Creating Strong Immunity
by Len Saputo, MD and
Nancy Faass, MSW, MPH
Everything you do -- everything you touch, breathe, eat, and think
affects your immunity. Everything! How you live your life is the most powerful
resource known for preserving and restoring your immunity. Factors such as
sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress reduction, and spiritual connection provide
the foundation for a strong immune response. This information can be translated
into practical steps you can take to enjoy a life of greater health and
vitality.
A healthy lifestyle is also a natural way to build your immunity. This
involves approaches that are simple, inexpensive, and safe -- and that really
work. You can become highly skilled at fine tuning your lifestyle to produce
maximum health. And these changes can be incorporated into your daily life
gradually, at your own pace.
The beneficial effects of lifestyle on immunity have been documented in
thousands of research studies. These studies come from a wide range of
disciplines, from universities and medical centers around the world. This
research has rediscovered the importance of the "style" in which we live our
lives, and highlights its potential to enhance our overall health.
The Wellness Factor
The strength of the immune system is always a factor whenever there is
illness -- whether it's the common cold or cancer. It's the missing part of the
equation we tend to overlook. You have probably experienced cycles in your life
when you seemed to catch everything that came along. At other times, you may
have remained perfectly healthy while those around you became ill. Your ability
to resist illness is a yardstick that measures the strength of your immune
system. The strength of your immunity can have a profound impact on whether you
get sick, how long you stay sick, and how ill you become. So the immune reserves
you build through a healthy lifestyle provide a buffer that will help to prevent
or minimize illness.
Building Good Resistance
New information suggests that infections can leave us vulnerable to more
serious conditions if they deplete our immunity. This is important, because it
can no longer be assumed that colds, flu, and other common illnesses are always
harmless. Cryptosporidium is a case in point. In response to a recent outbreak
in Canada, health officials said that most people who suffered from this
flu-like illness would probably recover within two weeks. However, they warned
that the same microbe could be more harmful to people who had weakened immune
function. Generally, those most vulnerable are young children, older people, and
those with chronic health conditions. Understanding immunity and susceptibility
can aid us in maintaining good health and strong resistance.
The Centers for Disease Control has repeatedly advised of the rising
incidence of infectious diseases. A recent news article on a meningitis outbreak
in the San Francisco Bay Area reflects how vulnerable we may become when immune
function is compromised. When a form of meningitis was contracted by a number of
children in northern California this year, a local public health officer pointed
out the risk involved: "This is not an outbreak. Fifty to 60 percent of the
population carries [strep] bacteria in their throats. Normally, it's not a
problem, but if someone had a prior cold, and their body can't combat it, then
it [could become] serious."
These infections were not caused by exotic supergerms. They were the result
of the overgrowth of potentially dangerous bacteria that normally coexist within
us. Staph bacteria are another example of microbes that most of us carry. Like
strep, these resident bacteria aren't usually a problem, because a healthy
immune system will keep their growth in check. This is one of the reasons why
severe illness from strep and staph is relatively rare. However, under certain
circumstances, they can cause dangerous secondary infections, so they are to be
taken seriously. Meningitis (which can result from strep infection) causes
long-term damage in one out of four cases. The threat of these types of
bacterial infections clearly demonstrates why it is so important to build robust
immunity.
New Research
For the past fifteen years, extensive research has deepened our understanding
of immunity, particularly through the enormous number of studies on cancer and
AIDS. Science has made great strides in the exploration of how the immune system
works and how to enhance its function. As a result, the American public has a
greater appreciation for the importance of immunity.
There is also a large body of medical literature that documents the role of
lifestyle factors in immunity. This research reflects the impact on our health
of the things we do every day. It also provides information we can use to modify
our lifestyle, in order to enhance health and immune function.
Lifestyle and Immunity
To explore the effects of lifestyle on immunity, consider the example of the
common cold. Our vulnerability depends on the balance between the strength of
our immunity and the strength of the threatening virus. Once exposed, we only
get sick if our immune defenses are inadequate. When our reserve defenses are
depleted, they can no longer prevent the virus from invading our cells. We all
know that when our defenses are strong, we almost never get sick.
