Immuno-Rejuvenation with REAL FOOD?!

I’m excited to share this fascinating interview which puts a wide lens on the future of using food as preventative and interventive medicine. Can we really use food as medicine to rejuvenate our immune system? Dr Jeffery Bland, known as the inspirational ‘father’ of functional and lifestyle medicine, says we certainly can. Here, Dr Bland and Dr Mark Hyman (another leading figure in functional medicine) discuss new ways of looking at optimal health and immunity in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Hyman explains:

In trying to better understand COVID-19, Dr. Bland went back to the basics of the immune system. He breaks down the processes at work, explains what the now often-heard phrase “cytokine storm” means, and talks about using food as medicine to promote immuno-rejuvenation.

That means we’re not just supporting the current state of our immune system, we’re reviving it from the ground up.

Immuno-rejeuvenation with real food

In this episode, you will learn (video/audio):

1. Acknowledging the psycho-physical effects of COVID-19 and the three zones of learning the disease offers (4:33 / 4:35)
2. Dr. Bland’s article, Reflections on the COVID-19 Pandemic (8:14 / 8:17)
3. The flexibility and adaptability of our immune system (12:18 / 12:21)
4. Research from the HIV/AIDS epidemic showing dramatic effects of giving African women a simple multi-vitamin (16:32 / 16:35)
5. Immuno-rejuvenation and why our focus should not be on supporting our immune system but rejuvenating it (19:29 / 19:31)
6. How phytochemicals in plants impact the human immune system (24:00 / 24:03)
7. Himalayan tartary buckwheat and its immuno-potentiating compounds (28:03 / 28:06)
8. How food influences the function of our immune system (40:27 / 40:30)
9. My COVID-19 blog, A Functional Medicine Approach to COVID-19, and what we should be eating now to protect ourselves (48:28 / 48:31)
10. Five significant changes Dr. Bland predicts in how we will see healthcare globally post-COVID-19 (50:56 / 50:59)
11. The interrelatedness of our immune and nervous systems, and our control over the function of these systems (1:00:40 / 1:00:43)

Resilient health is holistic health…

Our health is in our hands … WE make the decision to create the lifestyle changes that bring energy, vitality and resilient health… so let’s take the first step, however small, and walk purposefully and consistently towards those goals.

This post is part of my Immuno Rejuvenation Series – with this series, I’m making a commitment to my subscribers to provide helpful, evidence-based information and insights into what we can do with nutrition and lifestyle medicine to build immune resilience – the capacity of our immune system to respond to external challenges (such as the Covid-19 pandemic) and return to a healthy state of wellbeing.

THE REAL FOOD REJUVENATION SOLUTION

Our risk for contracting communicable diseases like the Covid-19 virus increases when our immune system is weak and a weakened immune system is largely the result of a less-than-optimal diet and an unsupportive lifestyle.

Even as we are experiencing this current crisis, we are also seeing underlying epidemics of chronic diseases of every kind – diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, degenerative, digestive and autoimmune disorders across the globe. These conditions too, are largely diet and lifestyle-driven and they are preventable.

We need to act now

We have robust science to show us that what we eat has never been more important for our health and, because all life is inextricably connected, for our planet. The Real Food Rejuvenation Solution will help you to discover the power of real food as medicine for better health.. for you and for our planet.

Crises like Covid-19 are a test of our humanity… let’s stop waiting around for a drug or vaccine and start creating a strong, resilient foundation of immune health… together.

Stay safe, stay informed and get empowered.