Can We Boost Our Immune System?
Can We Boost Our Immune System?Our immune system is our primary defense against pathogens we encounter. The ability to boost immune system function is important to fight off germs we face in everyday life. It also plays a very important role in controlling inflammatory responses in our body. Using immune boosters regularly can help keep your immune system strong.
What Are Immune Boosters?
The immune system boosters that I talk about below are referred to as immune system modulators, which means that they can be helpful in both overactive and under active immune systems. The definition of immune modulator is either increasing or decreasing your immune system to it’s optimum level of function. By using immune system modulators, we can increase our immune system function without any side effects.
What Happens When Your Immune System Is To Low?
Some signs that you have low immunity are chronic colds, always getting what everyone else has, getting the flu, allergies, and chronic digestive issues. Some things that lower immunity are too much sugar/carbs, not getting outside, drinking unfiltered tap water, poor sleep quality, and chronic dehydration. According to WebMD, here are symptoms of a weakened immune system-
- Cold Hands
- Bathroom Problems
- Dry Eyes
- Fatigue
- Mild Fever
- Headaches
- Rash
- Achy Joints
- Hair Loss
- Repeated Infections
- Sensitive to Sun
- Tingling or Numbness in Your Hands and Feet
- Trouble Swallowing
- Unexplained Weight Changes
- White Patches on Skin
- Yellowing of Skin or Eyes
What Happens If Your Immune System Is Overactive?
When your immune system is out of whack and is actually functioning out of control it can cause your body to attack itself. We call this autoimmune disease. A excessively active immune system is not a good thing, and can lead to many diseases such as–
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Lupus
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Type 1 Diabetes
- Guillain-Barre Syndrome
- Psoriasis
- Grave’s Disease
- Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
How Can I Keep My Immune System Functioning Optimally?
One of the biggest things you can do to keep a strong immune system is to get adjusted by a chiropractor. Most people don’t realize that getting adjusted has a huge impact on your immune system function. If you want to find out more about what science says about immune system function, click on the photo below.
Your brain is connected to the rest of your body through your nervous system which runs through your spine. Through daily stresses- chemical, mental/emotional, and biochemical- your spine can shift out of balance. This causes a disconnect between the brain and body. It is like turning down the dimmer switch on a light, causing less life energy to flow to your organs and systems, making them weaker.
What Supplements Help Keep My Immune System Functioning Better?
Once you have accounted for these things, you can start adding in some immune system modulators. The following nutrients help the body fight off unwanted pathogens as well as helping to control levels of inflammation in the body.
Vitamin D3: This vitamin acts like a hormone as well as helping the immune system. Most people do not have adequate amounts of Vitamin D due to low sun exposure and lack of organ meat consumption. Getting more sunlight as well as supplementing with Vitamin D will help you to reach and stay at the optimal levels. It is also very important to have your Vitamin D levels checked regularly. Everyone in my family takes this one (referral code dodychiro).
Zinc: Zinc plays a role in enzyme function. Superoxide Dismutase is one if particular importance. Superoxide Dismutase, or SOD, is a very important antioxidant in the body and is responsible for protecting DNA, preventing viral replication, and protecting against the accumulation of metabolic waste in cells. Typically, it is good to eat some zinc-rich foods as well as supplement with zinc. To supplement with zinc, I recommend an amino acid chelate like this one (referral code dodychiro).
Vitamin C: Humans are the only animals that cannot produce their own endogenous supply of Vitamin C. Therefore, it is necessary to get it through food and supplementation. Vitamin C helps white blood cells defend and fight against foreign pathogens in the body. It also plays a role in controlling inflammatory responses to damaged tissues as well as acting as an antihistamine to help control things like colds, flu, and allergies. Personally, I like this one (referral code dodychiro) because it has qualities to make it more bioavailable.
Probiotics: About 75% of our immune system is in our gut. This is one reason why it is really important to take care of your gut. One of the ways you can do this is by taking a high-quality probiotic. The balance in our gut helps prevent harmful pathogens from entering our bloodstream through our digestive tract. Having the wrong kinds of bacteria in your gut can cause chronic inflammation and lead to autoimmunity. My family and I take this probiotic (referral code dodychiro) everyday because it has a specific strain in it that helps all the other good bacterial strains grow and populate.
If you want even more information about nutrients that help fight of germs such as viruses, click on the image below.
Conclusion
Our bodies are constantly fighting pathogens to try to stay healthy. When we have chronic inflammation or a weakened immune system, our body may not be able to fully fight off everything we come into contact with. This is why it is so important to take care of our immune system and use supplements to support it. Chiropractic care has been shown to optimize the function of your immune system. Specific nutritional supplements also have great research to show that they boost your immune system and keep it functioning in the proper way.
If you have any questions or would like to find out more about chiropractic care please contact us at our office in Littleton, CO.
With over 20 years in the field, Dr. Dody is a seasoned chiropractor specializing in Functional Nutrition, Neurofeedback, and the Koren Specific Technique (KST). His unique ‘whole person approach’ identifies the root causes of health issues, offering patients not just relief but lasting wellness. Recognized for his expertise, Dr. Dody’s treatments often yield dramatic improvements from the very first visit.
