Haque's Health Hacks
Haque's Health Hacks with Dr. Anita Haque
Haque's Health Hacks
Building Real Immunity: Food, Sleep, Stress, and Smart Movement with Dr. Christine Dao
Your immune system isn’t a switch you flip—it’s a living ecosystem you train every day. Dr. Anita Haque sits down with Dr. Christine Dao, a Livermore-based integrative and functional medicine practitioner and acupuncturist, to unpack what real resilience looks like when the colds, flus, and school-year bugs start circulating. Instead of chasing cures after the fact, they map out how to build stronger “soil” so those seeds don’t take root.
If you’re ready to get fewer colds, bounce back faster, and feel more steady through the holiday stress, this conversation is your playbook. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s always “coming down with something,” and leave a review to tell us your favorite immune-strengthening habit.
So a lot of people don't realize that all day they might have been fighting something. And those days when they say, Oh, I'm a little tired today, they actually fought off this complicated attack really well. And their immune system was working perfectly. And that's what we want our immune system to always be doing, right? And it knows how to do that. Right, yes. So when it doesn't do that, it's not because what out there, what what was out there is worse, it's because their immune system is no longer able to perform at the level it did before.
Intro/Close:Welcome to the Haque's Health Hacks Podcast, your trusted source for wellness, fitness, and healthy lifestyle insights. We believe in empowering you with knowledge to take control of your health. Join us as we explore the latest in self-care, share expert advice, and guide you on your journey to optimal well-being. Let's embark on this path to a healthier you together.
Dr. Anita Haque:Hi, and welcome to Haque's Health Podcast. This month we are talking about the immune system, how to boost it up, how to prevent those colds, those flus, COVID, all the things that are surrounded by us all the time now that kids are back in school. And I have a very special guest with me today, Dr. Christine Dao, who's not only a functional medicine but acupuncturist here in our town in Livermore, California. And I've had the opportunity to work with her, refer patients back and forth so that we can help on a very natural level. So I want to start first off, Dr. Christine. Welcome again to the podcast and thank you for coming on. If you could, for the benefit of our listeners, just share a little bit about yourself and kind of what that means in terms of functional medicine for those who may not know, of course, with acupuncture, and a little bit about what your thoughts are for natural immunity and what it really means. And I would love to kind of dive into that with you.
Dr. Christine Dao:Oh yeah, that's a big topic, especially right now with uh everything in the news, too. Um so uh for our patients and my uh work at Dao Integrated Health, we provide actually integrative functional medicine. It is a new concept. Um, this is where you blend integrative medicine with functional medicine. So integrative medicine was actually started by a consortium. I actually teach a class on this, and it's about bringing allied partners to create an integrative approach to healing because not everyone heals with one approach, not just chiropractic acupuncture, not just with um medications or meditation. There's different avenues and it has to look like a puzzle piece for each person that creates the story of their own puzzle. And so that's integrative medicine, and then functional medicine is functional labs with nutrition and a functional mindset of a system. And so then you're looking at what has the system done that is part of the disease and the root cause. So you bring them together and you've got integrative functional medicine. And acupuncture is just one of the treatment modalities and the Chinese herbs and the nutrition is a treatment modality of that philosophy.
Dr. Anita Haque:Got it. And that's so great to hear you break it down like that because I don't think that a lot of people understand what the integrative medicine and functional medicine and the differences. And one thing that I hear a lot from my patients, Dr. Dao, I'm guessing you do as well, the frustration that they have to go to this doctor for this, the ears, eyes, nose, throat, or can I see you get chiropractic and do physical therapy and do acupuncture? They're confused because I think it's, but I always believe that if we integrate and treat the individual as a whole body and get to what you said, same philosophy, the root cause of the disease or condition or the pain or whatever's happening, then we can actually offer a way more holistic approach to the individual to bring real results of healing, not just covering up symptoms. If I'm guessing I already know that you're on the same page with me on this because we've discussed this before. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So then on that realm, let's again, for the benefit of our listeners or viewers today, let's talk a little bit about like what immune system really is. Because I think that that's also very vague and misunderstood these days. A lot of people think your immune system is like your white blood cells, right? They think that's what it is. It's if it's your yes, exactly. So, what what would you like to say about that so we can kind of help our listeners understand that first?
