[gcanyon]

> [greater activity within] our immune systems long-term can't be healthy

Not trying to be flip, but why? "Natural" isn't always better, and as the obesity epidemic has shown, our evolutionary past hasn't done a perfect job of preparing us for our current environment.

You might be right, but I'm skeptical that there is any non-extreme limit to something as simple and mechanical as our innate immune system.

[adrianN]

We know that systemic inflammation is associated with all kinds of chronic diseases. I don’t know whether we have figured out which causes which, but I’d be wary of overstimulating the immune system too.

[Palomides]

calling the immune system simple and mechanical is completely wild, like half of americans have some kind of medically diagnosable immune dysfunction

[gcanyon]

The immune system operates at level far below where we get "tired" -- worrying that we'll "use up" the immune system seems similar to worrying that exercise will "use up" our lifetime allotment of heartbeats.

[empath75]

The concern isn't "using up" the immune system, the concern is the immune system gets all revved up looking for something to kill, and not finding pathogens handy, attacks your own organs.

[SecretDreams]

Normally when your immune system is on high alert for a prolonged period of time, it can lead to more false positives and trigger auto immune issues.

[gcanyon]

But this is talking about the innate vs. the adaptive immune system. I am not a medical professional, but it seems like the innate system is either maladapted or not. In any case, I don't think it's fair to assume that your "common sense" overrides my skepticism.

[mcdeltat]

There are likely biological pros and cons between innate and adaptive, such that using the innate response for everything is not desirable.

The innate response is less targeted, less effective, and causes potentially damaging effects like inflammation. The adaptive response is more targeted and more effective, with the tradeoff that it needs to be learnt.