With virus cases still rising, you may be looking for ways to strengthen your immune system’s ability to fight and ward off illness. Medical experts agree that a healthy diet, adequate sleep, and daily exercise are a great start to keeping your immune system operating at it’s best. Add in stress-reducing practices like yoga, meditation, and box breathing, and you’re well on your way.

However, an essential factor in a fully supported immune system is your daily nutrition intake. Specific nutrients have been shown in studies to support your immune system by boosting your immune system cells’ integrity. Other nutrients have been shown to help reinforce your stomach’s protective mucosal barrier, making it harder for pathogens to breach your body.

In this blog post, I’ll reveal the different ways you can strengthen your body’s immune system through your nutrition. But first, let’s explore your body’s unique internal defense system.

A Multi-Layered Fighting Machine

How is it possible that we encounter harmful disease-causing pathogens like bacteria and viruses yet can live life without always getting sick every day?

Your immune system is a multi-layered network of cells, tissues, and organs that recognizes and neutralizes these daily threats. Just like a fighting army, your immune system deploys specialized defenses as needed.

First, it tries to intercept invading pathogens before they get into your body. If harmful viruses or pathogens manage a breach, your immune system springs into action and releases fighter cells to attack. And if your immune system reencounters a particular pathogen, it remembers and tailors its response, also known as immunity.

Your Innate & Adaptive Immune Systems

There are two branches of your immune system, your innate immune system, and your adaptive immune system.

You’re born with your innate immune system. It includes physical and chemical barriers like your skin and mucosal membranes plus specific white blood cells – leukocytes, dendritic, and natural killer cells.

An example of your innate immune system in action is when you get a cut and white blood cells fight off the bacteria, causing redness and swelling. Another example is your mucosal barrier filtering out harmful particles in the air that you inhale.

If your innate immune system fails and pathogens begin to spread throughout your body, your adaptive immune system kicks in. Your adaptive immune system evolves over your lifetime and has two characteristics: memory and specificity.

Specificity is the ability to target specific pathogens, and memory responds quickly to pathogens it has previously encountered. The classic example of adaptive immunity is your body creating antibodies to a virus.

Nutrition and Your Immune System

Like every system in your body, nutrition fuels your immune system. Healthy immune system cells rely on nourishment from the vitamins in foods you eat like zinc, vitamins B6, C, and E, among others. A healthy and balanced diet is crucial as evidence shows that micronutrient deficiency may alter the vigor of your immune system.

You may have heard that the majority of your immune system – up to 80% – lives in your gut. Your gut may be inside your body, but it’s also part of the barrier between your bloodstream and the outside environment.

Your gut deals with all the harmful microorganisms you ingest. Fortunately, your innate immune system includes a dynamic immune defense that helps prevent you from getting sick, called your mucosal immune system.

Boosting the vigor of your mucosal immune system are certain gut flora bacteria strains. These friendly bacteria in your gut microbiome have two essential jobs.

First, they communicate with your mucosal immune system cells and sound alarms when defenses are needed.

Second, they reinforce your gut lining, improving your body’s ability to absorb nutrients while blocking harmful bacteria and pathogens from leaking out into your body. This is why it’s so essential to have healthy colonies of good bacteria in your gut.

Now, if you’re like most people, relying solely on what you eat alone is not enough. Your immune system benefits from added nutrients that a standard diet just doesn’t include. Adding daily support supplements formulated to boost your immune system is the ideal way to keep it ready to defend you at a moment’s notice.

Dynamic Immunity

The first kind of supplement has the nutrients your immune system cells need to thrive. Stonehenge Health’s newly launched Dynamic Immunity is a blend of ten beneficial nutrients formulated to support your overall immune system health.

Vitamins C, E, B6, Zinc, plus L-Glutamine provide the vital daily nutrients that directly affect your body’s ability to make white blood cells and produce antibodies that create your immunity.

Dynamic Immunity also has powerhouse antioxidants Elderberry, Echinacea, Turmeric, and Garlic, all proven to boost white cell and antibody activity.

Dynamic Defense

The second kind of supplement supports your mucosal immune system with the right type of probiotics shown to reinforce your mucosal barrier.

Stonehenge Health’s Dynamic Defense is an advanced level, targeted approach to your immune system health – made with proven probiotic strains DE111®, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, and Bacillus coagulans. These powerful strains are known to populate and reinforce your mucosal barrier.

Dynamic Defense also contains PreforPro®, an active prebiotic that facilitates the rapid growth of helpful bacteria in your gut.

While Dynamic Defense primarily supports the health of your mucosal immune system, its benefits can be greatly enhanced by pairing it with specialized cell support from Dynamic Immunity.

Dynamic Immunity and Dynamic Defense form a comprehensive approach for your immune system that may have a profound effect on your overall health and well-being. Keeping your immune system strong is the best way to be ready for whatever blows your way.

Sources:

1. Aryal, Sagar, Sarah Adilah, Tamalika Pal, Unoh Gabriella, warrent simalili, Benjamin Atiku, Michael Dillon, and SARAH ADILAH. 2016. “Difference Between Innate And Adaptive Immunity”. Microbiology Info.Com. microbiologyinfo.com/difference-between-innate-and-adaptive-immunity
2. Eugene. 2021. “Your Gut Is The Cornerstone Of Your Immune System | Health24”. Health24. news24.com/health24/Medical/Flu/Preventing-flu/your-gut-is-the-cornerstone-of-your-immune-system-20160318#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20your%20g
3. Gerwyn Morris, Yolanda Sanz and Michael Maes. 2016. “The Role Of Microbiota And Intestinal Permeability In The Pathophysiology Of Autoimmune And Neuroimmune Processes With An Emphasis On Inflammatory Bowel Disease Type 1 Diabetes And Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”. Current Pharmaceutical Design 22 (40): 6058-6075. eurekaselect.com/145540/article