Dr. Christine Dao:Well, we have um it's very complex. So I want to start with the fact that there's a there's a system that happens, and like we were talking about before, that innate, and then you have um, those are your first responders, right? So you have a virus. I want to go through the process because I think this is really important because we're gonna talk about some other things, and and there's a lot of questions out there that really got muddled with COVID. So I want to unmutdle this, it's a really big topic. I'm it's important to me. So a virus or bacteria comes to you, okay, and your body has to then fight it. And there's this thinking right now that, oh, it's out there, what's happening in here doesn't matter. Actually, this is it. This is what matters the most, right? We want to create a good barrier in defense so that when it comes our way, we can do what we sell we need to do, and those cells can be released. So what happens is yes, you have white blood cells, you have red blood cells, you have these things called T cells, you have B cells. Okay, so we're we're getting a little deeper, and then we've got these things called antibodies, and these are all part of what happens for the memory. So long-term immunity versus short-term immunity, which is really important because we want our system to memorize how it killed X, Y, or Z pathogen, so that then when the pathogen comes back, it doesn't have to do anything, it actually just sends out that response, whether it's a fever or it might be fatigue. So a lot of people don't realize that all day they might have been fighting something. And those days when they say, Oh, I'm a little tired today, they actually fought off this complicated attack really well, and their immune system was working perfectly, and that's what we want our immune system to always be doing, right? And it knows how to do that, right? Yes, so when it doesn't do that, it's not because what out there what what was out there is worse, it's because their immune system is no longer able to perform at the level it did before. And now the question needs to be what is happening in my life that made my immune system go down, not that something else attacked me and it was worse, not a us versus them type of response, right?
Dr. Anita Haque:Totally. Actually, uh, Christine, that's something in in chiropractic. Uh, we have this term where we say it's exactly what you're saying. It's not the seed, it's the soil. So the seed we refer to as the bacteria, the virus, and the soil is your immune system, your body. So it's not the seed that you need to worry about, it's protecting or maintaining the soil to deal with that seed or to fight that seed, right? 100%. Right. And I'm so glad you broke it down that way because I think that uh it's so misunderstood. You think that, oh, someone's coughing and you're gonna get sick. It's actually not the case that yes, it's yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dr. Christine Dao:So I really wanted to get that out there because the studies and the research are very clear on this that the soil, I love that analogy. We need to make our soil really strong and fortified so that we can do what we do well. Our body is phenomenal and magical at killing off anything it needs to and holding what it's supposed to as well. So let's help it do that. And what are we doing? So let's let's talk about that, right? What are we doing that's compromising this already perfect system?
Dr. Anita Haque:Yes, yep, yeah, I love that. So that let's talk about what those things are for our listeners, and and for for one thing, I'd like to sort of start off with is discussing how much our gut is a part of this play of our immune system. In fact, uh the term that I think some listeners may have even heard is our microbiome, which is kind of in our gut, in our colon, our digestive system. And it actually is the bacteria that breaks things down, the healthy bacteria rather, the good bacteria that's in our gut that is actually working to help us digest foods, help us fight things. In fact, even the acid in our stomach, the hydrochloric acid to help digest food, is part of our immune system killing off things that we eat. Because the first line of defense really is our gut, because you swallow things down, you know, you maybe get something in your nose and you end up swallowing it down to your stomach. So it really is in our gut. So our gut has so much to do with our immune system and how we feed our gut is what I'm trying to share with many of my patients and the listeners today. How we feed our gut is vital in terms of our immune system as well, beyond some of the other things that I know we're gonna discuss. So, one thing that I like to mention to simplify for my patients when they ask, well, how do we do that? Because it's conflicting. Eat this, don't eat that, have this diet, you know, low carb, do this, keto. I mean, there's just so much out there that sometimes too much of that noise could be overwhelming and paralyze us to even doing any action step to make us healthier. So the way that I like to summarize to my patients, like, what can you do for your microbiome? What can you do for your gut health? What can you do for your overall health? What can you eat? And if there's one piece of advice that I would say, and you can, you know, obviously chime in if you agree or not, and that would really be dark green leafy vegetables. If we can consume more, there's one thing I would recommend to focus on for our gut health, for our immune system, for our overall microbiome health. I would say our bacteria that really helps us stay healthy feeds on the dark green leafy vegetables and vegetables and fruits in in particular. But I would say that would be the top superfood. Uh, what do you think about that?
