One of the biggest topics in the world at this point is strengthening your immune system, right? As we deal with COVID-19 and things like that, and now we're heading into flu season, let’s take a look at how strong your immune system is, and how it functions. Is it fighting off foreign invaders or do you have some gaps in there that will let viruses in?
There are a lot of things that go into creating a strong immune system, right? We know exercise will help boost it, eating better increases it, certain vitamin supplementation helps strengthen it. . and I'll talk about some of those things in a minute. But I want to tell you that one of the biggest factors in a strong immune system are how well the nervous system is functioning. They're really tied in together. We've always known that these two systems are somewhat tied in, but research over the last few years has shown us how much they're just kind of interwoven together.
In fact, you don't really have one hardly without the other. They affect each other, going back and forth. My nervous system helps the body communicate with the immune system. Your brain has to be able to communicate to the immune system to tell things like antibodies and white blood cells where they need to go. What viruses or infections do they need to fight? What do they need to not fight? And the nervous system need to communicate to the immune system just to function in general, to make sure it flushes itself out and keeps going all the time.
One of the greatest benefits of chiropractic—and I've talked about this many times—is that it helps boost immune function. There's been a lot of research and case studies and things, especially in children. But even in adults, where we can see up to 300% increase in immune function, by making sure that the nervous system is free of interference and is functioning properly. And that really ultimately is the job of a chiropractor and the chiropractic adjustment, to clear interference in the nervous system. And where I deal with primarily is the upper neck, where the brainstem is. That's one of the biggest modulators of the nervous system and the immune system. If the brainstem can't communicate information from the brain to the body, it's really difficult for the immune system to be top where we would like it to be and functioning fully like it should. And those communication centers are right there in the brainstem housed in your upper neck. So step one, make sure your nervous system is clear. Get it checked, find out what’s going on there. That's going to be our baseline that we can build everything else on.
Now, let’s take a look at some other immunity building factors. We know food has a big impact on immunity. If you eat a lot of sugar, it drops your immunity almost immediately. You take in the amount of sugar in a say a can of Coke, and it will decrease your immune function for about four hours. It has a huge, huge impact on it. So like we all know refined foods, processed food, refined sugars are bad for us. We've got to avoid that stuff like crazy.
At the same time, we need to make sure we are getting a lot of certain vitamins that help the immune system. For example, vitamin C is great for an immune boost. And one of the biggest things we've seen, one of the biggest correlations we've seen between vitamins and experiencing the worst of COVID is a vitamin D deficiency. There have been studies in multiple countries around the world that show the greater that a vitamin D deficiency is, the sicker the person was with COVID. You know, some people get it, and they barely get sick, but some people get it and unfortunately it ends their life. And one of the biggest correlations we've seen in the difference between those two things is a vitamin D deficiency.
There are also minerals that can help build your immune response as well. Things like zinc and magnesium, all those things are good to boost the immune system. But then don't go eating a lot of junk food along with taking the right supplements. Basically, that's going to pull your immune system back down.
Getting a solid night of sleep is a huge boost to your immune system. The body can't recover and it can't replenish if you don’t get enough sleep, and it takes a real toll on the immune system. Without proper sleep, your cortisol levels go up. That’s the stress hormone that suppresses immune function. So you’ve got to make sure that you get enough sleep. I know we all like to run around and talk about being busy, but it's hard to be busy if you're sick, right? So make sure that you get some good quality, you know, six to eight hours of sleep, whatever it is, your body needs. Everybody's a little different, but quality sleep where you're not running around fatigued all the time is important.
Those are really the biggest things. Immune system, nervous system, tightly intertwined, right? So we got to make sure the nervous system is clear. Don't eat junk food. You can have the occasional doughnut, right? But for your average day don't eat any junk. If you need to supplement then take some vitamin and mineral supplements. Make sure you get a solid night of sleep and then just stress management in general. There are things you can avoid. If they're stressful, then avoid them. Cortisol, the stress hormone, will kill the immune system; drag it right down out of there. So try to kind of simplify your life a little bit, get good sleep, eat well, and get adjusted. And your immune system will be much much stronger and ready to fight invaders.
