Your best friend might well be the person or thing that doesn’t speak to you, doesn’t ask for a loan and doesn’t pay for coffee. This best friend sits in the background and works tirelessly to protect you from a host of nasties that just want to make your life miserable.
Your immune system is this friend and if you take care of it, there will be plenty of perks. How does this immune system work?. Generally speaking, it’s a kind of complicated process that has many players in the game. We can simplify it by saying that white blood cells are created, stored and then distributed to fight bacteria and viruses, which enter the body.
Scientists have hypothesised that what we know today as our adaptive immune system arose approximately 500 million years ago in jawed fish. It’s difficult for researchers to come to a precise period of development because our immune system is made of cells and tissues, which unfortunately don’t lend themselves to fossilisation.
Our immune system is fascinating. Imagine that we have this complex and diverse system able to fight a myriad of pathogens and has a memory!. Yes, our immune system has this uncanny ability to recognize something that it has previously combatted and knows how to defeat it.
The immune system is also able to tell self from non-self. Given the immune system is rather powerful, the last thing you want is for a battle raging where the immune system is fighting itself. How does it do this?. As a clever system, it is able to detect proteins that are found on the surface of cells and has learnt to ignore cells where the proteins are common to itself and off it goes to fight the bad guys.
Is my immune system same as yours?, well it’s similar but not exactly the same, as we become adults it gets stronger which is why youngsters are prone to catching lurgies since older people have been exposed to more pathogens and our immune system has that experience of knowing how to handle these additional attacks.
Some things you can do to support your immune system
- Try and get out at least 30 minutes per day for a bit of aerobic exposure.. Does wonders for you and keeps you grounded.
- And then there is diet.. What you eat does affect the immune system however; don’t be to tough on yourself, you can search all you like and you wont find any study comparing diet to diet simply because its to hard to do this. BUT.. try and keep the sugar intake down
- Stressed!. Who ME.. Everyone has some form of stress, it’s just one of life’s pleasant things. Too much stress can leave you open to a constant supply of stress hormones that really do affect your immunity. Maybe take a little time out for some “ommmmmm’s”..
- Ever felt like the only penguin on the iceberg?.. OK, it’s time for you to ditch the isolation T-shirt and go get connected. True, if you connect and find buddies you are more likely to be able to fend off attacks from unfriendly pathogens.
- It’s not funny…..Look in the mirror and then laugh at yourself.. When you laugh, your stress hormones disappear.. So go find that funny hat and dance to your favourite boogie and laugh out loud.,
It’s enticing to think immune boosting is a simple thing to do however; many off the shelf products, which propose miracles, are really missing the point. There is still lack of complete understanding regarding the connections between the immune system and all of the other bodies amazing functions.
What has been proposed is the use of certain herbal extracts which can alleviate certain immune stressors and that the evidence for these herbs has been around for at least one thousand years.
Immune Plex® has been a trusted herbal medicine for over 25 years. The product contains a number of herbal extracts, which are combined in such a way to aid the immune system during times of stress. For folk who have compromised immune systems due to illness or age, it’s often an idea to keep on top their health needs by regular dosing to assist in the daily battle against pathogens.
Why not take a combination of approaches such as changes to your lifestyle and considering Immune Plex® when you feel run down or have that nagging feeling something is coming on..
Immunity is as we said complex and diverse, you need to be aware of any changes in your body and how you feel and when symptoms continue without improvement, you must speak to your healthcare professional and get things checked out.
You are in charge of your health and please make sure to look after mind, body and soul to enjoy life to its fullest.