Wonderfully Complex Immune System

Childhood was when I got to really know my Immune System. Middle school brought germs that my body struggled with. Countless memories missing school, Kaiser appt’s, which included the overuse of antibiotics, endless testing without any real answers, faded into my late teen years. I knew deep down(intuition) that this had to change! Over the past 30 years of being an adult woman and raising my own 4 children, I’ve been passionately learning anything I could both from hands on experience and studying holistic alternative healing methods to heal the body. Much of this is either indirectly or directly dealing with the complexity of the human I.S. or Immune System.
I am grateful to have found relief after years of searching for remedies that really work: Read or Listen to Healthy Strong Immunity. Now my mission is to share this information with anyone needing assistance in becoming a healthier version of self.
Our Immune Systems are definitely complex, since there are various factors that affect how it functions. These factors include the health of our emotional, mental, and physical body as well as our spiritual health. Let’s first discuss the physical body’s role..

Ill health aka illness or disease is the opposite of Wellness. Wellness is the state of homeostasis-all body systems are functioning in normal limit. Illness sets in when the body becomes imbalanced, changing away from a healthy state. An imbalanced immune system affects the brain, and the brain alters immunity and hormone production. Remember elevated adrenal hormones from chronic stress will affect immune system, decreasing immune response to foreign invaders.^

Health history can have a profound effect on susceptibility or pre-dispostition to illnesses. Meaning, if you had a prior injury, deficiency that maybe you came in with or a chronic illness, we are more prone to subsequent issues later on. For example, arthritis may start in an area where we had an injury/gut health is compromised after use of antibiotics..Every living being has a unique constitutional make-up, biochemically unique that we reincarnated here with! Differences in ancestreal genes, environments, toxic exposures, nutritional status, and medical histories are all influential factors to our health and well-being. Although neither our genetic family history or previous medical influence cannot be altered, we can Change the present state of our Health by what lifestyle choices we make. Prevention is always best and most cost effective in the long run. Growing this awareness by learning ways to stay healthy or healthier will go a long way for your future. This will also empower you to take control of your own health, making conscious sustainable choices for you & your family! Sounds like a solution to me..I live by this everyday—preventative healthcare for longevity. My history of experience speaks loud & clear. I’m not saying I’m perfect and don’t have any unhealthy habits, I definitely do and it’s a daily awareness, practice, and even struggle at times. I wasn’t raised with healthy habits around me, had to grow away from what was not serving my own health and eventually the health of my children.

What is my Immune System & How does it become Imbalanced??

The Immune System is an elaborately designed, finely tuned defense system of the body that scavenges, destroys, and counters the negative effects from viruses, bacteria, yeasts, and foreign substances that invade our tissues, cells, and blood. This system recognizes self and non-self objects that are not part of it’s body. It also has a memory, remembers previous invaders, responding rapidly when they appear! When in balance aka healthy, the immune system destroys foreign elements without causing symptoms, but an imbalance will set the stage for symptoms & disease to arise. The foregin substances and unhealthy microorganisms(bad bacteria, viruses, etc) may not be recognized or destroyed, resulting in chronic infection, worse-Cancer & AIDS!! An imbalanced I.S. can also start attacking the body’s own tissues, creating Auto-immune diseases. Or it can overrespond to common substances, becoming sensitive, creating allergies, such as food allergies.

Working as a Team!

There are two branches of the Immune System, cellular immunity & humoral immunity. Cellular depends on the active participation of different types of cells. Macrophages are cells that engulf(eat) foreign invaders, like viruses and bad bacteria. These specialized cells live throughout the body in Spleen, Liver, Lymph, Spinal cord, Brain, and Connective tissues. Lymphocytes are an important type of white blood cell and T-cells are higly specialized lymphocytes that attack viruses, tumors, foriegn cells, helping regulate the I.S. They work with B-cells, which produce defense proteins called Antibodies.
In a perfect typical scenario, macrophages first engulf the foreign matter called an “antigen” for display on their cell surface. Certain t-cells acting like generals read the antigens, stimulating production of specialized killer t-cells that act like the foot soldiers to destroy the abnormal cells aka foreign materials. The different types of immune cells communicate w/each other via protein messengers called lymphokines. For example, macrophages produce a lymphokine called interleukin-1 to activate T helper cells, which in turn produce interleukin-2 that stimulte the production of killer T-cells. These helper T cells also produce Gamma interferon, which activates killer T cells as well. This is definitely some awesomely complex team work! Then there are the mast cells->LOL..

The mast cells are a type of T cell that live on our tissues and fight localized infection. They destroy foreign invaders on contact and release like Histamine and certain lymphokines that trigger inflammatory responses, like inflammation to protect the tissues that are being attacked. Other responses from this process can be symptoms like runny nose, itching, redness, and sneezing. Lymphokines also trigger phagocytes that prompt the macrophages. the cleanup crew for the innate immune system, removing the debris, pathogens, and dead neutrophils after an inflammatory response.

