Around this time every year, we start seeing the signs in the stores or in magazines…”Boost your Immune System!” “Strengthen your Immunity!” “Top 5 Immune Boosting Herbs!” Most of us know that the immune system is responsible for keeping us healthy, but what is the immune system – exactly?
The immune system can be thought of as the defense system of the body. It is responsible for keeping boundaries, a gatekeeper of sorts. It determines what is self and what is not self and then makes a judgement call on what to let into our bodies and what to try and keep out. Its goal is to keep us healthy.
Immune system cells are known as white blood cells. There are many different types of white blood cells and they perform different jobs for the immune system. They are made in the red bone marrow and then occupy many different tissues and organs throughout our body. Some of these include the skin, spleen, lymphatic system, mucous membranes, and liver.
Two-Part Immune System
The immune system defense strategy consists of two modes of defense: innate immunity and adaptive immunity.
Innate Immunity
Innate immunity is our first line of defense. I like to think of innate immunity as a fortress. There may be a moat around the fortress, the walls may be tall and fortified, and the guards are strategically placed ready to spring into action. Similarly, our body is covered with a layer of beneficial organisms (most often bacteria). Next is our skin with cells packed tightly together to make entrance into the body difficult. The skin also contains specialized Langerhan cells. These cells can be thought of as “Golden Retrievers”, grabbing a hold of invaders and bringing them to T-cells to activate adaptive immunity. The mucous membranes line the openings in our body and produce secretions that act as a protective layer and contain immune cells.
If this first line of defense is breached and the foreign invaders, or antigens, enter the bloodstream, the innate immune system still has a couple of mechanisms it can use to ward off illness or disease. The complement system is made up of proteins that make the invader “sticky” so that the appropriate white blood cells can trap them and eat them. Interferon is a chemical messenger that is sent out like a flare, calling in the troops and activating the natural killer cells. Last, the body raises its temperature in an effort to kill off as many invaders as possible.
Adaptive Immunity
If innate immunity is akin to a fortress, adaptive immunity would be specially trained defenders. They are able to specifically identify invaders by the type of invader they are and can remember how best to ward them off in the future. Remember the “Golden Retriever” cells? They intercept the antigen and bring it to the t-cells circulating in the blood, lymph, or other tissues. The t-cells are activated and begin to replicate themselves by the thousands. They then look for that specific antigen and begin to kill it. This is known as cell-mediated adaptive immunity.
Simultaneously, b-cells in the lymphatic system also interact with antigens. When b-cells replicate, some of them become plasma cells and some of them will become memory cells. Plasma cells produce antibodies which target a specific antigen and then lock onto it to destroy it. The memory cells circulate in the lymphatic system on the lookout for the specific antigen that was presented to the b-cell. This is known as antibody-mediated adaptive immunity.
The first time a person is exposed to a particular antigen, the immune system hasn’t had a chance to interact with the antigen before so the person will usually begin to show symptoms of the illness that the antigen is causing. If the body has interacted with the antigens before, the immune system can react before symptoms even occur. How “strong” the immune system is determines how quickly the body can destroy and remove the antigens.
Supporting the Immune System
What factors affect our immune system?
- Nutrition – This is foundational to supporting every system in the body. We can take herbs and supplements every day, but if our foundation is weak the herbs and supplements will do little to help. Good nutrient dense, wholesome foods give the immune system the building blocks it needs to function properly.
- Emotions – During times of trauma, grief, and worry, our immune system can become suppressed and we become more susceptible to illnesses. When our loved ones or friends are going through hard times, we often feel helpless. But listening, loving, and helping to bear the weight of their hardship can actually help keep them healthy during this time.
- Stress – We all know that stress is hard on our lives, but we don’t always realize how stress leads to physical ailments. For example, many times after a big event in our lives, such as a wedding, we will often come down with a cold. We may think it has to do with being exposed to a great number of people. Often though, the stress of planning and hosting the event has lowered the function of our immune system. That is why those in attendance at the wedding might not have gotten sick but the ones that were under the stress of planning and hosting are the ones that are now ill.
- Age – Babies are born with a functioning innate immune system, but their adaptive immune system is very immature. They have not been exposed to many antigens and must over time teach their immune system who the bad guys are. In the meantime, mother’s breast milk serves as a protection for the baby. As the baby nurses, antigens in the baby’s mouth make their way into their mother’s breast. The mother’s adaptive immune system is then alerted and antibodies are sent to the mother’s milk to supply the baby with added immunity. Subsequently, as we age our immune system function begins to decline. The elderly often have lower functioning immune systems than younger adults.
What can we do to support immune system function and make sure it is working as it should?
- Many of the things we do to support overall health also support the immune system. These would be nutrition, rest, periods of relaxation, exercise, prayer, fellowship with others, and most of all a bit of daily laughter!
- Increasing our probiotic intake either through supplementation or through diet (fermented foods) helps to increase our first line of defense throughout the digestive tract. Avoiding antibacterial soaps and lotions helps our skin retain the beneficial bacteria it is covered in.
- Many herbs are immune system tonics and help strengthen and give vitality to our immune system. Most adaptogenic herbs support a robust immune system. Other immune supporting herbs include mushrooms, elderberries, and echinacea.
Supporting our immune system is an ongoing process. It is always much easier to support our immune system before we get sick than it is to try and help it fight an illness once we have it. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!”