Super Immunity Book Summary - Super Immunity Book explained in key points

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Super Immunity summary

Name: Super Immunity
Rating: 4 (228 reviews)
Author: Joel Fuhrman

Joel Fuhrman

The Essential Nutrition Guide for Boosting Your Body’s Defenses to Live Longer, Stronger and Disease Free

4 (228 ratings)

16 mins

Table of Contents

Super Immunity
summarized in 7 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 7

What’s in it for me? How superfoods can boost your health.

There are so many diet books out there telling you what to eat and what to avoid. Some say that carbs are the devil while protein is all important. Others say that you should cut your protein intake, and that the key to healthy living is carbs.

So, what should you believe?

These blinks show you that instead of fussing about with carbs and fats you should look for foods rich in essential nutrients, or “superfoods.” A diet based on these few simple ingredients will leave you healthier, fitter and stronger.

In these blinks, you will find out

why your flu jab may leave you ill;
what vitamin supplements you should not be taking; and
why superfoods can help prevent cancer.

Healthy eating that heals your body is an ancient idea, but more relevant than ever today.

“Let food be thy medicine” was the advice of forefather of modern medicine and all-round ancient wise guy Hippocrates. From year dot to today, humans have appreciated the healing power of certain foods.

Historical documents show that the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians made use of soothing herbs and restorative recipes to cure colds, improve health and ward off disease. Advancements in biology have allowed us to pinpoint why certain foods can help our health.

It’s all a matter of chemicals known as phytochemicals, which are found in particular plants. These compounds are essential for the survival and growth of the plant. Phytochemicals are vital for human bodies too – we need to consume them to keep our immune system in working order.

Phytochemicals make incredible healers. Some studies even suggest that phytochemicals can reduce the risk of contracting AIDS in individuals with good health and nutrition. Today, diseases and viruses are as real a threat as ever. You’d think that phytochemicals would make up a major part of our diet. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case.

Animal products, processed foods, cold cereals and pretty much anything made with white flour are far more likely to make up major parts of our diets today. As little as 10 percent of the average American diet is comprised of vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds. But even this figure can’t reflect sufficient phytochemical consumption – half of this 10 percent is made up of white potato, which is far from rich in phytochemicals. Our immune systems are suffering as a result.

So how do we survive if we no longer rely on food for good health? With an unprecedented dependence on medical care. Yes, medicine today is more advanced than ever. But does this mean we should rely on it? Find out in the next blink.

Modern medicine treats the symptoms rather than addressing the causes of illnesses.

It’s comforting to know that if you were in a severe car crash tomorrow, you’d have a great chance of surviving due to medical advances made in recent decades. But aside from these emergency cases, modern medical care is rather regressive. Why? Because it treats the symptoms, not the causes of a disease.

Take type 2 diabetes, for instance. This is an illness that doctors combat with prescription medicine. A study of over 90,000 participants diagnosed with type 2 diabetes revealed that the two most popular prescription drugs for this illness actually increase the risk of congestive heart failure. This statistic is shocking, but perhaps not surprising when we consider the one key drawback of drugs.

Superfoods may not only prevent cancer – they can also make you more resistant to the flu.

So what exactly are superfoods? Well, there’s a whole range of them. From mushrooms to greens to cruciferous vegetables, superfoods all have one thing in common: high amounts of great nutrients and phytochemicals that help our bodies heal.

New research has shown adding superfoods to your diet can lead to lower rates of cancer. But how does this work? Well, cancer is tied to the process of methylation, where a methyl group containing one carbon and three hydrogen atoms is added to a gene. This methylated gene malfunctions, and can affect the process of cell division so that cells grow at an explosive rate. This is what leads to cancer.

Antibiotics and cold medicine are quick fixes that can do more harm than good.

Antibiotics often seem like a great response to any annoying sickness – at least, that’s how many doctors and pharmacists portray them. Antibiotics are effective against bacteria, but not viruses. And yet, viruses cause 95 percent of acute illnesses, including the common cold. So, antibiotics are useless in most cases. But it gets worse.

When taken unnecessarily, antibiotics destroy much of the vital bacteria in our gastrointestinal tract, which is also home to 70 percent of our immune cells. Painful digestive disturbances and immune-system dysfunction are both the results of damaged gut bacteria.

Lots of nutrients and wisely chosen fats, carbs and proteins comprise a healthy diet.

How should we choose what to eat? With countless diet books out there, it’s tempting just to focus on fats, carbs or proteins when assessing the foods available to us. But there’s far more to healthy eating than just those.

In fact, a healthy diet should feature lots of nutrients and few calories. Colorful vegetables, especially greens, count as nutrient-rich foods that help us meet our body’s needs for fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.

Vitamin supplements are good in theory, but only if you choose the right ones.

Let’s face it: we can’t eat a perfectly healthy diet every day. Unfortunately, this means we’re likely to be deficient in the vitamins and minerals we need. Supplements can be a great way to ensure your body is always nourished. But be discerning!

Vitamin D, vitamin B12, zinc and iodine are essential vitamins and minerals that are tricky to keep at a sufficient level. Iodine intake decreases naturally if we eat less salt, while zinc and vitamin B12 are hard to source in food unless you eat meat. As we spend less time outside in the sun, many people have a vitamin D deficiency too.

Limit your salt intake and consume more omega-3 fatty acids to keep your body balanced.

Who doesn’t love a salty snack? Human bodies are actually drawn to salt consumption. Whether it’s potato chips or sardines, we’ve got our salty craving. And no kitchen is complete without table salt for seasoning. But for millions of years, human diets didn’t feature any added salt.

Although we need the sodium that table salt provides, too much salt can be incredibly harmful. Today, humans consume around 3,500 milligrams of salt each day. Yet, our ancestors tended to consume far less – around 600 to 800 milligrams per day. This increased intake is putting us at risk of stomach cancer, osteoporosis and heart attacks.

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What is Super Immunity about?

Super Immunity (2011) reveals the secret to a better, stronger immune system and healthier body: superfoods. These blinks shed light on the shortcomings of modern medicine and teach you how to take advantage of the healing powers of plant foods rich in nutrients and phytochemicals.

Best quote from Super Immunity

For superior health, we must eat more nutrient-rich foods and fewer calorie-rich foods.

—Joel Fuhrman

Who should read Super Immunity?

People tired of suffering from colds and flu
Individuals interested in alternatives to antibiotics and prescription medicine
Anybody keen on boosting their health the natural way

About the Author

Joel Fuhrman, MD, is a family physician who focuses on using nutritional and natural methods to prevent and reverse diseases. He created the Health Starts Here initiative for whole foods and is the research director of the Nutritional Research Project of the National Health Association.

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