Healthy living expert Mary Collette Rogers of The New Kitchen and I recently had a conversation about the innate immune system, one of four protective immune systems in the body. It’s the one you were born with and the one that “reads” or detects pathogens in the body and informs the adaptive immune response about the invaders.
Our conversation was prompted by the Regenerate Project, an approach to illness and disease based on regenerative rather than germ theory.
- Research on the human microbiome has revealed that our bodies are filled with bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Despite their everyday presence, we don’t always get sick from this array of germs.
- Our external environment exposes us to bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, yet we don’t always get sick from these invaders.
- Two people can be exposed to the same pathogen. One may get sick while the other will be fine.
- Could it be that mere exposure to bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites is not enough to determine whether or not we get sick?
- Maybe it depends on how strong your body is, which is where the innate immune system comes in.
Mary shared these thoughts.
In the Regenerative Medicine approach, health outcomes are determined largely by the strength of your body and its innate immune system. According to the author of the Regenerate Project, ‘Terrain theory argues that if the body is balanced, natural germs that are part of the environment can be handled via well-functioning bodily systems.’
In other words, the kind of environment (or terrain) you have in your body matters. If your body is run down, stressed out, or poorly nourished, you’ve created an ideal, illness-friendly environment. You’ve basically rolled out the welcome mat for invaders.
We have to be nice to our bodies. Then all of its systems will work — and work together harmoniously — to create an environment hostile to external invaders and capable of correcting internal imbalances.
And what is the #1 best way to create an environment hostile to invaders? EAT WELL!
Mary would know. She is an expert in helping people transform their cooking habits at The New Kitchen. Mary offers online cooking classes, meal planning sessions, and even a book for you DIY-ers to help you transform your kitchen to make meal preparation easy.
In keeping with the theme of this series about immune health, Mary is offering her Butternut Stuffed Mushroom recipe to those who contact her. The recipe is filled with immune-supportive ingredients like garlic, sage, thyme, rosemary, and cayenne pepper.
In an upcoming post, I will share a short video by herbalist Brigitte Mars that explains the protective benefits of many of the ingredients in Mary’s recipe.
If you missed the first episode in this series about immune health, you can read it here.
Until next time, keep shining your light!