Dr. Christine Dao:Well, um, I can't agree more. And I picked one for our conversation that is my favorite that people don't recognize beet greens.
Dr. Anita Haque:So beet greens.
Dr. Christine Dao:I I love beet greens. I talk about them all the time. And people go, wait, what? And those things that are getting chopped off at the grocery store that's on top of your beets.
Dr. Anita Haque:The beets, the green part of the beats. Yes.
Dr. Christine Dao:So um, they're one of my favorite because they're high in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K. Um, people think that, oh, um, I need to eat an orange for vitamin C. I hope we've had that discussion before. Vitamin or uh oranges are not the highest in vitamin C. There's actually things like broccoli um that's higher than an orange. Um, and beet greens are super high. Bell peppers, right?
Dr. Anita Haque:So vitamins, there's so many things, yes, besides oranges.
Dr. Christine Dao:Right, right. I actually prefer to get my patients off oranges because they've been modified to be very sugary. The other thing is they buy in iron, magnesium, and potassium and calcium. People, calcium is a big topic right now as well, with this whole conversation of osteoporosis and osteopenia. And then the other thing is they have lutein, because this is coming up with my patients that are getting more elderly with the eyes. So it helps protect with the eyes. Um, it's got zeosanthin, which is also an anti-inflammatory. It's got flavonoids that are great for anti-cancer. And um, I mean, it's really easy to cook. You just, you know, put it in with some garlic and a little bit of onion and saute it, and you have a wonderful little meal there. Or I tell my patients to blanch it and put it in a smoothie because it's sweet. Yes, and you won't even know it's there, and you get a helping, you know, get one of your cups of vegetables that we need, right?
Dr. Anita Haque:Exactly. And how great is it to start your morning off if you are doing smoothies with some of these greens to just kickstart the health of your body. And I find, um, and I I have a lot of patients also agree with me when they take my advice. I find that the more of what I'm eating is the more of what I'm craving. So when I eat more healthy greens and fruits and things like that, the more my body wants it. So why not start my day off with giving it the right amount of like, you know, it's not what time of day you eat when you break your fast, it's kind of what you feed your body with that's the most important uh factor. So I love that you brought up beet greens because beets in general are so good. And I think so many people like cut off the tops or just by the beet, and they don't even consider how some of the most important nutrition is coming from the sun that's making that vegetable green, right? The chlorophyll in there. So, what's powered from the sun to make things green is really powerful for the health of our bodies too. It's like a way to simply look at foods, you know, because you want to get a variety, right, of different veggies and fruits and things like that to maximize how how our ecosystem is making us healthy. So love that idea. Great tip with the big greens. Um, what else? Because I know that, you know, there are other things, and I know there's supplements, and I have patients say, Oh, well, I take my echinacea for my, I'm like, there's a lot of other things beyond just supplements in terms of like keeping the soil of your body healthy. You were gonna mention some things. I know I mentioned a lot of things in terms of like your sleep and things that so what do you usually tell your patients to help their immune system beyond just some of the dietary stuff that can maybe help them through this season of like all the things that are coming around us?
Dr. Christine Dao:That's a good point. So I really drive into sleep, like you just mentioned, um, and stress management. So um the topic of stress and sleep are really hand in hand because when you get stressed, maybe you won't sleep well. But if you don't sleep well, you're also stressed. And so the two go hand in hand. Um, I tell my patients that sleep is equal to water, not food. So it's actually ranking higher because that's the only time that we're really repairing. We don't repair much during the day. We repair during sleep. That's that deep sleep score. You know, I have my aura ring here that we really have to pay attention to. So it's equal to water. So um during the winter, I know that we get into this kind of chaos with Thanksgiving coming, right? We have Halloween, we have then Christmas, we have New Year's. I mean, it's boom, boom, boom. And that's actually not very healthy because we think, okay, I'm gonna go run all these parties, I'm gonna drink, I'm gonna eat all the sugar during the time we're supposed to be hibernating, and we need to be most conscious of our eating, right? We do not have a lot of fruit during winter. Why? Because it's not the time we need it. So let's take a cue from nature. We are not to be eating sugar during winter. Um, so really backing off the sugar and really working on a diet, um, if and if any diet's going to be recommended here, is really getting off the sugar. Sugar is, I can't say anymore, poison. And so whatever we can do to make changes, like, you know, if you want to go for a fruit in the evening to help you really with that craving of sugar, then do a peach and saute it. You know, I saute my peaches, I warm them up, and I warm my blueberries, and you almost feel like you have a little cobbler right there. And it's actually healthy, it's a little out of season, but it's healthy, right? Instead of me going on a piece of cake or whatever thing might be in the house, ice cream, right? Everyone loves the ice cream even in winter.
