What Causes Low Immunity:
Your immune system is what protects you from disease a lot of the time. Your body is constantly being attacked by numerous pathogens, and it is your immune system that detects these pathogens and fights them. The immune system also fights against tumor cells – the cells in tumors are transformed and therefore treated as foreign cells by the immune system, which attacks the tumor cells and destroys them.
The immune system is a complex mixture of specialized cells and processes, and in order for the system to function effectively, it needs to be properly maintained. As a person ages, the immune system naturally starts to break down and become weak, which is why people are more susceptible to illness as they grow older. However, several factors can lead to low immunity even among young people. A poor diet, obesity, alcohol or drug abuse, cancer, and stress are some of the more common causes of low immunity:
• Diet: One’s diet is an important influence on one’s immune system, right from the fetal stage. Malnutrition in the fetal stage can have negative effects that last for one’s entire life. Even later in life, research has shown that certain nutrients such as proteins, zinc, iron, vitamin C, and vitamin B are essential for the immune system to function properly. Fatty acids, such as the omega 3 fatty acids found in fish and flaxseed, also seem to stimulate immune system.
• Stress: Possibly the main reason why stress causes so many health problems is that it weakens the immune system. Long term, chronic stress can have drastic effects. It is therefore extremely important to minimize stress and ensure that you get adequate rest on a daily basis.
• Alcohol & drug abuse: Alcohol and drug abuse over a long period of time has numerous ill effects on the body, and among these is a weakening of the immune system, leaving the body more vulnerable to disease.
• Obesity: Obesity results in immunodeficiency partly because of the flawed diet that gives the body empty calories and not enough healthy nutrients, but also because it directly affects the immune system.
• Cancer: Cancer can be both a cause and a result of a weakened immune system. Certain types of cancer, such as lymphoma and leukemia, are essentially diseases of the immune system.
In addition, certain diseases can weaken the immune system, by themselves. Some genetic disorders can also result in immunodeficiency, and these begin right from childhood.
