healthy immune system

Allergens and Germs Make Healthier Babies: A Dirty House Can Save $50,000

June 8, 2014 By Jeffrey Strain Leave a Comment

Study: house allergens and germs boost immunity in babies

If you want to help your child have a healthy immune system, you may want to leave your house a little dirtier than you have been. A new study from the June 6 edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology has found babies exposed to allergens and germs during their first year of life end up having a healthier immune system than those who don’t, and are less likely to have breathing issues as they grow older.

Infants who were exposed to allergens, germs and bacteria from such things as cats, roaches and rodents during their first year of life were able to develop a strong immunity to allergies, and they ended up suffering less from asthma and other types of wheezing as they grew older. The study suggests that exposure to allergens plays a vital role in helping the child to develop a healthy immune system with first year exposure being especially important. Infants who were exposed to the same allergens after their first year of life were less protected, and had less resistance to allergies than those exposed their first year.

Dr. Robert Wood who authored the study was stunned by the results because they were the opposite of what he was expecting to fine. His research was following up on a number of earlier studies which actually found an increased risk of asthma among those living in the city who were exposed to mouse, pet, and roach droppings and related allergens.

Instead, Dr Wood found that being exposed to these germs was essential to building immunity with the timing of the initial exposure being far more critical than anyone had previously believed. The study indicated that many of the immune responses we develop are shaped during the first year of our life. In addition, specific allergens in bacteria may very well play an important role in the stimulation and training of our immune systems to behave in certain ways later in life.

Those who aren’t exposed to common household allergens within the first year may not develop as strong an immunity as those exposed to them the first year of life. In fact, the more of the cat, roach and rodent dander the baby is exposed to their first year, the less likely the child was to develop allergies and wheezing.

According to the study, 41% of children who ended up being both allergy and wheeze-free came from homes where a large amount of allergens and bacteria were found. In contrast, less than 10% (8%) of children who suffered from bother allergies and wheezing were exposed to the same level of the allergens in their first year of life. The researchers also noted in background material supplementing the study that previous studies have found that children who grow up on farms are less likely to have allergies and asthma, possibly due to the increased likelihood of exposure to bacteria and microbes that comes with farm life.

There is a large financial aspect to this as well. Babies are already expensive. If early exposure to allergens can prevent allergies and asthma, that prevention can equate to thousands of dollars in savings for a family each year. According to statistics from the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), asthma costs approximately $3,300 per person each year. That is savings of as much as $50,000 over the lifetime of the child if asthma can be prevented.

(Photo courtesy of Helene Samson)

Fasting Twice a Year Can Reboot Your Immune System

June 7, 2014 By Jeffrey Strain 20 Comments

study says fasting can regenerate a healthy immune system with new stem cells

Would you be willing to go without food for a few days to keep your immune system in tip-top shape? That is exactly what may happen if you’re willing to fast twice a year according to a new University of Southern California study featured in the June 5 edition of Cell Stem Cell. The study is the first to find that someone, through natural intervention by the person, can help trigger stem cells to regenerate. In other words, it appears fasting can help your immune system recycle itself to become stronger than it had been before you began to fast.

The fasting works in the following way. By not eating for two to four days in a row, the body significantly lowers the number of white blood cells. Those cells that die off tend to be those which are weak or have damage. When a person begins to eat again, new stem cells are created which end up being much healthier than the ones that died off. In other words, by fasting, a person can regenerate a completely new and healthy immune system.

The study could have huge implications for a variety of groups, especially in the area of healthier aging. As people get older, their immune system declines, which can lead to a bigger chance of getting a variety of diseases. If fasting can help regenerate a person’s immune system, their body may be able to better fight these diseases than they could before, without the need of any prescription drugs. As the authors note, “If you start with a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system.”

And added benefit is that a healthier immune system could end up saving people a lot of money. Being able to fight off diseases without the help of pharmaceuticals can save a small fortune. Simply being in better health can save money in a large number of ways such as being more productive, having fewer sick days and having more energy. For those who think this would be a good idea for them and their health, don’t just jump right into it. Here are a few things you need to consider before you begin a fast:

Tell Your Doctor

Before you do anything, consult your doctor to get their opinion. Since they will best know your health issues, you want to make sure doing a fast will actually be a benefit, and not detrimental to your health. There may be reason you should not do this which you may not have considered. This is especially true if you are taking medication which might be affected by you not consuming food or calories.

Stay Hydrated

Once you get the go-ahead from your doctor, be sure that you drink plenty of water during the fast. Especially during the summer, the last thing you want to do is get dehydrated while fasting. Consult your doctor on the amount of water you should be drinking during the fast, and make sure you consume the recommended amount.

Don’t Strenuously Exercise

Trying to fast and keep your regular routine will be a challenge in itself when you aren’t able to take your normal food and coffee breaks throughout the day, but it will make the entire process even worse if you try to exercise as well. When you make the commitment to fast, give your body the best chance to complete it with the least amount of discomfort. Strenuously exercising while fasting will make the other hours all that more difficult as your body craves food even more.

Reduce Stress

Try to make the time you attempt the fast as stress-free as possible. Trying to not eat while you have major stresses will make fasting miserable, and make it much more likely you fail to succeed. Try to schedule the fast during a time when you have plenty of time to use the way you want, and you don’t have a huge number of commitments which have to be met.

Make Sure You’re Healthy

You want to make sure that you’re in the best health possible when doing this. That is, you don’t want to attempt this when you have the flu or some other type of illness. Again, make sure to consult your doctor and review your health before attempting to fast for 48 – 96 hours.

