Don't Boost Your Immune System, Balance It!

Instead of “boosting” your immune function, which is not always a good thing, focus on fine-tuning your body for optimal immune health.

- By Isaac Eliaz, MD, MS, LAC

As the global pandemic raged over the past year, everyone, it seems, has been looking for ways to boost immunity. After all, the immune system is our most important protection against everything going around. So it might seem to make sense that we’d want to ramp up our defenses. But when it comes to the immune system, balancing is far better than boosting.

What this means is that when our bodies face threats from invading microbes, we want our immune systems to mount a proper response, not to underreact or overreact, because either of those can lead to serious health problems.

Loading up on supplements such as echinacea, for example, can overstimulate the immune system, which can trigger a dangerous overreaction leading to runaway inflammation or and/or confused immune cells attacking the body— especially dangerous for anyone with an autoimmune condition. Even worse, an overstimulated immune system can set off a potentially deadly cytokine storm.

On top of that, an overstimulated immune system can get worn out. And if you’re boosting the wrong immune cells, you may not even get the microbe-defeating response you were hoping for in the first place.

So instead of giving your immune system a boost, give it balance—with complementary solutions that help fine-tune and train immune activity for optimal responses. Because a well-balanced immune system is truly your best defense.

Your Immune System Is a Whole System

The immune system is made up of thousands of moving parts that all need to work together with balance and harmony, including: