitamin C became a staple in many homes. Dr Pauling made people aware of the potential of Vitamin C  as a way not only to treat the common cold but also to generally boost the immune system.

There should be a similar spike in interest when health conscious individual learn that there's a way to boost their immune system by boosting glutathione levels in the body. Glutathione is the body's own master anti-oxidant and, as such, it is an endogenous antioxidant manufactured within the body itself. It's so important that none of the other antioxidants would work without it. As the immune system is battling the constant barrage of pathogens invading the body, it's using up glutathione. You can't just eat glutathione and solve the problem. It will not work even thought there's lots of claims out there on the internet that you can raise glutathione this way. Glutathione consists of 3 amino acids, 2 of which are plentiful in the human body but the third cysteine is not. Cysteine is also not readily available in most foods so  now we have a problem. Diminishing glutathione levels mean lower immunity to disease resulting in more pathogens resulting in an even lower immune response. This is a downward spiral.

This problem was solved by Dr G. Bounous when he was very puzzled as to why his control group of mice were living 30% longer than regular mice and why their tumours were also smaller. One of his colleagues suggested it might be something to do with glutathione. Dr G. Bounous then asked the same question you raised in your mind: "What's Glutathione?".  Sure enough the bio active whey protein isolate, now called Immunocal was raising the glutathione levels of these mice by supplying them with the critical 3rd amino acid, cysteine. Since this discovery in the 80's, there have been 26 clinical studies done with this product to prove that it does what it says it does. It is now in the Physicians Desk Reference in  the USA and in the Canadian Pharmaceutical Specialties (CPS) . This means regular medical doctors can prescribe it. Of course, there are over 2600 pages of fine print in the CPS so first doctors have to find it.

 Immunocal is a true health food with massive medical credentials in its role of boosting the immune response of the body by raising glutathione levels. The ultimate health and wellness product.

More about Dr Bounous, Glutathione and Immunocal at Web MD website

About Immunocal Ingredients

Immunocal is not just any whey protein product. This patented isolate from whey is specially prepared to provide a rich source of bioavailable cysteine. Following digestion, the cysteine remains as the stable form cystine (2 molecules of cysteine linked by a disulfide bond) and glutamylcystine. In common processing these molecules are destroyed causing the cysteine availability to be greatly decreased, preventing the product from having the desired effect. Immunocal has been extensively studied to effectively deliver cysteine and naturally boost glutathione levels.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 Pouch (10 g)

Servings Per Container:30

Ingredients: 100% Whey Protein Isolate Powder (from Cow's Milk)

In addition, Immunocal is fat free, lactose free, sugar free, gluten free and antibiotic free.