Immunity

When it comes to the common cold and flu, you will hear the word “immunity” in constant use. However, your immune system plays a vital role in daily health, the prevention of disease, and treatment of serious health conditions. Without your immune system, you have no health. Our goal in the office, and with this article, is to not only educate you in what immunity really is, but ways that you can boost your immune system.

We are not born with a full functioning immune system, unlike most systems in the body. Your immunity is continuously built up during a lifetime of exposure to pathogens. In fact, the most important jump start an infant’s immune system receives is a nice soak in the bacteria-filled birth canal. This is why the natural childbirth is through the woman, not through a surgeon’s knife and hands.

The first several years of life has the strongest impact on immunity. If you were one of the unlucky kids that didn’t get to eat a handful of dirt, chew on cat or dog hair, or get the chicken pox … your immune system was deprived. For current or future parents, please do not buy into the germ theory that animals are bad, vaccines and antibiotics are good, and that you must triple sanitize everything with toxic cleaners before letting your infant suck on it. The evidence just doesn’t support these things.  Saying germs cause disease is like saying that rats cause dumps.  If the environment (the body) is dumpy (unhealthy), rats and germs can survive and flourish.  If you clean up the dump, the rats go away.

What is Immunity?

Immunity defined:

Your body’s natural defense against infectious and invading pathogens (like parasites, virus, bacteria and inorganic substances). To the left is a picture of a type of immune cell killing invading e. coli.

Like an army protecting the borders, your immune system protects the internal borders of your body. The higher your immune function, the more likely you are to adapt to the environment. We call this, your adaptive potential. The more likely you are to adapt to your environment, the more likely you are to survive in the environment. Your immune system directly reflects your ability to survive.

Poor immunity = poor health = accelerated aging = premature death.

Scientists agree that our germ-phobia mentality and overdosing of antibiotics and vaccines is contributing to our poor immune function as a whole and explains the drastic increase in cancer and premature deaths.

Where is Your Immune System?

Simply …. EVERYWHERE. It is in your gut, it’s circulating in your blood, it’s your lymphatic system, it’s your nervous system, it’s in every cell, organ, and tissue. It is literally … everywhere in your body.

The majority of the immune system is found in the gut. This is why your body needs the good, healthy bacteria known as probiotics. This is also why antibiotics are so detrimental to overall health – they virtually destroy the immune system because they destroy the necessary good bacteria your body needs for digestion and health. What you put in your body (or don’t put in your body!) directly effects your immune system and health. (For more info, I highly suggest you pick up our “Probiotics or Antibiotics” handout.

Experts in the neuroimmunology field describe the immune system as your “circulating nervous system”. There is a direct link between the function of the nervous system and the function of the immune system. This is the main reason why our patient’s voluntarily continue with wellness chiropractic adjustments to maintain a healthy nerve and immune system for better health. Scientifically, it just makes sense.

Another large component of immunity lies in the flow of your lymphatic system. Your lymphatic system is what filters out toxins in the blood stream. Once the toxins are swept out of the blood stream, they are carried through your lymphatic system through a series of vessels and nodes via a clear fluid. Many people are aware of the danger of cancer reaching your lymphatic system as that is a sign that it has or will soon spread throughout the entire body. A clean, fully functioning lymphatic system is crucial to your immunity.

The toxins are pumped out of the lymphatic system through gravity and muscular contractions. However, when it becomes stagnant (due to lack of exercise , subluxations, or too many toxins), the fluid can become thicker, making it harder to circulate out of the body. This is again where chiropractic care excels better than any other at improving lymphatic flow and a healthy nervous system.  Yoga, massage and exercise play a vital role in immunity as well.

Stress and Immunity

As I always tell my patients, “it’s not the stress but how well you adapt to stress that determines whether stress impacts health. One’s range of adaptability to stress is governed by the nervous system. As we stated above, the function of the nervous system directly impacts the function of the immune system and this is backed by 100% concrete scientific evidence. When the nervous system is functioning, your body’s ability to adapt to and deal with stress is significantly improved.

The Biochemical Link of Stress on Immunity and Health

Stress negatively impacts immunity by affecting the hormone cortisol. Cortisol not only effects the production of other hormones and chemicals in the body, but it also effects an enzyme called Telomerase. Before you stop reading, let me put this in English for you. A telomere is part of your DNA. Think of a strand of DNA like a shoelace. The little hard plastic covers at the end of the lace that prevent it from getting frayed and damaged, is the telomere. The telomere basically keeps the DNA and is like the life clock for how long the cell lives. Cortisol decreases the lifespan of the enzyme telomerase, which in turn causes premature aging and death to the cells. In summary:

STRESS CAUSES PREMATURE AGING AND DEATH!

