The changes of the past few years have many of us reassessing our priorities, including our wellbeing and what it really looks like to be in good health and live well.
It’s no surprise that a well functioning immune system will keep us strong and healthy, but the trouble is, there is so much noise when it comes to what to eat and how to stay well. So, I reached out to Nutritional Therapist, Kelly Gleeson for her two cents on the role of the immune system, how food impacts our immune health, and what steps we can take to support our wellbeing.
I really loved speaking with Kelly. We share the same belief around personalized eating and agree that there is no one set of foods or lifestyle that is right for everybody. Kelly is a fountain of knowledge. I hope you’ll incorporate some of her wisdom into your day to day because it really is all about making those small, yet effective long lasting changes.
QUESTION: This might seem like a basic question but for those who don’t know, what exactly is the immune system and why is it so important?
KELLY: I like to think about the immune system as a surveillance team inside your body, always on the lookout for potential threats that could be infectious, or compromising to your health. So, this could be exogenous, for example things you ingest like chemicals from food or skin care products. This could also be viral, passed on from another person, or on the other hand it may be endogenous, like cancer cells for example. Your immune system will identify any harm, neutralize the affected cells and then repair any damage caused.
What is really important is for the immune system to be as precise as possible, because if it underperforms it might result in a pathogen taking hold, leading to a cold or bacterial infection. And then on the other end of the scale, if your immune system overperforms for a long period of time it may lead to chronic inflammation, or autoimmunity - which is an overactive immune system.
There are in fact two branches to the immune system:
The Innate immune system: This is our first line defense, which includes the mucous membranes on your throat, your nasal passage and stomach acid, responsible for removing the onset of any pathogen.
The Adaptive immune system: This system is constantly learning as we go through life. There is an argument for younger children to be outside and playing in the earth and dirt, exposing themselves to this world of microbes, which in turn helps the immune system learn and defend against various pathogens. And having this exposure is said to increase immunity later in life.
QUESTION: With everything we’ve faced over the past two years it feels like a lot of people are still living on ‘high alert’. What’s your thoughts when it comes to stress and a well functioning immune system?
KELLY: It’s so much easier said than done but if you can control your stress levels your health will improve. The thing is, the stress response in the body overtakes everything else and like the immune system you also have two parts to the nervous system.
The parasympathetic nervous system: which is your rest and digest state- where we want to spend most of our time.
The sympathetic nervous system: This is referred to as the fight or flight response.
When you’re stressed and producing lots of cortisol and adrenaline your body is being told that there is an immediate threat and it goes into survival mode to support you to overcome the perceived danger. In hindsight this is great but, the trouble is that it has not caught up to modern day, where we are no longer running away from wild animals and instead sitting in an office, stressed about the five million, unrealistic deadlines we have due by tomorrow.
AND, when we’re in a state of fight or flight other systems in the body are naturally compromised, because it takes A LOT of energy to produce all of these hormones and to get our cardiovascular system pumping, to outrun that wild animal.
So, if all of our energy is going into helping you defend yourself, it makes logical sense for your immune system to slow down - why put energy into keeping your immune white blood cells up at a time like this. Your body must choose one or the other, leaving you more susceptible to infection.
One last thing I’ll mention is that the immune system is not the only thing compromised when operating in fight or flight. Your digestion will shut down too. Experiencing dry mouth or having little to no saliva is very common, because again why would your body waste time when you’re in immediate danger.
QUESTION: What other factors negatively impact the immune system?
KELLY: Well, there is a few things I’d take into consideration and they are:
Microbial exposure
How has your immune system developed throughout your life? The more exposure you have had to different microbes will have had a positive effect on your adaptive immune system, making you less prone to different infections.
Stress
When you’re operating in fight or flight your immune system is going to be put on the back burner. What small changes can you incorporate to reduce day to day stress?
Smoking
Taking in chemicals from smoking will reduce the antioxidant load in your body. It takes a LARGE number of antioxidants to neutralize these chemicals entering your lungs and body. This can result in inflammation, which is a reaction from your immune system as it tries to protect itself.
Poor Sleep
We all know we should be getting 7-9 hours of shut eye per night. Poor quality sleep can reduce the production of our immune cells. Sleep is so, so fundamental, not only to the immune system but to all systems in the body. Many imbalances in the body can start going the right direction by just getting enough sleep!
