Why is no-one talking about the immune system?

Masha
Nov 20, 2020
10 min read

It’s now been more than 9 months since COVID-19 has entered our world and has become part of our everyday lives. We went through various stages over the last many months, from buying hand gel, wearing masks, wearing gloves, and now we are hearing more and more about the release of a potential vaccine. Oh wait, I forgot to mention the quantities of toilet paper that were wiped out from the shelves out of sheer panic. So it makes me wonder, why is no-one talking about the immune system? Why that is, I don’t know, but what I do know is that wearing a band-aid is a short term solution, we need more durable, long-term solutions.

Wearing masks in most parts of the world has now become obligatory. So I wonder, should reinforcing the immune system also become obligatory? We teach kids how to wear a mask, and not how to look after their health. I know this sounds very straight forward, we have all heard it so many times. Drink lots of liquids, get some vitamin C and eat healthy, right? Well that’s it in a nutshell, but what does it actually mean in practice? I hope you can learn something new from this article, and use it as a cheat-sheet to take control of your health and wellbeing.

“The ultimate goal when attempting to achieve optimal immune health is to have a well-balanced immune system that responds appropriately when challenged.”

We need to be careful with using the term ‘boosting the immune system’. The aim is to keep your immune system in balance, not necessarily boosting. Balancing indeed, means striking the right equilibrium between a sluggish and an excessive immune system (which can also be harmful). It’s best to be somewhere in the middle. This includes, eating the right way, get good quality sleep and restoring the body physically and mentally when it gets out of balance. Balancing your immune system won’t happen overnight, it takes a while for the dietary and lifestyle changes to become evident.

First of all, let’s tackle the non-obvious one of them all.

Mental health, yes you read that right, mental health plays an important part in building our defence system.

Acting from a state of panic, stress, anxiety, and fear is actually counterproductive for our immune system. When we live in a constant state of stress, the brain is signalling to the body that it’s in danger and it must protect itself. By being in an unbalanced mental state, your body is activating the fight-or-flight response (the sympathetic nervous system).

This means that our rest-and-digest system (or the parasympathetic nervous system), is unable to function properly. Under high amounts of stress the body secretes a hormone called cortisol through the adrenal glands, which reduces the production of white blood cell, hence suppressing the immune system. This is the reason why you might get sick after an extended period of stress.

During a crisis, a pandemic or a stressful situation, focus on the things that you CAN control, rather than the uncertainty in-front of you. Simple things like, spending time outdoors, taking care of your health and wellbeing, and decreasing screen time while distancing yourself from toxic information, can help you move in the right direction. Keeping the body active, the mind sane, doing a simple mediation or a breathing exercise will give the body an opportunity to reset and rebalance again, and reinforce the parasympathetic nervous system.

Gut Health

“All diseases begin in the gut.”- Hippocrates

70% of our body’s immune system is located in the gut!

Low nutrient food weakens your defence system. When you wonder if something is healthy and unprocessed, ask yourself: “Where does it come from? Where did it grow?”

The gut, also known as our second brain, is a microbiome is made up of almost 100 trillion organisms including bacteria, viruses and fungi. These microbes help our digestion but also regulate our immune system.

Maintaining a good gut flora is key for your overall health. This can be reinforced by eating foods rich in probiotics such as fermented cabbage or sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha (fermented tea), and kefir (fermented milk). Of course, you may also buy probiotics in a supplement form. Be careful with antibiotics and other medication as it can affect your stomach lining and also destroy the good kind of bacteria.

TIP: Next time you open a yogurt, don’t pour off the liquid (whey) which sits at the top. That is the probiotic liquid you want to feed the gut with.

Prebiotics are also essential in our diet as this is what probiotics thrive on. Prebiotic foods include: asparagus, onion, bananas, garlic, apples, leeks, cocoa, flaxseeds, oats, just to name a few.

Order of food is also paramount. Many people love to have fruit as dessert, but this is a big faux pas for your digestive system. It takes about 30 minutes to digest fruit, compared to carbohydrates or protein rich food which can take between 2-4 hours. If you stuff yourself with a big meal and add fruit for dessert, the fruit will basically sit on top of your meal and ferment. This then can lead to digestive issues, such as bloating and gas. So, remember that fruits should ideally be eaten alone!

