Time for an Immune Tune by Dr. Bera Dordoni, N.D.
“Hey, Josh, what a surprise. You’re not on today’s schedule.”
“I know, Doc, I asked your nurse to squeeze me in; I need a quick fix. You gotta give me a pill or somethin’ to make me feel better.”
“Whassup?”
“I just feel lousy, Doc. For weeks now I’ve been tired, achy, congested – and my brain is so foggy I can’t figure out what I’m doing half the time lately. Just give me something, please.”
“Did you party a lot during the holidays? Eat junk food on the run? Drink sodas more than water?”
“Well, sure, it was the holidays. Man, I had a great holiday season this year, going all the way back to Halloween.”
“So, have you been sleeping enough?”
“Sure I have! Well, maybe not regularly….”
“How about water? Drinking enough, or are you back in the soda and coffee habit?”
“I drink…well, okay, maybe I’ve had more sodas than usual lately. But I take my supplements with water every morning!”
“Uh huh. And did you remember to eat anything nutritious during the holidays, or at least switch back to healthful foods now that the “silly season” is over?”
“Ummm… I’ve been really busy lately.”
“Gotcha. No time to exercise, right?”
“No, but I’ll get back to all that just as soon as I feel better. Now please stop with the questions, Doc, and give me a prescription that’ll fix me so I can go back to doing all that stuff?”
“You know it doesn’t work that way, Josh! First things first. You know the saying, ‘Out with the old, in with the new’.”
“Your point?”
“Ok, think about your car’s engine. It runs beautifully after a tune-up, doesn’t it? And what happens during tune-up? You completely drain out the black, sludgy oil and replace it with fresh, clean oil. You replace the grimy, clogged oil filter. Then you fill the tank with premium gasoline to avoid another build up of grunge. Right?”
“Yeah. So?
“So…? You treat your car with respect, and it gets you from point A to point B with ease. Five or six months later, when it’s sluggish again, you take it for another oil change. ‘By all means,’ you tell them. ‘It’s my only car, so make her purr.’”
“Again, your point?”
“Look, Josh, your body is your vehicle. Without it you can’t get around in life, so you’ve got to take care of it the same way you care for your car. You can buy replacement parts to keep your car’s engine running, but it’s not as easy to get replacement parts for your body—and by the time you need a new kidney or liver or heart, you’re already pretty darn sick and out of the game.”
“So what’re you telling me? That I need a tune-up?”
“Exactly! It’s time to do an immune tune. It’s a new year; let’s create a new you.”
“Seriously? Can you do that? How does anyone do a—what did you call it?—immune tune?”
“Think about your vital organs as engine parts. Disease, infections, chronic conditions, even that run‑down feeling are all caused by toxic overload. Before your body can heal, you have to cleanse it from the inside out, get rid of all the sludge and all the stuff that causes sludge: sugar, smoking, bad fats, chemical‑laden processed foods—or, to be more accurate, food-like substances. You know, all the stuff that makes up the typical American diet.”
“You mean, everything that tastes good.”
“Yeah, they may taste good to a tongue used to a lot of sugar and fat, but they create a toxic, disease‑friendly environment in your body.”
“Ugh. Isn’t there any other way? I don’t want to have to think about what I eat that much. I’m busy. I have to be able to eat and go.”
“Okay. So eat and go…and feel lousy. Eventually, you’ll feel so lousy that you ask for help. Oh, wait—you already did that.”
“Ha, ha, Doc. Very funny.”
“Seriously, you want to feel better? You have to get rid of the junk before you can get rid of whatever the junk has done to you. After you jump in a mud puddle you clean up, right? You take a bath, wash your hair, scrub your nails, and throw your clothes in the washer. Well, you’ve muddied up your body’s inner workings: your circulatory, digestive, endocrine, immune, lymphatic, muscular, nervous, reproductive, respiratory, skeletal, and urinary systems. Now you have to clean them up.”
“Is this what’s known as a detox or a fast?”
“It’s not a fast. Yes, it’s a detox, mainly through cleansing drinks and foods, and specific detoxifying herbs.”
“So…what do I do? How do I start?”
