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About the Body’s Immune System

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The body’s immune system can be affected by many things. And it’s responsible for many things as well. When the immune system is weakened either from particular diseases, poor health, or poor nutrition and eating habits, many health problems can occur. There are a variety of diseases, conditions and syndroms with names these days, which can all be traced back to some sort of problem with the immune system. Some of these conditions are said to be caused by the immune system over reacting, but there may be more to it than just that.

The human body does not act sporadically or randomly. There is always a purpose with what it does, and usually the primary purpose is to try and keep the body alive – at all costs. So when the immune system starts doing things that seem like it’s over reacting, it may actually be acting to other stimulus or problems deeper within, and all we’re seeing are some of the results of what it’s trying to do.

There are many excellent examples of the body trying it’s best to keep the body alive, despite people’s best attempts to do otherwise. When someone is trying to lose weight for instance, they may try starving themselves as a way to shed weight quickly. In their mind the problem with their weight is an over abundance of food, so by eliminating foods they should theoretically begin to lose weight.

And this can work, if you’re supplying your body with proper nutrition in some way. This is why juice fasts can help people lose weight. If you simply try to starve yourself though, and drink just water or tea but take no nutrition of any kind, your body will stubbornly hold on to every ounce of weight it can. Why? Because it thinks you’re in starvation mode, so it’s trying to keep you alive until the famine passes.

Another example is similar, but it happens with lack of water. Your body will conserve water – even at the expense of you getting kidney stones and kidney infections – if you’re not drinking as much as it needs every day. The body assumes that since you’re not getting enough, you must not have a readily available source of it, thus it needs to conserve as much as it can to keep you alive.

Yet another example focuses on the bodies immune system itself. There are many skin conditions which millions of people have. These are chronic conditions which often cause problems all throughout a person’s life. Conditions such as psoriasis and eczema for instance, all look as if the body’s immune system is simply over reacting to some kind of trigger. So the body starts producing skin cells at much faster rates than normal.

Herbal and natural remedy specialists however, have found that by treating the entire body as if there’s an illness or disease deep inside, and cleansing the internal organs and waste disposal systems, help the body’s immune system to get back into balance, and this in turn stops the skin related problems.

Boosting and Strengthening The Immune System

Have you ever noticed some people just never seem to get sick? These are people who have very strong, balanced immune systems. And you can be one of those people with the proper approach.

There are many completely natural ways to boost, strengthen, and balance the body’s immune system. These natural approaches generally involve changes in dietary habits, fitness levels, and other lifestyle changes. There are plenty of natural herbal supplements which can help boost the body’s immune system too though.

Food and dietary habits are one of the best ways to boost the body’s immune system, because many of the modern day problems with our immune systems are caused by lack of nutrition and poor eating habits. Simply by cutting out simple sugars and starches from your diet, and adding more vitamin rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, you can start helping your body’s immune system to become healthier on it’s own.

Your fitness levels are an important part of keeping your body’s immune system healthy too. When you are in shape physically, you tend to have more muscle and much less fat. And this makes all of the standard body functions operate at more efficient capacities. You don’t have to have a lot of muscle bulk for this to work either, you simply need to tone your muscles, trim the excess fat, and be more active. When your body is more fit, the blood flows better, the heart is stronger, and toxins are being filtered out of your system more efficiently, so your body is better able to deal with viruses and bacteria and other problems we all come across each day.

Adding less toxins and harmful things to your body will naturally help boost the immune system too. When you purposely add toxins in the form of smoking, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, and eating a lot of junk foods, your body has to do extra work trying to clear those harmful things out. And when the body is really busy clearing out extra toxins, it can be more susceptible to bacteria, germs and viruses.

Increasing your nutrition is another excellent way to boost your body’s immune system, and this can be done quite effectively by eating the right foods as we mentioned above. Sometimes our foods are chemically treated though, or we’re not able to get enough nutrition just from the foods we eat. So herbal supplements are another approach to boosting the immune system.

Most natural herbal supplements are the actual herb plant. It’s just dried and ground into a powdered form, then placed inside a gelcap. This means herbs are like condensed, super strenth vegetables. They can provide you with a wealth of various nutrition, vitamins and essential minerals the body needs to keep the immune system strong and remain healthy.

How Food Affects the Body’s Immune System

We mentioned in an earlier article that food can have a big effect on how healthy the body’s immune system is. The type of foods you eat can either weaken or strengthen your body’s immune system, and this in turn will affect your overall health levels. If you have a disease such as HIV or Diabetes, your body’s immune system is already weak, so you must take steps to help make it stronger and more balanced. Everyone can benefit health wise from having a stronger immune system though, and one of the best ways to accomplish this is through the foods we choose to eat.

The human body is very much like a fine tuned machine. And when there is a problem somewhere in that human machine, the effects can be seen in ways that might seem completely unrelated. The fact is though, that everything we do to our bodies, and everything we choose to put in them, will have drastic effects on how well – or badly – the entire machine operates.