Fort Myers, FL - Strengthen Your Bodies Immunity | Ask Our Local Chiropractor
SYNOPSIS: One of the biggest topics in the world at this point is strengthening your immune system, right? As we deal with COVID-19 and things like that, and now we're heading into flu season, let’s take a look at how strong your immune system is, and how it f
Boosting immune strength as flu season approaches
BY: Dr. Lee Angle, Upper Cervical Health Centers of Fort Myers
One of the biggest topics in the world at this point is strengthening your immune system, right? As we deal with COVID-19 and things like that, and now we're heading into flu season, let’s take a look at how strong your immune system is, and how it functions. Is it fighting off foreign invaders or do you have some gaps in there that will let viruses in?
There are a lot of things that go into creating a strong immune system, right? We know exercise will help boost it, eating better increases it, certain vitamin supplementation helps strengthen it. . and I'll talk about some of those things in a minute. But I want to tell you that one of the biggest factors in a strong immune system are how well the nervous system is functioning. They're really tied in together. We've always known that these two systems are somewhat tied in, but research over the last few years has shown us how much they're just kind of interwoven together.
In fact, you don't really have one hardly without the other. They affect each other, going back and forth. My nervous system helps the body communicate with the immune system. Your brain has to be able to communicate to the immune system to tell things like antibodies and white blood cells where they need to go. What viruses or infections do they need to fight? What do they need to not fight? And the nervous system need to communicate to the immune system just to function in general, to make sure it flushes itself out and keeps going all the time.
One of the greatest benefits of chiropractic—and I've talked about this many times—is that it helps boost immune function. There's been a lot of research and case studies and things, especially in children. But even in adults, where we can see up to 300% increase in immune function, by making sure that the nervous system is free of interference and is functioning properly. And that really ultimately is the job of a chiropractor and the chiropractic adjustment, to clear interference in the nervous system. And where I deal with primarily is the upper neck, where the brainstem is. That's one of the biggest modulators of the nervous system and the immune system. If the brainstem can't communicate information from the brain to the body, it's really difficult for the immune system to be top where we would like it to be and functioning fully like it should. And those communication centers are right there in the brainstem housed in your upper neck. So step one, make sure your nervous system is clear. Get it checked, find out what’s going on there. That's going to be our baseline that we can build everything else on.
Now, let’s take a look at some other immunity building factors. We know food has a big impact on immunity. If you eat a lot of sugar, it drops your immunity almost immediately. You take in the amount of sugar in a say a can of Coke, and it will decrease your immune function for about four hours. It has a huge, huge impact on it. So like we all know refined foods, processed food, refined sugars are bad for us. We've got to avoid that stuff like crazy.
At the same time, we need to make sure we are getting a lot of certain vitamins that help the immune system. For example, vitamin C is great for an immune boost. And one of the biggest things we've seen, one of the biggest correlations we've seen between vitamins and experiencing the worst of COVID is a vitamin D deficiency. There have been studies in multiple countries around the world that show the greater that a vitamin D deficiency is, the sicker the person was with COVID. You know, some people get it, and they barely get sick, but some people get it and unfortunately it ends their life. And one of the biggest correlations we've seen in the difference between those two things is a vitamin D deficiency.
There are also minerals that can help build your immune response as well. Things like zinc and magnesium, all those things are good to boost the immune system. But then don't go eating a lot of junk food along with taking the right supplements. Basically, that's going to pull your immune system back down.
Getting a solid night of sleep is a huge boost to your immune system. The body can't recover and it can't replenish if you don’t get enough sleep, and it takes a real toll on the immune system. Without proper sleep, your cortisol levels go up. That’s the stress hormone that suppresses immune function. So you’ve got to make sure that you get enough sleep. I know we all like to run around and talk about being busy, but it's hard to be busy if you're sick, right? So make sure that you get some good quality, you know, six to eight hours of sleep, whatever it is, your body needs. Everybody's a little different, but quality sleep where you're not running around fatigued all the time is important.
Those are really the biggest things. Immune system, nervous system, tightly intertwined, right? So we got to make sure the nervous system is clear. Don't eat junk food. You can have the occasional doughnut, right? But for your average day don't eat any junk. If you need to supplement then take some vitamin and mineral supplements. Make sure you get a solid night of sleep and then just stress management in general. There are things you can avoid. If they're stressful, then avoid them. Cortisol, the stress hormone, will kill the immune system; drag it right down out of there. So try to kind of simplify your life a little bit, get good sleep, eat well, and get adjusted. And your immune system will be much much stronger and ready to fight invaders.
