One of the hottest topics since February 2020 is the immune system. The truth is, the immune system has always been a priority at CHI and in this portion of the newsletter we will explain one of the key concepts we use in balancing it. Just like everything else in life (besides eating food sensitivities), the immune system needs a healthy balance. Now to keep it simple, there are three main immune system players so to speak. These consist of type 1, type 2 and type 17 immune system cells. Type 1 help you fight off viruses, bacteria and fungi, type 2 helps you fight off parasites and an excess of them give people allergies with issues in the gut, lungs, sinuses and any hollow organs of the body like the bladder, and type 17 cells deal with autoimmune issues where your immune system attacks your own tissues and creates lots of inflammation. Now it is vital that you have your practitioner check which of these need to be balanced in you but a clinical observation is the following situation: low Type 1 cells and high type 2 cells is the most common pattern seen.
What that presents as is a person who has chronic allergies, gut issues, chronic infections and sinus issues…sound familiar? This also means that the person has a reduced ability to fight off viruses, bacteria and fungi since if they are high in type 2 cells then they are low in the type 1 cells that combat these infections. The things that put us in a state of high type 2 cells are chronic stress, caffeine intake, lack of sleep, steroid use like inhalers and to many “healthy” juices full of berry like fruits with veggies. Avoiding all of this along with using nutrients to increase your type 1 cells can help significantly. The most common nutrients that achieve this are berberine, skullcap, ginger, broccoli, zinc and glutathione. Astragalus will also help in this situation. Another common thing that can happen with excess type 2 cells is the increase in type 17 cells. This will increase the chance of autoimmunity being present. If this is the case then the two top nutrients to help with that are resveratrol and turmeric along with increasing type 1 cells.
All of these nutrients come in both single nutrient supplements and combination products that are formulated to support this immune system balance. The best thing to do is to have your practitioner test which product or products agree with your system to balance you. And the last thing I will leave you with since I love clinical pearls is there are three herbs that I use to strengthen your immune system in general. Everyone has heard of vitamin C, zinc and vitamin D at one time or another but for even stronger support I like to use Astragalus, Andrographis and Reishi mushroom.
See you soon for an immune system balance!
Dr. Charlie
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