How the Immune System Works

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The Immune response is our body’s specific defence system against disease causing microorganisms that invade our bodies as well as surgically transplanted foreign tissue or from our own cells that have turned malignant or cancerous. The immune system is a collection of many organs and billions of free-moving cells and trillions of free floating protector molecules.

Lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, are the most numerous cells of the immune system (several million strong) and are ultimately responsible for antibody production. They live for approximately 200 days. Lymphocytes are created in the stem cells of the bone marrow.

T cells develop in the thymus gland and then also migrate chiefly to the lymph nodes. T cells develop a chemical memory of the specific protein of the invader cells and should they enter the body again the T cells can recognize them and destroy them. In this way the body develops immunity to specific viruses, such as flu virus. When a T cell comes into contact with a specific pre-identified antigen it reacts to the invader cell and kills these invading cells directly.

All of the waste products created by the activation of the immune system are absorbed into the lymph system.

How do we improve this important system to make it our outstanding protector against foreign invasions and our own cellular breakdown?

Is it any wonder that the lymph system would be under tremendous stress while it attempts to protect our bodies 24 hours a day and every day of our lives?

There are several keys to stimulating our Lymphatic system. We need to manage the stress this system is under to maximize its ability to rejuvenate and keep healthy. It is obvious that an overworked system will break down sooner than a system that is less stressed.

The keys to Lymphatic and Immune System health include:

• Diet
• Exercise
• Stress Reduction
• Sunshine

Our care and attention to our bones is very important. The bone marrow plays a vital role in our immune health. In addition to weight bearing physical exercise, a balanced diet rich in protein, vegetables, healthy fats like Omega 3 in salmon, fruits and complex carbohydrates help promote strong healthy bones. Protein is very important in stimulating our Immune response. Our Immune response is a protein based system. Small amounts of lean protein, including soy products, are an important nutritional component to healthy immunity. We should avoid all tobacco products and avoid daily alcohol use.

One main goal for our Lymphatic system is to improve its transportation capabilities via its one directional journey through the body. We want to maximize the ability of the lymph to journey from every part of our body carrying the waste products of our body’s successful immune responses.

The lymph system does not have a pump like the heart for the movement of blood. In its stead the lymph uses tiny pulsations along its lymph vessels. These lymph vessels often require additional stimulus to move the lymph. This added stimulus required is exercise but not just any kind of exercise. The lymph vessels require muscle contraction through weight bearing physical activity and to a lesser degree deep stretching such as in Yoga to assist lymph movement. One major muscle that assists the movement of the lymph is the diaphragm muscle located just beneath your lungs. Deep breathing exercises are a powerful lymph system stimulus and should be done every day.

If we look at where the important lymph nodes are located in the body we can see that they are located near all the centers of our body’s strength areas: the thighs, the arms, the hips and the diaphragm. These are basically our core strength areas.

When we use these muscles in weight bearing or other exercises and contract the surrounding muscles we assist the lymph to flow towards the nodes and onward to be further recycled or expelled from the body. Weight training in particular also assists in the stimulation of our bones. The muscles are attached to bone via tendons. When the muscles are contracted they pull against the tendons which then stimulate the bone growth. Vitamins C and D are important for building healthy bones. So eat an apple when you go for a walk on a sunny day. It is a great way to exercise, relax and enjoy a quiet time.

Stress reduction is vital to the working of the Lymphatic System. Daily adequate sleep time, meditation or relaxation exercises and regular laughter are important to healthy immunity function. Our bodies require relaxation in order to heal and to rebuild. So the next time you rent a video do your immunity a favor and rent a comedy film instead of a horror film.

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8. Volunteering in your Community will help you to live longer.
Studies have shown that even small amounts of volunteering lead to longer and happier lives. Volunteer opportunities are all around us. Sharing is a powerful positive energy.

9. We live longer happier lives when we feel In-Control of our lives.
Debt is a major cause of feeling out of control. Taking active steps towards dealing with your debts will lighten the stress and lead to happier times.

10. Recognizing our fears allows us to understand that we may live under the weight of a perceived fear.
Our fears are there to challenge us not to immobilize us. Take one step towards facing your fears and you will unburden all the energy you are providing to energize and maintain that fear

11. Have you ever felt that a food, supplement or an environment was not good for you?
Strength testing has shown that our body can identify helpful or harmful products. Our body, if we allow it to, can identify places, people, food and drinks that are harmful or beneficial to our energy.

12. Drinking tap water is potentially very unhealthy for you.
If you want to remove everything that might be present in tap water from your diet, do yourself a favor and drink filtered water.

13. We all have a limitless supply of energy available to us.
Resisting any part of our life, emotional distress or ongoing stress reduces our energy receptivity. Scientists have found that many small stresses are worse than one large stress.

14. Actively practice your Intuition.
Intuition is a skill not a gift. We all come with the ability to intuit. We must practice our intuition.

