Want to Lower Your Immunity!? Here’s How!!
If “desperate times call for desperate measures”, I guess “uncertain times call for uncertain measures.” So, during these times of uncertainty, I’ve compiled the “Top 3 Ways to Lower Your Immunity.”
1. Live in constant fear
Fear is a potent emotional stressor. In general, stress (no matter if it is physical, chemical or emotional) creates inflammation. The body produces cortisol to combat this inflammation. As a short-term solution, cortisol neutralizes inflammation.
But what if the stress remains constant? Inflammation will remain constant. When you touch a hot stove, you can move your hand away from the stove to prevent further damage and inflammation. Emotional stress though is harder to move away from.
Emotional stress can create a feedback loop where you keep touching that cerebral hot stove. If you are constantly feeding into the emotion of fear, inflammation will constantly produce. Constant inflammation leads to constant cortisol production. Extended cortisol production has many detrimental effects on immune function and our health.
The inhibition of immune proteins interleukin and interferon occurs when there is an extended presence of cortisol in the body. Immune proteins help aid in many different immune responses of the body. An alteration of the whole immune response happens when they are not present.
Prolonged cortisol exposure can cause the thymus gland to shrink. The thymus gland is an important gland utilized in the production of specific white blood cells, T-lymphocytes. The thymus gland naturally shrinks as we age and chronic stress and cortisol only hasten this process. Prolonged cortisol also slows the production of new lymphocytes and makes circulating lymphocytes less responsive to infection. It is also linked to disrupting cell-mediated immunity. Prolonged cortisol can even destroy existing lymphocytes.
Living in constant fear also keeps stimulating the Sympathetic Nerve branch and its associated hormones, beta-endorphin and Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). Chronic Sympathetic engagement is also linked to the suppression of general immune function. It can also increase cardiovascular damage, gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome, and decreased fertility.
2. Isolate yourself from your family, friends, community and/or society
We are social beings. The need for social engagement is built into our neurophysiological blueprint. Social interactions create connections. Connections create relationships. Relationships create trust. Trust creates ease. Ease is the pre-set of the Nerve System. The establishment of this “ease” setting is through the Parasympathetic Nerve branch.
A lack of social interactions can fester into disconnection. Disconnection can fester into isolation. Isolation can fester into distrust. Distrust can fester into dis-ease. Dis-ease is the precursor of disease. The two major diseases associated with social isolation are anxiety and depression. Both of these disease processes wreak havoc on our immune system.
Anxiety and depression increase cytokines and cortisol, both are inflammatory markers. They also diminish antibody response function, increase the rate of infection and decrease lymphocyte production. Chronic anxiety and depression is also linked to the deactivation of Natural Killer Cells. Natural Killer Cells are specialized immune cells that seek out cancer cells throughout the body and destroy them.
Social isolation decreases the Poly-Vagal function of the Parasympathetic nerve branch. A part of our Vagus nerve is designed for social stimulation and interaction. The need for social engagement is built into our anatomy and physiology. If this aspect of the Nerve System is not engaged, it can lead to a wide array of different neurological delays and dysfunctions.
3. Disconnect from your surrounding environment
Just how we can’t isolate ourselves from society and be healthy, we can’t isolate ourselves from the environment and expect to be healthy as well. Your environment is a reflection of you. And you are a reflection of your environment.
The biggest way this is done nowadays is through excessive sterilization. Examples of excessive sterilization are the overuse of disinfectants, sanitizers and antibiotics. This is important to note: Excessive sterilization is not the same thing as healthy and proper hygienic practices. Practices such as handwashing with soap and water, preventing food and water contamination and other general cleaning procedures can be beneficial to our health and environment. There is a big difference between healthy hygiene and excessive sterilization. Excessive sterilization negatively impacts your Microbiome while healthy hygiene does not.
The Microbiome is a collection of viruses, bacteria and other “bugs” that live in a symbiotic relationship with us on our skin and in our body. They are often a reflection of the environment you find yourself in. This symbiotic relation plays out in our immune function as well. The Microbiome will assist in alerting the body to foreign pathogens that might be harmful to the health of both us and our Microbiome. What if we sever that tie between the environment and ourselves?
The Microbiome starts to lose its diversity. This has a direct negative influence on the immune system and its function. Excessive sterilization can also increase the concentration of “superbugs." "Superbugs" are pathogens that have built up a resistance to disinfectants and antibiotics.
Neurologically, if we find ourselves at constant odds with the environment, we will also find ourselves in a constant state of Sympathetic nerve stimulation. Living in a reactive mode of survival will never let us reach the realm needed to thrive. When we are able to thrive, we are able to grow. And growth leads to new experiences. And this is where not only our health can flourish, but our lives as well.
What is the root cause of these ways to lower your Immunity? A sense of lost control. When we live in constant fear, isolate ourselves from society or over-protect ourselves from the environment, we feel we have lost control in some way. The underpinning of this idea was distilled by a psychologist named Angus Campbell in his book The Sense of Wellbeing. Quote:
“Having a strong sense of controlling one’s life is a more dependable predictor of positive feelings of wellbeing than any of the objective conditions of life we have considered.”
Having a sense of control is one of the greatest factors we can possess throughout our lives when it comes to health outcomes. Yes, things will always be out of our control. But we control more of our lives than we realize. And gaining and maintaining what is rightful ours when it comes to aspects of our life such as health, is a step in the right direction.
- Jarek Esarco, DC, CACCP
Related Blogs:
Challenging the Status Quo: Debunking 10 Misconceptions About Immunity
Me and My Microbiome
Neuroimmune Dynamics: Immunostasis
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