The immune system. We hear a lot about it, but what is it really?
You can compare your immune system to an army that protects your body from outside bacteria, viruses and fungi. Your immune system consists of your skin, mucous membranes, respiratory tract, blood and lymphatic system. It is the function of your immune system to recognize and render harmless bacteria, fungi, viruses, foreign substances and other dangers, thus ensuring your health.
Energy
You can never completely avoid getting the flu or cold, but it is important that your immune system has enough energy at all times to work on your recovery. There are factors that boost your immune system, but there are also factors that actually weaken your immune system. If you are often sick or tired, you may just have a lowered resistance - your immune system no longer functions optimally.
Symptoms
Symptoms of decreased resistance include:
- Frequently ill
- (Chronic) fatigue
- Many infections
- Slow recovery and healing
- Allergies or hypersensitivities
This weakens your immune system
As mentioned earlier, there are several factors that contribute to a low resistance or malfunctioning immune system. You can think of:
- Too little sleep
- Too much stress
- Alcohol, smoking and/or drug use
- An operation and/or medication
- Too little exercise
- Toxins
- Anxiety and depression
You can probably imagine that when your body is busy trying to stay balanced due to the above factors, your immune system is eventually overloaded. This comes at the expense of your immune system.
Strengthening your immune system
So it is essential to support your immune system as much as possible. One way to support your immune system is to get enough sleep and relaxation, exercise regularly and drink enough water and herbal teas. But nutrition also plays an incredibly large role in obtaining and maintaining a strong immune system. A varied diet with enough vitamins and minerals, protein, good fats and fiber is important. Because our food today does not contain enough nutrients, due in part to impoverished soil and the use of pesticides, in (very) many cases supplementation is needed to support your health and immune system.
Supplements with a positive impact on the immune system are:
*We recommend that before you start taking supplements, seek advice from one of our therapists. They can help you with the right dosages, combinations and any particularities when taking medication. This can be done through a (telephone) advice on supplements, more information about this can be found on our website.
