Our Ancient Immune System

Take a second to reflect on your immune system. How often do you think about it? How often do you consider how your actions and lifestyle choices affect it? How often do you appreciate the beauty of it and the constant work that it’s doing to protect you?

In the age of COVID-19, more attention has been brought to the value of strong immunity and we are being encouraged to protect and fortify it from all sides more than ever before. As we age this becomes an increasingly difficult task. We are more vulnerable to disease and have to work harder to keep our immune systems strong. This becomes easier to do the more that we value the power of it.

Many of us aren’t even aware of how our immune system operates. Our bodies identify foreign and potentially harmful intruders known as antigens. These are more commonly referred to as pathogens, which include bacteria, viruses and fungi. A series of processes in our body are then triggered and our immune cells attack the invasive germ to rid your body of it. It then stores information about how to attack these antigens when you come into contact with them again, making it easier to fight them the next time you are exposed to them. When our immune system is running smoothly, we are entirely unaware of this process happening. When it is unable to fight the pathogens effectively, we become ill.

Because this is an autonomous and unconscious process, it is only natural that we forget to appreciate it. However, we must remember that maintaining a strong immune system is a central part of life. Existing healthily depends upon it, and just like much of our body’s incredible abilities we have lost connection to it.

The human body is a battlefield. We are made up of tens of trillions of microscopic cells that all work to make up who we are and dictate how we exist in our corporeal form during this lifetime. We are the hosts of an ongoing 4-billion year old war between healthy cells and pathogens – our bodies have evolved to operate at peak performance in order to allow us to live healthily and happily for as long as possible.

Your lifestyle choices are an integral part of keeping your immune system running smoothly. Eating nourishing functional foods, maintaining a healthy exercise regimen and calming your nervous system down are essential activities that will keep up our ability to fight foreign pathogens. Take time to connect to and appreciate this incredible ancient process. It is where we come from, and it is how we will continue to exist. Your body is an incredible machine, and turning inwards to recognise all that it does for you without your knowledge will allow you to cultivate a deeper appreciation for yourself.