15. Commit to a passion in your life.
If you have always wanted to do something, be committed to making it happen. While it may not be possible to do it all today, make small steps towards achieving your goal. When we place our attention upon something, it becomes energizing for us and gives us the energy to succeed in doing it.

16. We live a linear life.
All of our actions, thoughts, beliefs and emotions are linked to us on our life path. Words become our thoughts, which become our ideas, which become our actions. They become our habits that become our personalities, that lead us to our destinies. May we choose our words wisely.

17. Obsession can be good.
We live in a life filled with distractions, how do we ever achieve anything for ourselves? A key is to allow your passion to be an obsession. Obsession is good if it does not hurt you or anyone else, empowers you, energizes you and others and connects you to your important goals in life.

18. Eat a good breakfast.
It provides the body with the calories required to supply your morning energy requirements. It also encourages your metabolism to remain higher and to burn more calories. Skipping breakfast slows our metabolism to protect our energy (fat) supplies.

19. Reduce or eliminate using unhealthy substances in your life.
They reduce your energy and your ability to live your life to the fullest. Use the money you will save to indulge your passion.

20. Develop your self control.
Self control is a skill. The way to develop self control is to master doing small things impeccably. The key with self control is that you must never casually drop a large goal. Re-evaluate your goals rather than drop them. For example, say 'I'll eat chocolate only once a week' rather than 'I'll never, ever eat chocolate again'. Thus you have not broken you ultimate goal, you have just re-negotiated the terms.

21. Allow yourself one healthy guilty pleasure every week.
We need to be kind to ourselves. We need to re-enforce that our lives need cherishing and we can do that through satisfying a healthy guilty pleasure.

22. Walking is the best exercise for everyone.
The key to getting enough exercise by walking is to check your heart rate while you are walking. If your heart rate does not rise while you are walking then you need to walk faster or walk uphill or intermittently jog. Using the heart rate calculator in the fitness page will help you to understand where your heart rate should be during exercise.

23. Try to eat lean protein at every meal.
When we do not eat healthy protein we place stress on our immune system. Also, if we do not eat sufficient protein, our bodies look for the most nutritionally rich protein it can find which is our own muscle mass. Muscle loss reduces our metabolic rate, which can lead to weight gain and loss of body strength and balance.

24. There are 3 factors which influence maintaining our healthy body weight.
We can control the calories in, but the calories out are a blend of (1) calories burned in exercise, (2) calories burned in work, play and living and (3) our metabolism. Our metabolic rate is enhanced by exercising 30 minutes every day rather than by exercising for 3.5 hours at the weekend. Fasting or extreme dieting slows your metabolism.

25. Keep a sense of humor!
Remember what Dale Carnegie said, "People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing".

Sarcopenia

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A major problem with this trend is that your fat cells burn no calories. We slowly replace calorie burning muscle cells with non-calorie burning fat cells. This is the cause of ‘middle-age spread’. Muscles require lots of energy (calories) in order to maintain themselves and perform their job of moving and stabilizing your bones. If you have become more sedentary and allow age- related muscle loss to occur and if you do not lessen your caloric intake, then you will get fat. Calories in, energy out or fat on!

How does this happen?
What are the causes of Sarcopenia?
Can we reverse this process?

Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle mass due to lifestyle choices (diet, sedentary lifestyle) and physiological changes (hormonal, increased fat storage) and the lack of strength training or resistance based exercises to rebalance and maintain our muscle mass.

If our body is deprived of a balanced and nutritionally complete diet it immediately turns to its emergency reserves. In the book ‘Biochemistry’ by L. Stryer, one of the main emergency reserves found throughout the body and used to complement our nutritional deficiencies is our own lean muscle mass. Our own lean muscle protein is one of our most efficient and easily accessible stores of nutrition.

Can this loss of muscle mass be reversed?
Absolutely!

Our attitude, will and energy have a lot to do with this process. If we become couch potatoes we speed up the sarcopenia process. We need to remain alive, vital, interested, motivated, playful and ‘in motion’. Keep your spirit alive!

By committing to a strength training program and sticking to it and eating a balanced diet of lean protein, complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables and healthy fats, you will rebuild the muscles that you have lost, no matter how old or out of shape you are.

Eating small amounts of lean protein at every meal is important not only for healthy muscle it is also an important component for a healthy immunity.

Strong evidence from recent studies has shown that along with increased lean body mass, improved metabolic rate and better weight management, the benefits of strength training include improved balance and coordination. Strength training also assists in building bone density and the release of endorphins following strength training exercises have a great stress reduction benefit.

Caivano states that many of the characteristics we associate with aging - low energy, weakness, achy joints, and loss of muscle confidence - are actually the side effects of decreased muscle mass caused by Sarcopenia.

We recommend Caivano's excelllent book 'Strength Training Over 50'.

Contact Zestlife: zlf@zestlife.ca