Heavy Metals
Eating a variety of foods is so good for your health and just because some foods are said to contain heavy metals does not mean you should eliminate them from your diet altogether. Instead, think about the source and the quality and opt for organic when appropriate.
When choosing supplements containing fish look for high quality providers and see if the company has incorporated mercury testing.
Arsenic is a heavy metal found in rice. I always wash rice, even when organic, to wash away any extra residue.
QUESTION: One of the hardest things for people when it comes to health advice is putting it into practice. Can you recommend some foods to consider bringing into our diet and how they will benefit us?
KELLY: A huge amount of our immune system resides in the gut, (up to 70% in fact). We all have patches of this thing called GALT (gut associated lymphoid tissue). This tissue is found in our small intestine, large intestine, appendix and even in our esophagus. And these are the bases where immune cells are made.
So, when it comes to immune health, an easy way to think about it is - that any diet or food that will be supportive to your gut health will be supportive to your immune system, because of this tissue.
From a food perspective I recommend introducing fermented foods with naturally occurring probiotics. These are the live bacteria that populate our gut and keep us healthy, keeping pathogens at bay.
Sauerkraut, kimchi and miso paste are excellent sources of probiotics. I use miso paste as a base for stir-frys or in a dressing, and then if you consume dairy I'd recommend adding kefir into your diet.
Specific nutrients that will support your immune system are Vitamin C, A, D and zinc.
I also personally use Elderberry and Echinacea to fight off a cold or flu. What’s amazing is that these plants can actually penetrate into the cell a virus is hijacking and stop it from replicating. These are best for the onset of an infection.
QUESTION: Are there any foods that can suppress the immune system?
KELLY: These might sound very typical but any food that can harm the lining of our gut is something to be conscious of.
Refined sugars found in cereals, pastries and confectionery sweets. Not only will they affect your immune system but can lead to blood sugar dysregulation.
Excessive alcohol may cause damage to both the liver and the gut, suppressing the immune system.
Processed meats are something to watch in your diet, because deli meats contain something called nitrates which may suppress the immune system too.
Food Additives are another big one, popular additives found in energy drinks and sweets are very inflammatory and damaging to our gut health.
I’d love to highlight that these foods in moderation are okay. You have to live, remember!
QUESTION: I’m a big believer in small changes for big impact. If you could pick one thing for people to do on a daily/weekly basis to support their health what would that be?
KELLY: I found it hard to narrow down one thing, so I’m going to share both a dietary and lifestyle recommendation.
When it comes to diet, my advice is to broaden your palate. Discover new foods. If that just means adding one new vegetable to your weekly shop, that’s enough. If there is a recipe you regularly cook, have a look at what you can add to that dish and before you know it you’ll have five or six more vegetables on your shopping list, adding more nutrients and fibre to your diet.
My second suggestion is to spend more time outdoors and switch off. Can you find a moment each morning to get out in the sunlight (even if it’s not sunny). This will help balance your circadian rhythm, raising your levels of serotonin and cortisol earlier in the day and then allowing melatonin to increase later on, which will help you sleep better.
By finding a moment to ground yourself early in the morning it will do so much to set you up for the rest of the day.
QUESTION: Last question and my favourite one! Can you share a nutrition fact you believe should be common sense but isn't?
KELLY: More people may be aware of this now than before but, I often find myself addressing the taboo around fats. And here it is - good fats don’t make you fat!
There is such a drive for people to avoid fat when focusing on weight loss or improving health. A great example of this is Slimming World. Yes, saturated fats which are inflammatory do exist but, we also have the good fats.
We all need good quality Omega 3 fatty acids in our diet (even if weight loss is a goal).
And here is why: every single cell in our body has an outer membrane made of fats (Phospholipids). If we exclude fat from our diet, these cells are impacted and can’t signal properly.
Fats are vital, for our brain, for our eyes and our nervous system.
So I’ll finish by saying don’t exclude your Omega 3’s. Eat plenty of avocado, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, seeds and fish.
About Kelly
Kelly Gleeson is a Nutritional Therapist who trained with the College of Naturopathic Medicine and is based in Cork, Ireland. She is founder of Kelly Gleeson Nutrition and also practices out of The Natural Clinic in Cork city.
Fascinated by the medicinal qualities of plants and food, Kelly uses nutritional therapy as a method of supporting the whole body and getting to the root cause of symptoms. Kelly works with clients through both face to face and online consultations. You can find more information about Kelly on her website or follow her on Instagram.
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