The Immune System

Healthy functioning of the immune system is of paramount importance to everyone since it controls our ability to fend illness and disease. The basic science of staying healthy is to optimize your bodies systems. The world is filled with pathogens microbes, toxic pollutants and stress, and so the body requires a vigorous and vigilant immune system.

The following are some of the common causative factors that weaken our immune system not listed in any order of importance:

1. Pathogens – Ex. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites.

2. Toxic pollutants – Ex. Smog, industrial smoke, cigarette smoke, harmful vapors, vehicle emissions, pesticides, herbicides and the list goes on and on.

• Toxins in your water
• Toxins in your working environment
• Toxins in your home
• Toxins in the air you breathe
• Drugs in your drinking water – it is an unfortunate truth that we are all taking drugs. More than 100 published reports done on drinking water in cities all over the world confirm that we are getting pharmaceutical drugs in our water every day!

3. Potential antigens – Ex. Medications, pollen, dander, toxins, chemicals.

4. Foreign cells and tissues – Ex. Malignant cells such as from transplanted organs, or transfused blood.

5. Stress – Stress is a definite culprit that weakens the immune system because it affects the productions of interferon and cortisol.

• Environmental stress
• Physical stress
• Mental stress

6. Digestive disturbances – can also result in the build-up of toxins because if inadequate elimination thus the accumulated toxins may overpower the immune system and weaken it.

7. Depleted nutrients – our modern world has

8. Poor food and dietary choices

9. Lack of essential nutrients – Today, foods have less nutritional value due to modern farming methods. It now takes 60 servings of spinach to get the same amount of iron as one serving in 1948. Today, you have to eat 25 cups of spinach a day to get the RDA for vitamin E.

10. Lack of proper exercise – Exercise is not merely important. It is absolutely essential. If nothing is done to prevent it, we gradually lose muscle tissue as we age, becoming weaker, and less flexible as a result. There are several problems associated with this, the most obvious being a decrease in metabolism resulting in increased body at, which is a primary risk factor for heart disease and several other serious health conditions such as diabetes. Not so obvious though, are the effects of a lack of exercise on one’s bones.

Mannatech was founded in November 1993 by current CEO and Chairman Sam Caster. During its first two years, the company focused on products that contained aloe vera extract. Mannatech announced its flagship product, Ambrotose, 1996 based on the discovery that the body’s immune system needs eight plant-based sugars – also known as glyconutrients – to function properly.