How Sugar Affects The Immune System

The immune system is God’s gift to His human creation, a gift that protects the body from disease. God placed this gift in the bodies of Adam and Eve at creation, and this gift was passed on, generation to generation, through genetic coding, and ultimately into each of our bodies at conception. Very few systems in nature are as complex as the human immune system. It keeps us healthy and free of disease when it functions as God designed.

Your Immune System – An Army of White Blood Cells

White blood cells are the soldiers of the immune system. Their function is to destroy foreign invaders or diseased cells. When the body is fighting disease, there is a rise in the white blood cell count. The more dangerous the problem or powerful the invader, the more white blood cells the body produces and sends into the fray. Doctors will sometimes alarm people on The Hallelujah Diet when they find in their blood work a low white blood cell count. What doctors don’t realize is that if that person is experiencing excellent health due to a healthy diet and lifestyle, this low white blood cell count is an excellent indication that their body is well and not fighting any battles (health challenges). The reason doctors believe that a low white blood cell count is a matter of concern is because the average person on the Standard American Diet has an unusually high white blood cell count due to their toxic diet. So in the doctor’s eyes, they perceive a low blood cell count to be abnormal. If everyone were on The Hallelujah Diet, everyone would have a low white blood cell count, and that low white blood cell count would be considered normal. Sadly, in too many blood analyses, because the average person is on a toxic and unhealthy diet, what is considered normal is not normal at all. For instance, in PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) testing, a “normal” reading is considered anything between 0.0 and 4.0, with a reading above 1.0 being a cause for concern. My own PSA readings for the past 10 years – between the ages of 70 and 80 – have ranged between 0.79 and 1.3, and I enjoy abundant good health. In blood testing to measure adequate levels of vitamin D, a reading as low as 30 is considered normal. But for utmost protection against vitamin D-related health problems, it’s said that this number should be between 50 and 80. Rhonda and I both do annual blood testing to understand what’s going on inside the body. Years ago, testing revealed my vitamin D levels were too low even though I tried to expose my body to sunlight as much as possible. In order to improve my “D” levels, I began taking 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily. The result? My most recent blood test revealed my vitamin D levels have risen to 53.6, within the ideal range for best immune system protection.

The Immune System – Protection Against the “Bad Guys”

God, in His infinite wisdom, realized that the human physical body He created and which we each possess, would come into contact with some things that we will call “bad guys” during our earthly journey through life: germs, viruses, bacteria, cancer cells, etc. In order to protect us from these things, God built into the human physical body a protective organization of processes that we call the immune system. Our immune system is comprised of a unique grouping of cells, designed by God to identify and destroy these foreign invaders before they can do significant harm to the body. Disease-causing organisms such as those listed above are designed by God to be detected by the immune system, tagged for destruction, and then annihilated by these hungry immune system cells. But... The immune system can only provide protection when it is kept strong and healthy and functioning at optimal levels. It is of vital importance we realize that after creating the human physical body with a self-protecting immune system, God had done His part to give us good health. But now we come to man’s part!

What Is Man’s Part?

Our daily diet and lifestyle determine whether our immune system is strong and healthy and working at optimal levels or weak and ineffective, and thus incapable of fulfilling its intended task! In other words, God has handed over to us the controls that determine wellness or sickness. When functioning at optimal levels, the immune system can recognize, seek out, and destroy the “bad guys” in our body. But if our diet and lifestyle are poor, then our immune system is too weak and compromised to fulfill its God given task. Therefore, it is the responsibility of every man, woman, and child that we not place into the body anything that would comprise the immune system. We must each do everything we can possibly do to keep our immune system in such a condition that it remains strong and healthy, and thus capable of fulfilling the task God gave it of protecting our physical bodies from these “bad guys.” (A child is his/her parents’ responsibility until old enough to make appropriate choices, of course.)

How Refined Sugar Affects Our Immune System

Refined sugar is an immune system suppressant! It compromises the very system God gave us to protect us. In fact, the single most destructive thing we can place into our body, with regards to the immune system, is refined sugar! Dr. Agatha Thrash, (M.D.), of the Uchee Pines Institute in Alabama, explains how sugar affects the immune system when she writes:

“Another important fact about sugar has to do with disease resistance. The white blood cells with segmented nuclei increase in numbers in the blood stream when the body has a bacterial infection. These cells destroy bacteria. They are the body’s soldiers. However, when the blood sugar level goes up, these cells get sluggish and cannot destroy as many bacteria.”

Dr. Thrash then provides a chart showing how much sugar it takes to affect the ability of the white blood cells to destroy bacteria:

“Six teaspoons of sugar (the amount of sugar in a single candy bar) reduces the ability of these white blood cells to destroy unfriendly bacteria by 25%; twelve teaspoons (the amount of sugar in a single can of soda pop) reduces the ability of these white blood cells to destroy unfriendly bacteria by 60%; and twenty-four teaspoons (just half the average daily intake of refined sugar), reduces the ability of these white blood cells to destroy unfriendly bacteria by 92%.”

Despite what we know to be true, the average American consumes approximately 50 teaspoons of immune-suppressing refined sugar each and every day of their life. Here is some more startling information: It takes approximately 3 feet of sugar cane to produce 1 teaspoon of refined sugar. To obtain the average amount of refined sugar consumed daily by the average American, you would have to chew, digest, and assimilate 150 feet of sugar cane each and every day. It's impossible! You could only consume a fraction of that amount. Yet in refined sugar form, such a huge amount of sugar consumption is commonplace. There are approximately 11 teaspoons of sugar in just a single 12-ounce can of soda pop.You would have to consume 33 feet of sugar cane to obtain that equivalent amount of sugar. Can you even begin to fathom how many feet of sugar cane would have to be chewed, digested, and assimilated to equal the amount of refined sugar found in breakfast cereals, candy, cake, cookies, pies, ice cream, donuts, etc., etc.? Remember that every time you drink a soft drink or other beverage containing refined sugar, eat a piece of candy or a breakfast cereal containing refined sugar, or have a piece of cake, a donut, a cookie, or a piece of pie, you are placing an addictive drug into your body that will compromise the very immune system God gave it to protect it from the “bad guys.”

