How Does Exercising and Meditating Affect Our Immune System

What effects do exercising and meditating have on your body?

How long should one exercise?

by Anna Shvets

The immune system is the body’s system to protect against germs, viruses, and bacteria that cause various types of illness and disease. Factors that impair the immune function include nutrient deficiencies, contaminated air, water and food, unhealthy lifestyles, and stress. 

Maintaining a healthy immune system reduces your chance of viral infections, colds, and the flu. Today we wanted to talk about a couple of things you can contribute to a healthy immune system: exercise, meditation, and stress reduction. 

The Immune System

The immune system is a complex system that has evolved to protect us from diseases. molecular and cellular components make up the immune system which is divided into those that are natural to an organism (innate) and those that are acquired (adaptive) after an initial response to a specific pathogen (anything that can produce disease).

Innate immunity is the first line of defense and is non-specific, meaning that the responses are the same for all potential pathogens. Innate responses are generic and include three different types of barriers that keep most pathogens out of body tissues:

• physical barriers (skin and mucous) 
• chemical barriers (sweat, saliva, stomach acid, and digestive enzymes)
• biological barriers (bacteria on the skin and in the urinary and gastrointestinal tracts)

These components are the first line of defense against infection and are sometimes enough to clear a pathogen.

Adaptive immunity is the second line of defense which involves building up the memory of encountered infections that can mount an enhanced response specific to the pathogen or foreign substance. The functions of the adaptive immune system are: 

• composed of systemic cells and processes that eliminate pathogens by preventing their growth
• destroys invading pathogens 
• pathogen-specific receptors are acquired during a lifetime whereas in innate immunity pathogen-specific receptors are already encoded

Exercise

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Moderate to vigorous exercise of less than an hour is now viewed as important to the immune system as it appears to improve immune responses. It stimulates the ongoing exchange of distinct and highly active immune cell subtypes between the circulation and the tissues. Daily exercise has a ripple effect to enhance immune defense activity and metabolic health.

Research shows that moderate exercise training reduces the incidence of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections, (”URTI”) - contagious infections that can be caused by more than 200 different bacteria and viruses. Exercise reduces URTI as it increases certain immune cell types, reduces stress hormones, and provides specialized benefits to key organs, particularly the lungs which serve as a primary barrier against URTIs.

Stress Reduction

Another factor in the immune system’s ability to fight off pathogens is stress. Cortisol is a stress hormone that your brain releases in response to stress. When we’re stressed we are more susceptible to infections because cortisol can suppress the effectiveness of the immune system. Cortisol levels that are too high for too long can have a mental, emotional, physical, and behavioural impact that can range from mild to severe. Stressful thoughts are an important signal for cortisol release. So how can you reduce stressful thoughts, evoke the relaxation response, and reduce stress?

 Breathe! Think about soothing personal experiences and become more self-aware of stress-provoking thoughts by replacing worry and anxiety with a focus on understanding your stressful thoughts and emotions. Remember to use all your senses sight, taste, touch/feel, smell and hearing can fully help you stay grounded in each moment. With this mindset, an ordinary task can be turned into a sensory experience. Becoming more aware of stress and its triggers is the first step to successfully coping with stress.

Finally, meditation combines body, mind, and soul. Sit comfortably focusing on your breathing, positive calming images, and bringing your mind’s attention to the present moment without drifting to concerns about the past or future. Meditation is good for clearing the mind. Taking deep breaths can calm you down as well as reduce stress. Meditation is always good for your overall health and reducing stress.

We’ve shown that your body’s immune system has a number of defenses against illness and disease so why not try to strengthen those defenses with some moderate to vigorous exercise and a little meditation in order to maintain a healthy immune system and hopefully reduce your chance of viral infections, cold, and the flu?

How do you exercise?

What is your destresser?

If you have missed any of the articles in our series or our videos not to worry click below:
                 Vitamin D: Blog   Video
                 Exercise & Meditation: Video
                 Nutrition: Blog     Video
                 Hydration: Blog    Video
                 Sleep: Blog     Video
                 Laughter: Blog    Video
                 Vitamin C: Blog   Video

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