HOW TO BOOST THE IMMUNE SYSTEM Veli-Jussi Jalkanen upd. 260322
And avoid getting infected by the pathogens
Strong, naturally activated immune system is the best protection against falling ill or being affected by pathogens.
The human immune system is a super complex (partly still unknown) but also powerful biomechanism.
One can dramatically influence the strength of the immunity (immune defence) with one´s own lifestyle, actions, and choices.
If the immune system is strong and healthy, it is usually powerful enough against most illnesses and pathogens and even cancer, as well as against our own deformed cells which can potentially cause cancer. The immune system efficiency in the body varies greatly. Our brain restores immune responses from older infections and can launch immune response fast in a new case. Good brain health helps here. Also, our endocannabinoid system is involved with immune activity and strength.
We have eight different kinds of immune cells with various special functions patrolling the body all the time. The density and level of activity is crucial, as well as the efficiency of transport mainly in the lymph liquid into all tissues of the body. This means that the quality / health of the immune vessels is also important for the efficient functioning of the immune system, as well as for the physical activity that activates the flow in the vessels.
The pathogens (mainly viruses and bacteria) have numerous ways to spread, and they are usually very good at that. In fact, we get exposed to them every day, both indoors but also outdoors. They can use various ways and tissues to enter the body. Indoor air always contains microbes from all the people in the same room, because the air mixes fast and carries the microbes in the exhaling air with in few minutes to all parts of the space.
As a summary, the most efficient and sufficient way to keep one from getting ill is to maintain natural, powerful, and healthy immune resistance with immune-healthy lifestyle.
NUTRICAL MEANS to IMPROVE IMMUNITY
Vitamins D, C, E, and A are needed to maintain the activity of the immune (white) cells. Those vitamins, zinc, and selenium function in the body as antioxidants (with other plant-based antioxidants) and protect the immune cells from becoming oxidised. This will prolong their lifespan and empower them to track and destroy pathogens and damaged cells of the body.
- Vitamin D ( as the most important substance ! )
The nature has provided this powerful over-all steroid health hormone for humans; we get it through the skin during the sun exposure. Urban lifestyle, clothing or northern location in the winter eliminate this vital resource and so we need to replace it with a supplement.
Optimum vitamin D level (= 100–200 nmol/l, 40–80 ng/dl, high end rather for the elderly and the ill) in the blood gives optimum support to the immune cell (T-cell) production. Normal vitamin D supplementation is from 50 (young children) up to 100–200 (young – seniors, rehabilitating) mcg/day.
Its best to test one´s levels in a lab to find optimum supplementation level. 15–30 minutes in the sun in the middle of the day in the summer in small clothes (and blond skin) makes your skin process 100–150 mcg. These given levels and dozes are in every case safe without any health risks, despite common false information. Low level recommendations of vitamin D benefit only the healthcare industry with lower immunity and higher healthcare.
(Vitamin D is actually a very important hormone in the body, the shortage of which is likely to multiple modern life-style illnesses.
In Sweden, a long-term study with 25.000 people divided into 4 groups showed that the most intensive solarium and sunbathing fans had the lowest all-cause mortality, including cancer, even if their skin cancer rates where a bit higher than in the other groups.)
- Vitamin C
The very basic body metabolism requires minimum 155 mg of vitamin C, but for the improved immunity it’s very beneficial to take at least up to 3 grams a day. With 3 dozes (morning – day – evening), 1–2 g at a time, one can keep good, high level round the clock.
Optimum habit is to take 3 x 1–2 g three times a day, one in the morning, second in the daytime, last in the early evening. This way you maintain the high and protective vitamin C level 24 hours a day. Take them all with meals, because vitamin C also improves the nutrient intake. In case of starting infection, a very powerful doze is 2 g every 2 hours for 0.5–2 days together with the zinc acetate. - Fibre
The natural and healthy microbes in the intestine produce eight different kinds of immune (white) cells from fibre. They patrol in the blood and lymph system, seek, and destroy pathogens (microbes like viruses, bacteria, and other pathogenic organisms). They even destroy our own cells which are deformed and may develop into cancer.
One of the best sources of fibre is a blended smoothie with seeds soaked overnight, wild berries, some fruits. Adding super foods, health spices and herbs is even more beneficial. Also helpful are vegetables, mushrooms, algae, nuts and 100 % wholegrain cereals without gluten. The amount of dietary fibre optimum is 50 g / 1000 kcal. Western citizen eats now average 10–15 g / day but the stone age man ate 100–300 g/day.