And the basis for the human body to work properly is nutrition. The body needs a large variety of vitamins, nutrients, minerals and other essential ingredients every single day. There are more vitamins than most of us can name, and there are also trace minerals and other nutrients we need too. Trying to keep track of all the stuff we need for proper maintenance and running of our bodies is almost impossible.

But the foods we eat can make a huge difference. Just by choosing the foods which are known to be packed with a large variety of the nutritional elements we need, we can help supply what the body needs naturally. Unfortunately, the modern day diet is severely lacking in proper nutrition. Instead of feeding ourselves vitamins and minerals that will keep our immune system strong and help us fight off diseases, we fill the body with junk that it must work extra hard trying to clear out. And since the body is so busy trying to clear out the junk we’ve given it, we’re more susceptible to germs and viruses which cause a wide variety of health problems.

So the number one way to boost your body’s own immune system is to simply change the way you eat. Reduce the amount of sugar and simple carbohydrates you’re eating, because these are useless nutritionally for the body. Add more fresh vegetables and fruits, particularly raw ones, and add in some whole grains, good protein and fats too.

Boosting the Immune System Naturally with Fitness

Moderate exercise can boost your body’s immune system naturally, but you do have to be careful not to over do things. If you exercise too much, or for too long, you can actually lower your body’s natural immunity for short periods of time.

When you exercise, your body’s blood starts pumping through your veins faster and stronger. This exercises the heart, and carries nutrition to all the areas of your body. This increased blood flow also helps pick up toxins, wastes, germs and other harmful bacteria from your muscles and organs. And the body’s immune cells circulate more freely through the blood system too, which helps them kill the potentially harmful bacteria.

If you exercise too much though, your body’s immune cells will leave the blood stream and go into the muscles to work on repairing them. Muscles are built by first damaging them with tiny micro tears as they’re used. These tears are then repaired, and they become stronger each time the cycle is repeated. Exercising too hard can create many more tears and damage than normal, and this causes your body’s immune cells to have to go into the muscles to help repair them. This leaves the body weaker than normal for about 8-12 hours after an intense workout.

Exercising for long periods of time can cause the same problem. When the body exercises for too long at once, there is evidence which shows it reduces massive amounts of a hormone called Cortisol. This hormone is also released during severe periods of stress too, and this hormone lowers the body’s immune levels.

People who have an already weakened immune system can also create more problems if they exercise too much, so they should consult with their doctors first, and start exercise programs slowly.

For healthy people though, moderate exercise can help boost the body’s immune system nicely. The primary reasons this works is thought to be because of the increased overall fitness levels. Most people who get moderate exercise also tend to try and eat a bit better than more sendentary people, but the increased blood flow and circulation of immune cells mentioned earlier are part of the overall effect too.

Good forms of moderate exercise which can help boost the immune system include walking, bicycling, gardening and swimming for about a half hour on most days. Interval exercising is fine too though, where you work in the garden for instance for about ten minutes, then break and come back again later.

Boosting the Immune System Naturally With Herbs

One of the easiest ways to help boost your body’s immune system naturally, is to use quality herbal supplements daily. Herbs are a form of food. In fact, herbal supplements are simply dried and ground plants which are then put into a gel capsule for easy swalling. This means they’re very much like a condensed version of healthy vegetables and fruits, and they’re packed full of excellent nutrition for your body. Some people consider herbal supplements to be super foods, and when you think of them as condensed vegetables, you can see why.

There are some excellent herbs which are so packed with vitmains, essential minerals and trace nutritional elements that they make excellent sources of daily vitamins. Kelp is one of these herbs, and parsley and alfalfa are two other excellent herbs which are packed full of vitamins and minerals too.

Kelp is high in natural iodine and iron. The natural iodine helps regulate your thyroid, and that in turn helps fight off germs, bacteria and viruses in your body. This makes Kelp a natural immune boosting herb for your body.

Kelp is also quite high in calcium, potassium, magnesium and other trace minerals too, and it’s an excellent source for most of the B vitamins as well.

Alfalfa is another power packed herb which can really boost your body’s immune system. This herb is rich in many vitamins such as calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, and trace elements our body’s need. It also contains essential amino acids our body’s need, it has the highest chlorophyll content of any plant, and it’s a source of carotene and Vitamin K.

Parsley is another excellent vitamin rich herb. This one is very high in Vitamins A, B, and C. In fact, parsley has three times as much vitamin C in it as citrus, and Vitamin A stimulates the body’s immune system. Parsley also contains more iron than any other green vegetable, and it’s high in potassium too.

Dandelion is another herb which is very high in vitamins and minerals, and it’s especially good as a source of extra calcium. If you take non-herbal vitamin C supplements for longer than three or four days, your body could become depleted in calcium so you’ll need to supplement that. Taking an herbal supplement for Vitamin C is usually best, since herbs contain a wide variety of other essential vitamins and minerals.

Note: Some statements in this article may not be approved by the FDA. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice.