What Weakens Immune System [Causes] | Signs You Have Weak Immunity

15 Mar What Weakens Immune System [Causes] | Signs You Have Weak Immunity

What weakens your immune system?

I am quite sure you have never been so concerned about your immune system until the pandemic hit. 

Well, you are not alone. Most people take their immunity for granted. 

Notably, the immune system, which is made up of cells, tissues, and organs has a crucial role to play for better health. 

To elaborate, your immune system is specifically designed to fight foreign germs and accelerate the healing process as well. 

But what happens if you have a weak immune system?

Well, you fall sick easily and require more time to recover from any disease. 

Coronavirus disease is an appropriate example of that. Those with weak immunity had a hard time dealing with this infection. 

Given that, it would only work in your favor to avoid certain things that further interfere with your immunity.

Yes, there are certain things that weaken your immune system. And we have come up with this blog to help you know what causes a weak immune system.

Adding to it, this blog also discusses the symptoms of weak immune system.

Without much ado, let’s begin…

What Weakens Your Immune System?

Look around, don’t you think the present scenario puts a question mark on your health?

But who should you blame for that; you, your lifestyle, food choices, eating habits, or genes?

Well, there is no one answer to what makes your immune system weak. 

While some people are born with a compromised immunity system, others unknowingly develop it because of their habits. 

Here are some of the reasons that might answer what weakens immune system. 

Let’s dig a little deeper to have a detailed look. 

#1. Physiological Causes

If you think your poor lifestyle choices don’t impact your immune health, you’re absolutely wrong. 

Physiological reasons contribute the maximum to weakening your immune system. 

The signs of a weak immune system may not be instant, but it surely exists.

Some of the physiological reasons behind what weakens the immune system are:

#1. Poor Eating Habits

Diet and immune system health are directly connected.

Foods contribute a lot to maintaining the immunity of your body. 

Hence, you need to have a balanced nutritious diet to provide the body with enough nutrients. 

These nutrients will help improve the functionality as well as the count of white blood cells.

If you don’t know, WBCs produce antibodies that fight the infection. 

Plus, your immune system requires energy to fight the invasion of foreign germs.

For this reason, you need to make healthy eating choices to provide the body with micronutrients, amino acids, and more. 

According to a study, the immune system has a key influence on immunity throughout life. 

It, directly and indirectly, affects the immune cells which results in the change in their functions.

#2. Excess Smoking And Drinking

Smoking and drinking not only affect your lungs and liver but take a toll on your immunity as well. 

Both excess alcohol and nicotine have the ability to reduce the body’s natural inflammatory response. 

To elaborate, excess alcohol creates an imbalance in the count of natural healthy microorganisms. 

This disturbance leads to inflammation and hence lowers immunity. 

Alcohol effect on immune system also results in damaged white blood cells and susceptibility to infectious diseases.

Smoking, on the other hand, wreaks havoc on the antibody response. 

It decreases the body’s ability to fight infections that affect the lungs. 

Not to mention, it also hampers the T cell-receptor-mediated signaling. 

#3. Too Much Or Too Little Exercise

If you are living a couch potato life, it’s going to affect your health in the long term. 

Even a small duration of daily exercise can increase your blood flow and help eliminate toxins from your blood. 

Moreover, regular exercising also promotes the flow of antibodies throughout the body. 

It’s a known fact that a sedentary lifestyle is a reason behind increasing heart diseases, diabetes, and cancer. It’s even responsible for early death.

In fact, exercise and immune system are so linked that even too much training can affect them. 

To elaborate, sweating your ass off in the gym without enough rest hampers the natural defense system. 

Your body needs ample rest to fight external stress. However, too much exercise creates a hindrance in that. 

#4. Inadequate Sleep

If you are stressing over “can sleep affect your immune system,” the answer is a straight yes!

According to research, it was concluded that prolonged cutting back of sleep duration accompanied with stress leads to the production of chronic low-grade inflammation. 

It also gives rise to immunodeficiency. Both of these will have negative effects on your health. 

Moreover, there are findings that support the evidence that the process of immune activation and proliferation happens during the rest period. 

Naturally, lack of or inadequate sleep will affect the adaptive immune responses. 

This results in negatively affecting the body’s ability to cope with environmental changes. 

#5. Weight Gain And Immune Health

Obesity is the root cause of many health issues, and compromised immune health is also on that list. 

Furthermore, weight gain not only prevents white blood cells from producing enough antibodies, it also weakens the immune system by becoming the birthplace of innumerable diseases. 

It restricts the body to prevent inflammation and turn on the elements of the body’s immune system. 

Moreover, if you observe carefully, obesity is also responsible for other habits that weaken your immune system. 