- ZINC
Shortage of zinc (which is very common, most have it) that we have because of the “normal diest”, is associated with poor immunity. There is a patented zinc acetate product, developed especially against viral infections. As soon as any viral infection is starting (SarsCovid-19 included) and early symptoms appear, take this product as described with a higher doze of vitamin C (2 g/ every 2 hours for 1–2 days) to maybe cut the process in the start and at least shorten the number of ill days / hours. If you start taking them very early, you may pass the infection merely with a scare.
- Vitamin K1 and K2
SarsCovid-19 has a tendency to cause blood coagulation, clotting and causing degraded elastic fibres in the lungs. Vitamin K plays a role in coagulation. People with severe COVID-19 have significantly lower vitamin K1 and K2 vitamin levels compared to patients without the disease.
Green and fermented vegetables (natto, sauerkraut, spinach, broccoli etc.) have vitamin K1, and animal products from pasture grazing animals (aged cheeses, eggs, butter, milk etc.) have vitamin K2.
In Japan, people who eat regularly “natto” (traditional fermented soybean food with lots of vitamin K), have avoided falling ill in severe forms of corona virus infections. K1 and K2 are also easy to take as supplements. - Removing Glutathione Deficiency Associated with COVID Severity
Glutathione deficiency is linked with conditions that raise COVID-19 severity, including age, diabetes, gender, and smoking. There is also data indicating that glutathione deficiency can impact your ability to synthesize vitamin D, which is another risk factor for severe disease.
Foods that have had a positive impact on glutathione production include cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, green tea, curcumin, rosemary, and milk thistle. Glutathione production can be accelerated with NAC (n- acetyl – cysteine) supplement, and alpha lipoic acid. - Other nutrients and the total nutrition intake
Vitamin B6 has been found to be important to immunity, and a protecting factor.
Lithium has proved to be a very useful nutrient to the brain health but also to immunity. Take lithium orotate 5 mg/day.
Melatonin has been found to be beneficial to the immune resistance, and to decreasing the risk to fall il with Covid-19. The same goes for vitamin B3.
Magnesium and Selenium need to on good level in good immunity.
Flavonoids (4000 of them, existing in many fruits and vegetables) increase the power of immune defence when the gut microbes use them to make immune cells, and through antioxidizing mechanism.
Also black pepper, cardamom, ginseng and mushrooms improve immunity.
We should be getting 24 nutrients regularly for the optimum metabolism. Our body wants to manufacture at least 3500 biochemicals from them. Any shortage of them is bad for our health and immunity. Old age and long storage of the food, harsh conservation and cooking methods, food processing, and nutrition deficiency due to chemical farming and old fields with poor soil lowers the nutrition content. Many people who eat lots of poor modern fast food or processed factory food (not to mention things like sweet drinks or candy that have no nutrients at all and can be harmful) have very poor or non-existent nutrition content. At least people who mainly like such food usually have serious nutrition deficiencies.
Fresh organic, raw, or minimally processed food from clean and naturally rich and clean environment provide the best micronutrient content. We often have shortage of several nutrients, and would benefit from using them as supplements, depending on the person, diet, amount of sun exposure, quality of the food available etc.
Such micronutrients are: D, C, E, A, B12, B9, B6, B1-B5, Mg, Cr, I, Se, Fe, Zn, Ca and Li (lithium).
Supplements are an unquestioned routine on animal farms because no illnesses can be tolerated in profitable farming. All is based on fundamental research in veterinary nutrition. Human metabolism is the same or very close to that of animals. The same hormones, enzymes, and metabolic processes function in all.
- Some other helpful actions:
- There are certain herbs that help to build up immune defence as well.
They are: Sweet wormwood (Artemisia anua, Kesämaruna), Mongolian milkvetch (Astralagus membranaceus, Kurjenherneenjuuri), Sundev flowers (Dosera rotundifolia, D. longifolia, D. intermedia), Black current (Ribes nigrum), Nettle (Urtica dioica), Horse tail or Joint weed ( Equisetum arvense), Lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idea), Healing herb (Symphytym officinale), Sarsaparilla (Potentilla erecta), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Downy / Lesser / Greater burdock ( Arctium tomentosum / A. minus / A. lappa), Buckthorn ( Hiphophae rhamnoides), Rasberry (Rubus ideaus), Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera, Rohtokoisio) and garlic.
