Did you know that your immune function can decline from little sleep, low physical exertion, and continuous stress? 

In order for your immune health to help ward off viruses, the human body needs to reach a healthy state of balance. But sometimes we have to re-evaluate our current health condition and lifestyle, as these can prevent our immune systems from effectively working. 

For this blog post, the Toronto Functional Medicine Centre (TFMC)’s unveils how some lifestyle choices can contribute to downgrading immunity, and how to address this with a personalized treatment plan.

Factors that can dwindle your immune function 

• • Obesity: If you’ve been meaning to lose a few pounds, you should know that obesity can contribute to weakened immunity. According to a paper from the Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, “Obesity, like other states of malnutrition, is known to impair the immune function, altering leucocyte counts as well as cell-mediated immune responses.”
  • Drinking alcohol: Excessive alcohol consumption can disturb the body’s immune pathways. According to Alcohol Research: Current Reviews (ARCR), it can affect your immune function by lowering the body’s defense against viruses, instigating organ damage and preventing proper recovery from wounded tissues. 
  • Lack of sleep: Are you aware that we spend a full third of our lifetimes asleep? This is because regular and suitable amounts of sleep reduce inflammation while supporting immunity. Not only does sleep deprivation hinder mental clarity, it could also potentially “… result in deregulated immune responses with increased pro-inflammatory signaling,” confirms an article from Communications Biology. In turn, this can make you susceptible to forming a chronic illness. 
  • Chronic stress: Physical and mental stressors can impact the fight against viruses. Stress can naturally trigger an inflammatory reaction when you come across harmful germs. But when inflammation persists along with chronic stress, it can promote the formation of a chronic condition and encourage plaque to collect on your arteries. 
  • Certain medications: Some prescriptions are known immunosuppressives. These drugs include corticosteroids, biologics, chemotherapy cancer treatments, and others. Immunosuppression is when there’s a persistent deficiency in immune responses; this can happen with certain medications, as well as chronic inflammation of the immune cells. 
  • Lack of physical activity: Studies have shown that 45 minutes of regular moderate physical exertion/exercise can have health benefits for your immune defense, especially in seniors. 
  • Nutrient deficiencies: For cellular functioning to be optimized, certain levels of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients must be met in the body, as they can affect your immune function. So, when you lack nutrients like vitamin C, amino acids, proteins, zinc or vitamin D, this can contribute to immune deficits.   

Comprehending how our bodies work, including how immune function is affected, can help promote optimal health. But did you know that customizing your health care can also potentially improve your wellness? 

Recommended Reading: Our IV Therapy Toronto Guide to Antioxidants and How to Find Them

How custom treatment plans can promote positive contributions to your overall health 

Tailored treatment plans can have beneficial effects to your overall wellness and immunity. This health plan can be drafted through a functional medicine clinic like ours, and the goal is to tackle your unique biological needs only. This includes adapting dosages of vitamin treatments, such as nutritional drip contents for intravenous therapy. 

In order to begin this customization, a functional medicine healthcare provider will meet with you to discuss your medical history, genetics, current lifestyle and environmental factors, health goals, any symptoms you’re experiencing (i.e. menopausal symptoms), and more. Lab tests may be required to help your clinician confirm a nutritional deficiency, status of your gut health, food sensitivities, etc. These results are used to tailor your treatment plan for overall health optimization.

Here’s an example of how we apply custom health care: if lab tests reveal that nutrient deficits are linked to immune health (i.e. zinc, selenium, iron, and protein), we may recommend you take certain oral supplementation. For achieving maximum absorption, your oral supplement intake may be supported with intravenous therapy drips; this can ensure that your nutrition is completely “restocked”. Oral supplementation is suitable for these types of deficiencies, but digestive issues can prevent you from absorbing ideal amounts of nutrients. A custom-made intravenous drip bypasses the digestive tract because it’s delivered directly into the bloodstream. This ensures you receive a complete dosage and absorption of nutrients.  

By being aware of how your body works, you can foster improvements to cognitive function, energy production, liver detoxification, skin health, and of course, immune health and general health. Learn how to get your therapies customized in the next section. 

How to get a custom-made IV drip from our IV Lounge

A tailored treatment plan from the TFMC could promote healthy longevity and optimal functioning. Health goals are personal for each individual patient, as we have different genetics, lifestyles, etc. This is why we modify your treatment service with integrative functional medicine. This health care model allows for a collaboration between the patient and the functional medicine healthcare provider to adapt therapies for biological needs. By applying this model, we can design treatment plans for various health concerns, including conditions affecting athletic performance, appearance of skin, hormonal imbalances, cellular damage, functioning of nerves, chronic fatigue syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, mineral deficiencies, mood swings, and more. 

Our IV Lounge is uniquely designed to tailor therapeutic doses of nutrients for supportive measures. When an adjunct IV vitamin drip is dispensed regularly with consistent oral supplementation, a healthy lifestyle and other treatment modalities, it could help promote optimal function. Our health team includes a medical doctor, naturopathic doctor, registered nurses and nurse practitioners, and they’re available to tend to your needs during your IV drip session. Please speak up if you have any questions about our natural ingredients for IV therapy, including vitamin C, vitamin B12, B complex, glutathione, folic acid, glutamic acid, a medley of different amino acids, and other key nutrients. We also offer drips for set health goals, such as a post-surgical drip or post-exercise amino acid drip, and also vitamin D injections. 

Addressing your chief health concerns could help manage symptoms and the root cause of any of your health shortcomings. Please reach our functional medicine and IV therapy Toronto practice today to personalize your treatment plan!

Disclaimer: The information in this article is designed for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. This information should not be used to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting a doctor. You should always consult with a health care practitioner before relying on any information in this article or on this website. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your doctor or other qualified healthcare provider because of information you have read from the Toronto Functional Medicine Centre website or other affiliate media. 

 

References

de Heredia FP, Gómez-Martínez S, Marcos A. Obesity, inflammation and the immune system. Proc Nutr Soc. 2012 May;71(2):332-8. doi: 10.1017/S0029665112000092. Epub 2012 Mar 20. PMID: 22429824.

Garbarino S, Lanteri P, Bragazzi NL, Magnavita N, Scoditti E. Role of sleep deprivation in immune-related disease risk and outcomes. Commun Biol. 2021 Nov 18;4(1):1304. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02825-4. PMID: 34795404; PMCID: PMC8602722.

Hussain Y, Khan H. Immunosuppressive Drugs. Encyclopedia of Infection and Immunity. 2022:726–40. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-818731-9.00068-9. Epub 2022 Apr 8. PMCID: PMC8987166.

Morey JN, Boggero IA, Scott AB, Segerstrom SC. Current Directions in Stress and Human Immune Function. Curr Opin Psychol. 2015 Oct 1;5:13-17. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.03.007. PMID: 26086030; PMCID: PMC4465119.

“Nutrition and Immunity” from the Nutrition Source, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, viewed on December 13, 2023. 

Sarkar D, Jung MK, Wang HJ. Alcohol and the Immune System. Alcohol Res. 2015;37(2):153–5. PMCID: PMC4590612.

Simpson RJ, Campbell JP, Gleeson M, Krüger K, Nieman DC, Pyne DB, Turner JE, Walsh NP. Can exercise affect immune function to increase susceptibility to infection? Exerc Immunol Rev. 2020;26:8-22. PMID: 32139352.