Long-term plan to improve immunity

The real long-term improvement of immunity can never be achieved by stocking up on supplements and sudden exercise. The core essence is to "leave sufficient elastic reserves for the immune system without disturbing the body's homeostasis" - there is no standard answer for everyone, all actions must fit your own rhythm of life and physical condition, so as not to be a wasted effort.

Speaking of this, I think of my colleague Xiao Zhou from the past two years. In order to prevent the flu, he stocked up half a cupboard with spirulina, vitamin C, and echinacea, and took three supplements every day. As a result, he still had a fever for three days at the end of the year. When he went to the hospital to check for immune globulin, it was lower than before. The doctor said that he took too many supplements and put an extra burden on liver metabolism, which was equivalent to hurting the immune system. In fact, this is also a misunderstanding made by many people: they always think about adding to immunity, but forget to fill in the holes that deplete immunity first.

When chatting with a friend from the nutrition department before, he mentioned that current mainstream clinical medicine first emphasizes "subtraction first" when it comes to immune adjustment for the general population: sleeping less than 6 hours a day for a long time, being in a state of high-pressure anxiety for more than 2 consecutive weeks, and consuming tobacco and alcohol every week exceeding the safe threshold. As long as any one of these factors is involved, no matter how many supplements you take and how much strength you train, your immune level will not improve. Oh, by the way, I have overlooked one very small point before, which is the impact of emotions. There was a period last year when I was busy with a project and worried about delays every day for a month. During that time, I got pharyngitis every now and then. After the project ended, even if I didn’t adjust my work schedule much, the symptoms disappeared on their own. Later, I checked the information and found out that the continuous increase of cortisol under long-term stress will directly inhibit the activity of T cells. This effect is much greater than if you eat less than two kilograms of fruits and vegetables.

Of course, there are different views. For example, the functional medicine school pays more attention to individual hidden inflammation triggers and will not prescribe the same prescription to everyone. For example, if someone is lactose intolerant and drinks ice milk every day, the gastrointestinal tract will be in a state of mild inflammation for a long time, and the immune system will definitely not be cured. ； Some people are allergic to dust mites and never use a mite remover at home. Their respiratory tract is always in a state of stress. No matter how much vitamin C they eat, it doesn't matter. ； There are also people who eat refined sugar every day, and the acne on their face disappears and reappears. This is actually a manifestation of chronic inflammation. These personalized problems cannot be covered by general immune-boosting programs. I used to have oral ulcers all the time. At first I thought it was a vitamin C deficiency, but I took supplements for more than half a year to no avail. Later I went for a check-up and found out that it was a zinc deficiency + long-term eating that increased the burden on the gastrointestinal tract. I later adjusted to lying down as much as possible before 12 o'clock every day, eating oysters twice a week, and deliberately chewing 10 times more during meals. Now I only get it once every three months. No matter how many supplements I take before, it is more effective.

The relationship between exercise and immunity that everyone has been arguing about before is very clear from the clinical data: the probability of upper respiratory tract infection among professional marathon runners during the season is 2-3 times higher than that of ordinary people, because after long-term high-intensity exercise, the immunity will have a "window period" of 3-72 hours, and the virus can easily take advantage of it.； However, if ordinary office workers perform moderate-intensity exercise for 40 minutes three times a week, whether it is brisk walking, yoga or weightlifting, the activity of immune cells can be increased by about 30% on average. To put it bluntly, the key is not to take the exam. If you work overtime until 10 o'clock today, don't force yourself to run 5 kilometers. Go home, soak your feet and go to bed early. It is much more effective than forcing exercise.

There is also great controversy over supplements. For example, is vitamin C useful? Previous research in The Lancet has made it clear that taking large doses of vitamin C (more than 1,000 mg) after a common cold will not shorten the course of the disease. However, if you usually eat less than a pound of fruits and vegetables a day, supplementing with a basic amount of 100 mg a day can indeed help maintain immune function. Don’t beat yourself to death without deification. As for the immunoglobulin that many people are hoarding, it is clinically intended for people with immune deficiencies and patients with severe infections. Ordinary people taking it will not improve their daily immunity at all. Instead, there is a risk of blood product transmission. There is no need to pay this IQ tax. Traditional Chinese medicine’s saying that “good qi exists and evil cannot be eliminated” is actually the same as what we talk about now about immune homeostasis. They are even more opposed to over-consumption, such as drinking iced milk tea every day in the summer and wearing ankle-exposed trousers to look good in the winter. In the long run, the spleen and stomach are weak, yang qi is insufficient, the entire body’s transportation ability is poor, and immunity cannot naturally increase. These experiences can actually correspond to the conclusions of modern medicine.

Oh, by the way, don’t believe those nonsense about “boosting immunity in 7 days”. The immune system’s renewal cycle is at least 3 months. If you stay up late today, it will take 3 days for the activity of immune cells to recover. If you stay up for a week in a row, it will take half a month to recover. This cannot be rushed. I have been adjusting myself for almost two years, and the biggest feeling is that good immunity is not about never getting sick, but getting better quickly when you get sick: before, the fever lasted for 3 days, but now it subsides in one day, and the feeling of fatigue does not drag on for a week, which is enough.

You really don’t need to make this matter too burdensome. You don’t need to clock in every day to count how many fruits and vegetables you eat and how many steps you take. Occasionally staying up late, eating hot pot and barbecue, etc., is totally fine. The immune system is not so delicate. Don’t overwork it for a long time. Give it enough room to repair, and it will adjust to its best condition on its own.