Sick Note
We are all striving to be healthier, but with a myriad of old wives tales and health fads getting in the way it’s difficult to know where to start. So, we asked a Doctor to point us in the right direction.
By Dr. Jenna Macciochi
Dr. Jenna Macciochi is a no-nonsense immunologist from the University of Sussex and author of ‘The Science of Staying Well’. We asked her about how the immune system really works, and what we should really be mindful of when it comes to health.
What is the immune system really, and how does it actually work?
The immune system is made up of a spectrum of different parts throughout our body and it communicates together to keep us healthy. It’s the barriers in our bodies - our airways, our digestive tract - as well as the microbiome or balance of different microbes that call those passageways home, and also a whole constellation of white blood cells that aren’t only in our blood but in every tissue and organ in our body. It’s constantly working in the background - making our muscles stronger when we work out, supporting successful pregnancies, healing and repairing us day in and day out from the wear and tear of life, and it’s our main cancer surveillance system. It also contains receptors for the communication molecules for other systems in the body so they’re in constant cross talk - they contain receptors for neurotransmitters, the stress hormones like cortisol, sex hormones, and endorphins (the feel good molecules!).
How is it connected to the mind?
The immune system can sense what we are doing in our daily lives and the emotions we’re feeling so that it can respond accordingly. The stress response is often considered to be a mental response, but it actually also has a major impact on our physical body. When we get stressed, no matter how big or small the stressor is, our immune system turns down or even switches off so that our energy can be spent to protect us from whatever is causing the stress response to be activated. If stress patterns and responses are repeated over time and the immune system continues to get the turn down signal, you may be more susceptible to illnesses and flare ups of chronic illnesses or dormant viruses. Your immune system can also instruct your brain to change your behavior! If you’ve ever been sick with the flu for example, you feel tired, lethargic, you may lose your appetite, feel depressed and socially withdrawn. This is all caused by your immune system instructing your brain to change your behavior so that you can heal. And as we just discussed, your brain can also change the behavior of your immune system when it senses stress.
Our immune system is constantly working in the background - making our muscles stronger when we work out, supporting successful pregnancies, healing and repairing us day in and day out from the wear and tear of life, and it’s our main cancer surveillance system.It is also very smart - it recognises when you’re feeling good, when you’re working out, when you’re angry, when you have strong emotions, when you’re doing different things around your day - it basically prepares you for all these different things. This means that we have multidisciplinary input that we need to seek when it comes to our health. But of course, it’s hard to be well in the modern world and it's easy to drop into poor habits.
“Your immune system is built on many pillars that need to be considered together, not one at a time. Sleep, movement and food are all really important.”
Do we all have the same immune system?
There is inherent diversity in our immune systems - your immune system is different from your parents which is by design so that we all respond to infections in different ways to help prevent complete population wipe out from disease. This genetic component makes up 20-30% of your immune system, and the rest is built from birth. From the moment we enter the world there is this ‘immune education’ that takes place and shapes our immune system, telling it how and where it should respond.
The majority of the education takes place before we are 5 years old and is guided by the microbes in the environment we come in contact with which start to colonise us and live on us and inside of us. On the other end, our immunity also generally declines with age. This is partially as a result of a gland in our chest called the thymus which starts to atrophy in our 20’s and is a key player in our immunity. Moving your muscles and doing resistance based exercises can result in our muscles producing a molecule that will stimulate and rejuvenate the thymus gland, so a fit and healthy 70 year old can have the thymus gland similar to someone in their 20’s!
Jenna combines nutrition, exercise, sleep and mental health in her book ‘Immunity: The Science Of Staying Well’
As an expert in this field, what do you do at home to protect your kids immune system and what tips can we borrow?
Rhythm and routine can be both freeing and anchoring so I’m creating this with my kids daily. I keep it loose and fluid but have a plan and integrate movement into activities throughout our day - I create blocks in our day and switch it up from sitting to activity. We get outside as often as we can, even to our garden. My top recommendation is to hack your day to move because it’s so easy to skip out and not do any - start your day off right! Movement is key in keeping our immune system healthy, and it's important to move throughout the day so quit the gym and just move all day.
It's also easy to overeat if you’re at home, and both over consuming or under consuming calories are detrimental to your immune system so find a balance in your calorie consumption and consider sticking to meals rather than constant snacking. This also helps keep blood sugar stable which in turn supports your immune system. Make something from nothing - cook for yourself! This is one skill my mother emphasised in the kitchen, and I’m enjoying exploring new recipes to nourish myself and my family.
The value of washing your hands is fundamental to improving public health globally, and is a simple way to support your health, so my children have really learnt this well during this time. Sleep, movement and food are all really important when looking at our health and well being and need to be considered together, not one at a time. The human condition makes us want to look for the silver bullet, the one solution, but it doesn’t really exist if you’re not nailing the basics. Maintaining a general level of health for life is the best way to prepare for any disruption of your microbes!
Want to hear more?
This interview is an excerpt from our Podcast the quiet life, to listen to the full episode click the link below.
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