For instance, obesity is the result of a sedentary lifestyle as well as a poor diet. 

Hence, obesity is 3 causes in 1 that may give rise to weakened immune system diseases. 

#6. Poor Hygiene Habits

It may sound absurd at first but poor hygiene habits are among what causes low immune system. 

Lack of proper hygiene keeps your body in fighting mode all the time. It exposes your body to germs. Hence, resulting in a weakened immune system. 

The poor hygiene habits that lower the immune system include:

• Not washing your hands before and after eating. Eating from unhygienic places.
• Poor oral hygiene
• Not keeping your nails tidy.
• Not washing the fruits and vegetables before cooking.

Now, the immune system doesn’t only get weakened by physical reasons. Mental factors are also in play.

Psychological Causes

If you think only lack of nutrients and hygiene can weaken your immune health, you are certainly wrong. 

There are psychological and emotional factors as well that contribute to the reasons behind your weak immune system.

#1. Too Much Stress

Considering the environment we are living in, stress is inevitable. Be it work pressure or everyday issues, the end result is stress and anxiety. 

Now, you might be thinking how can stress weaken the immune system.

Well, it’s quite simple. 

To elaborate, stress increases cortisol levels. The increased cortisol levels then decrease the production of localized hormone ‘good’ prostaglandins. 

This hormone not only supports the immune system but is also anti-inflammatory. 

Not to mention, stress is also responsible for sleepless nights. Hence, directly or indirectly, stress and immune health are related. 

#3. Loneliness/Isolation

The pandemic is teaching us a lot of life lessons. One of them is that we need to share our thoughts in order to remain sane. 

Persisting loneliness can not only give rise to depression but will also hamper your immune health. 

Here’s how!

According to the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy Of Sciences, in 2015, participants who felt lonely showed a drastic decrease in hormone norepinephrine in their blood. 

Norepinephrine shuts down the immune system through blood. 

And while the production of WBCs increases, it is at the cost of such defenses that prevent viral diseases. 

Moreover, loneliness and chronic stress are also related. 

So, if you’re perfectly healthy but have isolated yourself and wondering why is my immune system weak, you now have the answer. 

#4. Tragic Events/Trauma

Dealing with tragic events and fighting unresolved traumas take a toll on your mental and emotional health. 

However, little did you know that traumas can also have a huge impact on your immune system. 

According to a study published in Dialogues In Clinical Neuroscience, unresolved grief issues make up one of the risk factors behind altered immune health. 

Not to mention, traumas can result in mood changes for a longer duration. 

Also, the person dealing with tragic events often experiences a lack of sleep and chronic stress.

So, be it directly or indirectly, tragic events have an effect on your immunity system. 

#5. Lack Of Excitement

“All work no play makes Jack a dull boy”

This quote seems to be true these days. 

But who knew that lack of excitement can take away your immunity?

Life is a journey where you have to deal with speed breakers every now and then. 

But because of that one can’t stop the journey. 

The excitement, the laughs, the optimistic approach is what keep you going.

And for good reasons! 

According to the 1998 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social, Psychology optimism is linked with a healthier immunity. 

Taking everything seriously is not going to help. But yes, it has some detrimental effects for sure.

Medical Reasons 

The next on the list of what can weaken your immune system is medical conditions. 

There are people who are born with immunodeficiency. Moreover, there are also people who get dragged into a situation that leaves them with a compromised immune system. 

#1. Underlying Medical Issues

People with underlying health issues like diabetes, HIV AIDS, and TB have altered immune systems as well. 

These infections, especially HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), as the name suggests, are an example of chronic immune diseases. 

Also, there are autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus that attack healthy cells. This, as a result, leads to a weak immune system. 

People with weak immunity are at higher risk to get infected and sick. 

Not only this, it even gets difficult for them to recover from any surgery and illness. 

#2. Consumption Of Certain Medications

Does taking medicine weaken immune system?

Sadly, yes!

Not only certain medical conditions but also some specific medications can lead to low immunity. 

It has been earlier found in research that excessive use of antibiotics for a longer period can cause weak immunity. 

It increases the risk of falling sick easily in the future by reducing the level of cytokines. 

Notably, even the drugs to treat autoimmune disorders can make you witness weak immunity. 

Not to mention, treatments like chemotherapy and drugs related to it can also cause a weak immune system. 

Also, steroids that are often used to treat arthritis are some of the medications that weaken your immune system. 

#3. Genetic Variations

Can you believe that genetic variations can also affect the immune system and its components?

According to a study, scientists using a genome-wide association study have identified that even a subtle genetic change can result in substantial changes in how we fight viral infections.

