Immune System Health + Holistic Ways to Boost it

The immune system is the defender of the body, fighting and repelling disease-causing organisms, routing them if they get past the first lines of defense. It also has the extremely important function of protecting us by cleaning up and disposing of dead or damaged cells, cancerous cells, pus, and so on, along with the lymphatic system. The immune system operates via a few key systems, namely the lymphatic and circulatory systems. It consists both of simple nonspecific foreign invaders (or internal problems), and a more complex second-line defense, specific immunity, in which a tailor-made defense is made by B and T lymphocytes (types of white blood cells).

How Immunity Works

A key mechanism of simple immunity is inflammation. The inflammatory process is a response to some kind of damage in the cells and tissues—from injury, pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria or other organisms, or toxic irritants. A protective, healing process that isolates the damaged parts and attracts many immune cells and healing chemicals to the site, inflammation enables wounds to heal.

Blood vessels dilate, allowing more blood to enter the damaged area. Capillaries become significantly more permeable (leaky), allowing lots of white blood cells and nutrient-rich fluid to leave the bloodstream and enter the tissues. This causes the symptoms of inflammation which you recognize as —the area becoming swollen, hot, red, and painful—and functioning is impaired.

This process is called acute inflammation, a vital part of our first-line defenses against disease. Fever and mucus production are also important first lines of defense of immunity, along with protective barriers like the skin and mucous membranes; chemical barriers including tears, earwax, and the hydrochloric acid in our stomachs; expulsive actions like coughing, sneezing, vomiting, and diarrhea; and phagocytosis by white blood cells—the swallowing or engulfing of unwanted material by specialized white blood cells.

Normal & Abnormal Temperatures

Normal fevers (between 100–104 F [37.8–40 C]) are never a problem.

It's good to always seek medical help for fevers over 104 or approaching 41 C (106 F), as this usually indicates serious infection.

Fevers as high as 108 F (42.2 C) have actually been known to cause brain damage.

Our immune systems are constantly challenged and at work. 80% of the immune system lies within our gut so it is imperative that our gut health is addressed. Just as what we put into our bodies is important, our environment and our constant exposure to chemicals are important in our immune health as well, especially in the role of allergies and other immune system problems.

So let's discuss factors that contribute to a weakened immune system and then discover how to restore it!

Dietary Factors that Compromise Our Immune Systems

One factor that can truly make our immune system take a rapid decline is a diet high in processed food. Consumption of refined sugar and refined carbohydrates can actually decrease the strength and ability of our white blood cells (our first line of defense).

Hydrogenated Oils & Fats (Omega 6)

Trans fats from hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils become incorporated into our cells, compromising their integrity, making it easier for bacteria and viruses to invade. These oils cause a cascade of inflammatory processes throughout the body. Keep an eye out for these ingredients in most processed foods. Opt for olive or coconut oil.

Our Gut Health

Dysbiosis, heavy metals, and increased intestinal permeability can all place demands on the immune system. Our goal is to eliminate that which stresses the immune system and to improve the function of the immune system. Fortunately, you can do things to support your immune system. There are nutrients and herbs that will improve immune function. For most, simple changes in diet work wonders in improving immune function.

Holistic Self-Care Suggestions for Maximum Immunity

To boost immunity, you want to avoid things that reduce or harm immune function to give your immune system optimum circumstances for its operations.

These include stress, eating sugar, smoking, drinking alcohol, overwork, burning the candle at both ends, excessive exercise, suppressing emotions, and various toxins including those from pollution, pesticides, processed foods, and non-natural household and personal care products.

Reduce stress. Stress stimulates the secretion of adrenal hormones (especially cortisol), which suppresses immune activity including the thymus gland and white blood cells. Luckily, there are several easy ways to reduce stress in your day-to-day life, including having more fun, playing more, meditation, and yoga (my absolute go-to) or other exercise. In addition to its immune-boosting effects, regular exercise is a potent stress-reducer. The simple process of journal writing about stressful incidents improves immune function.

Thymus tapping. An ancient Chinese practice to encourage long life with daily tapping of the chest area. With loose hands (don’t punch yourself!) tap yourself in the center of your chest on your breast bone. The thymus gland lies right underneath the sternum, and this gland is responsible for the activation of T lymphocytes. Large in newborns and infants, it shrinks after a few years of life and after puberty, it atrophies considerably. However, it does retain some functionality throughout our lives. To live long, we need our immune systems to be able to adapt to new challenges.

Laugh. Because of laughing increases the activity of protective immunoglobulins. Watch a comedy, choose funny books and films, and hang out with people who make you laugh and feel good. Choose your company with care—people who relentlessly criticize or bring you down may adversely affect your immune function (unless you are with them out of compassion to cheer them up, which can boost your immunity—covered further in a bit).

