We often talk about our immune system as if it were a muscle.
The stronger, the better.
We’re looking for foods, supplements and daily habits that give our immune system an extra boost can provide.
But our immune system works in a much more sophisticated way than that.
A healthy immune system does not need to be operating at full capacity all the time. It must be able to recognise pathogens, respond at the right moment and also be able to regulate that response.
A well-functioning immune system is therefore not just about strength, but above all about balance and adaptability.
And that, in fact, brings us to an interesting concept from research into immunity and ageing:
immune resilience — in other words, the resilience of the immune system.
Your immune system is not a separate organ.
It is an extensive network of cells, tissues, organs, signalling molecules and physical barriers that work together to protect your body.
In this context, a distinction is often made between two closely related systems.
The innate immune system responds quickly and acts as a first line of defence against potential threats.
The adaptive immune response responds in a more specific manner and can develop immunological memory. This enables the body to respond in a more targeted way the next time it encounters certain pathogens.
But defence is only one part of a healthy immune response.
Once a threat has been brought under control, the response must also be scaled back.
That’s important, because Greater immune activity is not necessarily better.
The term immune system strengthening That makes sense.
After all, we want our immune system to work properly when we need it.
But from a biological point of view, stronger not always the right goal.
Inflammation illustrates this perfectly.
An inflammatory response is a normal and essential part of our immune system. When the body detects an infection or injury, this response helps to tackle the problem and set repair processes in motion.
However, these same inflammatory processes must then also be regulated.
A properly functioning immune system must therefore be able to do several things:
recognise, respond, regulate and recover.
That’s a much more interesting perspective on resistance than simply trying to ‘boost’ your immune system more and more.
In the field of research into immunity and ageing, immune resilience increasing attention.
This refers to the ability to maintain immune functions or to restore them following a disruption, whilst ensuring that inflammatory responses are adequately regulated.
That changes the question we might ask ourselves.
Not only:
How strong is my immune system?
However:
How well can my immune system respond and then recover afterwards?
This shift is in line with a broader view of health.
A resilient biological system does not have to remain in the same state all the time. It must be able to adapt when circumstances change and then move back towards a functional balance.
Just like the rest of our body, the immune system changes as we go through life.
Scientists use, amongst other things, the term immunosenescence, or immune ageing.
That does not simply mean that the entire immune system is becoming weaker and weaker.
Various changes take place in both the innate and adaptive immune systems. For example, immune cell populations change, the diversity of certain immune cells decreases, and the response to new pathogens may change.
At the same time, researchers are increasingly observing another phenomenon as people age:
inflammaging.
This refers to chronic, low-grade inflammatory activity associated with the ageing process.
Immunosenescence and inflammaging are distinct but interrelated aspects of immune ageing.
That presents an interesting paradox.
In some areas, the immune response may become less effective, whilst at the same time there may be increased inflammatory activity.
That is another reason why the idea of simply having a ‘stronger immune system’ falls short.
When we think of healthy ageing, we often think of muscles, heart health, the brain and metabolism.
But the immune system also changes over the course of a person’s life.
Researchers are therefore conducting increasingly in-depth studies into how immune ageing is linked to health and resilience in later life.
Immune resilience therefore fits within the concept of healthspan: not just how many years we live, but how many of those years we spend in good health.
The aim is not to have a body that is never challenged.
It is a body that is able to cope with challenges as well as possible.
That depends on what we do with strengthen mean.
There is no simple switch that allows you to boost a healthy immune system beyond its normal level.
But you can create circumstances that contribute to the the normal functioning of your immune system.
The same fundamental principles keep cropping up:
sleep, exercise, nutrition, recovery and avoiding factors that have been shown to be harmful to health.
Not because a single healthy meal or a good night’s sleep will suddenly transform your immune system.
But because your immune system is part of your whole body — and therefore functions within the conditions you create for that body.
Sleep and immunity are closely linked.
Various immune processes change whilst we sleep. At the same time, immune activity can also affect our sleep.
The research thus reveals a two-way relationship: Sleep affects the immune system, and the immune system affects sleep.