- There are also numerous anti-inflammatory herbs which vitalize metabolism in general, and thus work for better immunity. One can find good books or internet sources about them.
- Medical mushrooms like Shaga, Canoderma lusidum, Reishi, Inonotus obliguus, Shiitake, Lentinuda Edodes etc. improve immunity.
- Good and natural posture and activity in the middle body speed up the flow in the gut. The crucial good flow-through time (max 24 h) in the intestine can be helped to function by using divided (two-part) saddle chair with swinging /swaying mechanism, which has also many other health benefits like better spinal, internal pelvic and genital health, deeper breathing, and better blood flow into the brain.
Here are the best simple LIFESTYLE HINTS how to improve the immunity:
- Sleep
Immune defence empowers during good long sleep starting about 22.00, at the latest 23.00. Sleeplessness is very a big risk for the immune defence to collapse. A good way to improve sleep in the dark wintertime, is to move outside in the middle of the day, especially when there is sunshine. Also, moderate occasional solarium that time is many ways beneficial.
- Physical activity and activated micro circulation
The blood and immune liquids are together 12-20 l. They flow in 400.000 – 500.000 km of macro and micro vessels. Physical activity speeds up and activates the flow. There must be enough of it in all organs and tissues to make efficient transport of waste removal and feeding tissues with oxygen and nutrients. The immune defence cells (8 different kinds) also lurk in the 600–700 lymph nodes where all lymph vessels end up. The flow of lymph liquid transports the pathogens into lymph nodes, where they are eliminated. The hormonal effect connected with physical exercise is beneficial for the immune resistance.
The muscle mass has been linked to immune resistance. People with bigger muscle mass are more resistant against pathogen attacks. Doing power exercises 2–3 times a week is very helpful. The goal needs to be to keep the muscle mass above the average. This can be attained with less than 1–2 h training / week with a good program, which is worthwhile to design together with a professional personal trainer. Also, good aerobic condition is important to the immunity. Too much hard physical exercise creates tiredness and stress to the body, which weakens the immunity.
Sitting position and posture, as it lasts for hours every day, has big influence on the overall level of microcirculation. Sitting on a divided swinging saddle chair, with optimally adjusted table with belly pocket and elbow pads, in beneficially loose clothing, is an easy way to increase overall circulation in the body. Standing and walking during the workday is even more helpful. Good posture and good central body activity during sitting increases the flow in the intestine, which has a strong effect on the metabolism of the gut microbiome, and thus also on immunity.
The best way to benefit from physical activities is to do different kind exercises about 1–2 hours a day, such as
a) normal walking (it is very good to start the morning with walking, and have a walk just before bedtime)
b) power exercises to develop or maintain the muscle power; this is even more important when we age
c) long term aerobic exercise (best in the woods, off road)
d) heart and circulation organ boosting exercises like HIIT (high intensity interwall training) where only some 25–30 sec. sprints in any
sports are performed with 90 % capacity, or several 5–7 sec sprints for seniors past 60 years
e) coordination exercises like ball games or sports with rackets
f) rhythm exercises like dancing where closeness and music boost the benefits
g) stretching– yoga type exercises to maintain good condition of the joints, ligaments, and fascia
- Healthy Nose Breathing and Cleaning the Nose
Healthy nose breathing should be learned, only for the immune resistance, because the nose is a very good filter to stop the viruses in the nose. The inhaled air becomes cleaner and more humid when we breathe through the nose. Part of the oxygen turns into health promoting nitric oxide. All these things support the immunity. Its worthwhile to study and adopt the healthy nose healing basics and practice. The nose should be cleaned very well by blowing out before going to bed, the first thing in the morning and occasionally during the day too. The snot has captured lots of viruses, bacteria, and dirt from the air, which must be cleaned out.
- Short Heat Stress
Viruses die in less than 60 C. Viruses usually enter the body though respiratory organs and may stay on the mucosa surfaces up to three days before entering deeper into the tissues.
This means that you may kill the virus during that time with the hot air in a well heated sauna, or by breathing hot (but not damagingly hot) steam over a boiling water pot, or tea pot, with a towel over the head.
Short hot stress also increases the immunity responses in the body. It’s worthwhile to teach your body to tolerate higher and higher temperatures in the sauna and thus increase the heat stress for health impacts.
