If you suffer from poor brain function or chronic gut health complaints, you may benefit from performing regular coffee enemas to improve communication between the brain and the gut. Central to communication between the brain and the gut — called the gut-brain axis — is the vagus nerve. This is a long, meandering nerve that…
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Optimal immune resilience requires your immune system to have the ability to communicate throughout your whole body. The body has a variety of immune cells such as antigen presenting cells or macrophages, and their job is to continuously sample various compounds that come into the body. If they happen to sample a virus, bacterium, or…
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We all think of water as something we need just to keep our bodies hydrated and working well. What most people don’t realize is that being hydrated is important to support our immune resilience. In fact, studies show dehydration makes you more prone to infection and dysregulates the immune system. When you become dehydrated, this…
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Immune resilience is your body’s ability to deal with biological pathogens such as the viruses and bacteria we encounter in daily life. Our level of immune resilience determines whether or not these pathogens infect us and cause a significant and ongoing immune response. If you have an autoimmune condition, you may already be avoiding gluten,…
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Have you ever noticed that you’re more likely to get the cold or flu when you’re sleep-deprived? In all of the research studies looking at mechanisms that support immune resilience, NOTHING comes close to getting plenty of good sleep — no supplement, no diet, and no other lifestyle strategy. We’ve all heard sleep is important,…
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When it comes to having better defenses against viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens, it’s important to understand the concepts of immune tolerance and immune resilience, and how they relate to each other. Immune tolerance Immune tolerance refers to the immune system’s ability to appropriately respond to the environment. Proper tolerance means it does not over…
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When it comes to improving your immune resilience, you need to understand that your body has an anti-inflammatory system and a pro-inflammatory system. Both serve vital protective roles and, ideally, they operate in balance with one another. For instance, when you have an infection, such as from a virus, your pro-inflammatory system activates to kill…
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It’s important to understand the relationship between autoimmune disease and immune resilience during a time when many people are concerned about the coronavirus, or COVID-19. But first, what is autoimmune disease? Autoimmunity is a disorder in which the immune system erroneously attacks and destroys body tissue. It’s an extremely common yet largely overlooked immune disorder…
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by Datis Kharrazian, PhD, DHSc, DC, MS, MMSc, FACN (Reprinted with minor revisions from Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? by Dr. Datis Kharrazian) Once the gene for an autoimmune disease has been turned on, it can’t be turned off. The only thing to be done clinically is to turn down the volume on…
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Mathias Herriges is a patient who has been working with Dr. Kharrazian to manage his sports-related brain injury and related chronic health conditions. He originally shared this letter to the Kharrazian Institute Members Only Facebook group. It is shared here with his permission. This is a follow-up to my case study presented roughly 9 months…
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Is your brain causing your leaky gut? One of the ways brain dysfunction can contribute to leaky gut is through poor vagus nerve activity. The vagus nerve is a large nerve that sends communication back and forth between the organs and the brain. When the brain is in poor health it can inhibit vagal nerve…
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(Click here to read Part II of the Autoimmunity Mind-Body Connection.) When managing a chronic health condition — pain, inflammation, hypothyroidism, an autoimmune disease — it’s easy to get caught up in the nuts and bolts of care. Strategies such as an anti-inflammatory diet, supplements, medications, sleep hygiene, exercise, and other functional medicine protocols can…
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