Yet many of us tend to overestimate our ability to resist illness, and in the
process we neglect our health. Most of us don't get enough rest. We often eat on
the run. We may be exposed to a variety of germs and toxins daily. And, for most
of us, stress has become a way of life. We frequently take better care of our
cars than of our bodies. It doesn't take a research scientist to figure out why
we sometimes get sick.
Consider the effects of lifestyle on our susceptibility to illness. The
factors that may increase our vulnerability to disease can also be modified to
improve our resistance.
* Rest and rejuvenation. How often have you caught a cold after not getting
enough sleep? We depend on adequate restful sleep to restore our bodies and
refresh our minds. During deep sleep, our bodies release potent immune-enhancing
substances that strengthen immune function. It is especially important to get
additional rest when we are ill.
* Exercise. We need regular exercise. The body has a remarkable ability to
increase its metabolic capacity through consistent regular physical
conditioning. We all know how invigorated and strong we feel when we're in
shape. Overall fitness creates reserve capacity that not only serves as a buffer
against disease but also helps us recover more quickly.
* Good nutrition. A healthy diet is absolutely essential to maintain good
immunity. Food provides our cells with the raw materials they require to meet
the body's needs. We tend to take nutrition for granted, believing that we'll
get along just fine, even if we don't consume all the nutrition we need. Yet we
shouldn't assume that just because we live in a modern society we have adequate
nutrition. Hundreds of in-depth studies have documented that malnutrition exists
in industrialized nations today, among both the rich and poor.
Widespread nutritional factors that can compromise our immune capacity
include eating too much sugar or starch, obesity, high cholesterol, and the
regular use of alcohol. If the immune system is malnourished, it may not have
the resources needed to protect us against illness. A healthy immune system
depends on adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals, and other important metabolic
nutrients. For example, the vast majority of our immune function is dependent on
vitamin A and zinc, nutrients that are often lacking in the modern diet.
* Toxins and pollution. The metabolic machinery of our cells is exquisitely
sensitive to many toxins that can interfere with the body's normal biochemical
processes. Every day we are exposed to thousands (yes, thousands) of chemicals
in our food, water, and air that were nonexistent until the Industrial
Revolution of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As a result, our bodies
must cope with manufactured chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals, petroleum
products, and plastics that can accumulate in our tissues and that are toxic to
the immune system. Clearing the body of these environmental toxins increases our
requirement for antioxidants and various other nutrients. Because of these
exposures, our nutritional requirements may be increased to higher levels than
we can obtain in our diet, making it important to use nutritional supplements to
remain healthy. And because of the prevalence of these exposures, it's also
important to build detoxification into our lifestyle.
Some toxic chemicals have been documented to cause coldlike symptoms. A
committee of the World Health Organization reported that up to 30 percent of new
and remodeled buildings emit air pollutants such as formaldehyde, asbestos,
volatile chemicals, and other toxins and allergens. The effects of these
emissions can cause "sick building syndrome." Solutions to the chemical
sensitivity that may result include avoiding the sources of exposure,
detoxifying the body and, when necessary, getting treatment from a physician
trained in environmental medicine.
* The stress factor. There is now strong data that documents the impact of
stress on immunity and susceptibility to illness. For instance, remember how
many of your friends caught colds during final exams? A report of 276 volunteers
exposed to a common cold virus showed that those who had been under stress for
more than a month were most likely to get sick. In another study, children with
a history of stress and recurrent colds were found to have lower localized
immunity. Stress has also been found to stimulate immune-suppressing chemicals
such as adrenaline. Fortunately, research has found that stress reducers such as
meditation, relaxation, guided imagery, and hypnosis can effectively enhance
immunity.
 This article is excerpted from the book:
Boosting Immunity
by Len Saputo, M.D. and Nancy Faass, MSW, MPH.
Reprinted with permission
of the publisher, New World Library, Novato, California, USA. ©2002.
http://www.newworldlibrary.com
or 800/972-6657 ext. 52
Info/Order this book.
About the Authors
Len Saputo, M.D., is founder and director of the
Health Medicine Forum, a nonprofit educational foundation. He is also medical
director of the Health Medicine Institute, an integrative medicine center in
Walnut Creek, California, where he has an active private practice.
Nancy Faass, M.S.W., M.P.H., is a writer and editor in San Francisco. Her
work includes
Optimal Digestion and
Integrating Complementary Medicine into Health Systems.
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