I personally recommend taking the 90–100 C heats in the sauna depending on the humidity which you can control by throwing water on the stove rocks. To keep the face and ears from getting burned, one can have a “sauna hat” which also has an extension hanging over the face. This way you can have higher temperature and more heat stress all over the body. In this purpose you can also lie down on the bench and lift your arms and legs. The heat tolerating capacity grows quickly with practice, which gives you improving effects on your health. Soon you see that you want clearly hotter temperatures than those, who do not practice. Wood heated (pre- or continuously heated) sauna with frequent cupful of water thrown on the rocks to keep the air humid, is superior for comfort, health, and immunity effect.
- Short Cold Shock
By exposing your body to short cold shocks (ice swimming, cold shower, snow dive, cold air bath in the frosty wind) builds up hormonal and immunity health with many mechanisms. In cold dip optimum effect is gained with min. 60 sec stay in the cold.
- Massage and Touching
Soft whole-body massage has been shown to increase the number of immune cells a great deal, even multiply their numbers. Regular habit of home or professional massage is beneficial in this respect. It is possible, that approving touching, hugging and especially sex has similar effect. Massage must however be pleasant and soft, not too deep, and painful to get this effect. The increased production of “good feeling hormones” (oxytocin, endorphins, serotonin, dopamine) is essential in getting the effect in immunity in massage and other pleasant touching.
THINGS TO AVOID…:
- Excessive stress of any kind
Long lasting and excessive stress of any kind (physical, emotional) seems to be connected in most modern illnesses and should always be taken seriously. The high level of stress hormones (cortisol, adrenalin etc.) burden the body and stress drops the immunity through many mechanisms.
- Toxic substances weaken immunity easily. They are heavy metals, agricultural or food industry chemical remains, microplastics, industrial endocrine disrupting molecules and nano particles that we are exposed to.
We are surrounded by hundreds of thousands of industrial chemicals against which we have varying individual tolerance. Many of them also react with one another, which makes the comprehension of their effect very complex. The best thing is to avoid alien substances as much as possible. This means to live as much as possible “organic and natural” life. - Inflammation
The level, number, and activity of acute or quiet inflammations in the body weaken immunity. The most common tissues with quiet inflammation are gums, intestine, genitals, liver, large joints, and excessive fat tissue. Any measures to put down the inflammation as much as possible improve immunity. Using antioxidants and finding the root causes of the inflammation and healing them, is the best healthcare.
Any chosen and activated routine measures or habits to decrease the number and power of quiet inflammation also empower the immunity.
Low lymphocyte (white cells = active sells in the immune system) count (lymphopenia) is strongly connected (60 % increase) with increased risks of cancer, respiratory diseases, infections, heart diseases etc. This condition together with quiet inflammation is common (but not a “must”) with the elderly.
- High blood sugar level
Fast carbon hydrates too frequently and too abundantly (not even to mention diabetes or milder disturbances in the blood sugar level control) can keep the blood sugar too (unnaturally) high. This weakens the immune system and especially together with some other factors like stress, lack of sleep and exhaustion, not to mention other chronical degenerative illnesses.
- High blood pressure (= powerful risk when infected to covid-19)
Take it down with a selection of methods.
Natural and lasting ways to lower your blood pressure are to lose weight, lifting the vitamin D level in the blood to 150 nmol/l, taking omega3 supplements (E-EPA) 3–4 g/day and magnesium, selenium, zinc, potassium, eating up to 1 kg of vegetables, berries, fruits, mushrooms, seeds, seaweeds, K2 supplements, eating red rice, reducing stress, taking sauna 4–6 times a week with cold dipping/shower and exercising / moving 2–3 times every day. It´s also helpful to quit smoking, stop eating anything salty, red meat, processed meat products and processed foods in general (salt and sodium-based chemicals), or oriental fast foods with MSG.
A fast way to lower blood pressure is medication.
- Overweight (often connected with high blood pressure)
Too high / unhealthy body mass index (BMI) is a clear and high risk factor to fall ill also in infectious diseases. Excessive fat causes inflammation in the body and the crucial vitamin D-levels are regularly lower than those of slim people.
- Disinfection
Fashionable way to use disinfection chemical to kill the microbes in your hands and also elsewhere on your skin, is doing more harm than good. Disinfection kills mostly microbes in your natural and healthy microbiome, which hurts your immunity, because the skin and but microbes and connected. In most cases using water and soap is enough for food hygiene. In truly sensitive condition, its better to use gloves and disinfection.
