What Are The Causes of a Weak Immune System?
Your immune system is your best friend because you will become sick less often, have more energy, be in a better mood, and be happier, in general, with your life. But when you treat it unfairly, whether you mean it or not, then sadly you will pay the price. In some instances, it can be deadly (like cancer) if the abuse is persistent.
When you have a better understanding of the causes of a weak immune system, then you will be able to avoid these causes if you elect to make this choice. So let’s delve into them:
Here are Common Causes of Weak Immune System
-The immune system and stress. Stress can be invigorating and give us a purpose to continue living in order to keep us busy and resolve whatever challenges we encounter in our life. But too much of it (a.k.a. chronic stress) can be detrimental to our health-- including the immune function.
-Consuming artificial foods or fake foods can be as damaging as sleep deprivation. Sugar and your immune system don’t get along very well; therefore, the consequences are going to be destructive to your health and your immune function.
-Are you diversified? Consuming less diversified food means you are depriving your body including the health of your immune system and many other nutrients that the body needs for normal maintenance. Don’t consume only chicken or beef. But rather have a variety of animal meats such as a wild game like elk, caribou, or bison. The same thing goes for poultry-- and eat wild turkey, cornish duck, or goose meat whenever you can. The same thing goes with diversifying the consumption of plant foods such as legumes, tubers, leafy greens, grains, and mushrooms.
-Chronic sleep deprivation: The immune system and sleep work together so if you are deprived of sleep, then your immune system will suffer sooner or later. Please make sure you read “How sleep can have a positive or negative impact on your immune system.” That way you will have a better understanding of how much your sleep matters to you.
-Environmental Toxins and the Immune System. Toxic chemicals are pretty much everywhere--in houses and in the environment such as contaminations in drinking water (ex., fluoride, chlorine, antibiotics), perfumes, pesticides, air fresheners in homes and offices. Let us not forget the electro-magnetic pollution which can put stress on the human body, and that includes the health of the immune system.
-Does exercise affect the immune system? If you perform physical training, then that’s wonderful. However, are you exercising excessively? If you are, then you are probably weakening your immune system.
-Connection of Allergies and the Immune System is a reality that is more of an immune disorder leading to allergies. Just look around you--there are so many people who have some type of autoimmune disease and allergies which are symptoms where the immune system is reacting inappropriately and is out of balance. But when someone has an allergy or several allergies to different types of foods, pollen, makeup, wool fabric, etc., then probably the immune system is functioning in an abnormal manner.
-Pharmaceutical medicinal effects on the immune system is something you should be aware of--in particular, many of the anti-inflammatory medicines (ex., steroids, and other drugs) which suppress the immune system. Unfortunately, these pharmaceutical drugs don’t deal with the cause, but only with symptoms and at the same time suppresses the immune function where it can not deal with the problem.
I know this might sound very difficult to deal with all these weak immune system causes, but you should not panic or feel overwhelmed by your thoughts. I do however encourage you to take one step at a time by changing your lifestyle to a better way. Don’t postpone things to accomplish them later, and then you eventually will realize later never comes in your life. After all, it is your health and wellbeing you are investing in--so start changing and avoiding these harmful factors gradually, and follow a pace that you can handle with ease.