Dr. Anita Haque:Yes, yes, so make and it's true what you know. You're so right, but I love that idea of like kind of warming up the fruit. And sometimes when I do that in the like fall season, winter season, I'll even like saute it with a little bit of cinnamon and some really healthy spices, because cinnamon has so many like high properties for blood pressure, for lowering maybe even the sugar absorption of the fruit you're having. And it sweetens, it actually heightens the sweetness of the fruit. So I love that idea of like if you need something as a fix for your sugar, instead of going to that chocolate, because, like you said, Thanksgiving and Christmas, it just breeds a lot more sugar into our diets for more desserts and pies and things like that, even though they're delicious, they are kind of wreaking havoc on our immune systems because it makes us that much more susceptible to those viruses and bacteria and those seeds that come along when our soil is kind of tainted by the sugar, right? Um I think that's true. Yeah. So lowering the sugar is a big, big tip. Um, I agree with what you said too, Dr. Dao. I love what you said about sleep being more equivalent to water and the need of having really good sleep, just having like as well as good hydration, is such an impact on how well your immune system is going to function, how well your body's gonna repair tissue, replenish cells. Um, on my last podcast, uh I had Andre Ward, who's a boxer on, we talked about intermittent fasting. It just led me to that because sometimes by doing that for certain people who might, I personally do that, I feel like it helps my body not spend all my energy on digesting all the time and it can replenish cells and do other things besides, you know, just being in my gut. So yeah, it's such a great point. Now, what do you recommend to someone who's got like a lot of stress? Because I think that for most of us, like you said, the holiday time is more stressful. We have more demand. Sometimes it's because you're working harder to the last quarter of the year, to the parties, the family, and sometimes happy stress, even though it's happy to get together families, it's still stressful. So, yeah, I know you deal with stress like I do. What are some like maybe tips that you maybe you could offer for stress management for many of us?
Dr. Christine Dao:So I was blessed to participate in what was called an awe study during COVID, and it was for healthcare workers done out of UC Berkeley, and it's actually a meditation of 30 seconds. So, one of the reasons why this works so well is the more times you can reduce your stress during a day has actually been found more healthy and more beneficial than a one stint of 20-minute meditation. So this 30 30-second awe is where you feel, hear, see, smell your favorite place. So, my favorite place is on top of many mountains. Yeah, I like to go up on the Pleasanton Ridge after work. Um, and you just smell the trees, you feel the air, you feel the sun, you know, you kind of taste it and all your senses for 30 seconds. And through this study, they saw that it really did actually reduce our cortisol. So imagine if you did this one hour every hour, right? For 30 seconds, you would potentially get eight times of reducing your stress instead of one time meditating for that 10, 20, 30 minutes. And so you actually get to calm and re-regulate your central nervous system. Your microbiome is actually going to come back online, your liver will come back online because what many people don't realize is when cortisol spikes, our liver gets taken offline, our gastric system is offline, our thyroid is offline, our reproductive organs are offline, and all of our immune system and our bloodstream gets sent out to our brain, right? Our heart and our periphery. And we're all in like chronic stress from the time we're driving to work to all the things we have to do, then pick up the kids. Now we have to add another party, right? And we got to maybe bake something or get a gift, whatever it is. So the more times you can add in a 30-second meditation of your favorite place, your favorite beach, your favorite whatever, the better your body is going to have its immune system come back online so that you can be strong.