Keep it easy on the sugar (cake, cookies, soda, etc) it suppresses the immune system, and reduces the reactivity of white blood cells.

“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” Thomas Edison

Natural Remedies

There are a few natural remedies that play an important role when it comes to your health and fighting off disease.

Garlic is a superfood, it kills viruses, bacteria, parasites, yeast, fungus and mould. Garlic only kills unproductive bacteria (parasites and viruses) in the intestines. Garlic is very powerful in the sense that it fights off and eliminates pathogens. It’s your go-to food when it comes to fighting colds, flu and strep throat.
Ginger is a tonic for the nerves and the muscles, it also helps to calm the stomach. Ginger is packed with vitamin B6 and magnesium, and serves as a powerhouse for the immune system with its antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Curcumin is derived from the root of the turmeric plant. Curcumin has anti-inflammatory and prebiotic properties which influence the gut microbiota and thus support the gut-immune connection. When it comes to stress, curcumin is able to lower cortisol levels, and helps to regulate the immune hyperactivity.

Echinacea is a plant, part of the daisy family, and originates from the wood areas of Northern America. This powerful plant is high in antioxidants, it has antiviral and antibacterial effects. It stimulates the immune system by increasing white blood cells.
Lemon contains nourishing elements such as vitamins C, B6, and A. Lemon is also a powerful fruit for expelling mucus when sick with the flu or a cold.
Raw honey (unpasteurised and straight from the beehive), “is liquid gold that can turn your life around”- Anthony Williams. Honey is one of the most adaptogenic foods in the world, that is why it is crucial for our immune system. Honey ensures the strengthening of neutrophils and macrophages which fight off pathogens (whether it’s the flu, cold, stomach bug or food poisoning). Honey is anti-inflammatory and helps the body to release toxins.

TIP: Start your day off with warm lemon water in the morning. You can also add a teaspoon of raw honey.

TIP: If you feel sluggish and like you might be getting sick, take a small spoon of raw honey before going to bed.

Essential vitamins and minerals

Vitamins and minerals which are essential for maintaining a good immune system are vitamins A, C, D, E, as well as selenium, zinc, and omega-3 (DHA).

Vitamin A plays an important role within our immune system as it stimulates the production of antibodies. Foods rich in vitamin A are for example, cereals, egg yolk, carrots, broccoli, and green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin C aids in the creation of immune cells. Some of the highest doses of Vitamin C are found in bell pepper, guava fruit, kiwi and papaya. Bear in mind when buying dissolvable vitamin C as a supplement, that you get something of higher quality, which is not synthetic, full of additives and/or sugars.
Vitamin D should ideally be taken all year round, even if you feel that you got enough sunshine during the summer. In 2016 “large observational data have suggested that ~40% of Europeans are vitamin D deficient, and 13% are severely deficient.” This vitamin is crucial for regulating the immune system and is powerful in preventing the evolution of certain auto-immune diseases. If you take vitamin D as a supplement, best to consume it with food and not on an empty stomach for better absorption. More importantly, consume the vitamin D supplement in the morning since it hinders the production of melatonin and thus effects the sleep-wake cycle.

Vitamin E is especially important for older persons as it compensates for the loss of the immune function as we age. This vitamin is most commonly found in sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts and green leafy vegetables, but can also be taken as a supplement.
Selenium enhances the functioning of the immune system, by lowering oxidative stress hence decrease inflammation in the body. Selenium can be found in spinach, eggs, beans and legumes, sunflower seeds and brazil nuts. Most commonly, selenium is also taken as a supplement.
Zinc: “About 30% of individuals over the age of 50 are deficient in zinc”- yikes!! Zinc deficiency means that a person has lower blood levels of zinc thus making it harder for the immune system to fight off infections. Zinc can be found in foods such as: oysters, soybeans, baked beans, mushrooms, spinach, kale, broccoli and pumpkin seeds. If you take zinc as a supplement, best to take it in the evening as it has a rather calming effect.
Omega-3 has anti-inflammatory properties and reinforces the functioning of the white blood cells, key for a healthy immune system. Omega-3 is most commonly found in fish, nuts and seeds such as walnuts, pecans, flaxseeds, chia seeds and hemp seeds. Once again, be mindful when getting a supplement, avoid synthetic products, and aim to find a product which is rich in omega fatty acids.