3 Ways Refined Sugar Hurts Your Quality of Life

Refined sugar does more than compromise your immune system. This is just a partial list of health problems related to the intake of refined sugar: Acne; addiction to drugs and caffeine; alcoholism; allergies; anxiety; behavioral problems; binge eating; bloating; bone loss; candidiasis; depression; difficulty concentrating; eczema; edema; emotional problems; fatigue; food cravings; hormonal problems; hyperactivity; insomnia; menstrual difficulties; mental illness; mood swings; premature aging; psoriasis... The list goes on and on, and so does the effect that refined sugar has on you and everyone around you. Refined sugar consumption impacts quality of life by:

1. Contributing to our current epidemic of heart disease
2. Contributing to excess weight, obesity, and problems related to those conditions
3. Decreasing cognitive or intellectual function, especially in children
4. Increasing the severity of PMS

My Personal Experience

In 1976, prior to The Hallelujah Diet based on God’s Genesis 1:29 diet, I experienced several head colds each and every year; the flu almost annually; as well as infections, sore throats, headaches, upset stomach, fevers, and debilitating seasonal allergies. Since adopting The Hallelujah Diet and beginning a daily exercise program over 37 years ago, I have not experienced a single one of these prior physical problems! Why? There are several reasons, and one of them is what we have been talking about... In 1976, I eliminated ALL refined sugar from my diet. Except for those occasions when I was not aware that refined was an ingredient in something I was consuming, I haven’t placed any of this “poison” into my body for going on 40 years. Sugar is possibly the most addictive substance in our diet, so how was I able to rid myself of this addictive drug called sugar? I did it by re-programming my mind! When I was confronted with a food containing refined sugar, in my mind I visualized a skull and cross-bones emblazened upon it, rather than seeing it as a tasty delight.

The Cardinal Rule of Good Health

One of the cardinal rules of those who desire to improve their health should be: Thou shalt not poison thyself. In addition to the elimination of all refined sugar, I also eliminated all animal-sourced foods (both flesh and dairy); along with all refined grains, including products containing white bleached flour; refined table salt; and caffeine; and I continue to this day to avoid these items like the plague. At the same time I stopped all refined sugar intake, along with the other items mentioned in above, I totally changed my approach to eating and nourishment. Overnight, I went from a diet that consisted almost exclusively of cooked foods with lots of animal foods, to a diet consisting of almost totally raw plant sourced foods with no animal products, a diet similar to God’s Genesis 1:29 Diet. Also, I began consuming an abundance of raw, freshly extracted vegetable juices, and began a daily stretching time and a walking program. Later on I added resistance exercises to my regimen. So here I am nearly 40 years later, and I am confident that the only reason I have been free of colds, the flu, sore throats, headaches, upset stomachs, fevers, and debilitating seasonal allergies for nearly four decades is because I stopped consuming a diet that produced illness and began a diet and lifestyle that protected me from it.

This Protection Is Available to You, Too

It is important to point out that I did not achieve this degree of wellness because God singled me out for miraculous protection, nor did He protect me from all these physical problems regardless of my diet or lifestyle. God doesn’t do that! Good health is available to all who are willing to apply God's principles to rebuild their immune systems and thus protect themselves from the germs, viruses, bacteria, and cancers of this world. God has given each individual an immune system to protect them and that individual determines the level of protection they will experience by how well they maintain the immune system. God very clearly tells us in Romans 12:2:

“And be not conformed to this world.”

And in Galatians 6:7 the Bible tells us we have a choice as to whether we live in health or in sickness:

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man (or woman) soweth, that shall he (or she) also reap.”

Indeed, if we desire SICKNESS, then all we have to do is keep doing what we have been programmed to do by this world in which we live. But if we desire HEALTH, we must adopt the diet and lifestyle that God designed for us and so clearly articulated in Genesis 1:29 in the Bible. What do you desire?

The Hallelujah Diet

For over 21-years now, Hallelujah Acres has been sharing with all who would listen how they too could disease-proof their body. Millions have listened and applied our principles, while tens-of-thousands have written to tell us that by applying those principles, they have recovered from over 170 different physical problems, and that they no longer get sick. That’s a great “BIG” hallelujah my friend! Here at Hallelujah Acres, as we see people change from the dead, devitalized cooked foods of this world that are destroying their immune systems, and switch to the immune building predominantly LIVING foods Hallelujah Diet, which contains the foods God designed our physical body to be nourished with, and physical health and a vibrantly alive body are almost always the result! Wouldn't you like to experience the health God designed for your body and your family? Check out the testimonies on our website and read about The Hallelujah Diet, a basically living foods diet, has been instrumental in rebuilding the immune system and restoring health to thousands who were suffering from a multitude of different physical problems prior to making the diet change, and now are rejoicing in their new-found health.

My Health Tip for You

I encourage you to become a label reader. Read the labels of the products you purchase to make sure that nothing unhealthy has been added such as refined sugar, bleached flour, and other nutritionally empty ingredients. Incidentally, there's no reading required in the produce aisle: fresh fruits and vegetables don’t need nutrition labels; they’re naturally good for you. And if you are not already on The Hallelujah Diet, may I encourage you to give it a try!