Dr. Anita Haque:I love that idea. The 30-second, ah, that's such a great way to also, I think, to break down some of the intimidation of meditation. Because I think some of my patients sometimes, you know, when I say, Yeah, it's good to maybe meditate, it sounds like, how do I even do that? How do I clear my mind? How do I just sit in the space? I know it's hard for me to even think about doing that. One thing that I also think that, you know, meditation, you can kind of take those little sips of like moments to boost yourself up, leading to that meditation is just by closing your eyes and taking some mindful, deeper, slower breaths. And just doing that for like a few, like I recommend you treat patients, like five full inhalations and five full exhalations. Like go nice and slow, four seconds in, four seconds out, and that helps to kind of bring you back to your center, pump up the oxygen. Most of us are really shallow breathers, as is, because of our posture, not allowing us to really expand our lungs anyhow. And getting back to breath is a way, I think, to kind of lead into that meditative state for our body. So sometimes, uh, Dr. Dow, when I'm adjusting a patient who's really nervous or really, really tight, I kind of take them to that. Let's close your eyes, go to a happy place, a happy memory, think about where you are, how did you feel, who's with you? You feel safe, go in there, go into that moment. And sometimes when I ask them to do that, I'm able to actually deliver a better adjustment because they're nervous, like things start to, they're sympathetics and parasympathetics start to calm down. So I love that idea of boosting your immune system by just taking 30 seconds for those awe moments. Uh, how great would that be if we just did even a few times of that throughout the day? I'm gonna take that tip for myself for sure. So uh love that idea. Thank you for that. I know that sometimes too people forget about exercise. You know, movement is medicine, and that's again, I think a big, you know, key component, part of the puzzle of keeping our immune systems healthy. So we, of course, have our diet, our microbiome, we have our sleep, we have our water, we have our stress management, but we also want to do some healthy movement. Um, and sometimes I think there's two spectrums to this, and I'd love your feedback and on on and you know how you tell your patients about this. But I have the patients who on either spectrum, sometimes they do no movement. You know, their movement is very sedentary. It's like getting up off the couch to maybe grab, you know, something and then going back to a seated position, whether it's in front of any kind of screen. And I think that that is not enough movement, healthy movement. They need more stretching, more. And then I have some of the advid over movers. So people who are really exercising hard, maybe they're trying to hit a weight loss goal and they're hitting the gym for like hours and they're doing, you know, maybe you know, an hour on the cardio, an hour on the weights, and then they're going back, you know, and they're they're also taxing maybe their system, in my opinion, where it's too much movement, where their immune system is also getting taxed because part of your immune system is repairing, you know, muscles. And sometimes when you're breaking down your muscles by but doing too much, you're actually hurting yourself. So too much could be bad, too little could be bad. What are your thoughts on this?
Dr. Christine Dao:So I couldn't agree with you more. Um I'm gonna go to the under-exercisers. So I often recommend, like you just said, stretching. Um, I often say I worked uh for a company that actually did um physical therapy type stretches with corporations and it reduced workers' comp claims. So what I did is I took that learning from there, and part of their system was that it made the patient or the client stretch every hour. So this goes back to okay, calming the central nervous system, getting blood flow. So if we simply every hour, again back to 30 seconds, I like the idea of chunking, and there's a lot of research to this as well, right? Small doses get us much further. So while you're doing that breathing or imagining your favorite place, you could you can also put this together. There's another um thing about that, you know, putting things stacking. So you could literally simply do a 30-second stretch, right? As you as you breathe and think about your favorite place and breathe, and then the next hour do another place, right? And what we found, the research showed, like I said, serious workers comp claim, we're talking millions of dollars for certain companies, went down to very little with just 30 seconds of a stretch every hour. So for under exercisers, I feel like stretching and chunking it is our best friend. They can do it, it's easy to do. You just set a timer on your phone and it helps with that tech neck, right? My over-exercisers, I'm gonna say they're a little harder. So, yes, um, the research shows cortisol is released with over-exercise, and it is just as damaging as if you had a traumatic experience. And so, one of the things I do with my over-exercisers, I'm not trying to sell a ring here, but um the aura ring will show you your HRV score, and it's really important, or your Apple Watch, or your Fitbit, start utilizing the HRV score and see what it's doing before your exercise and after. And if your HRV score went down, you are over-exercising and you have caused stress because your HRV score is a measurement of your body's ability to manage stress, and that number needs to be high. The number says, I'm really able to manage this. And when it goes down, it means I'm really stressed. The variability of my heart is now gone like this and gone more constrictive, and I can't handle this. And so that helps my over-exercisers really be able to measure and understand what they're doing to their body because they've kind of gotten conditioned into this way of thinking that this is this is solving my stress. And it's hard for many to recognize that they've actually caused more stress in the trying to relieve the stress and that they're they're in a negative slope. So the the tools with our devices tend to help that population the most.
