The most amazing thing in the universe isn’t the raw power of stars, the beauty of nebula, or even its vastness — these things are all following laws of physics that are subject to the second law of thermodynamics, which means degeneration and decay. The most amazing thing is that which constantly works against decay, that builds up in the midst of things breaking down: that is life itself. Life was developed with layer upon layer of complexity and detail which bucks the trend of decay, and strengthens in the midst of breakdown. Logically, that shouldn’t happen — yet it does.
We humans are at the top of the design, the pinnacle of living beings. Inside each of us has remarkable potential to achieve in the midst of difficulty. Decay happens quickly: just look at how fast food left out on the counter rots or molds. Yet our bodies constantly fight those forces, and do something which defies the forces trying to break us down: they heal.
Healing may seem slow at times, but it is happening at an amazing pace. Given that our environment is constantly trying to treat us like that food left out on the counter, just to stay healthy requires a constant, robust healing response. Even a tiny wound lets in thousands of bacteria. We have a carefully designed healing process which knows the “blueprint” for our bodies and constantly works to return us to it. Healing has many mechanisms through which it repairs and replenishes us. These mechanisms require support to work optimally, and they are always trying to work in all circumstances, so long as we are alive.
AMPs
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are abundant: over 880 different AMPs have been discovered, and they are composed of 12 to 50 amino acids. These complex molecules have unique structures which enable them to seek out and kill bacteria, fungus, viruses, and even cancer cells.
Scientists at the University of Georgia estimated the number of bacteria on Earth to be five million trillion trillion — more than a million times the number of stars in the observed universe. With no restraint, bacteria would overtake the whole planet quickly. Even bacteria produce certain AMPs to retard other bacteria. AMPs are an important part of the carefully designed checks and balances we see in nature.
AMPs kill bacteria by penetrating the cell walls and interfering with the life processes of the cell. They do so via a positively charged portion of the molecule that effectively pokes a hole through the cell wall. Then another portion of the peptide chain which is hydrophobic (water resistant) allows them to move into the cell. For non-cellular invaders, AMPs can directly damage the genetic coding of viruses and fungi. In animals and humans, AMPs also have the ability to invoke leukocytes of the immune system, which secrete chemicals that are deadly to microbes.
With antibiotics, bacteria can develop a resistance to them by epigenetic responses where they “learn” to reject them or not react to them. With the direct invasion process of AMPs, resistance to them is virtually impossible. More amazing is that AMPs are generally non-inflammatory or even anti-inflammatory. Even while they call immune cells to attack infection, they also suppress the over-reaction that leads to sepsis. Scientists are actively looking at AMPs as an alternative to antibiotics because they remain effective with continued use.
Life operates very rapidly — both your life and the life of invaders is very active. Your body races against forces which can overwhelm it in a matter of hours. Your immune system must act decisively and rapidly to recognize and repeal invaders. You have within your body that speedy ability, if you nourish it and keep it in shape to handle the myriad of forces that work tirelessly to tear you apart. But all that activity requires recharging…
Sleep
You might think of sleep as slowing everything down and resting. Some functions do slow down, but others are quite active during sleep. During the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage of sleep, your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing reach normal awake levels. During deep sleep your body is working to repair muscle and other tissue cells that have worked hard for you during the day, Your hormones shift during sleep. In short, sleep is a time of different activity than awake periods, but there is plenty of activity going on inside your body throughout the day and night.
Healing
All this activity comes together in healing. Because the body is constantly under assault, healing is a continual process. Healing happens when you are awake, and especially when you sleep, but it is ongoing. When we talk about good health, we are usually referring to healing, because all of us are being torn down, and it is the rate of healing, of overcoming the destructive forces, that determines our health.
In Current Biology, researchers from Centre d’immunologic de Marseille-Luminy in France found a link between AMP production and sleep: when they turned off AMP production, much less sleep occurred and healing was significantly reduced. When the body is injured, it “AMPs up”, producing more of these natural antibiotics, and these promote more sleep for the body to heal faster. In the Journal of Sleep Research, studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison showed sleep deprivation leads to reductions in hormone secretion, over-activation of the sympathetic nervous system, and alteration of defense responses.
Even without actual injury, your body is “injured” by the day’s activities and needs to heal. Life is a little like the game of “tug of war”, where two opposing forces are pulling the rope in opposite directions, and one overcomes the other. Your life is sitting in the middle of this, with forces of healing pulling against destruction. If you favor healing through your lifestyle, healing wins: you sleep better, AMPs are produced to keep invaders at bay, and you have energy to tackle your day. If your health is diminishing and healing is slowed, you are being overtaken. The good news is that you can take steps to improve your health and stay on top of life!
Dr. Nemec’s Comments:
We are always trying to reproduce what is natural for our body. AMPs produced by your body not only kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, and cancer cells, but they do not produce inflammation. Try to find a chemotherapy medication that kills cancer cells without inflaming and toxifying the body. And for the immunotherapies there are also many side effects which commonly are associated with inflammation. But you naturally make AMPs that kill the pathogens, let you sleep more and heal more while having no side effects. No, they will not be able to make them into a drug, because to do that would change the effects. The point is if you would eat more living and raw plant foods which are anti-inflammatory, get more pre-midnight sleep, do more regular exercise, drink more water, and most importantly, spend more time in stillness living fully each moment instead of trying to live from the past or for the future, you would enable your body to do what it was designed for- TO HEAL.
Here are the ways we can help you in your healing journey:24
- Outpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-has the most benefit of teaching, treatment, live classes and personalized coaching. This program has the most contact with Dr. Nemec with 3- 6 month programs that can be turned into a regular checking and support program for life. This is our core program that has helped so many restore their health and maintain that restoration for years.
- Inpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-is our four-week intensive inpatient program for those that are not in driving distance, usually over 4 hour drive. This is the program that is an intensive jumpstart with treatment, teaching, live classes and coaching designed for all our international patients along with those in the US that do not live in Illinois. This program is very effective especially when combined with our new membership program support.
- Stay at Home Program-is offered to continental US patients who cannot come to Total Health Institute but still want a more personal, customized plan to restore their health. This program also includes our Learn Membership Program.
- Membership Program is our newest program offered for those that want to work on their health at a high level and want access to the teaching at Total Health Institute along with the Forums: both Dr. Nemec’s posts and other members posting. And also, to have the chance to get personalized questions answered on the conference calls which are all archived in case you miss the call. The Membership Program has 3 levels to choose from: Learn, Overcome and Master. The difference is at the Overcome and Master levels you received one on one calls with Dr. Nemec personalizing your program for your areas of focus.