Cry. Allow your tears to flow freely because suppressing them will depress your immunity. It’s not only laughing that relieves stress and boosts immunity—a good cry does it too. Crying is also handy, bearing in mind the fact that we are aiming to cut out sugar since many of us use sugar as a way to distract ourselves (and others) from feelings. Cutting it out usually leads to plenty of feelings of all kinds coming up! So it’s great to know that the tears we shed are full of stress hormones including cortisol and adrenaline—and these hormones suppress our immune system. It really is true—to feel is to heal.

Exercise. Exercise in a balanced way. As we know, we need exercise. Vigorous exercise can do more harm than good. Research shows that exercise boosts the immune system, but much more than that weakens it. The aim is to have a good rest/activity balance. There is also some evidence for the beneficial effects of sweating, which is a key excretory route for the body (induced sweating is a way for the body to rid itself of toxins).

Take a Pilates class. Pilates is a form of gentle exercise with roots in yoga, developed by Joseph Pilates, who was an expert in physical fitness—expertise developed as a result of being sickly and weak in early childhood—and was determined to improve his physical state. A German national, he happened to be in England when the first world war broke out, and was interned on the Isle of Man. There he developed strict exercise routines for himself and his fellow prisoners—including the injured or sick and those confined to bed. The legend goes that even though general health conditions were bad, no one who followed his regime got sick during the deadly flu epidemic that swept the world, killing between twenty and forty million people. Taking up Pilates (or yoga, which is very similar) dramatically improves a person’s immunity. This is thought to be due to the emphasis on improved circulation, lymphatic drainage, and deep breathing.

“Squeeze every atom of impure air from the lungs until they are almost as free of air as a vacuum.” —JOSEPH PILATES

Eat well to ensure optimum nutrition. A diet rich in organic fruits and vegetables is high in antioxidants and nutrients that the immune system needs for its activity. Healthy fats like omega-3s (nettle seeds, flax seeds, dark green leafy veggies) and monounsaturated fats such as those found in extra virgin olive oil are needed to repair tissues and create healthy immune cells. A good supply of plant or lean animal protein is also needed. Fresh fermented products like kefir (and sauerkraut and yogurt) keep the gut healthy by promoting its colonies of beneficial bacteria, which support immune function. If fermented foods aren't for you, then try implementing a Soil-Based Probiotic daily.

Drastically reduce your intake of sugar, which seriously depresses immune function. Even one serving of sugar, including concentrated fruit sugar, lowers immune activity immediately and for hours. Dr. Linus Pauling, who discovered the beneficial effects of vitamin C on the immune system, found that sugar has the potential to reduce the body’s defenses by 75 percent or more and that the effect would last for four to six hours.

Sleep more and learn to rest. Lack of sleep negatively affects immune function by slowing the production of disease-fighting white blood cells and impairing the activity of natural killer cells and macrophages. During deep, restful sleep, the body releases powerful immune-enhancing compounds, including interferon. Make every effort to get enough sleep—aim for eight hours a night. Resting is also important. A severe lack of rest is common in modern life. We are so conditioned to overworking that we often can’t even tell we are doing it—what is considered normal is actually a high level of overactivity, fueled by intake of stimulants like caffeine.

Cultivate Joy, Positivity, & Kindness. Kindness and caring for others significantly boost the immunoglobulin antibodies in the nose. This makes sense—if we’re going to help someone in need, it often means getting close to suffering. If they are ill with an infection, we need our immunity to rise up to protect us. The human attribute of kindness and caring for others not only helps the ones we are caring for but is supportive of our own immune system as well. We have so much exposure to bad news and suffering, it can do two negative things: harden us up and cause compassion fatigue so we go numb because there is simply too much to care about, and make us feel hopeless—like there’s nothing we can do about it anyway. One antidote to this is to seriously cut the news off and stay around positive people.

Reach for forgiveness. Holding on to old hurts, becoming bitter, and nursing anger and resentment to others (or to life itself) has a directly suppressive effect on the immune system. A study found that HIV patients who truly forgave had higher levels of the important immune cells CD4, particularly known to attack cancers. Forgiveness also lowers your stress levels, and therefore enhances immunity. It is important to forgive yourself—and to know that God (or divinity in whatever way you understand it) forgives you.

Treat infections promptly. Lingering infections, including respiratory and gum infections, tax the immune system and can significantly impair immunity, wearing down and confusing the immune system, making it less effective in dealing with any new threat. There is a theory that auto-immune diseases develop as a result of this kind of overburdening of the immune system. Save antibiotics for infections that cannot successfully be treated with herbs, though, because they ultimately weaken immune function—and because the less you use them, the more powerful they are in a real emergency. Useful botanicals include echinacea, marjoram, oregano, thyme, astragalus, calendula, elderberry, and garlic.

Reset your immune system with a three-day fast. It has long been part of the naturopathic healing approaches from many traditions to recommend fasting as a powerful tool in healing from serious disease. Fasting removes toxins from the body and helps the skin, kidneys, and liver regenerate. It also boosts immunity—which has been well researched. A fast of two to four days is like a major reboot for the immune system.

More information on Fasting coming soon!!

References:

Deeply Holistic, Pip Waller