Dr. Anita Haque:Yeah, that makes sense. I also think sometimes for people who are chronic over exercises, and I think I could probably one person falls into that because I I benefit from releasing my stress through my exercise personally. But what I found for myself that was helpful for me not overdoing it is actually going to hit like interval uh training where you do high intensity interval training, so spurts of high intensity followed by intervals of more rest and allowing your body to catch up with the work that you're doing and let it work for you. And for me, that led me to, you know. Be better with exercise and also better my life. I kind of feel that I do HIIT intervals in terms of high intensity work and then followed by rest. High, you know, for that that works better for me and my body and my health, right? So, and I also have found studies have found actually uh when I've done some research that HIT interval training for people who exercise a lot could be more beneficial for the immune system.
Dr. Christine Dao:Yeah.
Dr. Anita Haque:Yes, versus doing like an hour-long high intensity, like you know, on the treadmill running for an hour, might not be as good as someone who maybe runs for one minute and then walks for two. Run, you know, that might be more beneficial not just for their bodies for reducing the cortisol, but getting better results and boosting the immune system. So I love that piece of advice that you're giving too. Like, yeah, use the devices that you have. Our technology is helping us gauge some of that too. So we might as well use it for the good stuff, not just the bad stuff on our tech neck, right?
Dr. Christine Dao:Like, yeah, and to that, um, there's an app and there's research on seven-minute hit workouts, by the way. And the seven app for the seven-minute hit um workout is one I also recommend. So I'm right on target with you. And that's my favorite app for patients that I'm like, well, if you if you could stretch and you could do seven minutes, just seven minutes. Like, let's do that. So, yeah, I agree with you. And that's a great app.
Dr. Anita Haque:Seven minutes. We all waste time, like seven minutes like like that, just on our phones, right? Like, it's just like, yes, when you look at it that way, it's like hard to argue, I don't have the time to do this. Yes, as an excuse. Yep. So I love that. Okay, so I want to switch gears with you because I know this is in your domain as well. But you know, supplements for immune systems can be, you know, definitely a game changer. Um, and I know based on like, you know, functional medicine testing, I'm sure for your practice that would change, you know, what you would recommend. But you know, things like zinc and elderberry, and you know, there's a lot of things that I I hear, and a lot of people do, my patients do. I know I've so what are your thoughts on these kind of things or any advice for our listeners on supplements?
Dr. Christine Dao:So during COVID, I actually created created an immune protocol, and it consists of vitamin D number one. Um, what we found in North America and particularly in North California, where we are, uh, we're all very low in vitamin D. And the reference ranges are a disease range. So that's a problem. We have a lot of doctors saying, oh, 20, you're in the range. That's the disease range. And so you really have to be at a baseline of 50 to even like that's like that's the lowest. And many of my patients need to be more towards 80 to 100. And so that's that is so critical. And the research between viruses and vitamin D is substantial. So vitamin D number one, calcium absorption, right?
Dr. Anita Haque:And calcium absorption, like we need vitamin D to absorb calcium. So if osteopenia, yes, for women especially, yes. Love that, yes, vitamin D.
Dr. Christine Dao:You got it. So calcium, low calcium osteopenia is not because they're not having enough calcium when we do a blood check, is because they are low D. And so this they take more calcium, is is not good advice. Yeah, you need more D. Um, so D, uh, zinc, like you just said, right? Um, vitamin C, I often put them at higher dosages, and there's only a few companies that allow that to happen without having the gastric effect. Um, so and then we use Chinese herbs because they have really been doing um virus and bacteria for two to three thousand years, along with um other traditional medicines. And so they really do have it down. And the herbs have been phenomenal through COVID. I mean, we we got COVID solved from an herbal perspective. We got it, it's fun, it's easy. I love, you know, just being able to say, okay, you take these things and you will feel a lot better, or you won't even get it, which is really nice. So, yes.
Dr. Anita Haque:Yeah, love that. I love that you have an uh alternative solution because I mean, you know, that's the realm I like to live in. So, speaking of, I I'm gonna bring up a question that might be contradictive, but I'm curious to hear your viewpoints on this. What do you think of these vaccinations for immune systems? A lot of people are asking me. I know a lot of a lot of my patients ask me about, you know, from COVID to the flu vaccine, obviously RSV is a big one right now. Um, I I have my apprehension in in answering that question for for patients because I know sometimes it is a unique answer based on the individual, you know, what level of risk they might be with their immune system if they're immunocompromised, if they're someone who's elderly, for example, who is susceptible to having some really damaging effects from COVID or flu, maybe I would say, yeah, well, maybe that's a good idea to someone who's maybe very healthy and have a natural immune system, you know, like myself, I would probably not do that or, you know, or not recommend it. What are your thoughts on that?
