Soon after beginning to exercise, for example, the adrenals secrete epinephrine, a hormone that stimulates immunity. Studies in athletic medicine have noted a clearly-defined relationship between vigorous physical exercise and an increase in resistance to infection. Several studies have dearly indicated that physically-active people have a significantly lower rate of cancer than sedentary people. It is speculated that exercise stimulates antibody production and also relaxes the arteries, allowing more blood to reach nasal passageways.
While the link between nutrition and stress is not quite as well defined, it has been shown that under stress, the body consumes key nutrients more rapidly than most diets can replace them. These deficiencies then inhibit replication of white cells and antibodies in the vast numbers required to launch a counterattack against invading infections.
For example, vitamin C increases interferon in the blood stream, and is believed to stimulate interferon production by infected cells. Vitamins A and E, and the entire B-complex, all provide essential nutritional support to a beleaguered immune system as do such key minerals as calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc.
Even though colds and flu are confined to the respiratory tract, they set off an immune response that affects not only the entire body but the Whole Person. The way we respond to events in our lives, and the extent to which we exercise and the way we eat, have more to do with shortening the duration of a cold or flu than any therapy which focuses only on the infected area.
In fact, whatever we do to enhance the fitness and health of either body or mind fortifies the immune system also. The immune system exactly mirrors the health of our body-mind continuum. When we feed and care for our bodies, and when we seek peace and contentment instead of emotional turmoil, our immunocompetence attains its optimal peak.
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