UNDERSTANDING IMMUNITY
We cannot stop the flood when it comes, but we can be better prepared for it!
I know all those who are reading this blog are interested and looking for answers as to how to build immunity, specially in post-covid times. Well the human body is a miracle of thirty trillion cells all working in unison and harmony. God created us to be healthy and happy. The human body too reflects this, because it tries to achieve good health by:
- Eliminating toxic waste of our daily living processes
- Healing and repairing damaged parts of the body, wounds, tears, fractures, etc .
- Defending itself against the harmful effects of the external environment, germs, bacteria, yeasts, and other agents causing infections.
The body actually has the capacity to create antibodies that fight illness and disease to create good health for you. This is called homoeostasis – to achieve the perfect balance. In our daily living processes, particularly in the twenty-first century, we do not give enough self-care to our body and lead chronically stressful and toxic lives, thus compromising this homoeostasis. We do not give our bodies even half a chance to self-heal.
This is why we fall sick often and repeatedly because our immune system is compromised.
So, the first question is: How do we give our bodies a chance to heal itself? And, simultaneously, how do we strengthen our healing response, i.e. immunity?
What is immunity?
Let us back-track a little and understand what immunity really is? Immunity is the body’s ability to recognize germs and disease causing microbes, bacteria, yeast, parasites, and to eliminate these before they cause disease. Immunity is innate, that is what we are born with, or adaptive. Adaptive immunity develops naturally when we are exposed to disease and our bodies create antibodies that neutralise the disease, and also acquired through vaccines administered externally.
Those who have better immune systems, have the capacity to fight off diseases and, if they do get sick, their bodies rapidly create antibodies that fight the illness, so they recover faster.
Sleep well and build immunity at the same time.
While science has not understood sleep fully, there is scientific evidence that sleep plays an important part in the repair and restoration of the body. Sleep also follows the circadian rhythms of nature, the earth and the universe. We have three levels of sleep: Deep sleep, light sleep and REM (Rapid Eye Movements) sleep. Science does understand that it is during periods of deep sleep that body undergoes the most restoration. During this period, the body engages in a deeper level of healing, repairing, removing toxic wastes and, very importantly, renewing and rebuilding at a cellular level, thus building immunity.
As far as sleep is concerned, it is both quantity and quality that is important in the process of restoration of our immune system. A good average amount of sleep of 7 to 8 hours is required for sure. Most folks do get this amount of sleep. However, new lifestyles require waking hours after dark, and exposure to light at night, and many sleep late and wake late, thus compromising the circadian rhythms of the body. Additionally, if you sleep less or more than 7 to 8 hours, it is bound to compromise your immunity. The quality of sleep is determined by the number of waking moments during the night, and the proportion of deep, light and REM sleep.
Sleep is an individual thing and our body’s stress response plays an important part in the quality and quantity of sleep. At this stage it is important to know that a good health coach can help you explore and experiment with ways in which you can enhance the quality and quantity of sleep, should you have a goal to embark on that journey as a part of your healthy lifestyle.
After sleep, eating is the second priority!
The basic immunity building funda is that nutrition is important not only because food is the first source of infections and toxicity, but because the digestive system plays the most significant part in partnering with our immune system which consists of a large network of organs that eliminate, white blood cells, antibodies, hormones and chemicals produced by the body that work together to protect you from foreign invaders which could be bacteria, viruses, yeasts, fungi, parasites that cause disease and infection.
A good and balanced nutrition not only helps your body heal itself of illnesses, but can contribute to balancing out essential vitamins, macro and micro nutrients, that enable the immune system to function at full strength. In the initial phases of health transformation, some supplements might be required to achieve the balance of nutrients in your body. However, the aim of healthy living is to create a unique and bio-individual food and nutrition plan that will provide for all the macro and micro nutrients your body requires.
Your health coach can help you understand what you need to do to build your immunity and partner with you in your self-healing process.
Misconceptions
There are many misconceptions about immunity, like loading up on multivitamins and supplements is going to boost immunity, or once vaccinated against a virus, you are immune to it completely, or if I got covid once I will not get it again because I have got immunity against it, or keeping your mouth and nose covered will keep germs at bay….. perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions about immune system is that my immune system is infallible illness will happen to others and not to me….. even we health coaches lead healthy lifestyles, but sometimes we too get sick.
The tipping point
Years of poor lifestyle, nutrition, and stress, coupled with an increasingly toxic and polluted environment, use of pesticides, chemicals, has compromised the immune system and a time comes in our lives, when we reach a realisation that we need to take our health in our own hands. This tipping point comes to each one of us in our lifetimes. Many don’t pay heed and continue doing the things they always do, but some are destined for a health transformation process and embark on a self-healing journey.
All scientific research and evidence points in the same direction. The truth these say about your immune system is that eating more fruits and veggies builds your body’s capacity to fight disease because these foods provide micronutrients, anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory, flavonoids and many such phytonutrients. We all know it and research says the same thing too! Research also says that sleep is when our bodies repair and replenish themselves, and it’s a vital part of building immunity and supercharging your health. Research also says that a positive mindset with gratitude and forgiveness is directly correlated with better immune systems because the mind does not carry the negativity burden.
In short, eating the right food and sleeping well in line with our circadian rhythms, with a positive mindset is all that it takes to build your immunity. Lifestyle is key. And do remember, nobody is infallible.
the first question is: How do we give our bodies a chance to heal itself? And, simultaneously, how do we strengthen our healing response, i.e. immunity?
Aneeta Madhok, PhD.