That makes sleep more than just a period during which you ‘rest’.
It forms part of the biological conditions under which normal regulation and recovery take place.
A regular sleep pattern and sufficient sleep are therefore an important foundation of a lifestyle that supports normal immune function.
Exercise also affects the immune system.
During and after physical activity, changes occur in, amongst other things, the circulation and activity of various immune cells. Research has linked regular exercise to a range of beneficial effects on immune function and health.
But the same applies here too:
More is not necessarily better.
Exercise is a physiological stimulus to which the body must adapt.
That is why taxation and recovery go hand in hand.
It is not just about exercise, but also about ensuring sufficient recovery from that exercise, which forms part of the wider narrative of biological resilience.
A properly functioning immune system needs sufficient energy and nutrients.
Proteins, essential fatty acids and various vitamins and minerals, amongst other things, are involved in processes within the immune system. Deficiencies in certain nutrients can affect normal immune function.
Whether supplements are necessary, however, depends on what the diet provides and on individual circumstances. We’ll look at this in more detail in When supplements are and aren’t necessary.
That doesn’t mean that a single food can suddenly ‘boost’ your immune system.
Het betekent vooral dat voldoende en gevarieerd eten een fundamentele voorwaarde vormt voor normale lichaamsfuncties — inclusief je afweer.
Groente en fruit kunnen daar onderdeel van zijn, maar net zo goed voldoende eiwitten, gezonde vetbronnen en andere voedzame producten.
Het geheel is belangrijker dan één zogenaamd immune food.
Ook over stress wordt vaak te simpel gesproken.
Stress is niet per definitie schadelijk voor het immuunsysteem.
Een acute stressreactie is een normaal aanpassingsmechanisme en kan tijdelijk verschillende immuunprocessen veranderen.
Langdurige of chronische stress is iets anders. Onderzoek laat zien dat de duur en aard van stress belangrijk zijn voor de manier waarop het immuunsysteem reageert. Langdurige belasting kan samenhangen met veranderingen in verschillende immuun- en inflammatoire processen.
Daarom is het doel niet:
nooit meer stress.
Maar voldoende mogelijkheden voor herstel naast belasting.
Dat is opnieuw een vorm van biologische veerkracht.
Misschien hoeven we daarvoor minder te zoeken naar een spectaculaire immune boost.
De basis is eenvoudiger:
Geen van deze gewoontes maakt je immuunsysteem onkwetsbaar.
En ook met een gezonde leefstijl kun je ziek worden.
Maar samen dragen deze gewoontes bij aan de omstandigheden waarin je lichaam zijn normale processen goed kan uitvoeren.
Naast voeding, slaap, beweging en herstel kiezen sommige mensen ervoor botanicals onderdeel te maken van hun dagelijkse routine. Vanuit die gedachte ontwikkelden we Immune Guard, een botanische formule binnen het Wise Rootz-assortiment.
Misschien is het daarom tijd om anders over weerstand te denken.
Niet:
Hoe kan ik mijn immuunsysteem zo sterk mogelijk maken?
However:
Hoe creëer ik omstandigheden waarin mijn immuunsysteem goed kan reageren, reguleren en herstellen?
Dat is minder spectaculair dan een snelle immune boost.
Maar biologisch is het een veel interessanter verhaal.
Want gezondheid betekent niet dat je lichaam nooit wordt uitgedaagd.
Het betekent ook dat biologische systemen zich kunnen aanpassen wanneer dat nodig is — en daarna weer richting balans kunnen bewegen.
Dat is biologische veerkracht.
Live better. Live longer.
Deze blog is bedoeld als algemene, educatieve informatie over het immuunsysteem, leefstijl en wetenschappelijk onderzoek en is geen medisch advies. De informatie is niet bedoeld voor diagnose, behandeling of preventie van ziekte. Heb je aanhoudende klachten, een verminderde afweer, een auto-immuunziekte of gebruik je medicatie die het immuunsysteem beïnvloedt? Bespreek vragen over je gezondheid dan met een arts of andere gekwalificeerde zorgverlener.
