Table of Contents
- HOW DOES A STRONG IMMUNE SYSTEM WORK AS A DEFENSE AGAINST COVID-19?
- WHAT ARE SIMPLE WAYS TO STRENGTHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM?
- HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A PROPER DIET TO STRENGTHEN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM?
- WILL KEEPING FIT IMPROVE THE IMMUNE SYSTEM?
- DO YOU NEED TO GET ENOUGH SLEEP TO BOOST IMMUNITY?
- DOES WASHING HANDS AND SANITIZING PREVENT COVID-19?
- WHAT BAD HABITS IMPACT YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM?
- STRENGTHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM TO PREVENT COVID-19 - CONCLUSION
- REFERENCES
The coronavirus pandemic has drastically affected the world in which we live, and by all reports, it will be a problem that we have to learn to live with for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, we all need to take some personal responsibility to keep the world turning. Endless lockdowns will destroy economies indiscriminately, and so it isn’t a viable option moving forward.
Taking personal responsibility for your health is the only real option left, so how can we go about improving our immune system for maximum protection against Covid-19? What can we do to help tackle any symptoms that linger, known as long covid?
HOW DOES A STRONG IMMUNE SYSTEM WORK AS A DEFENSE AGAINST COVID-19?
Our immune system is like the defending army of a nation - the nation of you! When a harmful bacteria or virus finds its way into our body, our white blood cells face the threat, causing inflammation where the battle is taking place.
Some of our immune cells then put the ‘armour’ of the dead invaders on, and go round all of our home bases trying to find the best weapon to pierce that particular armour - that’s when you get swollen glands. When the right ‘weapon’ is found, it is then mass produced and distributed to the white blood cells, who then take that weapon and use it to destroy the invaders quickly and effectively. Then that weapon is stored by memory cells, just in case the invaders ever return!
Some of our immune cells then put the ‘armour’ of the dead invaders on, and go round all of our home bases trying to find the best weapon to pierce that particular armour - that’s when you get swollen glands. When the right ‘weapon’ is found, it is then mass produced and distributed to the white blood cells, who then take that weapon and use it to destroy the invaders quickly and effectively. Then that weapon is stored by memory cells, just in case the invaders ever return!
Not a perfect analogy by any means, but that is - essentially - our immune response, when it behaves as it should. Maintaining your immune system keeps that functionality going, defeating bacterial or viral infections quickly, preventing the propagation of the pathogen in the body. This reduces the impact of symptoms, and the speed of recovery.
WHAT ARE SIMPLE WAYS TO STRENGTHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM?
The immune system is very complex, so there is a lot that can affect immune function. Everything from diet and gut health to quality of sleep plays a part. Let’s break it down:
HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A PROPER DIET TO STRENGTHEN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM?
Eating food is how we get all the building blocks our body needs, so if you aren’t eating a varied, balanced diet, getting in those fruits and vegetables, you may not be giving your immune system everything it needs to work properly - take a tyre off one of the wheels from your car and, I’m sure you’ll agree, the functionality of the car is impaired.
So, for good immune health we want to consume vitamins A, C, and E, and get plenty of antioxidants in our diet. Zinc is an important immunity boosting mineral too (1), regulating genes in the white blood cells known as lymphocytes, as well as contributing to our first defence against pathogens - our skin!
Vitamin C can be found in citrus fruits, red peppers, spinach, kiwis, papayas, among many others. Vitamin A can be found in spinach too, and vitamin E can be found in almonds and sunflower seeds, but if you want to get all those vitamins in a single food, then look no further than broccoli! Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables contain an antioxidant called glutathione, a compound that helps regulate immunity and can lessen symptoms of autoimmune diseases.
Shellfish are a good way to get some zinc in your diet, with crab, lobster and mussels all containing high levels of zinc. Do keep in mind that too high doses of zinc can actually hinder immune function, so don’t go overboard!
Tea lovers will be happy to know that both green and black tea contain lots of a type of antioxidant called flavonoids. Green tea (2) is also a great source of a different, powerful antioxidant known as EGCG, and a source of L-theanine, an amino acid that studies suggest could boost your immune system!
Other important nutrients for good immune function are vitamin B-6, which supports healthy red blood cell production - as these work as your body’s fuel delivery system, healthy red blood cells means good transportation around the body - and vitamin B-6 can be found in white meat such as chicken and turkey, as well as soya beans, peanuts, bananas, and sunflower seeds, to name a few sources.
Vitamin D is important for good immune health, too. It is widely used in the body, and has much speculation on its role and functionality in places - but it is known that vitamin D supports anti-inflammatory processes via its effect on T cells (one type of white blood cell). We make vitamin D as a result of exposure to the Sun, so make sure to take a supplement in Winter, or if you spend most of your time indoors!
WILL KEEPING FIT IMPROVE THE IMMUNE SYSTEM?
Exercise and the immune system is an interesting subject, primarily because stress exerted through exercise sees various parts of the immune system show changes (3), and an ‘open window’ theory has been supposed, whereby the stress induced from intensive exercise weakens the immune system for a time (between 3 and 72 hours). This shouldn’t be taken as ‘if I exercise, then I’m at risk for the next 3 days’ as the degree of immuno-suppression and likelihood of therefore getting ill was not investigated, and the association is not likely to be that simple.
Exercise triggers the release of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines (the signals to trigger the immune system) and increases the circulation of lymphocytes (white blood cells that make antibodies and help control immune responses). An evidence review on using physical activity as a tool to help the immune system against Covid-19 suggested that these resulting effects from exercise help reduce instances of viral infections, the intensity of the symptoms, as well as mortality.