The other part of the I.S. is known as humoral immunity, pertaining to the blood and lymph. This part relies on cells to release defensive antibodies into the bloodstream to fight infection. The B-cells originate from our bone marrow. They are a type of lymphocyte, specialized plasma cell that produces antibodies when exposed to invaders. The T cell helpers stimulate B cell proliferation, maturation, and antibody production. Another type of T cell are the T cell suppressors, which gear down an overreactive immune system, turning off B cell production. These are crucial for turning off an immune response attack and auto-immune reactions.

So, the immunity response relies vastly upon our memory T and B cells in the bloodstream, signaling for red alerts to act upon and multiply rapidly when they have a foreign encounter from an antigen that is remembered.

What does my Immune System need?

Our immune system’s require a rich array of nutrients, including protein, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals to properly function. Junk food diets lacking nutrients, healthy fats, and too many calories lead to malnutrition and unltimately a weakened immune system. Supplements can definitely help boost the immune system, especially in elderly individuals that are lacking healthy calories. Malnourishment has really become an epidemic with so many people lacking key nutrients. Even low levels of certain nutrients will lower immune function. The RDA that was set up in 1943 as a guideline for how much of what nutrient Americans need by a committee established by the United States National Academy of Sciences in order to investigate issues of nutrition that might "affect national defense". Since, these recommendations have been revised a few times, but not in the past 20 years! I can tell you that this base RDA %’s are the absolute bare minimum of what the body really needs with all the constant stress most of us are facing. So, what do we really need? If we really want or need a healthier immune system, then in this day in age, we must be thinking way beyond the RDA levels. Superfood nutrients has been the wave of the future for awhile now. This is because these foods offer a significant amount of nutrients, especially much needed antioxidants that ward off illness by protecting our cells from oxidative damage.
For instance, Vitamin C has been proven to lower immunity. This key nutrient is a vitamin & an antioxidant, making it a superfood! Adequate amounts increase T and B cell productivity and protects cells from reactive chemicals. While Vitamin E enhances both humoral and cell-mediated immunity. E deficiency contributes to reduced T-cells, killer cells, and macrophage function. The mineral, selenium works with Vitamin E to stimulate immune response to infection. Together they help protect against cancers. Selenium increases T helper cells, increases antibody production, as well as being a co-factor to the body’s master antioxidant-glutathione, which nuetralizes lipid peroxides that can damage our immune cells. There are many other important nutrients that support our wonderfully complex I.S. Some of them that have some kind of key role in the I.S that I’ll mention here are B vitamins, Folic acid(B9), B6 and pantothenic acid(B5); Iron, Magnesium, Vitamin A and D, and the minerals Zinc and Copper. I’m not going to go into further detail here on these. I’ll definitely be discussing Magnesium & Vitamin D on future podcasts.

Well being of our state of mind & emotions that feed our mental health also play a key role in how the immune system functions. When we are stressed or depressed, immune function becomes compromised. Depression causes a drop in interleukin production. Interleukins are specialized proteins that help regulate immune system and help activate cancer-killing lymphocytes. Negative activity in the brain can alter immunity as well as hormone production. In turn hormones affect our nervous system. Whilst, everything working together, all is connected! For example, any perceived stresses trigger a fight or flight response in brain, elevating adrenal hormones, like cortisol. Prolonged or repeated stress has an affect on the immune system, decreasing immune response to foreign invaders. Stress(physical or emotional) can alter hormonal output & immune responses. Higher levels increase risk of illness & injury in the following year & unfortunately shortens the life span. Managing emotional health is essential and supported by a balanced diet and regular physical exercise. Moderate exercise has been shown to activate the production of endorphin hormones, our bodies own opiate chemicals that produce feeling of joy, reduce inflammation-pain, and bolster parts of the immune system. Studies show that interleukin and interferon help the body to respond to infection and injury. These substances of the Immune System are increased after moderate exercise. Killer T-cell activity is also amplified! Strenuous exercise may have an opposing effect though, decreasing efficiency of the immune system, temporarily increasing the production of adrenal stress hormones.

Inadequate nutrition, which is really any lacking nutrients will eventually lead to lowered body defenses against diseases. The best strategy to avoid chronic illness must be to consume adequate nutrition. The simplest way to achieve this is by consuming an organically grown whole foods diet..That’s the best way to get started with your transformation if you are ready. Sometimes it may take awhile for your body to adjust-cleanse & rebuild, but the body knows how & was created to be resilient, especially with the right foods. Herbs are medicine, but also food, loaded with nutrients for health & healing!

Again, please reference the Healthy Strong Immunity blog & podcast here for further immune building supplements, like herbs & fungi. There are endless ways we can build our immunity for prevention & fight off invaders as needed. Have confidence that deep down your immune system was designed to help you prevent illness, warding off infections, curing illness, and repairing injury.
If you are a health conscious being, focusing on these four lifestyle aspects will go far in maintaining health and preventing illnesses: healthy-organically grown whole foods diet, moderate exercise(daily is best), minimizing toxic exposures(home & external environments), and practicing a positive mindset. I’d love to discuss all of these more asap…

References in show notes>