Your immune system may be compromised in many ways. Here are some reasons your body may not jump to attack an infection or disease they way you think it should.
It sounds a bit technical, but when you look at your immune system as a complex machine, which it is, you are more likely to take care of and fine tune it. You would put oil in your car if it needed it, wouldn’t you? The same premise applies here. You have to care for your body just as you would any other appliance or other object that belongs to you (that you care about).
If you don’t care for your body and perform maintenance checks (annual physicals) you are more likely to develop illnesses that you might have been able to prevent. Your doctor may find something comes up in your blood tests that you may not have known had you not visited the doctor to begin with.
Remember, you may engage in only one or two of these habits, but they will still impact your immune system negatively. Some people will fall ill even if their immune systems are attacked minimally, a result of one or two poor habits. Here are some examples:
- You eat too much fast food or incorporate too much saturated fat into your diet. Fat can clog your arteries, contribute to type II diabetes and increase the total body fat you carry around with you.
- You rarely exercise, and when you do you do so half-heartedly, or you over do it, which can cause you to become ill rather than prevent illness. Sometimes more is better; however, more is not better if you exercise to the point where you over train your muscles and body. You need to give your body a break, especially between strength training sessions, so you are able to fight against disease.
- You thrive on stress, which sends levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) through the roof, which can result in general malaise or illness. Stress is a killer. In fact, stress can lead to heart attacks, high blood pressure, anger and aggression, depression and many other disorders. The less stressed you are the better your body will be at fighting disease.
- You don’t sleep enough, which also changes the hormone levels in your body. This inspires you to eat more and increases your susceptibility to common colds or infections. You may gain weight, which also puts you at risk for diseases like type II diabetes.
- You sleep too much, which doesn’t allow your body the physical activity it needs to get going and perform at its best. It IS important to sleep. However, if you find you sleep more than 10 hours each day, you may have a health problem. You should consult with your doctor. Most people do well when they sleep 6-8 hours each day, preferably closer to the 7 to 8
- You don’t eat enough or you eat too much, so your body doesn’t receive the fuel it needs to fight disease. The good news is you don’t have to deprive yourself of all the luxuriant foods in life to be healthy; you just have to use a practical approach, one that encourages moderation in all things. When you deprive yourself of food for too long, your body goes into starvation mode. This actually slows DOWN your metabolism, meaning you will gain weight even if you eat less portions than you have in the past.
You can skimp on many things in life. You can skimp on extra cheese; you can try spending a little less money. One thing you must invest in however, is your health. When your health is good, you feel good. When you feel good, you can do almost anything your heart desires.
Now it’s time to learn the steps you have to take to ensure your wellness. If you follow the steps provided in the following articles, you will be well on your way to a happy, healthy and bountiful future. Are you ready to take on the challenge? Then keep reading (I hope you said yes) to find out what you need to do to take on the world with health and with vigor.
