10 Immune System Busters & Boosters

[Lewis]

Are you secretly sabotaging your immune system? Some common lifestyle habits can have a detrimental effect on your ability to fight off infections like colds and flu – as well as your overall resistance to chronic illness.
If so, you need a lifestyle tune-up. Replacing bad health habits with good ones can improve your immune system health. Check the list of immune system boosters and busters to see where you’re doing well – and where you could use some improvement.


5 Immune System Busters

1. Lack of exercise: Sitting at your desk all day can not only make you feel sluggish, it can leave your immune system sluggish, too. Studies show that regular, moderate exercise – like a daily 30 minute walk -- increases the level of leukocytes, an immune system cell that fights infection. When you’re a non-exerciser, your risk of infections -- such as colds -- increase compared to those who exercise.
Being inactive can weaken your immune system indirectly, too. A sedentary lifestyle can interfere with sleep quality at night and can lead to obesity and other problems that increase your risk of illness.
2. Being overweight: Carrying extra weight puts you at risk of developing diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Part of the reason may lie in how excess fat cells in your body affect your immune system.
A high number of fat cells trigger the release of pro-inflammatory chemicals in the body, leading to chronic inflammation. When the inflammation is ongoing, healthy tissues get damaged.
Animal studies also show that being overweight or obese can impair the immune system. For example, studies have shown that obese and overweight mice make fewer antibodies after receiving common vaccinations. Antibodies are a measured immune response to vaccination.
3. Eating foods high in sugar and fat: Consuming too much sugar suppresses immune system cells responsible for attacking bacteria. Even consuming just 75 to 100 grams of a sugar solution (about the same as in two 12-ounce sodas) reduces the ability of white blood cells to overpower and destroy bacteria. This effect is seen for at least a few hours after consuming a sugary drink. A diet high in saturated fat has a similar effect.
4. Experiencing constant stress: Everyone has some stress in their lives. And short-term stress may actually boost the immune system – the body produces more cortisol to make “fight or flight” possible. But chronic stress has the opposite effect. It makes you more vulnerable to illness, from colds to serious diseases. Chronic stress exposes your body to a steady cascade of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, which suppress the immune system.
5. Being socially isolated: Having strong relationships and a good social network is important to your physical health as well as your mental health – and specifically your immune system. Several studies support the idea that people who feel connected to friends – whether it’s a few close friends or a large group – have stronger immunity than those who feel alone. In one study, freshmen who were lonely had a weaker immune response to a flu vaccine than those who felt connected to others. Another recent study found that isolation changed the immune system on a cellular level: Being lonely affected the way some genes that controlled the immune system were expressed.


1. Regular exercise: If you want to boost your immune system, get active. Getting your heart rate up for just 20 minutes just three times a week is associated with increased immune function, and a brisk walk five days a week can help reduce your risk of catching a cold. Regular exercise increases the level of leukocytes, an immune system cell that fights infection. Exercise also is associated with increased release of endorphins, natural hormones that pump up your sense of well being and improve sleep quality, both of which have positive effects on your immune system.
2. Get more antioxidants in your diet: A diet rich in antioxidant vitamins and nutrients can boost immunity to help fight infection. Your body produces free radicals -- molecules that can damage cells. Antioxidants help neutralize free radicals so they can’t do any damage. Researchers believe that when the balance between free radicals and antioxidants is upset, it can contribute to developing cancer and heart disease, as well as age-related diseases.
Top antioxidants include vitamins C and E, plus beta-carotene and zinc. To get enough of these antioxidants in your diet, experts recommend eating an abundance of brightly colored fruits and vegetables, including berries, citrus fruits, kiwi, apples, red grapes, kale, onions, spinach, sweet potatoes, and carrots.
Other immune-boosting foods include fresh garlic, which has claims of antiviral and antibacterial properties, and old-fashioned chicken soup. A study showed that if you do come down with a cold or the flu, a bowl of steaming chicken soup can boost immunity and help you get well faster.
In addition, mushroom varieties such as reichi, maitake, and shiitake may have some influence on immune function.
3. Adequate sleep: Fatigue increases your susceptibility to illness – you may have noticed you’re more likely to catch a cold or other infection when you’re not getting enough sleep. A lab experiment bears this out: When students at the University of Chicago were limited to only four hours of sleep a night for six nights and then given a flu vaccine, their immune systems produced only half the normal number of antibodies. Like stress, insomnia can cause a rise in inflammation in the body – possibly because lack of sleep also leads to an increase in the stress hormone cortisol. Although researchers aren’t exactly sure how sleep boosts the immune system, it’s clear that getting adequate amounts – usually 7 to 9 hours for an adult – is essential to good health.
4. Practice relaxation techniques: If chronic stress suppresses the immune system, then learning techniques to reduce stress should help return your immune system to health – and maybe even give it an additional boost. Reducing stress lowers levels of cortisol. It also helps you sleep better, which improves immune function. And some studies show that people who meditate regularly may be able to increase their immune system response. In one experiment, people who meditated over an 8-week period produced more antibodies to a flu vaccine than people who didn’t meditate. And they still showed an increased immune system response four months later.
5. Laugh: Comedy is good for you. Laughing decreases the levels of stress hormones in the body while increasing a type of white blood cell that fights infection. In fact, even just anticipating a funny event can have a positive effect on your immune system. In one study, a group of men who were told three days in advance that they were going to watch a funny video saw levels of stress hormones drop while levels of endorphins and growth hormones rose. Both endorphins and growth hormones benefit the immune system.
10 Immune System Boosters and Busters

 

[Sparkey]

Greetings Lewis!

