9 Steps to Preventing Colds and Flu Part 3
9. Further investigation:
So far I have discussed a host of factors that will help you to improve and strengthen your immune health, but it doesn’t stop there. Unfortunately even if you manage to get all of these things right, your immune health may still be weak and you could still find yourself getting ill on a regular basis. Certainly all advice I have given so far will help to strengthen it as best as is possible in its current capacity, but for some it may require a deeper investigation into what may be going on internally. The immune system, like all systems of the body, works in synergy with all of the other systems. What goes on in the immune system will impact your endocrine (hormonal), digestive, neural, and detoxification systems, amongst others. And vice versa. The key relationships that will impact your immune health are as follows:
- Endocrine – Immune: The immune system is regulated by the endocrine system, and more specifically the adrenal glands. When the body or mind is under stress the adrenal glands are stimulated and secrete stress hormones that then suppress immune function. This is done since the body perceives any form of stress as a threat to its immediate survival. By suppressing immune function it can utilise as much resources and energy as possible for dealing with the immediate threat. When the adrenal glands are exhausted, which is very common in todays society, the immune system is also suppressed. For these reasons, frequent colds and flu will often result from either chronic/intense stress or adrenal fatigue. In assessing adrenal health you can therefore gain a good understanding as to why you may be experiencing frequent colds and flu.
- Digestive – Immune: 80% of the immune system is located in the gut. This is because one of the main roles of both systems is to protect the body from infection by outside invaders. If the digestive system is in a poor state and not capable of performing its role effectively extra burden is then placed on the immune system. When this happens less resources are available within the immune system to be able to protect against viral infections such as colds and flu. Common problems that can overload the immune systems will include food intolerance, bad bacteria, parasites, fungi (such as candida).
- Detoxification – Immune: The detoxification system is like the dustman or refuse collectors of the human body. When it is not functioning at full capacity toxins will build up in the body and the cells of the body will remain full with toxins. Since the immune system is one of the main contributors to toxicity levels within the body (toxins are often formed as a byproduct of an immune response), if there is an overload of toxicity within the body the immune system can often be suppressed in an attempt by the body to lessen this load. Not only this but a toxic build up in the body can also increase risks of re-infection of any germs the immune system has previously combated.
The only accurate way of knowing if any of these relationships are contributing to your weakened state of immune health (typically if one is out of whack they all will be) is through a combination of symptom analysis and laboratory testing that examines the function of these systems. Such testing is only available through someone like myself that is trained in functional medicine or functional nutrition and is quite different to the laboratory testing used in western medicine that is largely used to test for diseased states or “conditions”, as opposed to health or function. Once the cause is known corrective protocols and lifestyle adjustments can be put in place in order to correct the complaint and prevent it from reoccurring.
This concludes my posts on preventing colds and flu; I hope you have found them useful and informative. If you have any comments or questions then please post them below.