The study also mentioned that the genetic variation of the genes directly affects the structure of the protein. 

It impacts their ability to trigger the immune system against the present virus. 

Moreover, most of the cases of genetic variations are rare and are often identified at the early stage of life. 

Some of the examples are:

• Periodic Fever Syndrome
• Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome
• DiGeorge Syndrome

Now, let’s check out some other little-known factors that contribute to low immunity.

Other Common Causes of Weak Immune System

Apart from medical, mental, and physiological reasons, these are other causes as well that weaken your immune system.

#1. Over-Exposure To Radiations

If you think basking in the sun for long durations is good just because you’re getting free vitamin D, you are probably wrong. 

Radiation and immune system are linked!

Undoubtedly, sun rays are a great source of vitamin D. 

However, spending more than the required time under the sun can damage the immunity of your skin. 

This might be the reason behind increasing skin issues including skin cancer. 

Also, people who are already dealing with cancer and have to go through radiation therapy have weak immunity. 

#2. Increasing Age

Age and immunity are inversely proportional to each other. 

No, we are not getting into economics here.

To explain, the higher the age, the lower the immunity. Though, this is absolutely normal. The body’s natural capacity to fight diseases declines with age. 

This happens because, after a certain age, the body automatically starts decreasing the secretion of hormones. It is for this reason, people are recommended to take the prescribed supplement and keep their metabolism strong and working. 

You must have heard people saying that “old age is a disease in itself”.

It is because elderly people have to deal with a lot of health issues because of low immunity. 

RELATED: Why does immune system weaken with age?

So, this was all about what physiological, psychological, and medical factors weaken your immune system. 

But this is not it!

The quest to find what lowers your immune system doesn’t end here. 

There is one thing left to discuss, i.e., food. 

Yes, foods are the primary source of energy for us. So, they definitely have a lot of say in your immunity. 

Let’s get into the details and find out more about foods to avoid for immune system. 

5 Foods That Weaken Your Immune System

You might be wondering if there are foods to boost immune system. 

But can there be foods to avoid with weak immune system?

Well, yes!

It’s not only you. Many people aren’t aware of the dark side of the moon.

In the same token, there are certain foods that you need to maintain distance from to keep your immunity healthy. 

Here is a list of foods to avoid for immunity.

#1. Sugary Snacks

Sugar suppresses the immune system. Sugary snacks are also the leading cause of obesity, heart diseases, and diabetes. 

All these diseases are clearly related to a weak immune system. 

Also, it is easier for bacteria to thrive and grow faster on the sugary stuff. 

Hence, eating more sweets can create an imbalance with your good bacteria. 

This imbalance can not only take a toll on your mood but also hamper your immunity. 

To say nothing of, the more content in your body, the harder it gets for your immune cells to reach for vitamin C. 

Immune cells require vitamin C to work effectively. Hence, a crunch in that can decrease their effectiveness to up to 40%.

So, if you have a sweet tooth, just know that sugar is bad for immune system. 

#2. Processed Meats And Red Meat

Sausages, bacon, and smoked meats…Well, you might be salivating reading all these. 

But do you know, processed meats are also on the list of foods that weakens the immune system?

Processed meats contain Advanced Glycation End Products that lead to inflammation and cell damage. 

Adding to it, the saturated fats in meats are also linked with inflammation, resulting in weak immunity. 

Red meat, on the other hand, is acidic and leads to a decline in the pH level of your body. 

The decreased pH level also causes inflammation. 

Not to mention, the high acidic level of red meat also nullifies the benefits of calcium, magnesium, and potassium. 

So, if you think meat consumption is giving you protein, well a lot of processed meat might be eating up your immunity. 

#3. Soda Drinks

Soda is also what weakens your immune system. 

How?

Well, soda is high in phosphorus. 

This can cause depletion of calcium. Calcium, on the other hand, is crucial for activating immune cells. 

Hence, a lack of calcium can shake your immunity level as well. 

Also, soda drinks contain additives, artificial colors, and artificial sweeteners as well. 

These artificial sweeteners can create an imbalance in your gut and affect good bacteria. 

This, as a result, impacts how well your body reacts to potential threats. 

#4. Caffeine

Can’t work without your morning coffee?

Well, your immunity can’t work WITH coffee. 

Caffeine not only boosts energy but also boosts the release of cortisol hormones. 

These cortisol hormones reduce the number of T cells and suppress your lymphocytes. 

So, keeping your body on high caffeine levels can potentially reduce your immunity level. 

Even if you are trying to bulk up, try to go for supplements with no caffeine. 

Remember, although caffeine can boost your energy level, it can damage your immunity. 

Moderation is key for coffee lovers.

