The Mind-Immune Connection: How Mental Health and Immune Health Affect Each Other
Reading Time: 5 Minutes
What do Alzheimer’s, anxiety, brain fog, diabetes, asthma, and allergies have in common?
The answer may shock you. It may also help explain the connection between mental health and immune health. Yes, there is a mind-immune connection. But what is the driving mechanism linking the two?
In a word: Stress!
Think about it: You wake up in the morning after hitting the snooze button a few times. You’re running late. You know you have an early morning meeting and a fast-approaching work deadline. You hop in the car only to face more traffic than usual. You can feel your mind racing, your palms sweating, and your stomach starting to ache. You know that if you walk into another meeting late, your job is on the line.
So what do you do? First, you try to quiet the rumbling in your stomach and wake yourself up by swinging through the drive-through for an extra-large double-double, breakfast sandwich, and donut. You know you need the sugar to make it through yet another hectic day.
But what happens? You end up feeling terrible! Your energy levels plummet, your head feels foggy, and you can’t focus on anything presented in the meeting. You may even experience a stuffy nose, an allergy flare-up, or end up with gastrointestinal issues to add insult to injury. After the meeting, you feel mentally and physically exhausted, anxious, and unproductive.
Have you ever gotten caught in this vicious cycle? The one between stress, inflammation, anxiety, physical symptoms, and poor nutrition?
This is the Mind-Immune connection.
Stress and Inflammation
We have all dealt with stress. It’s part of life. Perhaps, as in the example above, it may even be a leading driver in yours.
Stress comes from many different sources: a twisted ankle, a time deadline, an illness, a loss, a sick child, an ageing parent, or financial woes.
It can be mental, environmental, physical, emotional, or nutritional. It may be short-lived or have long-lasting effects.
How we manage that stress, how we allow it to dictate our thoughts, actions, and feelings, and how well we can overcome life’s challenges are primarily dependent on the state of our mental health.
Though none of this may come as a surprise, it may surprise you that any time we experience stress, regardless of where it comes from, the result is the same: inflammation.
Stress and the inflammation it creates are the main links between our mental and immune health. Together, they determine our overall wellness.
You may have experienced the physical inflammation created after a sprained ankle or fractured limb. Swelling (and often pain) is the first indication that something is wrong. This is also our immune system’s way of protecting the damaged area to allow healing.
This type of inflammation is a critical part of the immune response that happens instantly, without any effort on our part.
In fact, every time the immune system is called upon to work, whether to immobilize a sprained ankle, help you recover from a cold, or manage food intolerances, it sends out molecules (cytokines) to get the job done. Cytokines create inflammation in the process.
However, the immune system doesn’t only work when we face an injury. In our modern, stressful world, it’s always turned on, yet we usually have no idea. This silent inflammation has usually lurked under the surface for years, creating chronic low levels of stress.
You may be familiar with the effects of stress, as in our original example. Stress taxes our nervous system, and when it becomes chronic or mismanaged, it negatively affects our mental health. You may also know that stress creates cortisol. But did you realize that cortisol also creates inflammation?
Inflammation can be considered the root of all illnesses - from Alzheimer’s to diabetes to asthma to anxiety and brain fog.
Available on iTunes, Spotify & all major platforms
How else does the Mind-Immune connection work?
We now know the cells in our immune system communicate through molecules called cytokines. In our nervous system, the molecules that allow neurons to communicate are called neurotransmitters. The problem is; both cytokines and neurotransmitters look and act similarly. This allows cytokines to pass information to the nervous system and vice versa.
This means when we’re struggling with an illness like a cold, flu, or allergies, not only are our immune defences down, but we are also likely to have no energy or desire to do something we may otherwise enjoy. We may also find ourselves unusually moody, sluggish, or irritable.
So it’s safe to say that when we’re under the weather, our brain doesn’t perform as it usually does. Similarly, when we’re struggling with a mental illness, our immune system doesn’t work optimally either, leaving us feeling tired or generally unwell. It’s also common for people dealing with mental health disorders to be more prone to weakened immune health or reduced overall wellness.
So what can we do to lower inflammation, improve our immune health, and optimize our mental health? Reduce inflammation!
Interventions that reduce inflammation in the body can also reduce inflammation in the brain, and they all revolve around stress management.
Finding good stress-management techniques that work for you is key! They may include meditation, breath-work, guided imagery, exercise, yoga, improved sleep, and of course, eating well.
Focus your diet on healthy, whole, nutrient-dense foods loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and quality proteins. These foods will keep your blood sugar levels stable and your brain balanced to help you manage stress better.
The top foods to help boost immunity and optimize brain health include:
Wild fatty fish
Berries
Avocados
Raw nuts/seeds
Green leafy vegetables
Other colourful fruits and veggies
You may also find supplementation from omega 3’s, curcumin, bromelain, or resveratrol helpful. Ask the friendly folks in the vitamin department of your local health food store for help.
“Bottom line: Anything that stresses the body creates inflammation, weakens our immunity and compromises our mental health.”
Whether you’re trying to fight an acute infection or heal from a chronic illness, your body can’t effectively do either if your mental health isn't strong enough to manage it. Engaging in stress-management and inflammation-reducing techniques can keep both your mental health and immune health strong.
The combination can lead to overall improved health and wellness!
As always, I welcome your thoughts and value your feedback. Let me know what you think by dropping me a line or commenting below.
If you haven’t already done so, please sign up to receive my newsletters for more information about brain health, neuronutrition, lifestyle tips, and nutritional advice. Of course, if I can help you or a loved one with your nutritional needs, make an appointment to see me today!
[Medical Disclaimer]
All information contained in this document is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent health problems. For all serious health issues, please contact a medical or nutrition practitioner. The information provided is based on the best knowledge of the author at the time of writing, and we do not assume liability for the information, be it direct or indirect, consequential, special exemplary, or other damages. In all circumstances, it is always wise to consult your physician before changing your diet, taking supplements, or starting any exercise or health program.