Upper respiratory tract infections, like the common cold, are less likely to gain a foothold on those who exercise regularly. A study on 115 overweight and obese postmenopausal women used aerobic exercise versus a stretching control group to observe the impact of exercise on the risk of catching a cold (4). The study wasn’t perfect as more of the control group were immunised against influenza before and during the study, but the risk of cold was 3 times higher in the control group over the last 3 months of the study.
It seems to me, as with most aspects of the human body, exposure to manageable stress triggers a response that results in the strengthening of the affected system. This is true of weight training, aerobic exercise, and the immune system behaves in a similar way - this is essentially the function of vaccines, to trigger the immune response in a more controlled, less stressful way, to arm our memory cells with the right ‘weapon’ - or antibodies - for when our immune system is faced with an un-weakened version of the pathogen.
DO YOU NEED TO GET ENOUGH SLEEP TO BOOST IMMUNITY?
The power of a good night’s sleep can’t be understated! Getting ample sleep is important for a lot of reasons, and the definition of ‘ample’ will also change from person to person. As a general rule, a minimum of 6 hours a night is suggested - younger people are likely to aim for about 9 hours, and the amount of time you need to sleep tends to reduce as you get older.
Our circadian rhythm - the 24 hour cycle most living things follow due to the light phases of night and day - plays a large role in getting that sleep we need. Our immune system behaves differently at night - differentiated immune cells that work quickly are more present during the day, in order to combat any pathogens you come into contact with as you’re moving around.
At night, less differentiated cells - like central memory T cells and native T cells - peak, because they are part of our adaptive immune response, which is slow to evolve. To put it simply, your immune response needs to be fast when you’re active, and slows down when you sleep to ‘reflect’ and store ‘memories’ of the pathogens faced in the day.
Chronic sleep deprivation causes stress (5) that provokes production of cytokines that cause inflammation and impair the immune system. So, good sleep is required for the proper function of the immune system, and constant late nights are likely to cause chronic inflammation in the long run!
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If you struggle getting a good night's sleep or suffer from insomnia, there is growing research and success of using CBD Oils. CBD Oral drops or CBD Gummies are a convenient way to add CBD which may help to prevent insomnia.
Find out more about the potential health and wellbeing benefits of CBD oils and CBD gummies.
DOES WASHING HANDS AND SANITIZING PREVENT COVID-19?
Hygiene is always going to be important when facing disease - regularly washing hands is a must to prevent the potential transference of nasty bacteria and viruses onto surfaces that are in constant contact with different people. You must keep in mind that over washing your hands robs your skin of the natural oils that provide some protection, and can lead to cracked skin, which then serves as a direct entry point for pathogens.
Other methods to reduce the spread of the disease can be taken, and these include social distancing, masks, and being sensible when you feel under the weather: stay at home!
WHAT BAD HABITS IMPACT YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM?
The last aspect of your life that you could improve to protect against covid-19 will be to ditch any bad, unhealthy habits. We’ve talked about sleep deprivation and its effects on the immune system, so no more late nights! However, there are plenty of other habits to look at, and most of us could stand to eliminate at least one.
Excessive alcohol consumption has been linked with many health issues, including susceptibility to respiratory conditions such as pneumonia, and other acute respiratory stress syndromes. Alcohol also negatively impacts the immune system (6); as alcohol disrupts immune pathways so impairs the immune system’s ability to fight off infection, causes organ damage, and impedes tissue repair.
Alcohol doesn’t do your gut health any favours, either. Not only does it affect the integrity of the gastrointestinal tract, but alcohol disrupts communication from microorganisms (that contribute to the development and function of the immune system) to the immune system itself.
Over-eating can lead to weight gain and being consistently overweight is very stressful for the systems in the body. Taking steps to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly can help tackle this weight gain as well as bring the other benefits that regular exercise induces.
Smoking is another bad habit that could do with being kicked. Smoking has a direct negative impact on your respiratory system; coating your lungs in tar, causing the production of excess mucus, irritation of the windpipe, and clogging up of red blood cells with carbon monoxide which prevents them from transporting oxygen. All of these factors are likely to make symptoms from respiratory infections like covid-19 worse, and will increase recovery time.
Whatever the bad habit may be, you first need to establish why you want to stop it and keep the reasons at the front of your mind. Then thinking about ways to tackle that bad habit should allow you to put together a plan of action - this may be swapping out sugary snacks for healthier alternatives, trading half an hour of watching TV for a brisk walk, or making the switch from smoking cigarettes to using an e-cigarette. When you’ve made your plan, then it’s time to put it into action, and maintain consistency as best you can. Be patient with yourself, expect to fall off the wagon a few times, but allow yourself to do so with the resolve to get back on your plan the following day.
STRENGTHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM TO PREVENT COVID-19 - CONCLUSION
The coronavirus pandemic has brought several issues that we face as a society to the forefront, and one of those is the responsibility for personal health. It is a sad reality that you are more at risk from any respiratory infection when you are clinically obese - and that is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over twenty five.
Healthy foods, regular exercise, adding healthy supplements like CBD and vitamins to your diet and being determined to improve yourself are the necessary components to improve your health, and put your immune system in the best state to deal with the challenges life throws at it.
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REFERENCES
(1) Zinc and immune function: the biological basis of altered resistance to infection
(2) 15 Foods That Boost the Immune System
(3) Physical exercise as a tool to help the immune system against COVID-19
(4) Can Exercise Prevent the Common Cold?
(6) Alcohol and the Immune System
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Written by Dan Overgage
Dan Overgage – is a former smoker of 10 years until he became a client of SMOKO E-Cigarettes. Dan started working with SMOKO 5 years ago after successfully quitting using our e-cigarettes and works across our Customer Service and heads up our content creation and research with a strong focus on all things quitting smoking. During his tenure with SMOKO, Dan has written countless blogs and consults with countless clients every day to help them to stay smoke-free.
