This is fascinating and well worth a watch. I mean it is not really fascinating – it is absolutely what we know in our heart and in our common sense but no one really likes the truth!! This series on I-player is very relevant right now as we sit waiting for the vaccination to be rolled out, what else can we do to look after ourselves and help to be strong so we can fight infection.
The subject of our immune system – what is our immune system? … the army of good bacteria that go to all entry points and fight infection. How does infection get in – mainly through our orifices ….. the mouth and the nose, what we breathe and eat. What we absorb through our skin and what we cannot get out through our anus and urethra, through cuts and grazes straight into the blood.
The stomach is where the transfer of nutrients happens from the outside world into our blood, efficient clean healthy tissue allows a quick and seamless transfer. Our stomach lining is the result of things we have eaten and drunk. The stomach gets damaged from toxins such as certain foods and drinks like alcohol – which lets face it is a toxic substance used to clean grease off engine parts, or winch parts, or woodwork before painting. It gives us a high because it starves the brain of oxygen and gives us a rush. But it also kills the good bacteria in our gut. The good bacteria in our gut, break down the foods we eat so that they can be absorbed into the blood, plus fight infection and unwanted viruses etc. Our gut needs a variety of bacteria in order to break down the variety of foods, and variety is important for a complete nutritional intake as well as to be prepared to fight a variety of virus’ and infections. This program explains, quantifies and illustrates the issues and how to help ourselves.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000r0hx/the-truth-about-boosting-your-immune-system
Interestingly the young female doctor who is commentating and exploring these findings demonstrates some of the test on herself. One she shows the effects of a small bit of alcohol on the system. As a non drinker she gets a little tipsy on 3 glasses of Prosecco and the findings are shocking – but I can hear many of the hardened drinkers amongst you saying …. well if you don’t drink much of course the effects are going to be worse….. so I say imagine this – you have a car in a garage and it is a squeeze to get it in the slightest error and you scratch the paint and dent the brick work (the effect of a small bit of alcohol on a non drinker) …. versus a garage that the car has rammed its way in and is already scratched and the brick work smashed up and so now there is plenty of space and so it is not a drama to park the car and a little error does not really make much difference …… but the over all situation is a disaster and will take way more to repair, and every little error makes it worse until eventually the garage is under threat of falling down …….
This is the immune system and this is why we don’t necessarily feel the effects from the little things we do day in and day out that are not ideal, because we have mostly all damaged our immune system. The first times of doing things like smoking – we cough – drinking we feel dizzy and sick, we notice the effects but as time goes by we dont notice the effects so we dont notice the damage because it all gets hidden in the mess until it is too late.
The great thing with the human body is it is repairable and it will mostly recover but we have to make changes to do so and we have to do something before it is too late.
