This is a quite common question I face: Let’s talk about “Could You Prevent Getting Sick All the Time.” It does come up a lot in my practice. Many people often complain that they just get sick all the time. They get every virus, every bacteria that comes along, whether they’re getting it from their kids or their coworkers, but it just puts them down over and over again. I want to talk about why that happens so you can be aware of your surroundings and maybe how you can prevent this. 

6 Top Underlying Reasons Why People Seem to Get Sick All the time – Tweet that!

Diet

If you are not eating the right foods to feed your immune system, it’s really easy to get sick. – Tweet that!

Junk food, processed food, soda, alcohol, and so many other; any number of these foods can really undermine your immune system and it just makes it harder for your immune system to do what you want it to do, and that job is to take care of these foreign invaders like viruses and bacteria. It’s really important that you’re eating healthy food, nutrient dense food, clean food, organic, if possible, and that’s going to give you really a leg up on having a healthy gut. Up to 80% of your immune function comes from the gut. If your gut’s not functioning well, it’s going to be really hard for your immune system to function well. So, follow a clean diet.

Allergies

I see a lot of people that get this chronic, low lying, allergic reaction, whether it’s due to dust or mold or pollen, or maybe if it’s even to a food. Allergy creates clear fluid; runny eyes or that clear stuff that comes out of your nose. When you get that fluid buildup, it creates a good breeding ground that when you do get exposed to a virus or bacteria, you’ve given the perfect environment for that to thrive. If you can stop that fluid in the first place from being created, even if you get exposed to that virus of bacteria, there’s no place for it to grow. Bacteria and viruses don’t thrive in dry environments. You’ve got to have that fluid there. If we can stop that fluid, is going to give your body a better chance to not get those infections when you get that exposure. Number two is looking at underlying allergies or sensitivities to stop that clear fluid from existing.

Persistent Infection or Chronic Infection

Whether it’s a strep, Lyme disease, chronic yeast infections. These ongoing infections can create inflammation, that inflammation can create more fluid, and that just snowballs into having this ongoing feeling sick, because your immune system constantly must fight to get rid of something. If these infections linger on and on for weeks or months, you feel tired all the time, you don’t feel well, you feel achy, you feel flu like, and all of that can really be due to these underlying infections. I’m going to talk more in the near future about what some of those infectious agents are, so you can be more aware of what you need to look for.

Environment

Your environment is everything you’re breathing in, everything you’re exposed to. Obviously, if you’re a smoker that increases your risk of being sick because of damages to the protective membrane in your lungs and your throat that you need to prevent getting viruses and bacteria. If you damage that, that puts you more at risk. If you’re sensitive to pollutants it is counterproductive to live in an area like Los Angeles where there’s a lot of smog.

When you live in a large metropolitan area, and there is a lot of pollution; for a lot of people that causes them to getting sicker. Environment can be an underlying reason, if you live near an industrial plant, if you live out in farm country and you’re getting exposed to pesticides, herbicides, any number of these factors can affect your lungs, your nose, your throat, potentially your immune system and all of that can create, again, an immune system that doesn’t function as well as you’d like, and that disposes to feeling sick all the time.

Lifestyle

One of the items under lifestyle is sleep, especially important.

If you are not getting good, deep sleep, that’s when your body repairs itself, that’s when your brain detoxifies that would be problematic. – Tweet that!

A lot of that reparative restorative mechanism in our body has happens when we sleep. If you’re not getting enough hours of sleep, or if you’re not getting good quality sleep, either of those can contribute to not feeling well and feeling sick all the time. Other lifestyle factors are things like movement or exercise. If you’re sedentary, you’re more at risk. We know that when you exercise, you move your body, that helps boost your immune system, especially when you get outside and get some vitamin D. Vitamin D is a hormone. It is not a vitamin. It helps support our immune system. Getting that outdoor activity, healthy, walking, doing yoga outside, and whatever you do that gets your body moving is going to help support your immune system.

Medication

If you’re taking any medications, particularly those that suppress your immune system like steroids, some antibiotics, especially if you’re on these medications long term, that can undermine your immune system as well and make you more prone to feeling sick. If you’re concerned about anything you’re taking, whether it’s a prescription medication, over the counter medication, or even a nutritional supplement, talk with your healthcare provider about that and make sure you’re not taking something that might actually be working against you. 

That is my top list of underlying reasons that I see a lot in my practice, that cause people to feel sick all the time. 

I hope you found this video helpful.

 

Sincerely,

Dr. Darin Ingels