I've recently become aware of something that helps me make sense of much of the wisdom that is taught by Grandma regarding health. We know that drinking sufficient water, limiting salt intake, breathing well, regular exercise and other habits of health are good for us. The larger question, "What is it about the lifestyle of the couch potato that defeats the adaptability of the body?" involves a number of complex interactions.

My First Clue:
A clue to the "Why?" of it all came when I read an article by Dr. Marcelle Pick on fatigue and insomnia. Pick, author of the book, Are You Tired & Wired wrote an article that explained the secret needed to renew the commitment to physical fitness as something we had to do anyway, “The secret is simply to breathe… deeply and often.” We are told, “mindful exercise that synchronizes movement and breath has the power to change more than how [we] look.”

We Need to Breathe
Pick explains that breathing serves as the pump for the lymphatic system just as the heart serves as the pump for the circulatory system. Blood flow carries nutrients and oxygen into the capillaries, while a healthy lymphatic system carries away destructive toxins. Proper breathing is the moderator of this exchange.

Detoxify
The lymphatic system could be likened to the sewer system of the body. Lymph vessels form a drainage system throughout the body. “Our cells swim in an ocean of lymphatic fluid that carries away the detritus of our immune system, including dead white blood cells, unused plasma protein and toxins." It works like this: blood is pumped around the body by the heart, transporting nutrients and oxygen to the cells. Once the cells have absorbed what they need, they excrete debris and toxins, which then get flushed and deactivated by lymphatic fluid.

The lymph fluid then drains into the circulatory system through two ducts at the base of your neck (the thoracic duct), and becomes part of the blood and plasma that pass through the kidneys and liver. But unlike your circulatory system, your lymph system does not have a built-in pump. It relies on the act of breathing and bodily movement to move all that fluid around.

Little known fact: We have twice lymphatic fluid in our bodies than blood.

According to Pick, “the consequence of a sluggish lymphatic system is that you cannot detoxify properly. And if you arent’ breathing deeply or moving regularly, chances are your lymph fluid is not flowing as well as it could." As you can well imagine, this can lead to health concerns over time, including weight gain, muscle loss, high blood pressure, fatigue and inflammation.

The Path to Health
But the great news is that you can improve your lymph system cleansing by learning to practice deep breathing. The expansion and contraction of the diaphragm actually stimulates your lymphatic system and massages your internal organs, helping the body rid itself of tixins, and leaving more room in the cells for an optimal exchange of oxygen. And while you are helping your body to clean house, you’ll also be fighting stress.

The idea that gelled in me from reading the article was that our health depends on getting bad stuff out as much as it depends ion getting good stuff into our bodies. Long term consequence of sedintary lifestyle does contribute to inflammation and irritation on a celluar level.

Taking walks goes hand in hand with deep breathing. Movement itself (from breathing and exercise) is the pump that circulates the lymphatic fluid. Drinking enough water is crucial to good health. Deep breathing (with emphasis on full exhale) eliminates excess carbon dioxide, helps detoxify the body and makes space in the cells for oxygen and nutrients to do their jobs more efficiently and more effectively.

Don't Forget to Drink Enuf Water
Here is a link that I like to use that shows how much water a person should drink each day. Daily Water Intake Calculator The water intake calculator includes factors that might not otherwise be considered and is fun to use. Deep breathing, regular exercise, drinking enough water, eating healthy and well balanced meals as well as getting sufficient rest goes a long ways to combat the all too common diseases of the body due to inflammation and stress.

I'd like to emphasize the point that it all starts with your next breath. Some are so busy that they know they can't fit a full redesign of their life into the crowded schedule. It's time to take a deep breath and think again. Simply focusing on breathing is a form of mindful meditation. So let out a long sigh and appreciate the almost immediate feeling of relaxation and relief while you consider that you've just taken the first step on a journey toward establishing health.

~Sparrow

 

[cgstar4]

 

[tim-from-pa]

I think the key to good immune system (like any system in the body) is to make sure it gets the proper nutrients and resources needed to build up the body faster than it can be torn down.

While those things listed may decrease it's effectiveness, they don't tell you why. For example, being overweight in itself is not a problem (an overweight person can have less diseases than a thin person) but the real reason many are overweight may have to do with an inadequate diet (not always but is often the case) eating the wrong foods. Thus, according to what I am saying, an overweight person is deficient in some sense and is a "nutritionally thin" person in reality. So, losing weight if they just eat less junk but the same basic diet will just lead to a "nutritionally thin" thin person instead and no healthier.

Same with sugar. I might be able to eat more sugar than the next guy, but then the average person does not pop over 3000% of the RDA of all the B-vitamins which help metabolize that stuff. Sugar eaters may be unhealthy because the sugar, being empty calories, eats up what few resources they probably do not get so as it is from proper foods.

So, it is possible to indulge a little in the "bad" list provided the "good" list far outweighs it. The real problem is most people don't have much "good" from the list to begin with, let alone having bad habits on top of it yet.

Oh, and one last thing. Clearly this article comes from mainline medical and "wellness" philosophy that basically hates all fats and probably proteins as well. Fats are not bad for you and I rather get my calories from them than sugars. If I had my choice, proteins, and saturated fats (basically animal products) and also monounsaturated fats. The polyunsaturated fats that they try to push on you as #1 are actually the worse fats for you.