Charge Up Your Immunity

ONE of the benefits of vitamin C is its immunity-building power. Before all else, its essential task is to protect your body against foreign invaders.

Bacteria, viruses and various pathogens exist all around us. Unless we stay in a giant disinfected bubble, we can’t avoid them. In other words, we live in a battlefield, an invisible war zone where the weak and defenseless are often vulnerable to attacks. It makes sense to charge up our defence system so we never have to be overwhelmed by a virus attack.

Have you ever felt an oncoming cold, only to have the symptoms go away in a day or so? Your body aches a little. Your throat starts to feel scratchy. You start popping the vitamin C pills in there, and after a good night’s rest, the cold, fortunately, doesn’t get full- blown.

When our immune system is strong, we don’t have to worry as it will work swiftly to identify the invader, target and kill it. Mission accomplished.

But what if all our efforts to stay well go down the drain? What if our flu spirals into a bad bout of infection that drags on for days or weeks? In this case, invading viruses have somehow managed to get past our first line of defence. They have succeeded in damaging the mitochondria, our energyproducing cells, making us feel sick and drained.

What happens next is that a flood of free radicals is released in our body. These use up all the vitamin C in the affected area, like our throat or nose. As our vitamin C supplies dwindle, our body cannot build a strong defence against the virus. We have to wait for our bodies to produce sufficient antibodies to destroy the virus.

By this time, the infection may have spread to the ears, lungs, sinuses, etc. Unchecked, bacteria may trigger secondary infections, such as pneumonia or worse.

Sadly, people used to die of these conditions in the old days, because of lack of knowledge and proper treatment. Times are different now. The common cold can be resisted using a tried and tested method available to all – boosting one’s supplies of vitamin C.

Here’s what some studies have revealed about the power of vitamin C:

* Vitamin C supplements shorten the duration of common colds (Hemilar and Douglas, 1999)

* Vitamin C reduces the severity of the common cold symptoms by about 23 per cent (H. Hemilar, Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1994)

* Vitamin C has antihistaminic properties that decrease swelling and secretions (Ibid, pg. 1-6) l Vitamin C can enhance the body’s resistance to an assortment of diseases, including infectious disorders. It strengthens and protects the immune system by stimulating the activity of antibodies and immune system cells such as phagocytes and neutrophils (Eberhard Kronhausen and Phyllis Kronhausen with Harry B. Demopoulos, Formula for Life, William Morrow and Co., New York, 1989)

* As a part of collagen, vitamin C may contribute to our immune defences in an even more fundamental way. Our skin and the epithelial lining of the body’s orifices, both of which contain collagen, serve as our first line of defence against foreign invaders (S.K. Gaby and V.N. Singh, Vitamin C – Vitamin Intake and Health: A Scientific Review)

* Vitamin C acts against the toxic effects of environmental pollutants by stimulating liver detoxifying enzymes. It also encourages the production of PGE1, a prostaglandin that assists lymphocytes, the defender cells in our immune system (Kronhausen)

Many studies show that vitamin C is beneficial for those suffering mild forms of the common cold. More importantly, it helps you build resistance against unwanted infections.

You can help your immune system by including helpings of fruit and vegetables in your diet.

Vitamin C is found in oranges, tangerines, lemons, limes, papayas, strawberries and grapefruits. Leafy greens and other vegetables are also great sources of the vitamin, including tomatoes, broccoli, capsicums and raw lettuce.

You may also want to consider supplementing your diet with vitamin C. Without doubt, no other vitamin is as indispensable to us today as vitamin C, which has rightly earned the moniker, `wonder worker’. – Advertorial courtesy of MERCK

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