TEDx Talks
The Truth About Boosting Immunity | Jenna Macciochi | TEDxManchester
Immunologist Jenna Macciochi takes a sceptical look at the long history of people’s attempts to boost immunity. She will reveal that immunity is not so much a “thing” as it is a complex system and leave us with some science-based guidance to what we can do to give our bodies the best shot at staying healthy. As we continue to battle the global pandemic, interest in the immune system is at an all-time high. Dr. Jenna Macciochi is a Senior Lecturer in Immunology at the Sussex University School of Life Sciences. As a gifted science communicator, Jenna has pursued a mission to spread the latest science-backed information on how to improve our immunity as well as to debunk myths on the topic. Her first book, Immunity: the Science of Staying Well, was published in 2020 by Harper Collins. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
can you boost your immune system it's not a trick question i promise but you'd be forgiven for thinking that there was a simple answer as herb said i'm an immunologist and it's been said that immunology is where intuition goes to die that's a quote by a microbiologist by the way but i think it's important to bear in mind and sort of set the tone for what we're going to discuss today how many of you find yourself doing this perhaps some point over the last two years immune boosting is a trending topic and one that spiked dramatically in the first quarter of 2020 and in that time we've also seen a dramatic rise in scientific studies looking at the immune system so to put this into perspective our conversations both inside and outside of the scientific arena are firmly focused on further understanding our immune system so that we can essentially stay well perhaps you've heard of greenwashing where efforts are made to market things as environmentally friendly in a in an attempt to sell stuff without actually putting the effort into making the things environmentally friendly i kind of see immune boosting as the same thing so i'd like to propose that immune washing is the new green washing if we think about this you know there's um there's been many uh attempts at immune boosting over the generations so from the birth of the snake oil salesman in the 19th century to something as simple as vitamin supplements and in the 1970s the renowned chemist the nobel laureate linus pauling had some over optimistic ideas um conclusions that he drew around vitamin c in the common cold which has led us to the widespread belief that taking large doses of vitamin c will make you invincible to infection now of course your immune system needs vitamin c like it needs many other nutrients to function properly but taking massive doses is not going to make you invincible although there's a little bit of scientific evidence that taking slightly more upon onset of symptoms may help you recover quicker if you do fall sick with the common cold and then we have studies that show taking more than you need of certain nutrients can actually end up dialing down some parts of your immune system opening the door to infection and ill health and it reminds me of the phrase the dose makes the poison it's not just about what we put into our bodies but sometimes also how much some might be good but more isn't necessarily always better and so today with massive scientific and medical advancement you'd think that immune boosting was a thing of the past but sadly it's more present in our culture in our stores and in our online shopping baskets than ever before and then of course the pandemic has helped drive us to even more froggy heights of immune boosting quackery um than ever before and on april 24 2020 some of you might remember in the white house press briefing room the then president donald trump suggested that we could be injecting disinfectant bleach as a way of treating or preventing the coronavirus so what is it about immune boosting i get it but i think it first requires us to have a better understanding of what our immune system actually is and this is one of the places where we go wrong so your immune system is not a binary switch that you can flip on and off when you please nor is it some kind of magical force that can be supercharged with supplements it's a complex dance of billions of different bits there's many different types of cells there's subtypes of those cells there's antibodies there's a huge communication network of things called cytokines of which there are hundreds there's organs there's tissues and there's microbes yes even those german microbes that we tend to think of as enemies are actually a very vital part of our immune defenses we are an ecosystem that is a host to billions of different microbes that live on us and in us and they're very much our health allies helping train and educate our immune system to keep us well and i like to propose that our immune system is actually our wellness system running through every aspect of our physical and mental health and immune system cells have evolved in this jeremy world that we live in and they've evolved tactics to try and kill those germs and they do that by spewing out toxic components to attack the invaders but sadly these also have some unintended consequences on our own delicate cells and tissues which is why immune responses have to be carefully regulated balanced not boosted and so if we consider our immune system as our wellness system we start to see that almost every global health concern that we have in today's world so from allergies asthma autoimmune disease heart disease which is one of the biggest killers metabolic imbalances psychiatric conditions and even poor mental health when we start to examine these we see that the same immune mechanisms that we use to fight germs are present and going awry in these other conditions so we certainly don't want to be turning on our immune system inadvertently and we need to make sure we have the balance in this wellness system so if you cannot boost your immune system what can you do and the answer is it depends so i realize that that might leave some of you a bit unsatisfied how is it that we can put a man on the moon but you cannot give me a straightforward answer as to how i can boost my immune system it depends it depends on your starting point it depends on your baseline it depends on your age your underlying health conditions it depends on your nutritional status it depends on your lifestyle and physical activity it depends on many psychosocial and social economic factors and ultimately what science tells us is that your immune system is something that is made not born it's shaped by your experiences over time and it's shaped by things we can control and by things we can't control so if we start to think about this i like to think of it as being a bit of a a cake there's no point in going in for the expensive