It’s Not a Diet

Be sure to remember why you’re doing this. You’re fasting to regenerate your stem cells and rebuild your immune system, not to lose weight. You should not care one bit about any weight you lose or don’t lose. It’s also important to note that this should only be done twice a year, not on a monthly basis. Doing it more often than twice-a-year may have a number of negative effects which outweigh any benefit you get from the immune system regeneration.

(Photo courtesy of Cordey)

Ways Great Sex Can Save Money

January 3, 2012 By Jeffrey Strain 2 Comments

When most people think about New Year financial resolutions, they think about tackling those difficult issues that they know that they should be doing, but have been avoiding because they know working on them is going to take time, effort and probably a little pain. Get rid of the credit card debt. Reduce costs. Make a budget and stick to it. These are all necessary to get your finances in order, but they aren’t things that most people actively look forward to doing.

With that in mind, I think it’s important to make a resolution that not only will save you money, but one that will also be a whole lot of fun to do at the same time. While this financial advice didn’t come to me via a prostitute, there are certainly some sound financial arguments that are echoed below. If you haven’t added “having great sex” to your list of ways to better your finances in 2012, here are a number of reasons that having great sex with your partner will save you money:

Reduced Stress

Researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) scans and were able to show that for an individual to reach orgasm, one of the essential requirements was for that individual to set themselves free from “all fear and anxiety” according to ScienceLine. Researchers in Scotland have reported in the journal Biological Psychology that people who have regular intercourse have lower blood pressure and reduced overall stress compared to those who don’t.

Stress can lead to a whole range of unhealthy habits. In an attempt to relieve that stress, many people turn to such things as spending money and shopping for things that aren’t really needed. While there are a number of low cost ways to relieve stress, having great sex is probably the most fun way and it’s difficult to think of a better way to ensure that you don’t spend money in ways you don’t need to.

Feel Closer to Your Partner

In addition to reducing stress, great sex helps you feel closer to your partner. When people have sex and orgasms, there is an increase level of the hormone oxytocin produced. Oxytocin is often referred to as the “love hormone” which helps individuals build trust, as well as to bond and nurture.

It’s never a good situation when you aren’t feeling close to your partner, and the stress that this causes can show up in a number of financially destructive ways. Eventually it can even lead to divorce. When you feel close to your partner, there is a lot less chance that the relationship will end in divorce since there is a huge reason to continue to work on it. Keeping a relationship on good terms can save tens of thousands of dollars that would almost certainly be lost when a relationship ends in divorce.

Better and Deeper Sleep

There are many reasons that lack of sleep can cost you money, so the better you are able to sleep, the more rested you will feel each and every day. Great sex will wear you out and release a cocktail of hormones with a key one being prolactin. Prolactin helps to make sure that you sleep soundly at night.

Healthier Immune System

Not only is it important to have great sex to save money, it’s important to have great sex on a regular basis. A study by Wilks University scientists showed that students have have frequent sex (those reporting having sex twice a week) had higher levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA) than those students that had less frequent or no sex. IgA has been shown to protect individuals from getting colds and other infections. Unfortunately, daily sex seems to reduce IgA in the body as those that reported having sex 3 or more times per week also had less IgA than those who reported having sex twice a week.

Anyone that has ever been sick knows that being ill can end up costing a small fortune. Beyond the costs of doctor visit and medication, the loss of productivity and time off work can have significant negative financial consequences. While there are a lot of things that you can do to try and prevent the flu, I can’t think of many that are more enjoyable than having great sex.

Lower Entertainment Costs

Those that are able to entertain themselves end up spending a lot less money than those that have to be constantly entertained. When it comes to a choice between going out to dinner and a movie or staying in together having great sex, 9 out of 10 times the choice would be the latter (with the other being going out to dinner and a movie and returning to have great sex the other time). While having sex should never eliminate doing other activities that help keep a relationship healthy, it will often trump them when there is a choice — and that can end up saving quite a bit of money.

Better Skin

For those who spend a small fortune on their skin, great sex can be an answer to their prayers. According to Real Beauty, great sex does a number of wondrous things for your skin at no cost.

To begin, great sex improves blood circulation and pumps oxygen to your skin which helps to give it that heavenly “after sex glow.” Improved blood circulation can also help eliminate toxins and make your lips appear to be a bit fuller. Sex also helps to balance out hormone levels which has the effect of helping to control acne.

For those worried about aging skin, great sex has that covered too. Sex helps to boost collagen production which can help prevent age spots and sagging in addition to lessening wrinkles. For those whose great sex includes the session getting hot and sweaty, it can also clean dirt, grime, and makeup residue from your pores which you may have missed during your daily face cleanse. When it all comes down to it, great sex has the ability to help improve your skin more than any high priced beauty product.

No Reason To Feel The Need To Keep Up With The Joneses

The best thing that great sex does is that it keeps you focused on your partner instead of the Joneses down the street. When your sex life is good, do you really give a crap that Mr. Jones is driving the latest tractor mower? It’s amazing how little what others are doing really matters when you are happy with yourself and your partner. There is no reason to have to show off and your main focus is having a good time with the one you love. When this is the focus rather than material things, you are guaranteed to save boatloads of money.

All these reasons that “great sex saves money” examples hinge on the important assumption that when you are having the great sex, you are correctly using birth control. Not doing so can result in a new addition to the family that will certainly not help your savings account, so resolve to have that great sex this year, but have it safely.

(Photo courtesy of Zawezome)