Most health experts agree that moderate exercise boosts our immune system, and that people who work out regularly get sick less often than people who don’t. But what about immoderate exercise, like extreme competitive events? Not so good, suggests research conducted by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
BNET reports that researchers there put one group of Army volunteers through an exercise program that required overexertion, while they ate diet that cycled up and down
during the four-week period between providing about three-quarters of
the calories they burned to only about a third of what they needed.
That group saw immune function plummet by 50 percent to 60 percent. Another group exercised the same amount, but was given more food. Those volunteers saw a 30 percent suppression of immunity.
Even the group that overexercised but was given enough calories experienced a 20 percent reduction in immune function.
Yet another group, BNET reports, did moderate exercise and consumed adequate calories.
That group, which happened to be all women, improved their immune function.
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Saturday, May 31, 2025