Dr. Christine Dao:So I'm gonna take this right from my MD, who is also a UCSF professor. Um, he does not recommend the COVID vaccine. Um, his research has been quite thorough, um, unless you already have um a serious, you know, disease like cancer. Um, our innate and adaptable immune systems really are the preference, um, the side effects that are being shown in all the research are serious and worse than getting COVID. Um, so I'm gonna I'm gonna take his beat on that. Um and then frankly, again, um let's go back to teaching our innate system and our adaptive system to be stronger. Um that's really who has been fighting it. So let's go back to those days when we had this thing called um you you didn't know you had COVID, but you were running around with it, and they would talk about how you wouldn't be detected, undetectable, but you're running with COVID. That's because your immune system was working so well. So let's get your immune system working so well, because truly, in in our philosophy, the blood system is sacred. Now, if you could have a vaccine that's going to be a nasal spray, I'm a big fan. Why? Because the T reg cells and the right immune system that is deployed through your mucous membranes and only deployed through your mucous membranes, get enacted to create that memory. And when we go through the bloodstream, we do know that that's not as beneficial and not as memorized by the immune system because we bypassed these really important cells that create immunity. So the memory part. And so it's really important that I wish we would move, America would move to more of a European process and have more of our vaccines be nasal. Um, because I'm not exact against vaccines. The process that we're using and the additives that we have are a big deal. So right now I'm really into teaching my patients how to be healthy.
Dr. Anita Haque:Yeah.
Dr. Christine Dao:So back to do the right things to have a good immune system.
Dr. Anita Haque:Yeah, I I I'm yeah, no, and I think that is uh I had a feeling that was the answer you were gonna give me, because I had a feeling that you and I are on the same page with our philosophy of again, it's about the bodies and our natural immune system, which is needed for everything, then we're just gonna go that much further along with whatever our body's in contact with, and we don't have to rush to go outside of ourselves to repair as much. And I think that's always a healthier route. So um, I know, like I said, that's a very difficult question sometimes for us physicians and doctors to answer because it is a case by case. I agree that sometimes there's a time and place you need these things, and sometimes for most of us, we need to take care of us much better. That's all really what it is is this do the things that are simple, right? Eat right, exercise, de-stress a little bit better, breathe more, get some more sleep. I mean, it's like get your greens in. It's it's sort of simple things. So um I know that you know, my my podcast was called Health Hacks, Haque's Health Hacks for the reason of us giving maybe some hacks to our listeners, and they've already given a bunch. But if there is one, if you have one in specific, like if someone's kind of feeling like they're coming down with something, maybe they're got a little bit of a tickle in their throat, uh, what would be like a DAO hack, a health hack, you know, for trying to nip it in the bread, or do you have anything like in terms of uh Chinese medicine or anything that you go to to help with that as a hack?
Dr. Christine Dao:Yeah, definitely. Um, we have a couple formulas that we love to use with the tickle with the throat. Um, all my patients that work with me actually have it in their medicine cabinet ready to go. Um, when they go on flights, I have them take certain formulas so that they actually increase their it, you know, basically the immune system on your skin so that it's ready to go. And again, back to you know, high amounts of vitamin C and D and zinc really go a long way with that tickle. A lot of people want to just say, Oh, I have a tickle in my throat, I'll deal with it tomorrow. That is a notification that doesn't it. I say don't ignore it, right? This is when you you maybe stay home. So I I kind of want to go over that a little bit. I feel like we were getting really good at this with COVID and we already lost it again. Our job when we're sick is to stay home and rest, you know, eat our chicken soup, take our supplements, and not test how many people um we can possibly give it to. Um, let's go home, let's rest, let's take a bath, right? A bath actually will express out virus and bacteria from the skin through sweating. And so it's a great first step to take. Like we said, sleep, then take our supplements. Chicken soup actually had a study. There was a study on chicken soup, and it did show increased red and white blood cells. Uh, acupuncture actually increases red, white blood cells, macrophage cells, T reg cells. Um, that's how they actually help with cancer tumors. Um, so there's a lot to do with that. Adjustments of the spine. I know there's tons of research showing that you adjust the spine. Yeah. Boosting insist. Exactly. So, you know, the second you get the tickle in the throat is when you take the day off, you go to your chiropractor, your acupunctures, take your supplements, eat your chicken soup, and go to bed. Yes.
