You may have heard that exercise can help you to fight off illness, but you might not know exactly how it works. Is it simply that exercising causes your body to release endorphins and other natural pain-relieving chemicals? Or does it actually improve your body’s immune response to the viruses or bacteria that made you sick in the first place? Here’s what you need to know about exercise as a catalyst for your body’s immune response, so you can make sure that your fitness regimen supports your immunity as much as possible.
What Is Your Immune System Responsible For?
The immune system is a protective mechanism that is present in all multicellular organisms. It helps an organism defend itself against pathogens like bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Furthermore, it also helps in maintaining tissue integrity and aids wound healing. The primary role of an immune system is to distinguish self from non-self cells in order to mount a response against non-self cells. Thus, it is responsible for distinguishing between pathogens and normal body cells so that it can protect the host while destroying harmful foreign bodies. Generally speaking, exercise has some beneficial effects on your health by reducing weight gain, improving metabolism and muscle strength, increasing physical endurance as well as improving cholesterol levels and blood pressure among other benefits.
How is Immune System Response Triggered?
Regardless of whether you're starting a fitness routine or sticking to your existing one, you want to be aware of how exercise affects your immune system. When it comes to immunity, sometimes it's not always a clear-cut yes or no answer for whether exercise can increase or decrease your body's response. Much depends on what type of exercise you do and at what intensity—and in some cases even more is down to genetics. So let's explore some ways that exercising and health really do go hand in hand!
Does Exercising Affect Our Immune Response?
The key question is, of course, how? Exercising can affect our immune response in two ways: it may make us more likely to get sick and it may make us better able to fight off sickness. These effects are due, in part, to physical changes that occur as a result of exercise—specifically by increasing our heart rate and blood flow. This increased circulation allows more white blood cells to reach every part of our body. Although that sounds like a good thing, these extra white blood cells have been shown to be a double-edged sword. When we exercise without adequate rest or recovery time, these extra white blood cells can actually cause inflammation and increase vulnerability to sickness.
What if I Have an Allergy or an Infection?
When you exercise with a cold or infection, your symptoms will likely get worse. This is because when you exercise, your immune system diverts blood to your muscles and other working organs. Therefore, you're less able to fight off any germs that happen to be in your body. If you have an infection or seasonal allergy, it's best to wait until they've cleared up before exercising. To avoid coming down with an illness in the first place, try eating healthy foods and managing stress as much as possible.
What if I Take Medication (Or Medical Supplements)?
The most important thing to do before exercising is to discuss your plans with your doctor. The doctor should help you determine whether it’s safe for you to exercise. If you’re taking prescription medication, keep in mind that some medications can cause side effects or interact with other drugs, and some are best taken on an empty stomach. Also be sure to discuss any supplements, including herbal remedies and vitamin/mineral supplements, which could alter how your body processes medicine. Always let your doctor know about anything new that you add to your diet or supplement regimen; even if it’s something seemingly innocuous like a multivitamin/mineral supplement.
Other Factors to Consider
When it comes to boosting your immune system, there are many factors other than exercise that play a role. While studying immunity in people of all ages, researchers have identified a number of risk factors and behaviours that can affect how well your body defends itself against illness and disease. These include poor nutrition, lack of sleep or chronic stress, but also a genetic predisposition to certain diseases or complications such as obesity or high blood pressure. People with these conditions are more likely to have compromised immune systems, so make sure you pay attention to these issues when thinking about how much time you spend at the gym as part of an overall plan for overall health.