Within each of us is an amazing, incredibly complex, interactive network of protective cells, tissues and organs to help fight all forms of diseases. They are programmed to protect and defend us against attacks from bacteria, microbes, viruses, toxins and parasites that would love to invade our bodies. These are the true super heroes we call the Immune System. The proper targets of our super heroes are infectious organisms: bacteria such as Streptococci, MRSA; fungi such as Candida (the cause of yeast infections); parasites, including the worm-like microbes that cause malaria; viruses such as the SARS virus, EBOLA and countless others.

Our children’s immune system is their body’s defence against infection, and immunity is the ability to resist infection. Every baby is born with a certain level of immunity, which has been passed on by the mother via the placenta during pregnancy and breastfeeding thereafter. This is called passive immunity. From the ninth week of pregnancy onwards, your baby’s own immune cells are also forming and his immune system is beginning to develop. However, it is not considered fully mature until around the age of 14 years. This why children are more susceptible to illness and infection during the initial years of their life.

As well as being born with passive immunity, from birth onwards every child acquires active immunity through exposure to different infections. As part of this process, the immune system reacts against invading germs by creating antibodies to kill them. Active immunity can be prompted by exposure to a virus, perhaps caught from another child at school or by vaccination against a certain virus such as measles. While the immune system is immature, it will gain strength after each and every encounter with germs. Every time it comes into contact with an infectious germ, the immune system stores the information so it can protect our child against it the next time it appears.

How The Immune System Works: Our child’s immune system works on three basic levels or lines of defence. The first level is made up of some of the body’s physical attributes. The skin is the body’s most immediate defensive barrier, although it is by no means the largest in size. This award goes to the mucous membranes that line the respiratory, digestive and reproductive tracts, and have a surface area of around 400 square metres (4,300 square ft). Together, the skin and the mucous membranes form a massive external and internal barrier with the aim of preventing germs from gaining entry to the rest of the body. Other physical defence mechanisms include tears, sweat, urine, hydrochloric acid in the stomach, friendly bacteria in the gut and the tiny hairs that line the respiratory system. If any disease-causing organism does manage to breach this first line of defence, it has to contend with two further levels of the immune system, known as the innate immune system and adaptive immune system.

The Innate Immune System: If bacteria manage to penetrate the immune system’s first line of defence, through a cut, for example, the first division of the internal immune army, the innate immune system, automatically swings into action. One group of the body’s white blood cells, called macrophages, will rush to the site of any penetration to engulf and destroy the bacteria, often causing inflammation and swelling in the process. Other cells involved in this process are complement proteins, which can punch holes in bacteria cells thereby destroying them, and NK (natural killer) cells, a type of white blood cell that can destroy bacteria, parasites, virus-infected cells and cancer cells.

The Adaptive Immune System: If the innate immune system is overwhelmed or ineffective at repelling an invader, the third line of defence kicks in, the adaptive immune or acquired immune system. We are not born with it, but acquire it through contact with specific pathogens during our lifetime. Its primary job is to protect us against reinfection. What we are exposed to during our lifetime determines our third line of defense.

The innate immune response is an immediate response that begins to take place as soon as a protective body barrier (e.g., the skin) has been breached by a pathogen, whereas the adaptive immune response is generated over a period of 3-4 days. The innate immune response recognizes broad categories of pathogens, while the adaptive immune response is VERY pathogen specific. The adaptive immune response has memory, while the innate response does not.

 

Building Our Children’s Immunity The Natural Way

 

Given the right instruments, your child’s body has a remarkable ability to heal itself. Their immune army protects the body’s boundaries, and, once these have been penetrated, brings a plethora of strategies into play to protect your child from infection. In order to develop and thrive, your child’s immune system needs to be nourished by the essential nutrients it requires to function efficiently. The key immune-boosting nutrients include: Vitamin A, B, C, E, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Selenium and Zinc (food sources of these nutrients, their specific functions within the immune system and tell-tale signs of deficiency will be covered on the next week’s article). All of these nutrients will be provided if our children are fed a diet filled with whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, nuts and seeds. Our child’s immune system does not need a diet full of salt, sugar, saturated fat, additives and food colouring found in highly processed junk and fast foods, as this will seriously impede and compromise the child’s immune function.

Meanwhile, here is the Green Secret’s “Children’s Immunity Juice” for stronger and nourished super heroes (Make sure to scrub and wash all vegetables and fruits well before juicing). It is a MUST to use organic vegetables only.

• ½ cup sliced pineapple
• 5 stems of malunggai
• 1 stalk Celery
• 1 orange peeled
• 1 medium pear (peeled if not organic)
• 1 sweet potato (peeled)

Juice all ingredients with your masticating juicer. Remember… a green juice a day keeps the doctor away.

The most precious jewels we will ever have around our neck are the arms of our children. Let us nourish them with unconditional love and healthy foods, for they are the future and makers of tomorrow. For questions and/or concerns email me at [email protected]

 

 

Christine E.V. Gonzalez is a doctor of naturopathic medicine and holds PhDs
in holistic nutrition and natural medicine. LLM (MS Environmental Laws & Labor)
©Wellness Institute International (632) 656-WELL (9355) • (046) 483-0115 (0917) 888-HEAL • (0920) 958- HEAL (4325)