HOW TO BOOST THE IMMUNE SYSTEM?

Written by Dr Sheetal BChiro

Okay so it’s that time of the year now where you’ve either got a sniffly nose / the cold or you’re trying to save yourself from “catching” it from those around you. Whether you’ve got it or not, you can still protect or improve your immune system.

For starters, what is the immune system?
The immune system is the bunch of cells in your body that protects you from anything that it perceives to be dangerous, or corrects what may seem like an unhealthy cell. So, when we get sick with an infection the immune basically what helps us fight it off. A stronger immune system helps us get sick less.
I like to explain it to my little sister as the good soldier cells in our body fighting any bad cells.

Cool, how do I boost the immune system then?

1.) Well firstly, make sure you keep getting your regular chiropractic checks 😉 Because the chiropractic appointments make sure your nervous system (the control system of the body) is at it’s best it can be, it make’s sense that it can have an impact on how the immune system functions. The nerves have various modes of communication to the immune system.

If you wanted to have a read more about this, you can look up the comparison on many articles done in 2008 called “Chiropractic and the Neuroimmune Connection” by Ari John D.C.


2.) Tumeric!
For you curry lovers, you’ll be lucky to know you can eat more curry to boost the immune system. Well assuming all the ones you are eating has turmeric in them. Curcumin, found in turmeric has been known to help activate some immune cells in the body.
You can pop turmeric in your smoothies, food, or even in your lemon water in the morning.


3.) Exercising isn’t only good for building strength, freeing/moving joints, building stamina or losing weight (the common things we seem to know it for), but when you exercise you can reduce the risk of getting an infection as it stimulates the immune function too. But in saying that, strenuous workouts with not adequate recovery can also act as a stress and weaken the immune cells instead.


4.) Talking about stress, you want to make sure your body is not under too much stress otherwise it suppresses how well your immune cells are functioning. Any way that can reduce your stress, such as yoga, meditation, day planning or whatever works for you, can play a big role in how well you respond and work. Rather than your body worrying about responding to the stress factor, it can work better at fighting off any of those infectious or bad cells it needs to.


5.) Let’s talk probiotics.
Probiotics seem to be a craze these days right? Well.. yes and no. It’s not just one of those fad crazes. People are acknowledging that our gut is made up of bacteria that need to be kept in great proportion. Taking probiotics can help with the regulation of the immune system and making sure there is a good balance of these soldiers.
Yogurt can be a great way to get probiotics in, along with other fermented things. Look out for Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Saccharomyces – which are three commonly used probiotics in food.


Now that you know some quick tips on keeping your immune system healthy, you can walk around feeling a bit stronger knowing your “soldier cells” have your back. I’ll now go get a dose of turmeric via my homemade turmeric latte!

REFERENCES: 
IMMUNE SYSTEM:
https://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/immune-system-overview
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentID=123&ContentTypeID=134
CHIRO N IMMUNE SYSTEM:
http://www.expressfullhealthpotential.com/uploads/3/1/8/2/31829261/chiropractic_and_the_neuroimmune_connection.pdf
TUMERIC:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10875-006-9066-7
 
EXERCISE:
https://www.gssiweb.org/sports-science-exchange/article/sse-151-effects-of-exercise-on-immune-function
 
PROBIOTICS:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4006993/
 
STRESS – my mind, we’ve learnt enough on it to say stuff ourselves right
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4465119/