Some of us seem to suffer an endless string of illnesses from November to April while others sail through these rough waters completely unscathed. The degree to which we become sick can also vary from person to person. Expose three people to the same set of germs. One develops pneumonia, one experiences a mild cold and the third won’t be bothered at all. Why is that?

There is little doubt that viruses are responsible for colds and flus. Although western medicine has been unable to effect a cure, alternative health-care practitioners now believe that once you’re exposed to a virus the end result (whether you get sick and how sick you get) will depend upon your body’s ability to defend itself. In other words, the strength of your immune system determines the severity of your cold or flu.

The immune system, more than any other part of the body, dictates your state of health. The bone marrow, spleen, liver, thymus, lymph nodes and white blood cells are its main players, but every part of your body gets into the act to keep your defenses strong.

In fifteen years of practice I have observed that immune response is influenced more by the quality of diet and the stresses and strains of lifestyle than by any other factor. Put the following four steps together and be one of the few left standing the next time everyone else is dropping like flies.

Step #1: Feed Your Immune System

The standard American diet is overly processed, refined and overcooked. As a result, it lacks many of the nutrients we need to maintain a healthy immune response. For example, vitamins A, C, E, beta-carotene and the mineral zinc, all vital nutrients for a strong defense, are in short supply in the average American’s diet. Low protein intake and deficiencies in essential fatty acids (found in nuts and seeds), B-vitamins and the mineral selenium also contribute to suppressing your immune system. Eating a diet high in “live” foods, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, pure water and a modest amount of animal or vegetable protein is important.

Unfortunately, there are many more factors that suppress immune function than enhance it. One of the most powerful of these is sugar. Each year at Halloween, my daughter eats some of the candy she has collected and each year she catches a cold within 24 hours. This is not, as she would like to believe, a coincidence. Nor is it a coincidence that the cold and flu season follows on the heels of two months of holiday parties and their requisite sugary food intake. Increased consumption of sugar, including “natural” sugars like honey and concentrated fruit sugar as well as the sugars in alcohol, wallops our immune response.

Sugar competes with vitamin C for transport into our white blood cells, weakening the white blood cells’ a

There is little doubt that viruses are responsible for colds and flus. Although western medicine has been unable to effect a cure, alternative health-care practitioners now believe that once you’re exposed to a virus the end result (whether you get sick and how sick you get) will depend upon your body’s ability to defend itself. In other words, the strength of your immune system determines the severity of your cold or flu.

The immune system, more than any other part of the body, dictates your state of health. The bone marrow, spleen, liver, thymus, lymph nodes and white blood cells are its main players, but every part of your body gets into the act to keep your defenses strong.

In fifteen years of practice I have observed that immune response is influenced more by the quality of diet and the stresses and strains of lifestyle than by any other factor. Put the following four steps together and be one of the few left standing the next time everyone else is dropping like flies.

Step #1: Feed Your Immune System

The standard American diet is overly processed, refined and overcooked. As a result, it lacks many of the nutrients we need to maintain a healthy immune response. For example, vitamins A, C, E, beta-carotene and the mineral zinc, all vital nutrients for a strong defense, are in short supply in the average American’s diet. Low protein intake and deficiencies in essential fatty acids (found in nuts and seeds), B-vitamins and the mineral selenium also contribute to suppressing your immune system. Eating a diet high in “live” foods, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, pure water and a modest amount of animal or vegetable protein is important.

Unfortunately, there are many more factors that suppress immune function than enhance it. One of the most powerful of these is sugar. Each year at Halloween, my daughter eats some of the candy she has collected and each year she catches a cold within 24 hours. This is not, as she would like to believe, a coincidence. Nor is it a coincidence that the cold and flu season follows on the heels of two months of holiday parties and their requisite sugary food intake. Increased consumption of sugar, including “natural” sugars like honey and concentrated fruit sugar as well as the sugars in alcohol, wallops our immune response.

