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Oftentimes someone who has been diagnosed with a sickness or disease will say that their illness "just came out of nowhere."

Trust me, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Sickness and disease very often develop gradually over time, and they take great care to seek out a nice, cozy home where they can wreak their havoc, preferably undisturbed.

And one of the most significant factors that will determine whether you will be the chosen residence of an illness is how overloaded your immune system is!

That's right--the more you neglect, stress, challenge and taunt your immune system, the less able it will be to protect you from sickness and disease.

Plus you can also run the risk of your immune system going haywire and making you sick all by itself (an autoimmune condition)!

Trouble is, many of us are downright abusing our poor immune systems much more than we realize.

Let's look at this concept of immune overload and look at ways you can help support your immune functioning.

Immune overload

Unlike your other bodily systems that you can easily pinpoint (like your heart and blood vessels, your lungs or your GI tract), your immune system is EVERYWHERE inside you.

It's in all your cells, your gut, your bloodstream, your lymphatic system, your organs—everywhere.

And when it's functioning like it should, it's protecting you with the strength of an army against infections, viruses and diseases.

But it has its limits…and when it gets overloaded, that's when trouble starts.

Two of the most common causes of immune overload are:

• Stressors that challenge the immune system
• Nutritional deficiencies

Here's the scoop on both of those:

Stress—the different types

There are three distinct kinds of stress—physical, emotional/mental and environmental—and each has a harmful impact on your immune system. 

Physical stressors include any kind of infectious agent—a virus, harmful bacteria, parasite or fungus.

They also include things like chemical substances we take in--all drugs (OTC, prescription and recreational) and alcohol--plus temperature changes and physical inactivity too.

Emotional/mental stressors include stress from jobs, relationships, family challenges, financial problems, tragedies (death, divorce), schoolwork and illnesses.

Environmental stressors are the largest, most uncontrollable category of stressors. They include things like:

• Air and water pollution
• Chemicals in food from radiation, pesticides, herbicides, artificial flavors and preservatives
• Lawn chemicals
• Heavy metal exposure from contaminated water, vaccines, amalgam fillings, wood stains and pipes
• New building chemicals (from paints and carpets)
• Vehicle exhaust

Nutritional deficiencies

Your immune system must have adequate nutrition in order to function and protect you. That means getting a variety of proteins, fats, carbohydrates and phytonutrients from real foods.

But the nutrition issue has 2 sides.

You see, not getting needed nutrients is bad enough, but if you aren't eating real foods, that likely means you ARE eating processed or fast foods (collectively known as junk food).

Not only does this garbage not nourish you, but it can feed the harmful bacteria in your gut microbiome (where 80 percent of your immune system resides). Eventually the bad bacteria can overpower your friendly gut flora, which can weaken your immune functioning.

In addition, junk foods also frequently lead to poor digestion, which can result in inadequately digested food molecules seeping into your bloodstream through the intestinal wall and taunting your immune system into overreacting. (This is how many allergies and food sensitivities are created.)

Are YOU overloaded?

Now that you've seen all the ways you can overload your immune system, you're probably wondering where you stand.

Well, if you have allergies, an autoimmune condition, get repeated infections and viruses or have a chronic disease, immune overload is practically a given!

But never fear! Because no matter where you are starting from, you can always help to improve your health.

Here are five smart ways you CAN make a difference in the health of your immune system and encourage it to function more like it's supposed to.

The Five Immune Overload Reducers

1- Avoid nourishing bad bacteria

Avoid fast food, processed food, sugars, refined carbs, soda and excessive alcohol consumption (especially beer).

2- De-stress

Stress causes your body's protective mucosal barrier to become less effective at defending against dangerous pathogens.

There are many ways to help de-stress: Meditation, regular exercise, taking up a hobby, counseling, deep breathing, prayer, adopting a pet (if you are an animal lover), and acupuncture, to name a few.

Also, ashwagandha has a 2,500-year success record in helping your body to handle various stressors and supporting your immune system. Our Ashwa Blend Gummies provide a unique blend of ashwagandha, plus its immune-supportive partners vitamin D and zinc!

3- Eat nourishing real foods

It's crucial for the health of your immune system (and your overall health) to eat a nutritious diet of wholesome real foods.

So focus on consuming good carbohydrates (like whole grains, fresh vegetables and fruits and legumes), stick to healthy sources of fats (including real butter, olive oil, avocado and coconut oil) and proteins like eggs, fish, poultry and meats, and help nourish all your cells and systems!

4- Take a high-quality probiotic supplement

If you want to ensure a strong "gut microbiome army" you need to recruit enough troops.

And Super Shield PLUS multi-strain probiotic formula is an effective, well-researched blend of potent, feisty beneficial bacteria to help build up and support a robust microbiome balance.

Two of the powerhouse strains in Super Shield PLUS probiotic formula, Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus acidophilus, have been shown to be extremely effective in fighting dangerous microbes.

And Super Shield PLUS's 13 other potent strains help keep your microbiome in a healthy balance, ready and able to fight off harmful microbes and support your intestinal wall.

5- Get enough B12

In addition to helping your body generate energy and keeping your thinking sharp and clear, vitamin B12 is also essential for a strong functioning immune system.

Problem is, many people are deficient in B12 and don't even know it.

And even if you eat food sources of B12, it's not always easily absorbed in the GI tract.

A reliable way to help make sure you have enough is to supplement with an oral spray form of B12--like Hydroxaden 2.5.

Each daily dose gives you a full 2.5 mg of B12, comprised of two of the best forms--hydroxocobalamin and adenosylcobalamin (the form of B12 most used by your brain). The B12 is directly absorbed by the mucus membranes in your mouth, thereby bypassing any absorbency issues in the gut.

Recover from immune overload!

By giving your immune system the nutritional support it needs as well as de-stressing, you can help YOUR internal army protect you and keep you feeling great 365 days a year.

To your health,

Sherry Brescia