When it comes to immunity, everyone is familiar with it. It acts like the body's "defense army." Once it becomes imbalanced, the body is prone to attacks from bacteria and viruses, leading to illness.
Immunity refers to the function of the immune system, primarily the ability to resist invasions by foreign microorganisms, proteins, chemicals, etc. In everyday language, people often refer to the immune system's ability to resist disease as "immunity." Immunity is generally divided into two types: one is innate, called natural immunity, also known as innate immunity. This is the first line of defense against the invasion of pathogenic microorganisms, consisting of barriers from the outside in, including the skin, mucous membranes, tissue barriers, secretions, and phagocytes.
The other is acquired, called acquired immunity, also known as adaptive immunity. This is the defense capability the body develops to recognize and eliminate specific pathogenic microorganisms during long-term exposure. It is mainly composed of lymphocytes and their products, which include the well-known antibodies.
In medicine, there is a category of diseases called "immunodeficiency", where the body's immune system malfunctions. This includes various congenital and acquired immune dysfunction disorders, with fixed diagnostic criteria and clinical manifestations.
On the other hand, "immunocompromised" is not a disease but a state of the body, meaning a weakened immune system. It is influenced by various factors, including age, disease, medical interventions, and medications.
Being immunocompromised doesn't have typical clinical manifestations like a disease; people usually realize it retrospectively. For example, recently being prone to getting sick, illnesses lasting longer, unusual infections, infections not clearing easily, or infections easily developing into severe cases—upon reflection, one might conclude, "Oh, so my immunity has declined." Being immunocompromised is also a relative concept, ranging from mild to severe. Even the feeling of decreased resistance after overtime work, staying up late, and high stress among office workers can fall into the category of "immunocompromised."
Medicine has identified factors that clearly affect immunity, mainly chronic diseases and certain medications, which can lead to decreased immunity. Other potential risk factors that may cause an immunocompromised state include pregnancy and postpartum status, age, mental health issues (such as anxiety, depression), chronic stress, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, etc. Being immunocompromised is relative; the strength of immunity required varies depending on the environment a person is in.
There are various products on the market that claim to "boost immunity," but most are essentially "IQ tax" (useless scams).
Looking at the classification of immunity, we have some measures to improve our own immunity:
Diverse foods, reasonable combinations: A balanced dietary pattern is the foundation for maximizing the fulfillment of human nutritional needs and health, and it is also the foundation for good immunity. Food diversity is the basic principle of a balanced dietary pattern. Diverse foods should include grains and tubers, vegetables and fruits, livestock, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, soybeans, nuts, etc. On average, consume more than 12 types of food daily and more than 25 types weekly.
Daily meals should be reasonably combined and matched. In a balanced dietary pattern, carbohydrates should provide 50% to 65% of total dietary energy, protein 10% to 15%, and fat 20% to 30%.
A balanced diet provides multiple nutrients that support optimal immune function. Except for vitamin D, usually no additional supplementation of specific vitamins and minerals is necessary; excessive intake might even be harmful.
Regular exercise can help maintain a positive mindset, promote sleep, and reduce anxiety. Combined with a good diet, exercise can help maintain a healthy weight (BMI 18.5–24). All these are beneficial for immunity. It is recommended to engage in at least 5 days of moderate-intensity physical activity (mostly aerobic) per week, accumulating over 150 minutes, or over 75 minutes of high-intensity physical activity; strive for 6,000 to 10,000 steps of active physical activity daily; pay attention to reducing sedentary time, get up and move every hour, as any movement is beneficial.
Quit smoking, reduce alcohol, sugar, oil, and salt: Tobacco, alcohol, sugar, and salt are currently among the influencing factors for the high incidence of chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular diseases, indirectly also affecting factors for being immunocompromised.
Studies show that insufficient sleep negatively impacts the immune system and may induce various diseases. It is advocated that adults maintain an average daily sleep time of 7 to 8 hours.
Mental health issues can further weaken the immune system, making individuals more prone to illness. Individuals are encouraged to correctly recognize symptoms of depression and anxiety, master basic self-psychological adjustment methods such as emotional management and stress management. Examples include yoga, meditation, massage, pursuing hobbies, regularly staying in touch with friends, relatives, etc., or seeking help from mental health professionals.
Environmental hygiene and air quality are common and preventable factors affecting human health. Besides improving personal environmental health awareness and consciously maintaining environmental hygiene, more attention needs to be paid to indoor air pollution and outdoor air pollution. The latter two can directly affect natural immunity.
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