The Best Way to Boost Your Immune System

When What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Weaker: The Complexities of Surviving Disease

Surviving a disease can leave you feeling stronger and more resilient, but sometimes the opposite can be true. Your body is like a large country with a sizable army to defend it against invaders. When it senses an attack, it releases a flood of cytokines to activate immune cells and mobilize defenses. This process is similar to a machinery of war and uses up a lot of energy and resources. Your body switches into a war economy, with your immune system demanding huge amounts of energy and amino acids to build its weapons. When you are sick, your body slows down digestion to save energy and begins breaking down your muscles to access the necessary amino acids. This can be too draining for those who are old, young, weak, or suffer from chronic illness. Your immune system is not just dangerous to your enemies; it can also cause collateral damage to your body, leading to holes and wounds in your organs. The body then rushes to repair the damage, but the resulting scars can cause a decrease in the functionality of your organs. However, there are ways to train your immune system to avoid this damage.

When you survive a disease, you may feel stronger and more resilient, but sometimes the opposite can be true. Your body is like a large country with a sizable army to defend it against invaders. When it senses an attack, it releases a flood of cytokines to activate immune cells and mobilize defenses. This process is similar to a machinery of war and uses up a lot of energy and resources. Your body switches into a war economy, with your immune system demanding huge amounts of energy and amino acids to build its weapons. When you are sick, your body slows down digestion to save energy and begins breaking down your muscles to access the necessary amino acids. This can be too draining for those who are old, young, weak, or suffer from chronic illness. Your immune system is not just dangerous to your enemies; it can also cause collateral damage to your body, leading to holes and wounds in your organs. The body then rushes to repair the damage, but the resulting scars can cause a decrease in the functionality of your organs. However, there are ways to train your immune system to avoid this damage.

Your immune system is unique to you. Everyone has a slightly different immune system that is stronger against some enemies and weaker against others. This makes evolutionary sense, as it protects our species from being wiped out by a single infection. Collectively, the immune system of the human species is a spectrum: most people respond well enough to an infection, a few are super-responders, and a few don't respond well and die.

One way to train your immune system is through vaccination. Vaccines help your immune system recognize and fight specific diseases. They work by introducing a weakened or inactive form of the disease-causing organism into your body. This allows your immune system to learn how to fight the disease without causing you to become ill. If you are exposed to the disease-causing organism in the future, your immune system will recognize it and be able to fight it off more effectively.

Another way to train your immune system is through exposure to germs. While it is important to maintain good hygiene, exposure to some germs can actually help to strengthen your immune system. This is because exposure to certain germs can help your immune system learn how to fight them off more effectively in the future. For example, studies have shown that children who grow up on farms are less likely to develop allergies because their immune systems are exposed to a wider range of germs.

Exercise is also important for training your immune system. Regular exercise can help to boost the production of white blood cells, which are important for fighting off infections.