Obesity and the Immune System

How interesting!  I wonder if they get sick less often because they’ve started eating healthier foods which tend to be loaded with vitamins that boost immunity.  Or if it’s because the extra weight burdens the organs which affects immunity.  I’ve not been sick often enough to notice a difference in myself.  However, obesity detrimentally affects so many things that I can see how it would weaken a person’s immunity.  

Now that I think about it, I haven’t been sick since I started getting the weight off.  I usually catch two or three bugs a year, but so far so good.  That could change though.

I’ve read a little about this and apparently one of the reasons that obesity affects immunity is that it’s easier for wounds to remain open and for pathogens to enter that site in obese people.  There’s generally more surface area that’s affected due to having larger bodies.  Plus, the layers of fat impede the body’s ability to heal itself as it’s harder to keep the wound clean and dry due to the skin folds.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

That’s kind of depressing.  I get colds all the time and they hang on for a long time, despite my diligent hand washing.  Hopefully this will change once I have gastric sleeve surgery and lose some of the weight. 

This is interesting. I’ll be interested to see if I get fewer infections and colds when I start losing weight. It wouldn’t surprise me if my immune system improves – excess weight affects so many bodily systems.