Maintaining a healthy immune system is a priority, as the dangers of a weakened immune system are very real. More people die each year from systemic bacterial infections than from breast, colorectal and pancreatic cancer combined \u2013 and the antibiotics we have routinely used to treat infections are rapidly becoming ineffective.<\/p>\n
Your immune system protects against invasion by the bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi that live on and around us. It is also one of the body\u2019s defences against cancer.<\/p>\n
A weakened immune system, therefore, leaves your body vulnerable to disease. Indeed the weakening of immune systems is implicated in the significantly increased incidence of cancer that has occurred in the last century.<\/p>\n
But can you actually strengthen your immune system? Do vitamins or herbals help enhance the immune system? There are six proven ways to enhance your immune system \u2013 but first some essential background.<\/p>\n
What weakens the immune system?<\/strong> Certain medications such as steroids also weaken the immune system as does HIV. The immune system is also depleted in the winter months when vitamin D levels fall, inconveniently just when adverse weather conditions keep many at home, and in closer contact with others.<\/p>\n Ironically there appears to be another reason we have less effective immune systems than we used to. We have over-sanitised our environment!<\/p>\n Our over-sanitised environment – the “hygiene hypothesis”<\/strong> In today\u2019s over-sterilised environment our immune systems are unexposed to yeasts or moulds, which contain compounds (1-3, 1-6 beta glucans) that prime the innate immune system. This leaves our immune systems less functional and less able to neutralise new and unexpected threats. So, when we travel to parts of the world where sanitation standards are lower than ours, we routinely fall victim to pathogens that locals have no problems with, resulting in \u2018Montezuma\u2019s revenge\u2019, \u2018Delhi belly\u2019 and other travellers\u2019 ills.<\/p>\n The absence of priming by yeasts in today\u2019s hygiene-obsessed world has also left our immune systems less able to cope with normally harmless substances such as pollen. This is thought to have contributed to the explosion in the numbers of people with asthma and allergy.<\/p>\n This so-called \u2018hygiene hypothesis\u2019 probably explains why children who live on farms or with pets have a reduced risk of asthma and allergy.<\/p>\n Age is a factor<\/strong> Transmission is easy in crowded transport systems<\/strong> Moreover, rapid global travel means that on any one day, a single passenger can contract a virus or bacterium on one continent and arrive in another before the first symptoms of illness emerge, thus avoiding early detection. And that passenger can be importing more pathogens than there are humans on the planet!<\/p>\n We are running out of effective antibiotics<\/strong> Bacteria have a far shorter life cycle than ours, so they continually and rapidly evolve. If a patient with a bacterial infection is given the right antibiotic, the vast majority of the bacteria die; leaving a few that the patient\u2019s immune system – if it is strong enough – can finish off.<\/p>\n However, if the antibiotic is given at too low a dose, or the course is not finished by the patient (a common problem), those bacteria which were slightly more resistant to the antibiotic survive in larger numbers. Within a surprisingly short period of time, these resistant strains dominate and full-blown resistance can emerge.<\/p>\n The threat is real. Both the UK Lancet and the Journal of American Medicine recently used similar language:<\/p>\n “Drug-resistant superbugs represent one of the gravest threats in the history of medicine.”<\/em> LANCET<\/p>\n \u201cThe effectiveness of these lifesaving antibiotics is at risk. Many medical advances that physicians and patients take for granted\u2014including cancer treatment, surgery, transplantation, and neonatal care\u2014are endangered by increasing antibiotic resistance and a distressing decline in the antibiotic research and development pipeline.\u201d<\/em> JAMA<\/p>\n Your TWO immune systems – innate and acquired<\/strong> The acquired immune system<\/strong> is that part of the immune system with \u2018memory\u2019. You have an infection \u2013 or a vaccination – and your acquired immune system remembers the enemy\u2019s<\/em> characteristics. On a second exposure to the threat, the memory cells recognise it, and generate an immune response involving highly specific weapons such as antibodies. That\u2019s why it is very unusual to catch measles or the same cold twice.<\/p>\n The acquired immune system is powerful, but is only able to respond if you have already encountered the threat previously. Even small mutations in a virus \u2014 and some viruses, like the flu virus, mutate very rapidly \u2014 may be enough to \u2018fool\u2019 the immune system. That is one reason why it is only our second line of defence.<\/p>\n Our first line of defence is the innate immune system<\/strong>. It consists of cells such as macrophages, neutrophils and Natural Killer (NK) cells. If macrophages and neutrophils spot a bacterium, they swallow it and try to digest it. If NK cells recognise a virally infected cell they will kill it to prevent further viral replication, and if they encounter a cancer cell (and recognise it as cancerous) they will kill it to prevent tumour growth and spread.<\/p>\n All this makes the innate immune system very important indeed.<\/p>\n 6 proven ways to boost your immune system<\/strong><\/p>\n You can boost the effectiveness of your innate immune system. You can do this through diet, certain nutritional supplements and the yeast-derived food compound 1-3,1-6 beta glucans.<\/p>\n 1.\tDiet and nutrition<\/strong><\/p>\n A large body of evidence indicates that the \u2018Mediterranean Diet\u2019, which contains high levels of flavonoids, anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients, not only lowers the risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer, but also supports good immune function.