Different Types of Immunity | What You Should Know

We've been talking a lot about immunity lately, but what exactly is immunity? To understand how immunity, or how our immune system works, we first need to start by looking at the different parts of the body's immune system.

Most people know that the immune system's main function is to protect us from potentially harmful pathogens (such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi) - but what many may not know is that this protection is actually far more complex than many first think. We are talking about two different subsystems that make up our complete immune system.

Is there more than one immune system?

The immune system as a whole is a summary of the protective effects of many different cells and subsystems, and the immune system can therefore be split into two separate (but related) parts. The first is called our innate immune system. This is what most people think of when immunity is a topic of conversation.

The innate immune system is our first line of defense against pathogens. This includes things like our outer barriers to bacteria (e.g., skin and intestinal lining) and provides good protection upon first contact. The innate immune response is fairly general and nonspecific, meaning its job is to protect against anything potentially harmful that could enter our bodies. However, once a virus or bacteria has managed to get into our system, our innate immune system is not very good at preventing its spread.

And this is where our adaptive immune system comes into play!

Adaptive immunity, also known as acquired immunity, is the immune system we develop throughout life through exposure and/or vaccinations. One of the differences that separates adaptive immunity from our innate immunity is that the adaptive response is completely specific to the invading pathogen. And because of this, our immune system builds up a "library" of antibodies that can be used as a reference should we be infected by the same pathogen in the future.

In other words, our adaptive immune system is extremely smart - once it encounters an invader, it can then "remember" which weapon to use to defeat it. This ability simply means that in the future our immune system reacts super-fast and with even more force than it did the first time we got sick with said pathogen, which in turn prevents us from getting sick the next time it manages to enter our bodies. Pretty amazing, right?

Different types of immunity

With the different branches of the immune system also come different types of immunity - active and passive. Active immunity occurs when exposure to a disease triggers an antibody response from the immune system. Just like we just went through, right? So yes, this is because this type of immunity plays a very important role in our adaptive immune system!

Passive immunity, on the other hand, is when someone receives antibodies against a disease - instead of producing them themselves. For example, when a baby is born, it receives antibodies from its mother. Although passive immunity is only temporary, both types work together to protect our bodies from a potential infection.

Read more here about how you can achieve a better immune system in 8 simple ways.

Important components of the immune system

Now that we’ve covered the different branches of the immune system and the different types of immunity, it’s important that we also focus on the components that actually create an immune response. Yes, we’re talking about the cells in our bodies that actually make sure we have an immune system in the first place. Our immune system never gets a break – it’s like having its own army of personal security guards on duty 24/7 to monitor our entire body for potential invasions. And we can truly thank our scout cells (also known as phagocytes, or specialized white blood cells) for that!

These cells circulate around our bodies and are responsible for scouting for pathogens. But what happens when they actually find an invader? Our phagocytes have an incredible ability to actually engulf the entire bacterium completely + digest them. Yes, you read that right! They "eat" up potential threats to our bodies. - Isn't that really cool?!

Another type of immune cell that is definitely worth paying attention to is our natural killer cells. In our innate immune system, these are an absolute main component. They specialize in identifying cells that are infected by a virus or that are possibly cancerous, which they do by identifying changes in the cell structure.

When it comes to our adaptive immune response, there is also a completely different group of specialized cells that help recognize and produce antibodies. Without going into too much detail there, we can mention that it is T cells that help identify both infected cells or potential cancer cells. T cells also activate other immune cells, while also playing an important role in the body's immune memory - that is, the "library" as we mentioned earlier. The immune system is also armed with B cells, and when these are activated by T cells, they multiply extremely quickly and immediately start producing antibodies.

B cells also help develop the body's immune memory. These are just a few of the many components involved in your immune response. Enzymes, cytokines, basophils, eosinophils and many more are also responsible for our immunity. In other words, we are talking about a large and complex collaboration in a class of its own!

What do antibodies do?

When talking about the body's immune system, the word "antibody" is something you'll hear quite often, but do you really know what an antibody is? We're happy to tell you! In short, antibodies are made up of proteins and sugar molecules, and they have the ability to attach to bacteria and potentially harmful substances.

When the antibody attaches to a bacterium, it neutralizes the bacteria. Not only that, but the antibodies also attract other immune cells that quickly come to the rescue to get rid of the harmful substance. You can simply think of antibodies as a kind of pathogen-seeking spy that attaches a GPS to harmful invaders so that the immune system can find them and unleash killer immune cells on them.

Tips on how to strengthen and support your immune system

With so many dynamic components and parts involved in the body's immune system, it's extremely important that we do what we can to support the many different elements of our immune system. Simple things like regular exercise, reducing stress levels, and making sure you get a good night's sleep are all great ways to help your immune system. All of these also help reduce inflammation, which can put additional stress on your immune system and potentially have significant effects on your immune response in the long term.

On top of this, a proper diet filled with nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, and whole grains is one of the most effective ways to support natural immunity. You need a diet that provides your body with all the nutritional elements needed to keep your immune response at peak performance.

Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, Zinc, Iron and Proteins (to name a few). So when your diet is not optimal, or when you just want to support your immune system during times when your body may need extra attention - for example during the colder months of the year, when traveling, or during periods of increased stress in everyday life - then supplements are the perfect way to ensure that the immune system at least has the necessary components readily available for such times of increased risk of viruses, bacteria and infections.

Some of our immune boosting favorites are Vitamin D3 with Cranberry , Vitamin C with Zinc and Chaga , and OptiMSM - all part of our new immune pack ! So if you're looking for the perfect way to boost your immune system, we also have a whole collection of immune boosting products that are all tailored to keep you healthy and well - all year round. So you should definitely take a look in our store!

Our immune system is far more complex and detailed than what we have covered here, but we hope this has given you a good and basic understanding of the body's immunity - as well as a fascination with it. Staying healthy doesn't have to feel like a chore - just make sure your immune system has what it needs - and it will do the rest of the work for you!