Ebola and How to Boost Your Immune System

Recently there have been cases of outbreaks of Ebola that have been reported all over the news and I've seen some people more concerned about this hitting home. I wanted to give you some information about Ebola as well as information on how to boost your immune system. There are many immune boosting natural supplements and I will talk about which ones are specifically anti-viral. 

Ebola is a virus similar to HIV because they are both RNA viruses. But unlike HIV, ebola is not a retrovirus. How does Ebola work? Ebola hijacks the host cells and uses your DNA to make more copies of Ebola. After there are enough copies of the virus, people start experiencing symptoms. Initial symptoms of Ebola include flu like symptoms and bruising, but the danger of this infection is bleeding from eyes, ears, nose and rectum.

There isn’t a specific drug against Ebola. The good news is that it is not that easy to contract so do not spend the stress worrying about it. Again good hygiene and hand washing after traveling or public places is a good idea. Anti-bacterial hand sanitizers are filled with chemicals and strip the normal flora your body produces that is protective to your skin. I would go with the old-fashioned warm water and soap.

In our modern era, we focus on germs and have the notion that if germs are around we get sick. However, there are many viruses and bacteria all around us. So why do we not get sick? When the immune system functions optimally, there is usually not a problem. So when I talk to patients, there are 2 things that are important. The first is to keep clean, but unless we live in a bubble, germs are inevitable. With Ebola, it is unlikely you and I will be exposed to it in the US anyway. The second is to keep your body less susceptible to succumbing to infection. This is very important and often ignored. Think about the earth and soil. There are different vegetation and plants that grow in various climates. A cactus cannot grow in an evergreen forest. There are certain conditions you can create in your body that would make it harder for the germs to infect you.

One of the ways to keep your body in an environment that is harder for germs to take hold of you is to make sure your body is alkaline rather than acidic. So if you buy pH paper from the drug store to test your saliva, your saliva pH should be right above 7 and the test strip should look dark green. If you test yourself and the pH test strip shows yellow or light green, your body is too acidic.

How to alkalize your body? Drink fresh lemon juice in water and keep drinking that until your saliva pH is right above 7. You can also consume more fruits and vegetables which tend to produce an alkaline reaction in your body. Eating lots of carbohydrates and sugars create an acid environment in your body, which is not good because you will be more susceptible to infection as well as inflammation.

Vegetable juice can also be alkalizing to the body and I recently started doing some juicing and have felt great having this everyday. I’ve been more energetic, focused and generally feel great and lost some fat around my belly. Carrots are high in vitamin A, which is a vitamin often overlooked for immunity. Ginger is anti-inflammatory and Lemon is high in vitamin C. Here’s my recipe:

3 lbs of carrots

2 bunches of celery

2 apples

2 inches of ginger

1-2 whole lemon including rind

Juice the above, which produces about 6 cups of juice.

Now I’ll share a few anti-viral remedies with you.

The following natural herbs and remedies have anti-viral properties, they are not necessarily specific to Ebola prevention, since we have not tested that, however, by principle helpful.

Andrographis

Andrographis is an herb used in India and China often used to rid the body of heat such as fevers. It is a great remedy and works very well to dispel colds especially when taken when the cold is first coming on. The leaves contain the highest component of its medicinal component andrographolide which is a diterpene lactone and tastes very bitter. This herb is anti-viral and works by stimulating anti-body production, which is part of the antigen specific immune system. Andrographis also works on the non-specific immune response by stimulating macrophages. Andrographis is helpful for defense against colds. Studies also show positive effects for cancer and HIV with use of andrographis. There is a product ANDROGRAPHIS PLUS by Metagenics and you can get it here. I’ve found andrographis working well for my patients who feel they are about to get sick and have prevented a full blown illness using this.

Elderberry

Elderberries are beautiful plants and the berry is a dark purple color containing many anti-oxidants and medicinal properties including anti-viral properties. Elderberries are highly effective for colds, flus and the herpes virus and works better than Echinacea for many people. The US national library of medicine showed that elderberry relieved the symptoms of the flu 4 days earlier than placebo. Another study showed that elderberries killed the H1N1 virus. It is thought that the medicinal component of elderberry extract coats a virus and prevents it from being able to penetrate and infect the host cells. There is a product called PRO BERRY LIQUID by North American Pharmacal (D’adamo) that tastes great and kid friendly and you can get some here.

Vitamin C

You need a lot more than 100mg, the RDA of Vitamin C for clinical effects such as its effect on the immune system. 100mg is just enough to prevent scurvy, a disease where sailors bled because they did not get vitamin C from fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet while at sea for a long time. For maintenance, 500-1000mg of vitamin C per day is good. However if you are coming down with a virus, Vitamin C to bowel tolerance is a dosage that will be much more effective. This is approximately 8000-12,000mg of vitamin C per day in divided doses, but different for each person. So taking 1000mg per hour is the way to go and I’ve prevented myself from getting sick numerous times by doing this. I like ULTRA POTENT C by Metagenics and it’s available here.

So remember to first and foremost make sure your body is in a position that is less susceptible to infection by keeping it alkaline, and we discussed how to do that above. Then also make sure you keep your stress levels down and get enough sleep. If you feel you need some extra support, the remedies mentioned above have anti-viral properties. Take care and be well.

