Protecting your health is a vital conversation we’ve been having in 2020, likely more often than in the past several years combined. Safeguarding your wellbeing is not as simple as “eating an apple a day” suggests. Still, there are four key warriors that help retain your immune system when threats are looming in the headlines, especially if you are immunocompromised. First, we must understand the meaning behind being immunocompromised before unveiling the four vital health boosters that could immediately start impacting your system for the better.
What Does Being “Immunocompromised” Mean?
According to the National Cancer Institute, having “immunocompromised” as a tagline to your health equates to meaning that you have an at-risk or fragile immune system with a “…weakened ability to fight infections and other diseases.” Many people are not born with a vulnerable bodily defense mechanism, but rather develop one as a result of diseases or conditions such as cancer, diabetes, or malnutrition. Monitoring your health and understanding whether or not you share this commonality with an estimated 10 million other people in the U.S. is a crucial first step in fighting viruses like COVID-19 or even the common cold.
Step One in Investing in Your Health: Nutrition
As mentioned earlier, there are four fighters (may we call them heroes?) that contribute to robust wellbeing and therefore help improve, if not at least aid in retaining the immune system. The first is that routine word you have probably heard tossed around by your doctor: Nutrition. Nutrition in and of itself is the culmination of substances that you ingest as food and the way that subsistence affects your health. If you think of it in small scale terms, you’ll note that ingesting wholesome meals will likely result in wholesome welfare. The opposite can be considered as well.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutrition.gov provides helpful recipes, printable guidelines, and mobile applications on how to live a nutritious lifestyle. Their MyPlate tip sheet recommends the following six tips for a simple start to a robust diet: (1) Focusing on whole fruits, (2) Varying your veggies, (3) Varying your proteins, (4) Making half your grains whole grains, (5), Shifting to low-fat milk, and (6) Minimizing sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars in your diet.
Step Two in Investing in Your Health: Sleep
Have you ever stayed up way too late (or early) and felt pretty off the next day? It is likely because your body didn’t have a chance to rest. Sleep plays a large role in keeping you and your body healthy. The National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke claims that quality sleep is just as essential to survival as food and water. “Everyone needs sleep… Sleep affects almost every type of tissue and system in the body – from the brain, heart, and lungs to metabolism, immune function, mood, and disease resistance. Research shows that a chronic lack of sleep, or getting poor quality sleep, increases the risk of disorders including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and obesity,” they write. Therefore “sleep” is considered a pathway to a healthier lifestyle.
The Institute recommends that school-age children receive 9.5 hours of sleep, adults 7-9 hours, and those over 60 aim for the 7-hour range as well.
Step Three: Exercise
Countless studies have been published on the benefits of exercise to your health, but did you know it can also affect your immune system? Believers of this idea call this theory “Exercise Immunology,” simply stating that the immune system is very responsive to exercise.
Medline Plus’s synopsis of curated research says that “Physical activity may help flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways, reducing your chance of getting a cold, flu, or other illness,” and, “Exercise causes a change in antibodies and white blood cells that fight disease.” Physical activity also slows down the release of stress hormones, being a factor that is said to increase the chance of illness. If you’ve ever felt better after a run or tough workout, this might be why!
Runners World wrote an article in 2019 titled, “The 6 Best Exercises for Beginners That You Can Do at Home” to help kickstart your new exercise goals and your immune system.
Step Four: Foundational Chiropractic
Just as your health affects your entire body, chiropractic supports the whole person. The mechanics of the spine are a crucial focus for chiropractors nationwide. Many certified professionals who offer services relate the body to a connected ecosystem, thinking of the nerves as an epicenter for bodily functioning. Research clarifies this here:
“Considerable evidence has mounted to support active communication between the nervous system and the immune system. The nervous system, including the brain and the peripheral divisions can either stimulate or inhibit various activities of both the innate and adaptive immune systems. Conversely, the immune system, through the release of cytokines, can influence the activity of the nervous system. Several excellent reviews have addressed the subjects of nervous and immune system “cross-talk” in great detail. Very recently, however, several peptides, recognized initially for their neural or neuroendocrine signaling functions have been shown to exhibit potent antimicrobial activity. This discovery signals the possibility that the nervous system, through utilization of these peptides, has the capacity to deliver anti-infective agents directly to innervated sites localized with great spatial specificity and delivered rapidly. The nervous and neuroendocrine systems, in principle, have the potential to serve a direct immune function.”
Basically, the above paragraph says that the nerves regulate your body’s immune system. The spine is the gateway to your nerves, shielding them. When the spine shifts it can obstruct nerves and cause dysfunction, including the possibility of a reduced immune system. Foundational Correction is a unique form of chiropractic that specifically corrects the spine to its normal, preservative state which will restore the spine’s role it plays in your body’s ecosystem. Foundational Correction involves no cracking or popping of your spine and focuses on correcting the keystone of your foundation (the atlas vertebra) back to its normal position.. To learn more, contact a Foundational Chiropractor today.
In Closing
There’s time for you to start improving your health today. Whether you are immunocompromised or searching for ways on how to live a healthier lifestyle, there are just four key ingredients that can make a drastic impact. Set goals to improve your nutrition, strive to get enough sleep each night, exercise consistently, and work with your Foundational Chiropractor on correcting your body to its restorative state.
Recent Comments