Immune system is your body’s “fight club” which defends you from unforeseen and present health complications, if any. In simple terms, this numero uno defense mechanism is programmed by nature to protect you from falling sick. However, “old wires don’t last long,” as they say, so does your immune system. The biggest factor? AGE. Having said that, few of us commit some lifestyle mistakes which speed up the process of immune system weakening as we age.
If you don’t want to age your immune system faster or stay bed-ridden and eventually die with some lifetime or chronic disease, you would want to discard these 7 bad habits.
Specific medications
If you’re a frequent consumer of chronic pain relievers, your doctor would have considered the effects on your immune system and counterbalanced with other medications or shortened the term. However, if this is not the case, you’re certainly weakening your defense mechanism compared to one who takes pain relievers occasionally. Pain medications like steroids and NSAIDs can damage your intestinal lining and cause leaky gut syndrome, which is characterized by increased intestinal permeability. As a result, infections and undigested particles of food can make their way through the intestinal wall and into your body, which then stresses the immune system and decreases its ability to function properly.
Antacids
Antacid is used generally to neutralize stomach acidity. People normally pop in an antacid when they suffer from gastritisor acidity or a burning sensation in stomach. But antacids primarily pose danger to your gut and its lining where most of the immune cells reside. They disturb your stomach’s pH level, leading to risk of infection due to improper sterilization of food. Moreover, they cause vitamin deficiencies, making your immune system starve for essential nutrients to stay healthy.
Antibiotics
If you’re a frequent sufferer of urinary tract infection or any other chronic infection, taking antibiotics could be unavoidable for you. But you can always ask your doctor for alternative medications and probiotics to ensure you don’t fall short of good bacteria which may get killed by antibiotics along with bad bacteria.
Detoxes
The more popular they are getting these days, the more people are suffering from nutritional imbalance, which is certainly bad for immune system health. Juice cleanses did catch the limelight of detoxes, however, they are friendly to your defense mechanism if kept in moderation. Restrictive diets, comparatively, deplete certain nutrients or overdose them, reason why you should have a complete diet that provides different nutrients to your body.
Too much alcohol
You don’t need an explanation for this. Binge drinking puts a brake on the production of white and red blood cells in your bone marrow, which enfeebles your immune system as a result. Keep it to two drinks while going without drinking for a few days together.
In loneliness
Researchers have studied loneliness to be a factor for change in the immune system. 20% Americans are chronically lonely according to a study by University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), which is quite serious as it increases the risk of disease. Loneliness is a psychological issue which may not necessarily result from absence of people. Community events, therapy and as simple as regular communication can help control loneliness, and boost your immune system.
Frequent trips
If you travel to different destinations quite frequently, your immune system is always taking guard to fight off new germs and bacteria which are not otherwise found in your routine environment. This is very tiring for your immune system, as well as deranged eating and sleeping habits and different pollutants. Try to be on your normal routine as much possible and beware of any water or food cautions when traveling.
If you’re sick every other week, it may well be an indication of weakened immune system, and any of the above seven reasons be the culprit. However, besides discontinuing them, you should seek appropriate treatment from your physician.
Featured photo credit: NIAID via flickr.com
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