To add on to that, scientists have discovered certain messengers (neurotransmitters and neuropeptides) on the cells of the immune system called monocytes. Neurotransmitters were originally thought to only be present in the brain and nervous system – now they are being found throughout the entire body.

Monocytes are the circulating immune cells found in the bloodstream – so they travel through the whole body and have free access to every cell in the body. Hence, why we said the immune system is everywhere! The immune cells are hardwired with the ability to mirror the nervous system. What does this mean to you? When you are happy, sad, thoughtful, excited, and so on … your brain and nervous system make certain chemicals messengers (neurotransmitters and neuropeptides) that are not only circulating in your brain but are also circulating in your blood through these immune cells called monocytes. So the old saying that “laughter is the best medicine” … is true!

Sure does make you think! These intelligent chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) are not only made by the brain whose function is to THINK, but are also made by the immune system, whose primary role is to PROTECT us! This also takes the connection of stress and immunity to an entirely different level with the mind-body connection.

Strategies to Boost Immunity

A strong immunity is not built from simply adding one of these strategies. Building a strong immune system takes time and takes effort. If you already doing one of the following, try adding one more every couple of weeks. This is an achievable and affordable goal. If you do not currently do any of the following, please do not try to incorporate all of them tomorrow. That is a difficult goal to reach and you may set yourself up for disappointment. You must find the path that is right for you. If we can assist in any way, please contact us and let us know how we can help you achieve your wellness goals.

Get Adjusted

Adjustments not only boost nervous system function, but are highly beneficial for boosting the immune system as well. If you have never had your nervous system evaluated (back pain or not!), you are missing a huge component of immunity

Meditate

Meditation is known to significantly reduce and manage stress that drags down your immunity. Whether you voluntarily take time for yourself and your health NOW or you unwillingly take it later when you are sick or dis-eased, your body requires attention and there is no better way than through meditation.

Sleep

Lack of sleep suppresses immune system by up to 50%! The body repairs and rebuilds during sleep. If you cut your sleep – you cut your body’s ability to heal and your immune system’s ability to rebuild. You should be getting 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. Having sleep difficulties? Click here for more information!

Nutrition

Put the good in! Eat 4 – 5 servings of fruits AND vegetables per day. Take a high quality Multi-Vitamin like Vitalize. If you don’t give your body the right nutrients to build and fuel it, how can it possibly work efficiently? Just as a car needs gas, your body requires bare essential nutrients as well. Fuel your body’s fire appropriately! Get the bad out! SUGAR destroys the immune system and unfortunately, it is in almost everything in an American processed diet. Check your food labels! Especially important to watch sugar intake with kids because their immune systems are still being significantly built.

Water

Experts have estimated that over 80% of the population is dehydrated and often confuse the signs of dehydration with other common symptoms. Without proper clean fluid levels in the body, your body cannot naturally detoxify and move the toxins out.

Probiotics – Not Antibiotics

Antibiotics suppress immune function! If you give your child antibiotics for an ear infection, he/she is 4 – 8 times more susceptible to infection in the future (including bacterial, viral and parasite infections).

Exercise

Is very important to circulate blood and lymphatic flow which cleans and removes toxins from tissues. Lymph moves by muscular contractions so exercise is extremely important. If your lymph blocks up and becomes stagnant, so do toxins and pathogens in your body. When toxins don’t circulate out of your body, they remain trapped and wreak havoc. Lymph also moves with the help of gravity. Anytime your head is below your heart (as done in exercises like yoga), lymph moves into the respiratory system and aids as a great immune defense as it sweeps away germs and toxins that often enter the body through your nose and mouth. When you return to the upright position, gravity drains the lymph, sending it through your lymph nodes for cleansing. I highly suggest Yoga for Immunity, inversion tables, and mini-trampolines called rebounders.

Sunlight and Vitamin D

The sun causes your skin to make Vitamin D which is not just for strong bones. It is essential to immunity and overall health.

Massage

Is very beneficial for getting and keeping lymphatic flow moving so your body does not become stagnant. Movement is life, stagnant is death

Remember … building a strong immune system is a process – just as life and health are both processes. It is impossible to build a strong immune system overnight. Do not get discouraged if you don’t “see” results right away. Every choice you make either builds or destroys your immunity!
Which way are your choices taking you?

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