Can you actually boost your immune system Heres the truth Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter
Transcriber:
Turmeric ginger shots,
elderberry syrup, vitamin C tablets.
No one likes to be sick,
so it’s 100 percent understandable
why we’re all intrigued
by products that promise
to boost our immune system.
(Music)
[Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter]
The problem is that we often think
about the immune system in the wrong way.
We think of it like a muscle
that we can strengthen
by feeding it lots of antioxidants
and supplements.
But that’s just not
how the immune system works.
While the immune system can be suppressed
and can be less effective –
for example, in people
receiving chemotherapy –
the reverse, strengthening
the system overall,
just doesn’t happen.
Our immune system is what protects us
from the bacteria,
viruses, fungi and toxins
we encounter on a constant basis.
It also plays an integral part
in wound healing.
It’s an elegant network of cells,
tissues and organs,
all working together.
You can think of the immune
system in two broad terms,
innate immunity and adaptive immunity.
Innate immunity means
nonspecific defense mechanisms,
and this is our first line of protection.
It helps fight off pathogens
before they cause a problem.
It’s like a bouncer at the door of a club.
The innate immunity keeps invaders out
or neutralizes them shortly after entry
so they don’t start a fight inside.
It can only recognize self,
meaning what’s allowed in the club,
and nonself,
meaning what’s not allowed inside.
Think the physical barriers of our skin,
the hairs in our nose,
the eyelashes that blink out dirt,
even vaginal discharge
that prevents infections.
Now if a pathogen does manage to get past
the first line of defense,
we have another layer of protection,
the adaptive immune system,
which is more complex
and targeted than our bouncer.
The adaptive immune system
responds to antigens.
Antigens are unique proteins
on the surface of pathogens,
which helps identify
what kind of pathogen it is.
Kind of like a name tag.
Your immune system
is constantly reading name tags,
and when one is recognized as being
on the no-entry list,
the adaptive immune system
creates special immune cells to attack,
which are specialized
white blood cells called lymphocytes.
Here’s what’s really amazing:
our immune system remembers this process.
So the next time we’re exposed
to that same pathogen,
our immune system recognizes it
and remembers how to respond.
While we’re not sure how many
different antigens we can recognize,
some scientists think
that we produce over a billion antibodies.
But the important thing to remember
is that our immune system
has many different parts
playing many different roles.
That’s what makes this concept
of “boosting” so problematic.
When people say “boost the immune system,”
what do they even mean?
Do they mean boost the histamine
that’s released
when exposed to poison ivy?
Well, that would you itch a lot more.
Do they mean supercharge
your T and B cells?
Might that lead your body
to attack its own cells,
as we see with autoimmune conditions?
Instead of thinking of a muscle
that you can strengthen
with one simple exercise,
a better analogy may be a garden.
Your immune system has many components,
just like a garden
has many kinds of plants.
Each plant needs just the right amount
of sun, shade and water.
Too much sun might help one plant
but destroys another.
Increasing any single element
can throw off the balance
of the ecosystem overall.
If you’re getting all
the nutrients you need
from a healthy, balanced diet,
taking more of a single vitamin
won’t help your immune system
function any better overall.
For some vitamins, if you take in
more than you need,
your body will just get rid
of the excess as waste.
Vitamin supplements are only needed
if you have a true real deficiency.
In fact, some studies tell us
that vitamins and supplements,
when they’re not medically needed,
may have negative effects.
Things can go wrong
with our immune system for sure,
like allergies or autoimmune conditions
and failure to catch abnormal cells.
But the reasons for each of these things
are complex and often
not fully understood.
And they certainly won’t be solved
by some immune-boosting miracle pill.
There is however, one thing
that has been shown again and again
to be incredible for your immune system.
Vaccines.
Vaccines are truly genius.
They contain a weakened or inactive
part of a pathogen, like the flu,
that includes its antigen name tag.
They trigger the body
into making antibodies
without needing to get sick
from an illness first.
Instead of boosting
the immune system overall,
they give the system
exactly what it needs to respond
to a specific pathogen
quickly and aggressively.
So get your immunizations
and get your flu shot every year.
Eat a healthy, balanced diet.
If you want a healthy immune system,
don’t smoke and try to get enough sleep.
And otherwise, just let
your immune system do its thing.