Why and How to Improve Your Immune System's Performance
A strong immune system is essential for overall good health and staying well after prostate cancer.
In men with prostate cancer who are on Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT), their immune system may be weakened as a side effect of the treatment. Notably, I have not seen my patients on ADT suffer from a poor immune system. On the contrary, they tend to keep strong immunity through their medical treatment, likely from following the prescribed lifestyle protocol overviewed below.
What is the Immune system?
In simple terms, the immune system is our body's armed forces that protect us against all enemies, from unfriendly bacteria and viruses to abnormal-looking cells like cancer. The specific immune cells involved in the anti-tumor response are T-cells and Natural Killer (NK) cells. Once these immune cells identify tumor cells, they go on the attack to defeat them. However, if those "soldiers" are weak or unprepared, cancer cells have a chance to grow and spread.
How can your immune system be weakened?
Easy: eating and drinking too much junk food, lack of exercise, poor sleep habits, and chronic, unmanaged stress.
How to eat better?
Prepare foods using plenty of herbs and spices like garlic, oregano, and rosemary.
- Load up on foods rich in antioxidants like berries, leafy greens, almonds, green and Rooibos tea, and blue-green algae.
- Also, eat more mushrooms and seaweed.
- Avoid simple, refined carbohydrates, especially sugar, which are the biggest culprits in weakening your immune system.
For more on protective diet practices, visit the XY Wellness Diet page.
How to exercise better?
The benefits of exercise are far-reaching and cannot be overstated. This is why continued progress in improving your fitness level is a key component of our roadmap to rebuilding your health and quality of life. Much of the benefits of exercise come from boosting your immune system. Mixing it with strength training, aerobic, and stretching movements is key to exercise. The trick is to combine all sorts of exercise without overdoing it. For example, long endurance exercises like running marathons weaken the immune system, so do less of those prolonged, intense activities.
For more on exercise, visit the XY Wellness Exercise page.
How to manage stress better?
Deep diaphragmatic breathing exercises showed in a study to increase immune cells in a group of presurgical men for prostate cancer. In addition, the group that performed deep breathing before surgery showed better outcomes after the surgery. That's because deep breathing is a significant component of practices like meditation that's led to help with stress. For further help with stress management, see this article from a previous XY Wellness blog.
What nutraceuticals provide support for a stronger immune system?
Here are nutrients found in dietary supplements that boost immunity: Vitamin C, Vitamin D, zinc, selenium, Grape seed extract, Medicinal mushrooms, especially reishi mushroom, and AHCC.
For specialized dietary supplements that complement a healthy lifestyle and support the boosting of immune function, please check out these products if you have not done so already:
And there you have it — a quick course on helping you strengthen your body for prostate cancer with nutrition and lifestyle methods. Stay well and stay on course.
Yours in Good Health,
Dr. Geo, Co-founder & Medical Director