7 Habits That Are Leaving You Wide Open To Sickness | Men's Health Magazine Australia

7 Habits That Are Leaving You Wide Open To Sickness

 

Lack of sleep, too much stress, a crazy work schedule – it’s common knowledge that none of this is great for your health. But what about that new diet you’re on? Or even the medication you take? Turns out, you may be chipping away at your immune system without even knowing it. The good news: a few lifestyle tweaks can help you rebuild your body’s defences against illness, infection and disease. Check out these seven ways you’re making your immune system weaker – and how to fix them.

 

1. You pop antacids

In addition to the lymph nodes in the neck, most of our immune system – 70 per cent of it, in fact – resides in the gut in the form of lymphoid tissue along the entire digestive tract. Therefore, according to Dr Susan Blum, author of The Immune System Recovery Plan, it’s important to try to avoid things that damage the gut immune system, which will harm the overall immune system.

 

Taking antacids – particularly the stronger prescription kinds – could have a negative effect on your immune system for a number of reasons. Blum explains that some antacids absorb acid, but the stronger prescription ones – called proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) – actually alter the pH of your stomach, which is supposed to be incredibly acidic in order to sterilise all the food you eat. When your stomach can’t properly sterilise your food, you end up bringing more infections into your body, which places additional stress on the immune system in your gut. One Mayo Clinic study found that people who regularly take PPIs have less diversity in their gut bacteria and are at increased risk of illnesses, including pneumonia.

 

Another problem is that some vitamin deficiencies have been associated with taking PPIs, and it’s hypothesised that this is because certain nutrients aren’t properly absorbed in a low-acid environment. Blum says that people taking PPIs long-term tend to be deficient in nutrients such as B12, zinc, vitamin C and iron, and these deficiencies can wind up impairing the immune system.

 

What to do Blum cautions against taking antacids for longer than three months, and suggests addressing your underlying symptoms by trying an elimination diet: cutting out potentially triggering foods and then reintroducing them one at a time to determine, and then subsequently eliminate, the ones that are causing the reflux.

 

2. You take certain pain medications

In addition to antacids, Blum says that some pain medications like steroids and NSAIDs can damage your intestinal lining and cause leaky gut syndrome, which is characterised 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.

 

What to do Blum points out that chronic, not occasional, use is most likely to cause problems. But remember that “chronic” isn’t just daily pill-popping: it means routinely taking pain medication several times a week or in any kind of regular way.

 

3. You’re on antibiotics

Antibiotics can also contribute to a weakened immune system, says family and holistic medicine specialist Dr Shilpi Agarwal.

 

Any regular, ongoing use of antibiotics “can be really damaging to the intestinal lining,” says Agarwal. Being on these medications for too long can wipe out both the unhealthy and healthy bacteria in the gut. When healthy bacteria are not present to protect the intestinal lining, she explains, the weakened barrier allows toxins to be reabsorbed, resulting in a weakened immune system.

 

What to do If you frequently come down with UTIs or other chronic infections, Agarwal recommends exploring alternatives to antibiotics. For example, in the case of a UTI, she suggests talking to your doctor about trying vitamin C or cranberry supplements, which will acidify the urine, making it harder for bacteria to survive.

 

4. You binge drink

Chronic binge drinking suppresses bone marrow production of red and white blood cells, says Agarwal, which, over time, will hurt your immune system.

 

What to do You don’t have to give up drinking altogether, but try alternating alcoholic beverages with sparkling water with lime to space out the booze and rehydrate.

 

5. You’re a fan of juice cleanses

Sometimes even your efforts at healthy eating could wind up backfiring. Agarwal finds that people who are on any sort of extreme diet that’s very low-carb or very energy-restricted tend to get sick more often. She believes that’s because these diets are lacking in certain vitamins and minerals like zinc, selenium and magnesium that you get from eating well-balanced meals. You can have a greater risk of getting sick even from following popular diets like Paleo, South Beach and Atkins or doing frequent juice cleanses, she says. 

 
What to do If you’re eating well-rounded meals, adding a green juice won’t hurt. “But it’s the people who are constantly doing these juice cleanses to slim down and lose weight fast that really miss out on a lot of vital nutrients,” she says. Focus on balanced meals that include healthy fats, she says, which research shows are good for the skin and the immune system.

 

6. You travel a lot for business

Agarwal sees a lot of women who travel for work who report feeling chronically run-down and having a lowered immune system. The main reason, she says, is that they’re being exposed to germs and pollutants that their bodies aren’t used to on planes and in hotels. But other factors, like not getting enough rest, straying from your regular diet and being out of your routine also take a toll on your immune system.

 

What to do Agarwal advises her patients to try to maintain as much routine as possible even when on a trip. Since exercise boosts immunity, make sure to move for at least 15 -20 minutes a day. And try your hardest to eat well; pack your carry-on with healthy, immune-boosting snacks like tangerines, mixed nuts or even dark chocolate, which is a good source of magnesium. 

 

7. You’re lonely

Studies show that chronic loneliness, for periods of many months or years, could wreak havoc on your immune system and put you at risk of a host of diseases. And chronic loneliness is more widespread than you might expect. Genomics researcher Steve Cole estimates that 20 per cent of men feel a “persistent, protracted sense of significant loneliness or isolation from others, detachment from the rest of humanity.”

 

Chronic loneliness, Cole explains, actually changes people’s immune system biology, causing their cells to show increased expression of genes involved in inflammation and decreased expression of genes involved in defending against viral infections.

 

What to do How Cole defines loneliness in his studies may surprise you. “It’s possible to be lonely in a room full of people and, conversely, to feel connected with other people even when they’re not around, like our friends and family in distant cities,” he says. So rather than looking at the state of being physically isolated from other people, he measures the feeling of being detached from the rest of humanity. 

 

Because of this, simply making social plans or forcing yourself to interact with others isn’t likely to get to the root of the problem. To decrease loneliness, it’s necessary to foster a sense of safety around others to get rid of the insecurity or fear that causes feelings of isolation.

 

While this is definitely a complex issue to address, he says there’s some evidence that stress-reduction practices like meditation, mindfulness and yoga, even though they don’t specifically target loneliness, can wind up reducing it by helping people to feel more at peace with their experiences and emotional states, and more secure and connected with others. Consequently, these practices have been shown to have a favourable impact on the immune system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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