“Start with a colon cleanse. When the colon’s lining fills up with sludge, it slows down nutrient absorption and prevents good oxygen exchange. A clean, healthy colon is vital for a healthy life. A polluted colon practically invites cancer. In fact, cancer patients’ colons are often like clogged, rotting sewer lines.”
“Gee, thanks for the image.”
“You’re welcome! This is autointoxication and it’s at the root of all chronic illness. How often do you move your bowels?”
“I don’t know. Almost every other day, I suppose.”
“Two or three times a day is a lot healthier. It sounds like your colon is encrusted with fecal matter accumulated over the years. Nutrients can’t penetrate that kind of blockage, so it’s really important to strip your colon’s mucus lining.
“Yuck. Is that it?”
“No, there’s more. The liver is a part of the digestive system. It neutralizes harmful toxins, creates necessary substances, and filters waste products. Basically, it keeps your body in equilibrium. If it’s been busy for years completing its daily tasks, it’ll need some detoxing too.”
“Okay, got it. Colon cleanse, liver cleanse. Anything else?”
“Kidneys.”
“What’s wrong with my kidneys?!”
“They’re too important to ignore, especially when you claim you’re feeling tired and not-so-good lately. They regulate your blood’s structure, keep the volume of water in your body at a constant level, remove toxic substances and wastes, help regulate and control your blood pressure, maintain normal calcium levels, monitor and regulate your alkaline/acid pH levels…”
“Okay, okay! I got it. Clean out my colon – liver — kidneys. Geez. I just wanted a simple prescription.”
“It is a simple prescription: detox your internal organs, nourish your body with healthful foods, drink water instead of sugary drinks, exercise, get enough rest… How much simpler can it get? When you consume junk food day after day containing hormones, pesticides, and other toxins, your kidneys lose their ability to filter and eliminate the junk. Next thing you know you feel sluggish and crappy. You might even have kidney stones. That’s pretty simple, isn’t it?”
Josh rolled his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Ah, yes, another thing you’ll want to do: learn how to take ‘cleansing’ breaths.’ Consistent deep breathing can lead you back to good health.”
“C’mon, Doc, it can’t be that simple.”
“It can, and it is. You have to breathe all day long to survive anyway, right? Why not breathe your way to vibrant health? The key is learning how to do it right, to obtain the maximum benefits for your body. It’s not as hard as you think.”
“Deep breathing.”
“Yup. Diaphragmatic breathing decreases pain and illness by increasing oxygen levels and lowering carbon‑dioxide levels. Think about it: what does oxygen do besides let you live? It helps cells metabolize nutrients for energy, maintenance, repair, and healing. It affects how your heart and arteries work—the diameter of your blood vessels, your blood pressure, and your heart’s work output. It affects brain function and improves mental clarity. It eliminates wastes, debris, toxins, and all other body pollutants simply through proper exhaling. Carbon dioxide is the most abundant end product of metabolism! The rest is eliminated through urine, bowels, and sweat glands. Deep, diaphragmatic breathing exercises will stimulate your lymph system to clean itself out, creating a vacuum effect that pulls the lymph through the bloodstream at a much greater rate than normal shallow breathing.”
“Whoa… So how do I go about doing all this and getting really tuned up?”
“You want all the details now, in the few minutes you got Nancy to squeeze you in for between scheduled patients? Not gonna happen. But make a real appointment and we’ll work out a specific personalized program that’ll fit your lifestyle and help you get back on track to feeling healthy and energized again.”
“No prescription?”
“Nope. But I suggest you take a look through your kitchen before you come back. Read labels. Know what you’re consuming. Food can be your worst enemy or your best medicine—especially when doing an immune tune.”
“Okay, Doc. See you in a few days.”
“I’m looking forward to it, Josh!”
For a personalized program or just general help doing your immune tune-up, contact Dr. Dordoni at drbera@bastis.org.
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Dr. Bera Dordoni, N.D., lovingly referred to as the “Wellness Whisperer,” is author of the highly acclaimed book “I Have a Choice?!”, nutritional counselor, and a naturopathic doctor who has over two decades of experience counseling clients with ailments ranging from allergies to cancer to numerous life-threatening dis-eases. She incorporates the laws of attraction to help her clients accomplish their health goals and now holds workshops, wellness retreats and natural health classes in the Ramah area. To request a consultation or learn more, visit www.bastis.org or call 505-783-9001.