Sugar competes with vitamin C for transport into our white blood cells, weakening the white blood cells’

In fifteen years of practice I have observed that immune response is influenced more by the quality of diet and the stresses and strains of lifestyle than by any other factor. Put the following four steps together and be one of the few left standing the next time everyone else is dropping like flies.

Step #1: Feed Your Immune System

The standard American diet is overly processed, refined and overcooked. As a result, it lacks many of the nutrients we need to maintain a healthy immune response. For example, vitamins A, C, E, beta-carotene and the mineral zinc, all vital nutrients for a strong defense, are in short supply in the average American’s diet. Low protein intake and deficiencies in essential fatty acids (found in nuts and seeds), B-vitamins and the mineral selenium also contribute to suppressing your immune system. Eating a diet high in “live” foods, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, pure water and a modest amount of animal or vegetable protein is important.

Unfortunately, there are many more factors that suppress immune function than enhance it. One of the most powerful of these is sugar. Each year at Halloween, my daughter eats some of the candy she has collected and each year she catches a cold within 24 hours. This is not, as she would like to believe, a coincidence. Nor is it a coincidence that the cold and flu season follows on the heels of two months of holiday parties and their requisite sugary food intake. Increased consumption of sugar, including “natural” sugars like honey and concentrated fruit sugar as well as the sugars in alcohol, wallops our immune response.

Sugar competes with vitamin C for transport into our white blood cells, weakening the white blood cells’

Unfortunately, there are many more factors that suppress immune function than enhance it. One of the most powerful of these is sugar. Each year at Halloween, my daughter eats some of the candy she has collected and each year she catches a cold within 24 hours. This is not, as she would like to believe, a coincidence. Nor is it a coincidence that the cold and flu season follows on the heels of two months of holiday parties and their requisite sugary food intake. Increased consumption of sugar, including “natural” sugars like honey and concentrated fruit sugar as well as the sugars in alcohol, wallops our immune response.

Sugar competes with vitamin C for transport into our white blood cells, weakening the white blood cells’

Sugar competes with vitamin C for transport into our white blood cells, weakening the white blood cells’ ability to fight infection. A sugar sweetened soda or piece of cake you nibble at the office party can stun your immune system into inactivity for as long as five hours. Even orange juice, long venerated for its health-giving properties, can be a problem. The concentrated sugar in quarts of this fruit juice consumed during a cold can have the same immune-suppressing effect as eating table sugar right out of the bowl.

Foods that cause difficulty in digestion can also put a stress on your immune response. The digestive and immune systems share a common source of energy and enzyme reserve. Proper food combining frees up a tremendous amount of energy your body can use to defend you. Separate animal proteins (chicken, meat, turkey, fish, eggs, etc.) and starchy foods (breads, pasta, potatoes, rice, etc.), because they do not digest easily together.

Meats and animal products in general are notoriously difficult to digest and should be reduced this time of year. During cold and flu season, try to limit your intake of animal foods to three or four times a week. Poultry is better than red meat, and fish is best of all. Whenever possible, purchase “clean” meats at a health food store. Animal products sold in other stores may contain bacteria, hormones, pesticides and antibiotics that put an extra strain on your immune system.

Non-food additives such as synthetic colors, synthetic sweeteners, flavorings, preservatives and synthetic oils such as margarine can stress your digestive and filtering organs and hamper immune response as well. Do your best to eliminate them from your diet.

Food allergies and sensitivities also seem to have an effect on our tendency to catch a cold or flu. Chronic congestion in mucous membranes is a breeding ground for the viruses that are responsible for upper respiratory infections. Alternative practitioners have linked two of the most common food allergens, wheat and dairy, to increased mucous production. Whether this increase is a direct result of eating these foods or our body’s response to them is debatable, but either way the result is increased susceptibility to viral infection.

During cold and flu season, try reducing or, better yet, eliminating wheat and dairy from your diet. Make a list of all the things you eat on a daily basis that contain wheat, dairy or their derivatives. You’ll be shocked at the amount of this stuff you put into your body.

Step #2: Improv