#5. Fast Foods

Every other fast food that you can think of can lower your immunity. 

So, how does fast food affect your immune system?

Although the link between fast food and immunity doesn’t need any argument, here’s something to help you understand. 

The more fast food you eat, the more hungry you feel after some time. Do you know why this happens?

Well, it happens because those fast foods lack enough nutrients. After the nutrients get utilized, you start feeling hungry again. 

This is like a chain that never comes to an end. 

Also, fast foods are the reason behind obesity, and obesity is linked with low immunity. 

The 2-minutes foods and takeaway boxes are high in saturated fat and artificial sugar. These foods nearly contain everything that is not healthy. 

In summary…

Fast foods=saturated fat/artificial sweeteners=obesity/High BP/Diabetes=Low Immunity

All in all, these were the top 5 categories of foods to avoid with weak immune system. 

Moving on, here’s another list of individual food items that can weaken your immunity. 

• Unripe Bananas
• Tofu
• Potato Chips
• Raisins
• Vegetable Oil
• Pasteurized cheese
• Breakfast cereal
• Canned foods

So, if you want to amp up your immunity, you better choose your diet wisely. 

While you can’t just avoid every food item on this list, you can certainly plan a balanced meal. 

So, now you know what foods weaken your immune system. 

But how do know if you have weak immune system? Are there any signs and symptoms of weak immunity?

On that note, let’s move on to the next section. 

5 Signs You Have Weak Immune System

The body has its own way of sending signals. When it comes to weak immunity, it’s not really that hard to find out if you have lower immunity. 

Here are some of the signs you have weak immunity system. 

1. Recurrent episodes of cold and cough
2. Wounds take longer to heal
3. Stomach issues (constipation and diarrhea)
4. Persistent fatigue
5. Muscle and joint pains

#1. Persisting Cold

Cold is something those with low immunity have to keep on dealing with. 

If you have a cold more than 2-3 times a year, you might have a low immune system. 

During the cold, your body prepares the antibodies to fight with it. 

But if you have colds several times a year, it’s probably a sign that your body’s immunity is not working properly. 

Also, normally a person recovers from a cold within 10 days. 

So, if your cold stays for more than 10 days, you need to do something about it. 

#2. Your Wounds Take Time To Heal

The job of your immunity is to fight foreign diseases and keep your body healthy. 

A healthy immune system is also required for the timely healing of wounds. 

If you have cuts, damaged skin, scratches, or surgery, and it’s taking more than the average time to heal, your immunity is clearly low. 

#3. Frequent Stomach Issues

If your tummy is troubling you a lot, try to boost your immunity. 

Frequent diarrhea issues, constipation, or any other stomach-related issues are among the signs of low immunity. 

Notably, your digestive tract contains nearly 70% of your immune system. 

Good bacteria and microorganisms help maintain gut health. 

These help with better digestion, reduce inflammation and improve autoimmune diseases. 

#4. Fatigue

Busy life makes you tired; but not always.

Sometimes, weak immunity is behind your fatigue. 

If you are not eating enough, not being active, and on top of that, sleeping inadequately, fatigue is inevitable. 

Also, all these factors are also responsible for weakening immunity. 

Hence, the tiredness and fatigue feeling is related to low immune health. 

#5. Muscle And Joint Pains

Continuous joint pains and muscle soreness are among the symptoms of low immunity. 

The immune system releases a lot of inflammatory chemicals to fight off infections. 

It works well at the beginning with high WBCs and monocytes.

However, when your immunity weakens and inflammation continues, monocytes get depleted. 

This results in chronic joint and muscle pain. 

So, if you are having any of these signs, work on your immune health. 

Hopefully, now you know what weakens the immune system and what foods to avoid. Here are some final thoughts. 

Wrap-Up!

Your immune system is the underrated hero. 

Even though it is managing your entire health, it barely gets the credit. 

Nonetheless, in the wake of the ongoing pandemic, many people have started to take care of their immunity. 

However, there are still some who take their immune health for granted.

If you don’t know what weakens your immune system, you probably won’t be able to boost it. 

The lifestyle of almost everyone has changed a lot over the years. It’s becoming more sedentary and fast-moving. 

This, as a result, creates a crunch of time. 

People, however, don’t realize that what they do to save time, is actually putting their health in danger. 

For instance, eating instant food, using vehicles for walking distance, and drinking to look cool. 

In fact, considering the present scenario, it’s not hard to tell how important it is to maintain your immune health. 

Avoid foods that weaken your immune system, stay active, sleep peacefully, and enjoy your life to the fullest. 

Hope you liked the blog. 

If you find this blog informative, don’t forget to like it. 

Also, if you know someone with weak immunity, help them by sharing this blog.