Lifestyle and Immune System

Kavitha Reddy Ph.D.

sreyanutrition@gmail.com

The lifestyle we adhere to determines the quality of our life. If we maintain a healthy
lifestyle, we may not be able to prevent all the diseases but we definitely can reduce the risk
of several chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disorders, hypertension and certain types
of cancers. Healthy lifestyle increases longevity and quality of life.

Diseases such as diabetes and hypertension are generally termed as lifestyle diseases
because if the lifestyle followed is healthy the risk of these diseases decreases. Hence the
term lifestyle diseases came into existence.

The type of diet we consume and physical activity levels we maintain are the main
parameters that determine what sort of lifestyle we are following.

Lifestyle has mainly two aspects to it

• Diet
• Physical activity (Exercise)

Immune system

Immune system is our defence system which has the ability to fight against or get rid of
foreign organisms or abnormal cells or substances that have the potential to cause harm to
us. Immune system is the entire network of cells, tissues that works together to protect us
from any harm from outside or inside the body. Link - How Important is Immune System to
Us?

Lifestyle and immune system

Let us see if these two components of lifestyle that is diet consumed and physical activity
have anything to do with immune system and the way it functions.

Diet and immune system

A balanced diet containing adequate amount of all the nutrients goes a long way in building
a strong immune system (1). Protein plays an important role in the immune system for
example antibodies are nothing but proteins. Antibodies are the ammunition our immune
system releases to fight attack by foreign substances.
Diet plays an important role in the effective functioning of immune system. Several
components such as antioxidants, micronutrients and adaptogens contribute towards
efficient working of immune system.

Antioxidants: Immune system cells like any other cells in the body require oxygen radicals
for metabolic and physiological processes. The free radical production and their inactivation
via antioxidants has to be balanced for good health. If there is an imbalance because of lack
of antioxidants it may lead to deterioration in the immune cells because of oxygen stress (2).

Cells that use oxygen for their functions and release reactive oxygen species also develop an
intricate antioxidant linked defence system to counteract the free radicals. Due to aging or
for any other reason if the free radical concentration increases the immune function may be
affected.

A strong immune system is an indicator of good health and predictor of longevity of life.
Therefore, adequate amounts of dietary antioxidant supplementation would have beneficial
effect in correcting or preventing the imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in the
immune system cells (2).

Micronutrients such as vitamin E, vitamin C, iron, zinc, selenium and copper are dietary
antioxidants. Link – Role of Dietary Antioxidants in Immune System Function

Adaptogens: These are biologically active substances from herbs which have therapeutically
beneficial effect on the body including the immune systems (3).

Here are some adaptogens with medicinal value which have been used for a long time.
Withania somnifera also known as Ashwagandha (Indian Ginseng) whose root is used as an
adaptogen. It was observed that they have immune-stimulatory effects. Azadirachta indica
is commonly known as Neem Zingiber, has immunomodulatory effect (4). Taking
adaptogens as dietary supplements also would boost the immune system. Link –
Adaptogens and immunity

Physical activity and immune system

Physical activity is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. After looking at the evidence
on whether nutrition and physical activity have any influence on improving immune
function it was suggested that regular moderate physical activity has a beneficial effect (5).
It was observed that this improvement of immune function was especially seen in the area
of upper respiratory tract infection in the general population. Whereas it was observed from
the evidence that though not confirmed resistance exercise may act as an effective adjuvant
to vaccination.
Regular exercise improves immune competency as observed in human vaccination studies
that show increase in response to bacterial and viral antigens after and exercise session (6).
It was concluded that acute exercise does not suppress immune system but actually
improves immune competency during life time.

A healthy lifestyle that comprises of a balanced diet which also includes elements that boost
immunity and regular physical activity goes a long way in building one’s resistance to
invasion by infections.

References

1. Kafeshani, M. (2015) Diet and immune system, Immunopathol Persa. Vol. 1 (1).
http://immunopathol.com/Article/ipp-4

2. Fuente, D. L. M. (2002) Effects of antioxidants on immune system ageing, European

Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Vol. 56(3).
https://www.nature.com/articles/1601476.pdf?origin=ppub

3. Jawaid, T., Tewari, N. and Verma, L. (2011) ADAPTOGENIC AGENTS: A REVIEW,

International Journal of Biomedical Research. Vol. 2 (5).
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271721931_ADAPTOGENIC_AGENTS_A_
REVIEW

4. Ray, A., Gulati, K. and Anand, R. (2016) Stress, adaptogens and their evaluation: An
overview, J Pharma Reports. Vol. 1(110).
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d175/eee7e9c43f3cec94634965ec548f7b1d5b47.p
df

5. Davison, G., Kehaya, C. and Wyn Jones, A. (2014) Nutritional and Physical Activity
Interventions to Improve Immunity, American journal of lifestyle medicine. Vol. 10
(3).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6124954/
6. Campbell, J. P. and Turner, J. E. (2018) Debunking the Myth of Exercise-Induced
Immune Suppression: Redefining the Impact of Exercise on Immunological Health
across the Lifespan, Frontiers in immunology. Vol.9 (648).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5911985/