Things You May Not Know About Immunity

Many of you may be worried about getting the flu or struggling with fighting illness after illness this season. Boston declared a state of health emergency earlier this January stating that there have been 700 cases of influenza compared to 70 last year at this time in Boston. The CDC estimates about 200,000 Americans get hospitalized per year for complications related to the flu; this is 0.06% of our 314 million population. Even though these numbers seem high for the flu, also be aware of the following statistics for adverse reactions from prescription drugs. According to the Institute for Safe Medical Practices May 2012 an estimate of 4 million people in the US suffered injuries associated with prescription drug therapy. 179,855 cases were reported to the FDA in 2011 of serious, disabling or fatal prescription drug events.

We want to do what we can to strengthen the immune system, but do not let fear overtake decisions for your health. Many Americans have been pressured to get the flu vaccine, and this has been made stronger by the media's creation of fear in the public. According to the Cochrane Review 2010 (Review of 50 articles and 36 clinical trials), healthy individuals may be discouraged to get the flu vaccine. http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/876/84/. The report states that in the case when the vaccine strain is well matched with that year's actual influenza viruses, that 1% of vaccinated people develop flu symptoms and 4% of unvaccinated people develop flu symptoms. This is not a very large difference. The flu vaccine does not seem to decrease complications from the flu or reduce its spread. The decision to vaccinate is personal and can depend on other factors. Know that keeping your own immune system strong is an alternate form of protection. Below are some considerations for you to muse over on how some food choices can affect the immune system.

Sugar: Have you even wondered about the correlation between sugar and getting sick? Think about the increased pediatrician visits for infectious illness after Halloween candy. Have you also wondered if perhaps all the holiday sweets contribute to tendencies to getting sick during the wintertime, among other factors? According to a study at the Loma Linda University, research subjects were given 100g of sugar (equivalent to 1L of soda). They drew the blood of the subjects and tested their blood for the ability to phagocytize bacteria. The blood of subjects who had the sugar, was less effective at destroying the bacteria than those who did not just have the sugar. This study showed that sugar eating did not decrease the number of neutrophils but decreased their responsiveness. Dr. Sears MD says that having about 8 tbsp of sugar can reduce the white blood cells ability to kill germs starting 30 mintues after to about 5 hours later by 40%.

Nutrition: Adequate nutrition is essential for a properly functioning immune system. Amino acids are building blocks needed for immune cells which are found in protein, not carbohydrates. Getting infectious diseases are often associated with an underactive immune system. Allergies are often associated with an overactive immune system. Dr. Leo Galland MD says, "It is important to understand that these two conditions (infection and allergy) often occur together. The problem is not usually that the immune system as a whole is too strong or too weak, rather, it is disorganized." He goes on to say that craving for sweets is often a sign of general nutritional deficiency. So load up with your proteins, vegetables and fruits, which contain vitamins and minerals, good fats such as EFAs, nuts, seeds, olive oil etc. and you will not crave the sugar, which lowers the immune system.

 Wheat: When discussing about allergies associated with infections, it is important to understand that many people have silent food sensitivities that evoke an "allergic like" response in the body. They create vague symptoms such as fatigue, gas, bloating, sleepiness after eating, headaches, brain fog etc, that do not manifest like a traditional hayfever allergic response or anaphylaxis. When there is a "silent food sensitivity/allergy" there is a higher correlation with susceptibility to infections as discussed above.

If I had to pick one food to watch that will positively affect a decrease in susceptibility to infection, I would decrease the consumption of wheat. Anecdotally, it seems that wheat in other European countries do not have as many adverse affects as the wheat in America. I wonder if it is because of the heavy genetic modification, the irradiation of wheat seeds with chemicals, gamma rays and X-rays that is more prevalent here? (See PMID 16143119 Natural variation in toxicity of wheat: potential for selection of nontoxic varieties for celiac disease patients. Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands). According to the Mayo clinic, a wheat allergy is different than celiac disease. Many people may have a wheat allergy, but not celiac disease.

A study at the Bartholin Institute in Demark 2012 showed that gluten, a protein found in wheat increased a type of T cell associated with auto-immunity. A diet that contained gluten decreased gamma delta T cells. Gamma delta T cells have complex functions but are often thought of as the "first line of defense". There is much more research on the effects of wheat and autoimmunity compared to wheat and infectious disease susceptibility, however again the two have a common thread of immune dysregulation. And I see clinical benefit with my patients in reduction of wheat associated with reduced susceptibility to infection.

I work with patients who may want natural alternatives to anti-biotics for chronic sinus infections, or those who seem to catch cold after cold for example. Decreasing wheat and sugar have profound effects alone, and in some cases patients have a more profound response with some additional nutritional supplements that support their immune system based on their individual constitution.

This is not to say that all wheat and sugar needs to be avoided for a healthy individual. But there is a difference between someone who eats cereal, pastries, coffee and desert all day compared to another person who consumes lots of fruits, vegetables, protein and nutrient packed foods and then enjoys an occasional creme brulee. Lastly, get the rest you need, stay hydrated, and remember to smile. Have an awesome start to the New Year!