<\/p>\n This diet is high in fruits and vegetables, wholegrains, beans and other legumes, olive oil, nuts and seeds, garlic, oily fish and a moderate intake of red wine.<\/p>\n Following this diet can really help boost your immune system. And I also recommend that anyone over the age of 45-50 takes a comprehensive daily nutritional supplement.<\/p>\n It should include optimum levels of the A-Z vitamins and minerals \u2014 as opposed to merely levels that prevent deficiencies like scurvy or rickets! Of particular importance are vitamin D3 \u2013 (800 IU a day), selenium (150 mcg a day) and zinc (10mg a day). Iron is also important but only if there is evidence of iron depletion or deficiency.<\/p>\n Vitamin A<\/strong> deficiency is associated with impaired immunity and increased risk of infectious disease, but it is better to supplement with beta carotene (which gets converted to vitamin A as needed) because it is important not to exceed the RDA for vitamin A.<\/p>\n If you are low in vitamin D<\/strong>, fewer Natural Killer cells (NK-cells) are formed, and your innate immune defences against viruses and bacteria become impaired. As the other function of NK-cells is to kill tumour cells, D-depletion probably increases our risk of cancer also. Vitamin D depletion and deficiency are both common in the Northern latitudes due to lower exposure to sunlight. So take advantage of sensible exposure to the sun.<\/p>\n But a narrow focus on vitamins D, E, selenium and zinc \u2013 or even just vitamin C, which some swear by – is not enough. An effective immune-enhancing health supplement must also include polyphenols, flavonoids and carotenoids (derived from fruits and vegetables). Ensure it also includes Omega 3 fatty acids from fish.<\/p>\n I indicated above that a comprehensive supplement is advisable for the over 50s. My opinion is that it virtually ESSENTIAL in the elderly who tend to eat less and often have less variety in their diets. They commonly face what researchers call \u201cmultiple micronutrient malnutrition\u201d, aka depletion in many or most of the essential vitamins and trace minerals. This kind of malnutrition leads to less effective immune systems, a higher risk of infection, and slower healing.<\/p>\n 2.\tSleep<\/strong><\/p>\n Getting enough sleep is essential for health generally. Lack of sleep is perceived by the body as a form of stress \u2014 and stress reduces the immune response.<\/p>\n 3.\tExercise <\/strong> 4.\t1-3, 1-6 beta glucans<\/strong><\/p>\n As outlined above, our human and pre-human ancestors evolved in a less sanitised environment than ours. In particular, their innate immune systems learned to recognise molecules called 1-3, 1-6 beta glucans, which are present in the cell walls of fungus, moulds and yeasts.<\/p>\n Those immune systems then responded by mounting a strong counter-attack. Over the millennia the innate immune systems of all higher life forms became dependent on the presence of the 1-3, 1-6 beta glucans to work effectively.<\/p>\n In an age before fungicides were routinely sprayed onto every food crop, almost everything we ate would have been contaminated with yeasts, fungi and moulds and this was, paradoxically, one of the main factors keeping our innate immune systems at peak capacity.<\/p>\n Today, changes in food technology have effectively removed these beta glucans (also called gluco-polysaccharides) from fermented products such as bread and beer; while the widespread use of fungicides in modern agriculture and the progressive closing of the food chain have removed them from most other foods.<\/p>\n I am not advocating returning to a dirty environment \u2013 but $300 million of research by a company called Biothera has shown that low-level and controlled priming with a beta glucan supplement leads to significantly improved immune function.<\/p>\n The supplement is proven to increase the number and effectiveness of neutrophils, the main defensive element in the innate immune system. When the Canadian Department of Defence tested some 300 \u2018immuno-enhancers\u2019, the 1-3, 1-6 beta glucans emerged as the most effective immune booster of all.<\/p>\n
\nMany things can weaken the immune system, such as chronic or long term stress, depression (which causes hormonal changes very similar to those caused by stress), a less than optimum diet, lack of sleep, and long-haul flights.<\/p>\n
\nHumans evolved in a dirty environment. During most of our time on this planet, our environment was full of bacterial and viral hazards, and our immune systems were constantly challenged. Our immune systems up-regulated, responded and we survived and multiplied.<\/p>\n
\nThere is evidence that the aging process leads to a reduction of immune response capability, which in turn contributes to more vulnerability to infections, more inflammatory diseases, and more cancer. It may be related to a decreased production of T cells in the thymus, and it probably also reflects declining nutritional standards.<\/p>\n
\nMillions of us have to commute on local transport systems that are overheated, overcrowded, and constitute ideal conditions for the transmission of bacteria and viruses.<\/p>\n
\nUnfortunately, we cannot continue to rely on antibiotics to save us. The rise of \u2018super-bugs\u2019 like MRSA , C. difficile, and Multiple Drug Resistant Tuberculosis indicates that many antibiotics are losing their effectiveness. Why? Because we have been over-using and mis-using antibiotics. Some folk demand antibiotics to combat a virus, although antibiotics only work against bacteria.<\/p>\n
\nWe talk of \u2018an\u2019 immune system, but in fact you have two distinct, but inter-connected, immune systems; the innate immune system and the acquired or adaptive immune system.<\/p>\n
\nExercise is an effective boost for your immune system, and important for health generally. Being unfit is as dangerous as smoking 20 cigarettes a day! A programme of regular, moderate exercise relieves stress and makes it easier for you to sleep at night. It may further contribute by promoting good circulation and a better metabolic profile.<\/p>\n