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How 'boosting' your immune system increases inflammation and 4 ways to support balance instead | Dr Giulia Enders

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May 7, 2026

Guest

Giulia Enders

Dr Giulia Enders, gastroenterologist and bestselling author who makes gut and body science relatable. She argues that symptoms are often protective, explains how sleep, stress, sugar and the microbiome steer immune balance, and explores when to treat symptoms versus let them run their course. Practical tips include diet, sleep routines, stress reduction and exercise to support a balanced immune response.

01:00:59

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INSIGHT

Symptoms Are The Immune System Working

Cold symptoms often come from the immune system's actions, not directly from the virus.
Giulia Enders explains runny nose, cough and fever expel or restrict microbes as protective tactics driven by immune-triggered inflammation.

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ANECDOTE

Patient Story Linking Infection To Autoimmunity

Enders recounts a patient whose severe EHEC infection preceded chronic inflammatory bowel disease.
She used the case to show immune memory from past infections can later trigger overprotective autoimmunity.

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ADVICE

Treat Symptoms Selectively Not Routinely

Use symptom-relieving drugs selectively rather than reflexively.
Giulia endorses short-term nasal decongestants when breathing/sleep is blocked but warns against indiscriminate anti-diarrheals like loperamide when infection is clearing.

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Why feeling sick feels like failure

01:04 • 2min

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Giulia's path from skin disease to gut medicine

03:02 • 1min

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Expanding from gut to whole-body connections

04:09 • 1min

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Seeing the body as a connected system

05:36 • 1min

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Why the body isn't 'broken' by illness

06:47 • 1min

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How infections can trigger overcautious immunity

08:15 • 2min

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Calming the immune system as part of care

09:56 • 3min

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Symptoms are often the immune system's strategy

12:55 • 4min

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When to treat symptoms and when to let them be

16:49 • 2min

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Painkillers and balancing relief with immune function

19:04 • 47sec

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Rethinking the immune system beyond war metaphors

19:51 • 2min

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The microbe cloak: beneficial resident microbes

21:45 • 2min

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Immune system and microbiome cooperation

23:32 • 2min

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How immune cells decide friend from foe

25:09 • 3min

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Immune 'consciousness' and networked decision-making

27:56 • 1min

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Why an overactive immune system causes harm

28:57 • 3min

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Foundations beat quick-fix immune supplements

31:35 • 1min

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Practical stress reduction to support immunity

32:38 • 4min

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Sleep builds immune cells during deep sleep

36:40 • 7min

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Naps and sleep timing for immune benefit

43:10 • 1min

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Evening routines and day breathing breaks for better sleep

44:34 • 1min

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Diet for immune balance: Mediterranean pattern

45:43 • 1min

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How exercise helps regulate immunity

47:00 • 6min

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Choosing effective exercise types

53:27 • 1min

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Final takeaway: appreciate the body's intelligence

What It Really Means to Listen to Our Bodies

Giulia Enders

In 'Organ Speak', Giulia Enders guides readers through the human body's inner landscape, introducing the unseen heroes of our physiology. Drawing on thousands of years of biological evolution, Enders reveals how our organs have responded to challenges with astonishing intelligence and what they can teach us about security, emotional recovery, and what we truly need to thrive. Using her signature talent for making complex scientific concepts vividly accessible, Enders transforms our perspective on the extraordinary complexity of our bodies and how understanding them can lead to happier, healthier lives.

#9840

• Mentioned in 6 episodes

Gut

The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ

Giulia Enders

In 'Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ', Giulia Enders breaks down the latest science on the digestive system, discussing topics such as gut bacteria, the brain-gut connection, and the role of the gut in conditions like obesity, allergies, depression, and Alzheimer's. The book is illustrated by her sister Jill Enders and has become an international bestseller, translated into over 30 languages and selling more than 3 million copies worldwide.

What if boosting your immune system is the wrong goal?

Today, Dr Giulia Enders explains how boosting immunity may increase inflammation and why your symptoms are often part of your body’s defence. Your immune system is not failing when you feel sick. It is trying to protect you. So what should you focus on instead?

That’s the idea at the very heart of Giulia’s new book, Organ Speak. Giulia is a gastroenterologist and author whose previous book, Gut, sold eight million copies and helped convince the world that gut health was worth taking seriously.

She explains how the immune system really works and why symptoms like a runny nose, cough, or fever come from your body, not the infection itself. You’ll learn how sugar may push the immune system toward inflammation, how stress can weaken it, and why sleep is key for producing immune cells. This episode also explores how exercise helps regulate your immune response. The core idea is simple: health is not about making your immune system stronger. It is about keeping it balanced.

By the end of this episode, you will have practical ways to support that balance and habits to help your immune system respond in the right way.

If the sneezing, runny nose, fever - all of it - are actually the whole point, how much energy should you spend in suppressing them?

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Timecodes

00:00 Intro

02:45 Why being sick feels like failure

04:30 The problem with only treating the gut

07:16 Why your body is not broken

10:25 When your immune system gets overprotective

13:28 The virus may not cause your symptoms