OK, immune system for the last months I, Your Host, have been doing Your Job. Killing bacteria and virus every day.  I have been wiping them off, washing them off, using antibacterial solutions.  It is time for you to step back into your roll and do the bad bug killing for me.  Yep, back into your daily grind of keeping my immune system tuned up.

I am going out into the big wide world!!  I won’t be bleaching everything, may even forget to wash my hands, as I go back into  the new reality. You are my immune super hero, and time to step back into your full-time job.  I understand that you, my immune system, are precisely that — a system, not a single entity. To function well, you require systemic balance and harmony. So, let see how I can help.

Understand our immune system is basically at zero when we are born.  It develops, as we mature and learns the good bugs from bad, as it supports all the systems that develop us from a healthy child to healthy adult. As we age, our immune response capability becomes reduced, which in turn contributes to more infections and illness. These are known in the medical world “co-morbidities”. Most common being,  diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

While some people age healthily, the conclusion by  a Harvard Health study, is that, compared with younger people, the elderly are more likely to contract infectious diseases. How many times have you   heard this recently?

 As we mature, we run into billions and billions of bacteria and viruses, that we touch, eat and breath every day of our lives. According to National Institutes of Health, we always have over 200 different bacteria and virus in our bodies. Viruses alone are to blame for an estimated 1 billion common cold cases each year in the United States.  It is no wonder the common cold is called common.

Each of us has our own personal immune system. If two patients came into an emergency room: one with a dog bite and one with a human bite on the hand, the human bite is graded, as much more serious.  Because the bacteria and viruses that our personal immune system supports can kill another person. We literally grow up with our own good and bad bacterial/viral ratio in our bodies.  Our immune system does the job of supporting the good and fighting the bad, always seeking balance.

So, what are the best ways to support your own immune system.  We need to rev it up.  Don’t treat the following basics, as the same old same old but let your immune system know you are doing your part in supporting and seeking immunity balance.

• Don’t smoke, as it clogs up our lung filtering system.
• Exercise, help keep the joints fluid, improves mood, balance weight, boost energy.
• Eat right: vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts are loaded with nutrients essential for our immune system.
• Maintain a healthy weight by eating well and moving more.
• Keep alcohol to minimum, as the effect of alcohol  inhibits immunity and accelerates the inflammatory immune responses within our bodies.
• Get adequate sleep allowing our bodies to internally rebuild for the next day

So, go bravely out in our post COVID 19 world. Make sure your immune system has your back!  If you do what you must to help, your immune system will remember your good and your bad and will support you going forward in the new world. Do your part: Stay Healthy.