Dr. Anita Haque:And then you can maybe wake up not having to take four or five days off because you've pushed yourself when your body was telling you, please pay attention to me. Let me just have a day of snuggles. Like, you know, by not listening to yourself, you actually end up, you know, creating more havoc and stress in your life of having to take more days off. So sometimes we don't see that because we're living in our own shoes is such great advice. Um, to just take that one day, take a beat, take a minute, and let yourself recover. Give yourself the permission to not be a super warrior all the time. I'm saying this out loud and thinking this is good advice to hear from myself too. Um, so because as you know, as as health givers, we sometimes can forget about, you know, also our own bodies and giving to ourselves too. So I love that health hack and piece of advice. Um, I would tack that on with one of my health hacks that um I offer to my patients. And if you're already my patient listening to this, you'll laugh because you've heard me say this to you before. But besides all the things that we've already mentioned, with you know, all the natural immunity things from your diet to exercise to, you know, taking a moment to rest and breathe and meditate, one health hack that I offer, and do this myself if I feel like maybe I'm run down or about to get sick, is um I actually eat a raw garlic clove. And that a lot of studies have found that garlic has so many health benefits, especially when it's raw, the sulfur compounds. And the way to do this in a little bit more effectively versus just taking a uh a garlic clove is one is you want it to have a fresh garlic clove out of the shell, not in a jar. That's important because as soon as it's exposed to oxygen, it's already losing its efficacy. As soon as you cook garlic, some of the immune boosting efficacy is lowered. That's why raw is important. So, how I do it is I take the clove of garlic, I smash it with my knife so the shell comes off of that clove, and then I let that garlic sit there for about five to ten minutes so that it can release some of its compounds. And then to make it a little less toxic to my palate, because it is very intense, even at this point that I do it daily, it's still intense to take. Um, I will wrap that garlic sometimes with a piece of good high-quality parmesan cheese, sometimes a little sourdough bread, something to make me chew it up a little bit. Otherwise, I have a hard time, you know, just by itself. Um, sometimes some roasted almonds, like one or two with the garlic club will make me chop it down a little bit, drink it with some water, and voila. I have found that garlic is just the compounds are are are plentiful beyond just immune system. It does help with like anti-cancer, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal. I mean, just imagine all the things. So um, there really hasn't been a lot of negative effects uh of doing garlic, except for the fact that, yeah, it doesn't taste so great having it raw. So brush your teeth, take a mint after. And I think that's worse to get sick than to deal with some garlic breath. So that would be my health hack for if you're getting a little tickle. And of course, all the things that you and I have mentioned, you know, go see your acupuncture, go see you at Dao Integrated Health or get your adjustments and take care of yourself because it does start with ourselves, our soil, um, more than the seed. So um, Dr. Dao, I so appreciate all the insight that you've brought to immune system and the natural tips that I think many of us need to remember to do, especially during the holiday season. Is there anything else that um I forgot to mention or that you wanted to mention before we wrap up here today?
Dr. Christine Dao:I'd probably just say one other thing is uh let's practice more joy and um be the light out there. And the more we can do um kindness out in the world. I mean, take one moment while you're in your Starbucks line and notice someone's earrings or something that they're wearing, and the more that we could spread that around during the season, I think um helps ourselves, right? And it helps another person, and that gives joy and gratitude and love in a time where it's really challenging. And let's all just be a little bit more of the light that um we all have to shine.
Dr. Anita Haque:I love that. Thank you for that last bit. It's so important. And and love is part of boosting our immune system too, and the little kindness, you know, the little acts of kindness that we give is part of all of that. So love that tip. Thank you again so much. Uh, again, for our listeners, Dao Integrated Health in Livermore. Dr. Dao is amazing. Boost your immune system and keep yourself healthy. Yep. Thank you, Dr. Haque. Thank you.
Intro/Close:Thank you for tuning in to the Haque's Health Hacks Podcast. We hope today's discussion has provided valuable insights into achieving and maintaining your health. Remember, your well-being is our priority. Visit us at haquechiro.com or call 925 960 1960 to learn more or schedule an appointment.