The idea that we can somehow boost our immune system’s natural response is, to say the least: enticing. Especially now, in winter, with the impending dual-threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and seasonal influenza. “What if I improve my diet?” people say. “What if I take special vitamins?” “What if I exercise more?” Countless bloggers, tabloids, pills, herbalists, armchair researchers, and beverage conglomerates seem so confident in their promised methods of improving immune functioning. But the ability to actually, factually do so?
It’s eluded scientists for years.
There are several reasons why: For one, the immune system is just that: a system, not a single entity. It’s incredibly complex – emerging from interactions between specialized immune cells and the rest of the “normal” cells in our body. And for it to function well, all parts must be in balance. Second, it’s challenging to detangle the exact effects of disturbances to those systems, as a change in the functioning of one tends to cause cascading changes in the others. For now, there are no scientifically-proven direct links between lifestyle and increased immune function.
However, that’s not to say this still isn’t a fascinating line of inquiry. Diet, exercise, age, drug consumption, psychological stress, and other factors do have measurable effects on the immune responses of humans and non-human animals. It’s just that, for the most part, changes in these factors tend to affect immune functioning negatively.
That’s a bit confusing, huh? The immune system – a network designed to fight infection and preserve our health – is itself unimprovable?
It seems so counterintuitive. After all, we see our bodies growing new muscles and healing old wounds every day. We intuitively expect all bodily systems to have this capacity, and behave this way. But we’re so accustomed to using simple “growth” as a measure for improvement in functioning that we fail to appreciate the sheer complexity of our immune system, and the many reasons why “growth” is an inappropriate measure of immune health.
In reality: the concept of boosting immunity makes little sense. In fact, growing the number of cells in your body – immune cells, or otherwise – is not necessarily a good thing. Muscle cell growth? Brain cell growth? Good things, to be sure. But on the other hand, all cancers result from out-of-control cell growth. And athletes who engage in “blood doping” – that is, pumping fresh blood into their systems to boost performance – frequently suffer strokes as a result.
Furthermore, so many different cells participate in the immune system: we wouldn’t even know where to begin. Which cell counts would we target and increase? And by how much? Unsuccessful tampering with comparatively simple bodily systems often results in injury or death – it’s hard to imagine anything but worse outcomes from messing around with our immune cell counts.
So, what can I do to boost my immune system above base levels? Nothing. And anyone claiming it’s possible is a quack. Instead, ask yourself this: what am I currently doing that’s making my immune system so much worse?
There are plenty of answers to that question. But three behaviors, in particular, have an outsized negative effect on immune system functioning: smoking, drinking to excess, and sleep deprivation. And there’s so much research on this; it’s not even funny.
Of course, this should come as no surprise. After all: smoking and sleep deprivation are two of the most damaging we can do to our bodies overall. And while 1-2 glasses of wine or beer every day have proven anti-inflammatory health benefits – hard liquor and the accompanying dependence and addiction – has been proven to suppress a wide range of immune responses and is associated with an increased incidence of several infectious diseases.
It’s understandable that the immune system – which itself relies on the proper functioning of several other major body systems – would suffer when one or more systems fail. In this case, it comes down to bodily maintenance at the cellular level. Simply put: sleep has the most significant restorative impact on our bodies’ cells, while drinking and smoking tend to kill more cells than just about anything else we do. So naturally, it follows that immune system functioning decreases most when cells are dying more rapidly than the body can repair or replace them.
And that’s it. No shortcuts. No superfoods. No special vitamins. There is simply nothing additional you can do – neither in advance nor response – to improve your immune response. It’s only as healthy and robust as the rest of your body at large. So if you are feeling under the weather? A good night’s sleep remains your very best bet for beating the sniffles.