Juicing & Recipes

Home made fresh juices are a great and easy way to consume your fruits and vegetables for the day, but it requires investing in a juicer. Personally, it’s probably the best investment you can make for your health. Why? Well, the already made smoothies in the supermarket tend to be high in sugar and ordering fresh juice in a cafe can be quite costly in the long run. Some of my favourite and easy to make juices are, for example: beetroot, apple, carrot and ginger. Or celery, cucumber, ginger, and apple.

You can also make ginger shots from ginger, lemon, curcuma and honey. These shots are easy to make and very nourishing for the system.

If you don’t have a juicer you can make a green juice using a blender. The idea is to blend:

a leafy green vegetable (spinach, kale, swiss chard etc),
with a liquid (water, almond milk, coconut water) and,
a fruit (banana, mango, berries, pineapple etc).
For an extra boost you can also add chia/flax/hemp seeds, almond butter or cacao.

Sleep (yes sleep!)

Sleep hygiene is vital for protecting your health. Try to sleep in a slightly cooler room so the body can properly relax and not be disturbed by heat. Focus on routine, that includes the weekends. Your body doesn’t actually know it’s the weekend hence staying up longer than usually just disrupts your sleeping routine and the body’s clock. If possible, try to go to sleep and wake up every day around the same time.

Our most important sleep cycle is between 22.00 and 02.00 in the morning. During this time the body produces vast amount of melatonin, which influences HGH secretion. HGH is essential for regeneration of body tissue, enhancing the immune system, and the repair of cells.

The less sleep you get the more you are prone to become sick. You also cannot regain the benefits of sleep by trying to catch up on lost sleep (during the weekend for example).

“Natural killer cells are an elite and powerful squadron within the ranks of your immune system. Think of the natural killer cells like the secret service agents of your body, whose job is to identify dangerous foreign elements and eliminate them- 007 types. What you want, is a virile set of these James Bond- like immune cells at all times. That is precisely what you don’t have when sleeping too little.”- Matthew Walker

Dr. Michael Irwin at University of California, has demonstrated that a single night of four hours of sleep (from 3 to 7 a.m.)- swept away 70 percent of the natural killer cells, relative to a full eight-hour night of sleep. The sympathetic nervous system is forced into overdrive by a lack of sleep. Provoking an unnecessary inflammation response.

In case you want to read more about the importance of sleep, there is a fantastic book called “Why we sleep” by Matthew Walker.

Movement

Move as much as possible and ideally outdoors. No, you don’t need to sign up for a marathon, but many studies have shown that physical activity reinforces our immune system, while a non-active lifestyle keeps the immune system asleep.

Find an activity that best suites you and your lifestyle, whether that’s jogging, walking, biking, swimming, or another favourite exercise of yours. It sounds very obvious and easy, but many of us don’t do it.

“When we exercise, blood pumps through our body at a rapid rate. This helps white blood cells to be absorbed into our body tissues more rapidly. White blood cells are an essential part of our immune system that fights disease.”

Moreover, physical activity lowers stress (cortisol), increases the production of antibodies and white blood cells. On the contrary, excessive physical exercise may cause the immune system to become imbalanced, by temporarily decreasing the immune function as cortisol and adrenaline rise, leaving you more susceptible to infections. Remember it’s all about balance!

Cold showers

Practice taking a cold shower every day for at least 30 seconds. This might sound unpleasant especially as we transition into winter. An easy way to go about it, is to take your normal warm shower and in the end, start decreasing the temperature from warm to cold.

( (cryotherapy) )

Taking a cold shower has numerous benefits such as: decreasing stress (lowering cortisol), improving the immune function, soothing the nervous system, increasing circulation, and reducing muscle fatigue. If you are looking for more information on this topic, check out the Wim Hof method.

To summarise...

No one is perfect, but do the best you can. It is YOUR health, we are talking about. No one else can be in charge of it, except for YOU.

It’s not about boosting the immune system but more about finding a good immune balance.

Take charge of your mental health. Stay grounded and de-stress, over and over again.
Avoid processed foods, too much sugar and alcohol.
Focus on maintaining a healthy gut.
Include supplements such as Vitamin D, and Zinc into your diet.
Get plenty of good quality sleep.
Keep active, ideally outdoors.
Take cold showers (minimum 30 seconds).