Your Immune System Remembers
Your Immune System Remembers
Your immune system is an incredible network of cells, hormones, and even bacteria that all work together to keep your body safe from pathogens, it’s quite remarkable just how complex it is. Every year we learn a little bit more about this complex and vital system of ours, and our growing understanding has helped shed light on the nature of autoimmune disease. One of the aspects of our immune system that makes it so effective are the memory T-cells that remain in our blood stream in low levels after they have fought off a pathogen, such as a virus. This allows them to respond rapidly and effectively if that same invader returns. Normally, this is a very good thing, but what happens when our immune system mistakes food for a pathogen, what happens when the immune system gets it wrong?
Immunological Memory
Your immune system has a memory, and this is part of what makes it so effective in warding off invaders. Immunological memory is a unique property of the immune system as it can “store” information about a stimulus and can mount an effective response when the stimulus is encountered again. This type of response allows our immune system to respond with a lot more speed and a lot more force to a pathogen that it has encountered before. Think of it like an army that has fought an enemy force before and learned their tactics, giving them the upper hand every time they face them again. These memory cells are also extra resilient, as they have the ability to regenerate themselves much like stem cells.
Where Things Go Wrong
While the memory of our immune system is a vital aspect to keeping us safe from constant attacks in our environment, it can be very problematic for us whenever food gets added to our immunological memory as a harmful intruder. If your immune system is overstimulated due to leaky gut, stress, unhealthy gut bacteria, or a plethora of other reasons, it could cause foods such as wheat, corn, soy, or nuts to mistakenly be labeled as intruders. If your immune system recognizes one of these foods as invasive and stores it in its memory, you may have to give up this food permanently. At this point, it is the only way to prevent an immunological response. This vicious cycle of food and immune response underpins a great many autoimmune diseases.
Eat Mindfully
If you suffer from autoimmune disease, you have to make peace with the fact that you will always have to be especially mindful with the way you eat. We highly recommend getting a food sensitivity test, such as the ones provided at Enterolab.com, so you know exactly what foods are creating an immunological response in your body. If your immune system is activating when you eat foods such as wheat or corn, you have to remove it if you want to recover. This is absolutely vital. However, you’ll find that once you become intentional with your diet, and plan your meals around your sensitivities, you’ll be amazed at just how fast your body can recover.
God Bless,
Mercy Ballard