The Dr. Hyman Show
Jeff Bland (Part 2): The Science of Immune Aging—and How to Reverse It
Wed, 04 Jun 2025
Dr. Jeff Bland has been a guiding force in my life—and in the world of Functional Medicine. For decades, his work has helped shift medicine away from naming and blaming disease, toward truly understanding and addressing its root causes. In this episode of The Dr. Hyman Show, Jeff and I continue our conversation about how to turn the tide on chronic disease—starting with the immune system. We discuss: • How aging quietly weakens your immune system—and why you don’t have to accept it • How phytochemicals act as gene regulators—not just antioxidants • Why your diet might be accelerating immune dysfunction (and how to fix it) • Why Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat may be the most powerful food you’re not eating (yet) • What it means to rejuvenate your immune system—and how to start doing it today This conversation is personal for both of us—and a powerful reminder that when we care for the body, it has an incredible capacity to heal. View Show Notes From This EpisodeGet Free Weekly Health Tips from Dr. Hyman https://drhyman.com/pages/picks?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Sign Up for Dr. Hyman’s Weekly Longevity Journal https://drhyman.com/pages/longevity?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Join the 10-Day Detox to Reset Your Healthhttps://drhyman.com/pages/10-day-detoxJoin the Hyman Hive for Expert Support and Real Resultshttps://drhyman.com/pages/hyman-hive This episode is brought to you by BON CHARGE, Big Bold Health, Pique, PerfectAmino and AirDoctor. Go to boncharge.com and use code DRMARK to save 15% on your PEMF mat today. Try Omega-3 Rejuvenate®, visit bigboldhealth.com and use code DRMARK25 at checkout for 25% discount. Head to piquelife.com/hyman to get 20% off + a free beaker and frother today. Get pure essential amino acids today. Go to bodyhealth.com and use HYMAN20 to get 20% off your first order. Get cleaner air. Right now, you can get up to $300 off at airdoctorpro.com/drhyman.
Chapter 1: How can we reverse immune aging?
In 90 days, you reversed your immune health by 47%.
Reduced the rate of aging of the immune cells by 47%. That's amazing. 80% of autoimmune disease is seen in women. That's a fact. Does that mean that females have a weak immune system?
We resume our discussion with Dr. Jeff Bland. Advancing into the science of immuno-rejuvenation. And the body's incredible capacity for healing.
Why are we so sick? It's because our genes stayed the same, but the environment in which they're exposed has changed dramatically.
Chapter 2: What role do phytochemicals play in immune health?
Is it true that women who haven't had babies or been pregnant don't have as much immune disease?
Yes, there is a correlation between childbearing and autoimmune disease. If you were to only measure one thing that would determine the year of your death, it would be...
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Chapter 3: Why is there a rise in autoimmune diseases?
So when we started asking, what are the things that our genes never knew they were going to be exposed to over the course of a very short period of human history, we're talking like less than a hundred years, much less, our genes can't mutate fast enough to keep up with that. So what happens is.
That heart attack in the 1900 was like a rare disease.
Right.
And diabetes was a super rare type 2 diabetes.
In fact, in 1900, I remember reading some of the original reports saying if there was a heart disease patient in clinic, they used to run over and try to see them because they may not see another one in their practice.
That's right.
And so these things that we take for granted today, and then we layer on top of that, of course, things like autism and like atopy and allergy and asthma and eczema. and autoimmune disease. Where are these all coming from? Our genes have stayed the same.
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Chapter 4: How does childbearing affect women's immune health?
And these weren't that common before. No. And in indigenous cultures around the world, these are primarily absent.
This is not like a big discovery process. All you have to do is ask the right question. The answers are very obvious. Our genes have stayed the same. We didn't suddenly mutate into autism genes. we didn't suddenly become autoimmune because our genes changed. Our environment change would send signals to our genes to respond in such a way that it produces what we then call clinically a disease.
We give it a name. Now, what it is is a maladaptation, or let's call it an adaptation to that changed environment. Now, given that, then what the heck do we do? We're not going to change our genes, at least at this time. Maybe there'll be genetic engineering later where we will. But today, we've got those genes. What are we going to do?
What we want to do is to modulate how the genes respond to that environment so they're not overreacting. Let me give you an example. Autoimmune disease. I have a whole different take on autoimmune disease than probably most every rheumatologist in the world. So here's my take. 80% of autoimmune disease is seen in women. That's a fact.
There are 88 different diagnoses of autoimmune diseases that have different names, different reimbursement codes.
Like MS or lupus or Hashimoto's.
Type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes. There's a ton of them, right?
If we then take those 80-some diagnoses that all associate themselves with autoimmune disease, then we ask the question, and 80% of those are found in females, then we ask the question, does that mean that females have a weak immune system? That they're born with an imperfect immune system?
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