In its broadest sense, the immune system comprises all barriers to invaders and all systems designed to attack and destroy any invaders that get past the first line of defense.
The Skin
The skin and fur protect our pet’s delicate insides from the outside.
Essential oils (essential fatty acids, EFAs), especially the anti-inflammatory Omega 3 fats, as well as the nutrients from raw food, help to maintain the integrity of the skin.
When the skin is cut, blood rushes out, flushing out most of the potential invaders, then forms a clot to fill the gap, sealing out any further bugs. White blood cells arrive quickly to destroy anything that shouldn’t be there and the healing process soon creates new skin cells under the protective scab.
Lymph Nodes
The orifices of the bodies of dogs, cats and ourselves are the mouth, nose, ears, anus, urethra and vulva/vagina.
These are all well protected with local lymph nodes, the sentry boxes of the immune system, guarding all potential entrances. The majority of bugs enter through the mouth and nose, so there is a huge concentration of lymphatic tissue (mostly the tonsils) to guard this area.
Function Of Blood
The blood is the body’s main transport system carrying nutrients to the cells, waste products from the cells, red blood cells (oxygen to the cells, carbon dioxide from the cells), platelets (for clotting), white blood cells (immune system) and hormones.
There are many different types of white blood cells (WBCs), each with a specific main function. The exact details of how it all works are very complicated, so I won’t get into that here, but I will explain how to maintain a healthy immune system and why it sometimes is overwhelmed.
The Immune System Response
When an invader gets past the first line of defense and enters the body, the immune system recognizes it as foreign and launches a white blood cell attack on it in various ways.
For example, polymorphonucleocytes (PMNs) engulf (‘eat’) the baddies, mast cells produce histamine which brings lots of fluid to the area to dilute the toxin (the solution to pollution is dilution!), natural killer cells (NK cells) inject the foreign cells (often cancer cells) with porphyrin (an enzyme which makes holes in its membrane to kill it).
Digestive Leucocytosis
After years of eating processed foods, the body’s digestive ability gradually becomes exhausted and inefficient. As a result, incompletely digested food particles get into the blood where they are immediately recognized as foreign and attacked by the white blood cells.
The digestive process is then completed by these white blood cells in the blood! This is clearly not how the body was designed, but it is a survival strategy.
The body has to get nutrients somehow. So the white blood cell count in the blood increases, especially after eating microwaved food. Microwaved food is so damaged, the body doesn’t even recognize it as food (tip: if you have a microwave, either give it to someone you don’t like or throw it away).
Toxins In The Body
So what happens now when an invader invades? The white blood cells are all busy desperately trying to digest food in the blood so have no resources to deal with the invader.
This means that bugs get in and have a field day, wreaking havoc wherever they go. The body pushes some of the toxins (undigested ‘food’ particles) out through the mucous membranes (called vicarious elimination), mainly via the lungs and large bowels, creating symptoms like a runny nose, cough (from mucous and toxins in the lungs), diarrhoea (from toxins leaving through the bowels), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), colitis.
Toxins are also excreted via the skin causing irritation (eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis). Taking drugs to suppress these symptoms is never going to deal with the actual problem.
Strengthen Your Immune Function
The simplest way is to stop putting toxins (processed foods, drinks and drugs) in at the top end (mouth) so the body can get rid of the toxins which have already accumulated in the body and start the process of repair.
For people, Juice Plus or some other digestive enzyme, and for pets, PET Plus, are both great ways of providing the body with the nutrients it needs so it can start to repair itself. Nourish your body with the natural raw ingredients it needs. See ‘What is fat in people and pets? How to get rid of it! for more details.
If you want you and your pets to live a long and healthy life, with few visits to health care professionals, this is the way to do it.