A couple weeks ago we talked about simple ways you can support your immune system and boost immunity - today we want to talk about a few signs that signal a weakened immune system.
Supporting your immunity is more important than ever as we are learning to fight a new virus our immune systems have never been exposed to.
The immune system is the most complex system within the body besides the nervous system that works around the clock to keep us healthy.
When your body is under attack, either from foreign invaders [pathogens], chronic underlying inflammation from stress or other underlying disease, it sends various signals that something internally is going wrong.
Therefore, it is important to be mindful of what signals your body may be sending and take extra steps to support your immunity.
If you’ve noticed that you’re often sick, feel fatigued, or have other nagging symptoms you can’t figure out, it may mean your immune system is in a weakened state and needs some extra support.
Check out the warning signs and what you can do to give your immune system a boost.
1) You Are Constantly Sick
The primary symptom of a weak immune system is susceptibility to infection.
Have you ever wondered why some people never get sick, while others seem to be constantly battling a cold, sinus infection, skin rashes, or other infections?
This has a lot to do with the strength of your immune system and your body's ability to fight off germs and pathogens.
If you’re constantly catching colds, or take a long time to recover from infections, that is a clear sign your immune system is struggling to keep up.
2) You Are Chronically Stressed
Stress was designed to be a fight or flight response to our ancestors’ environment. If a tiger approached, our ancestor’s body would release a complex mix of hormones and chemicals like adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine to prepare our body for physical action. These hormonal responses work to increase blood flow to muscles, and preserve energy by shutting down other functions like the digestive system.
In our modern life today, many people are very stressed yet do not take the proper action to reduce stress through meditation, proper sleep/recovery, or setting boundaries. Therefore, their bodies feel like they are constantly under attack as if they are being chased by a bear.
According to this report by the American Psychological Association, long-term stress weakens the responses of your immune system. Why? This is because as stress hormones are constantly being released into the body, they interfere with the immune system’s natural functions and result in higher levels of inflammation, a reduction of white blood cells and leave people more susceptible to infection.
The stats are pretty shocking when we look at the number of individuals reporting high stress levels. According to The American Institute of Stress:
When your immune system struggles, so does your energy level.
“That's because your body is trying to conserve energy to fuel your immune system so it can fight off germs,”explains Dr. Hasan.
4) Stomach / Digestive Issues
Do you have ongoing issues with bloating, gas, or constipation? If so,it could be a sign that something in your gut isn’t right and your immune system is compromised.
Some research shows links between ourgut microbiota and our immunity. Research also shows that nearly 70 percent of your immune system tissue is located in your digestive tract. So, it is no surprise that a weak immune system is often correlated with chronic stomach/digestive issues.
The beneficial bacteria and microorganisms that live in the gut defend the gut and body from infection and support the immune system. Therefore, if our good bacteria is low, it can leave us at more risk for infection, viruses, chronic inflammation and autoimmune conditions.
One easy way to support your gut naturally is by eating fermented foods a few times a week. This includes things like pickles, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, kombucha tea, yogurt, and kefir.
5) Wounds Heal Slowly
Poor healing from injuries is another very common sign that your immune system is working slow. After you get a cut, burn or scrape on your body, it works to protect the wound by sending nutrient-rich blood to the injury to help regenerate new skin.
However, when our immune system is weakened we are at a higher risk for infection. Therefore, if a wound becomes infected, then the wound healing stages become hindered. When harmful bacteria take over the wound and begin to multiply, the inflammatory phase prolongs and the healthy clotting mechanism is interrupted. In effect, the leukocyte function becomes suppressed and the body has difficulty developing new granulation tissues and blood vessels. This can causewounds to linger and have a hard time healing.
Perhaps the most important thing you can do to prevent a wound infection through strong wound function is maintaining a nutritious diet.
It’s essential to ensure that you get the right amounts of zinc, carbs, fats and vitamins A, B and C, all of which are essential to recovery. This is one of the many reasons we have formulated IMMUNITY to include Vitamin C (from organic oranges, not corn like most supplements) and our patentedTRAACS® Zinc and Copper, which is much more bioavailable compared to your standard supplements.
Your immune system is the key to good health, so the more you can do to protect it, the better. As always we suggest focusing on eating clean and living a healthy lifestyle with quality sleep, regular exercise, minimal alcohol and managing stress.
If you find yourself struggling to eat enough nutrient dense foods and want to support your body with one supplement rather than multiple pills and powders, our IMMUNITY product includes all of the best quality and most absorbable forms of Vitamin C, Zinc, Elderberry Fruit Extract, Copper, and NAC in one simple capsule to help get you what you need to make your immune system bulletproof.
References:
https://www.bustle.com/p/7-surprising-signs-of-a-weakened-immune-system-16957748
Comments will be approved before showing up.
