What are some signs that your immune system could use a boost, or rebalance?
1. I Always have a Cold
People often tell me that they always have a cold, despite taking echinacea drops or another OTC immune booster every winter. Your immune system might be weakened or distracted by something else in the body, inflammation for example. For long-term, permanent results, it’s important to not only boost the immune system but to address the root cause of the immune deficiency.
2. I Never Get Sick
I often hear patients tell me that they don’t remember the last time that they were sick, and they say so proudly. But is that a good thing? This can often mean that the person’s immune system is so weak or distracted that it is completely unresponsive.
3. I frequently get infections There may be an underlying imbalance of good-bad bacteria or dysbiosis. Bacteria play a key part in keeping intruders out of your body by physically occupying space in your body so that bad bacteria cannot establish themselves and multiply.
4. I have a chronic skin issue – eczema
A chronic skin issue like eczema can often be treated with dietary interventions. Often your immune system mistakenly identifies a food as being foreign, tagging it with an antibody and forming an antibody-antigen complex. When these form in abundance, they deposit in your joints, and your skin – leading to eczema.
5. I have seasonal allergies
Seasonal allergies are a sign that your immune system is overly sensitive to the pollen in the air grass or to certain trees. This is contrary to many of the other signs that you need to boost your immune system, where your body is actually deficient.
6. I’m always under a lot of stress
Chronic stress suppresses your immune system, specifically your T-cells which recruit cells to an infection and help to ensure that the magnitude of an immune response is adequate. When cortisol levels are too high, such is the case in hypercortisolism, the immune system simply shuts down and one becomes susceptible to a wide variety of infections.
7. I have an autoimmune condition – Hashimoto’s, Crohn’s, Rheumatoid Arthritis
There is a common perception that the only way to treat an autoimmune condition is to suppress the body’s immune response, creating a host of potential adverse effects. Rebalancing the immune system to modulate the number of natural killer, T-cells, and B-cell antibodies can often help ease autoimmune symptoms.
8. I have a chronic inflammatory condition such as Diabetes or atherosclerosis
In chronic inflammatory conditions such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, or Metabolic Syndrome, immune cells must repair damaged tissue rather than fight infections. To further complicate things, many of these conditions are associated with an increased risk of obesity. Fat cells produce chemical signals that promote chronic inflammation; therefore, the more fat cells you have, the more inflamed you’re going to be.
9. My neck always feels swollen
You have a sore throat, you might notice a few bumps around your neck, under your chin – those are swollen lymph nodes. When your throat is sore, it’s normal to have swollen lymph nodes. It means that your body is working properly and fighting off an intruder, but when your lymph nodes are always swollen, it means that your immune system is constantly fighting something and being fatigued.
10. You have chronic gut issues – bloating, flatulence, etc
Digestive issues such as bloating and flatulence are signs of dysbiosis or an imbalance of bad bacteria. An overabundance of bad bacteria produces harmful chemicals that damage your gut lining, prompting your immune system to recruit even more immune cells to the area. Over a long period of time, this chronic inflammation causes leaky gut, allowing just about everything to cross the gut lining. This distracts your immune system and makes your body more susceptible to various infections.