Have a read below to get some simple tips on how to boost your immune system.
Are you bracing yourself for the cold and flu season ahead again this? It doesn’t have to be that way. Supporting your families gut health is one of the first steps you can take to help strengthen your families immune health. Remember over 70% of your immune cells are found within the gut.
Enhance your innate and adaptive immunity
Our bodies have two major response systems known as the ‘innate’ immune system (this happens within hours) and the ‘adaptive’ immune system (this is developed over days) to respond to invasive pathogens. The best way we can support these systems is by giving them the key nutrients needed. This includes: Vitamin A, C, D, E and Zinc as well as B2, B6, Folate, Iron and Selenium.
Take care of your gut to keep your immune system working efficiently.
A huge part of first line immune response happens in the gut. If you have any kind of intestinal permeability, the body is having to respond to higher levels of toxins and pathogens getting into the blood stream, which means more inflamation. Keep this barrier strong and save your body’s immune response for when it’s really needed. Get those gut healing foods in there!
Utilise herbal medicine in your garden.
No, you don’t necessarily have to spend a lot of money visiting medical practitioners when you can potentially have a natural medicine chest in your back yard! So many divine herbs such as ginger, garlic, oregano, thyme and parsley have active compounds within them that can assist your body to fight off bacteria and viruses. Start putting those herbs on your meals daily!
Eat the whole array of colours available from a whole foods diet.
The whole ‘eat a rainbow’ is absolutely important if you want to support your immune system with incredible nourishing phytochemicals, vitamins and antioxidants. The more colour and plant phytonutrients on your plate the better!
Sleep is the time where you immune system can reset itself.
Getting 8 hours of sleep (no less) is absolutely vital to allow your body to undergo important immune regulation. Without sufficient sleep, your body makes fewer cytokines, (a type of protein that targets infection and inflammation), and anti-bodies production slows down. Get those zzz’s to allow your body to arm up!
Sugar and alcohol are NOT your immune system’s friend.
Sorry to say, ingesting refined sugar or alcoholic drinks can supress your immunity for up to 5 hours after ingestion! Yep, research has shown that glucose molecules can outcompete vitamin C in receptors within our white blood cells, leaving our immune ‘army’ incapacitated and ill equipped.
Stress knocks back your immunity more than you know!
Stress decreases the body’s lymphocytes – the important white blood cells that help fight off infection. The lower your lymphocyte level, the more at risk you are for viruses, including the common cold, cold sores or other viral infections. Try to find ways to balance out the stress in your life with some healing relaxation, breathe work or guided meditation. Make the space for your body to do its job!
Do you struggle to stay on top of the winter school and daycare bugs? Need a little help and guidance to make some simple healthy swaps?
If you’d love more tips, recipes and guidance to up your families immunity, you might be interested in joining the Wholefoods, Low-tox Mums Membership!
It’s a low cost, no lock-in membership where you can learn about gut health, boosting immunity, going low-tox and switching to wholefoods, all in a very supportive environment with like-minded women.
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But in the meantime, why not snavel up our free e-book that has a handful of gut healing and immune boosting recipes!
