Immunity Boosting Anti-Aging Program

The essence of immunity improvement and anti-aging is never the "super immunity" gained by taking sky-high price supplements and crazy exercise, but by adjusting your daily eating, sleeping, moving, and emotions to return your immunity to a steady-state level that matches your age. It is neither too low to be easily invaded by viruses and accelerates aging, nor too high to induce autoimmune problems. There is no universal standardized program. The most effective one is the one that adapts to your own life rhythm.

Two years ago, when I was just over 30 years old, I went through a lot of mistakes. At that time, I always felt tired easily, I would catch a cold every time the season changed, and the dry lines at the corners of my eyes were mottled when I applied makeup. I followed the trend and bought a bunch of supplements such as NMN and yeast beta glucan, and I also got a fitness card and forced myself to do it every day. I exercised iron for an hour every day, but my fever reached 39 degrees within half a month. I checked my immune indicators and found that NK cell activity was 20% lower than normal, and my inflammatory factors also soared. The doctor said that I was just messing around and burdening the immune system, which in turn hindered my anti-aging efforts.

There are actually quite a few schools of thought about immune anti-aging, and the differences in views are not small: the evidence-based system of Western medicine emphasizes "immune balance", not higher is better. Autoimmune diseases such as lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid are the result of excessive immune activation. The core of anti-aging is to maintain immune cell activity and chronic inflammation levels in the range of 25-30 years old.； The Traditional Chinese Medicine system says that "good qi should not be affected by internal evils", which is essentially immunity. The adjustment method is more focused on protecting the spleen and stomach and reducing the dissipation of vitality. In fact, it is similar to what Western medicine says about reducing immune consumption.

Let’s talk about eating first. In order to fight inflammation, I didn’t touch a morsel of polished rice and white noodles before, and only mixed salad with chicken breast. Later, after reading the popular science of Peking Union Medical College Clinical Nutrition Department, I learned that completely cutting off carbohydrates will directly reduce the energy supply of immune cells by more than half, and the activity can be reduced by up to 30%. I now replace 1/3 of my staple food with mixed beans or steamed sweet potatoes, and try to get 25 ingredients every week. I don’t deliberately buy any imported superfoods. My mother sent me sun-dried shiitake mushrooms last year, and I soak them with fried vegetables every time. The lentinan content in them is more substantial than many supplements that claim to improve immunity. Oh, by the way, supplements are also very controversial nowadays. The evidence-based people believe that as long as you eat a balanced diet, there is no need to supplement at all. The functional medicine people believe that the nutrient density of food now is 60% lower than it was 30 years ago. It is necessary to take appropriate supplements. My feeling after trying it myself is that if you You can eat every meal at home and the ingredients are abundant, so there is really no need to spend thousands of dollars on anti-aging supplements. If you don’t eat enough take-out vegetables every day, taking a multivitamin and 100mg of vitamin C every day is enough. Too much will put a burden on the kidneys and may induce immune disorders.

Speaking of taxing the immune system, another pitfall I’ve been stuck on for several years is staying up late. I always thought that after staying up late and applying an expensive anti-aging mask, I could make up for it. Last year, I did a small test with a friend at the hospital. I only slept 4 hours a day for 3 consecutive days. The inflammatory factors in my blood doubled and the activity of NK cells dropped by 40%. In those days, I couldn't even climb the third floor without gasping for breath. The nasolabial folds that had faded away became a little deeper. Nowadays, many people are debating whether to go to bed early or not. Some people say that it is necessary to go to bed before 11 o'clock to nourish the liver. Others say that as long as the rhythm is fixed and the sleep is long enough, my friend who is a designer often goes to bed at 2 am and wakes up at 10 am, sleeping for 8 hours. Last time I checked the immune indicators It's better than many people who go to bed early every day but don't sleep well. The core is really not about what time to go to bed, but whether you can stay in deep sleep for more than 2 hours continuously. Just don't have frequent jet lags that disrupt your rhythm. You can't ask nurses who work three shifts to forcefully meet the standards of going to bed early and getting up early. Wouldn't that make you more anxious?

Don’t think of rolling iron and running a marathon when you think of improving your immunity. I used to force myself to run 5 kilometers every day. Not only did my knees hurt after running for half a month, but I also got herpes zoster. The doctor said this is a typical example of excessive exercise that causes the immune system to collapse. Nowadays, there are also differences among sportsmen. Some people say that aerobic exercise can improve immunity, while others say that strength training is the core of anti-aging. In fact, they are both correct. The key is that your heart rate after exercise should not exceed 60% of (220-age), and that you will not be so tired after exercise that you don’t want to move the next day. I now practice yin yoga twice a week, and go to the park with my nephew to ride a bicycle for an hour on weekends. During the recent season change, half of my colleagues around me have caught a cold, but I haven’t caught any colds. My skin is much clearer than before when I was doing irons every day.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention a detail that many people don’t pay attention to, that is, don’t just take antibiotics. I used to take cephalosporins when I caught a cold. Later I learned that antibiotics will kill the beneficial bacteria in the intestines, and 70% of the body’s immune cells are in the intestines. People who take antibiotics for a long time will have damaged intestinal barriers and their immunity will be much lower. Now I have to bear the cold for 7 days. I drink more warm water and at most take antipyretics, but I get better faster. And the impact of emotions is really greater than you think. There was a previous study by Stanford. People with long-term anxiety have high cortisol levels all year round, which will directly kill immune cells. The aging rate is 2.3 times that of people with stable emotions. I used to be bored when I was under a lot of pressure. Then I signed up for a watercolor class and set aside one afternoon a week to paint. I didn’t read any work news. After painting, my shoulders and neck became looser. It doesn’t matter how many times I go to the SPA. Of course, if you don’t like painting, you can play with cats, play Lego, or even squat on the roadside to watch the uncle play chess. As long as it can make you relax, it will be useful.

In fact, I don't quite meet the standard now. Sometimes I stay up until 12 o'clock to catch up on projects. Sometimes I can't help but invite friends to have a hot pot meal with heavy oil and spicy food. It's okay, don't be harsh on yourself. Immunity is a dynamic balance thing. You follow its temperament and don't impose other people's plans. It will naturally give you good feedback. I went for a review last week and found that the NK cell activity has returned to the level when I was 28 years old. Even the allergic rhinitis that I always suffer from every spring has not come to my door this year. This is much more effective than the anti-aging program I spent tens of thousands of yuan on before.