sprinkles if you haven't got a good sponge base and i know a cake analogy is probably not very wellness for the wellness system but we can start to look at the many different things that we can control like layers of swiss cheese i like to think of it as these dials all of these different dials are feeding into our overall well-being nutrition and our gut health these microbes we have movement we have sleep and rest we have stress in our mental well-being and then we have the environments that we live in so if we take each of these and kids consider each of them like a layer of swiss cheese they're all collectively going to give us the best chance of saying well so i get it i get why we're all so concerned with how to boost our immune system we have stressed out burnt out colleagues we have worn out working parents wondering how they're going to get through the latest snot season while the kids are off school with the latest largie and they've got to balance the demands of their work we have a culture of presenteeism that starts when we're in school you've got to show up on your seat looking dedicated even though you're unwell and science actually tells us that this means not only are we less productive it takes us longer to get well again but we're inadvertently spreading our germs to all our fellow colleagues and commuters in the same time so i get it and i'm wholly sympathetic and you can see why this creates this climate of honest false dawns and immune boosting quackery so if we can't boost our immune system what can we do and i love this quote that well-being is not an act but a habit if we go to these dials we can eat in a way habitually that nourishes our our bodies and our gut bugs with all that they need to thrive not too few and not too many calories we can move in a way that that our bodies needs we can reframe exercise as just movement and we can move more and we can move more often and we can move in lots of different ways and we can work to maintain muscle mass and mobility so that we can move well into our old age how many of you stay up late even though you're tired sleep is the foundation of our immune system we can turn off netflix and we can go to bed on time and we can change the narrative so rest is no longer a dirty word in our society many of us are inadvertently suppressing our immune system because we're stressed because we're lonely because of the epidemic of psychosocial issues that is so pervasive in our busy modern lives and then we have our environment so often in the biomedical arena we talk about how genes are loading the gun and the environment's pulling the trigger but how often do you stop and actually think about the environments that you frequent how do they make you feel we have a plethora of scientific data that shows us that getting into green space connecting with nature not only is good for our mental well-being our physical well-being but it has some specific beneficial mechanisms that enhance how our immune system functions and if you really want to know the secret sauce to your wellness system it's to tweak each of these dials with self-compassion well-being is not an act but a habit start slow start with sustainable changes start small start with the things you can do on your worst day as well as your best day how many of us have had those huge ambitions to go to the gym every day eat well every day do all the things we know are good for us but then we fall at the first hurdle and we start feeling good about ourselves but then we don't and that's never going to be a motivator for change feeling bad about ourselves but actually there are scientific studies showing that being kind to yourself can have measurable changes on the function of your immune system to make it work better so be kind to yourself be kind to each other take each of these dials and crank them up just a notch or two work on one at a time what's your achilles heel and then move on to the next one because even we immunologists we haven't got this complex crazy immune system all figured out yet thank you [Applause] you
#Truth #Boosting #Immunity #Jenna #Macciochi #TEDxManchester
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Well informative and helpful data for sure.
(13:13 minutes of content)
What a helpful video! I’ve been using Vikramprash of Planet Ayurveda brand and it’s truly helped me stay healthy this season."
なんつった🤔🥱
Thank you for this lecture! Love your last sentence.
The most banal Tedx talk I've ever listened.
this ted talk is really amazing and thruth, BRILLIANT
8:09 the different areas to address for wellness: nutrition and gut health, sustainable movement, sleep and rest, stress and mental wellbeing, healthy environments.
Truth be told, despite the great detail and science presented, i am disappointed that doctors talk so much about our immune system but there is no way to measure its strength and balance due to its complexity.
It will help to give us a clear list of do's and don'ts as we know best to keep our immune system at its best.
But thanks for your honesty. Most greatly appreciated. ❤❤❤❤❤
FANTASTIC
I believe a healthy lifestyle ie nutrition, exercise, sleep support a healthy immune system. The Microbiome is a huge factor too as
the gut ( 2nd brain ) produces neurotransmitters, serotonin etc.
I'm glad I watched to the end as initially I began thinking it's not worth bothering taking vitamin D3 ? Very confusing initially. I normally don't fall ill ever . Over the last few months I've had a chesty cough develope. It coincides with emotional upset from being in a toxic relationship. I think blocking contact is vital for my immune system. Thankyou for your video.
this ted talk is really amazing and thruth, BRILLIANT
besns
Total BS, go away!
The optimal manner to strengthen the immune system will be by taking castor oil internally in a regular manner. Empty and cleanse not only your bowels and your body, but your mind and your spirit too ! You should know upon the following connections, well known in Asia, especially in India and the surrounding countries, and in Africa in the countries southerly of the Sahara too. By swallowing 1 to 2 tablespoons (15-30 ml) castor oil regularly early in the morning on an empty stomach you will remark the following benefits, this one recorded in an increasing importance:
1) Cleansing the bowels from all the waste deposed there.
2) Cleansing the human body via the liver from the toxins deposed there.
3) Cleansing not only the mind but further the spirit.
Concerning point (2) you should further know upon the following assignments of the Chinese medicine:
a) skin –> bowels
b) eyes –> liver
Lots of analogies. Lots of validation of current trends. Very little if any new insight
Spirulina Capsules from planet ayurveda are helpful in boosting the immune system and preventing damage to the heart.
Brilliant Lecture!! Well being isn't an act but a habit.
hi