Blog
Boron’s Bountiful Benefits
Boron is a trace mineral (meaning it is needed in small amounts), a micronutrient with a big role to play in the body’s functions. It is always found bound to oxygen. It has been shown to have effects on human health, impacting bone formation and regeneration, wound healing, vitamin D and sex hormone production, brain function, as well as modulating uptake of calcium and magnesium. It has also been suggested that boron has some anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. We can go through these salient effects and how much boron you should be getting, then you can make an informed decision as to whether you think you could do with a top up!
Keeping Our Immune System Healthy
So then, the big question, can we ‘boost’ our immune system? The simple answer is sort of. If you’ve read my previous articles then you will appreciate that our immune systems are incredible networks of cells and molecules working in a very well practiced and balanced manner. They ensure harmful foreign bodies are abolished yet know to leave our bodies’ own tissue well alone. Most of the time anyway. In autoimmune diseases, the immune system is overactive and attacks the body itself so having an overzealous immune system is not a good thing. There is always talk, usually around winter when the coughs and colds set in, about what we can take in terms of supplements to boost our immune system. I’m going to be very honest here as I have a responsibility as a Doctor to do so. Although there is some evidence that things like Zinc, Vitamin C, Echinacea, and Boron may reduce severity of an illness once it hits, there is varying data and evidence when it comes to illness prevention. Therefore, instead of focusing on these supplements (I am personally taking Vitamin C and Echinacea right now), I would like to talk about the factors that we may be able to change. There are things we can do for sure, so let’s go through them.
Herd Immunity And How It Prevents Disease
Well done for making it this far! Now we’ve covered how our amazing immune system works, let's look at the topic of “Herd immunity,” a term being thrown around on the regular at the moment by those in the know and those in the hysteria. I’m going to keep it simple and try to explain how it works. It describes a phenomenon when at-risk individuals are protected from infection as immune individuals surround them. This minimises the spread of infection. Immunity can have been gained via two ways, vaccination or infection.
Adaptive Immunity: The Immune System’s Memory
Article 2 covered the innate immune system, the boy’s frontline defence. Now we move onto the immune system’s memory. The adaptive (acquired) response is the second line of attack. It takes longer to organise and initiate (kicking in at around day 4-7) but its attack is targeted to the specific pathogen and acts as a long lasting memory. If the same pathogen is identified a second time, the immune response can be quicker and in some cases, “immunity” will have been gained so the pathogen will have no clinical consequence. The adaptive response is different depending on if the pathogen is in the blood and fluids (antibodies are made) or inside the tissue (a cell mediated response is necessary). T cells are responsible for the cell-mediated response. They recognise infected cells and destroy them.
Innate Immunity: The Body’s Frontline Army
Welcome to article 2! I hope that my COVID summary has helped arm you with facts and alleviate some of that anxiety. I’ll now move on to the immune system itself and how it works to protect us. When the body is exposed to a bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause a disease (termed a pathogen), an immune response is initiated. This can be further split into the innate and the adaptive responses. Before we go onto this, I just want to explain two terms for clarity. An antigen is a foreign body or part of a foreign body that will stimulate the immune system (i.e. a virus or a part of a virus). An antibody is what the body produces in response to this to allow detection of the antigen and therefore destruction of the foreign body. They fit together like a lock and key. Okay, here goes, bear with me.
COVID-19 Covered
In light of current events, as a Medical Doctor with a cheeky Biochemistry degree under my belt too, I thought I would share some knowledge on our incredible immune system. It’s a (very) complex system and so I will break it down into a few topics, as it would be doing it a real injustice if I tried to cram it all into one. The articles within the series will be as follows:
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COVID-19 Covered
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Innate Immunity: The Body’s Frontline Army
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Adaptive Immunity: The Immune System’s Memory
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Herd Immunity And How It Prevents Disease
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Keep Our Immune System Healthy
Vitamin D supplementation: How and why?
There’s more than one reason we come back from our week in the sun feeling re-energised. It gives us a big dose of Vitamin D! SO what’s the big deal about this little sunshine vitamin and why is supplementation so important?
Can you pass these 4 fitness tests?
Sure, you’re a seasoned gym goer. You have been training for a good number of years, you know how to plan your workouts, calculate your macros and people in the gym look to you for advice. You’re well respected, it feels good.
How fit and strong are you though, really? Maybe you already like to test yourself with some well-known fitness tests (keep reading anyway if you do, you might not have done these), maybe you have never had the thought to. Chances are though, if you are anything like me, then you are always looking for that next challenge so you can add it to your gym resume.
How to increase your compound lift strength
First of all, let’s define the Compound lift. Compound lifts are those which utilise multiple muscle-groups to perform a task, and they can be very useful for increasing strength. When thinking of compound lifts, we’re immediately drawn to the class powerlifting and Olympic lifts: Bench, Deadlift, Squat and Military Press. These are the four lifts which will be covered in this article.
Do I need Fat Burners to burn fat?
Burning fat is the primary fitness goal for most people, whether purely for aesthetic reasons, to improve health or any other. Burning fat can be difficult, as it requires consistency and effort. For this reason, people try to find an easy route for securing their fat-loss needs, which leads a lot of people to fat-burners. Fat burners are fantastic for helping you to burn fat, but they will not do it alone. Let's investigate the other factors affecting fat-loss.