Immune Boosting Wellness Practices
Most people wait until they’re sick to pay attention to their immune health, but it’s never too early to strengthen your immunity. Your ability to fight off infection starts with a healthy diet and optimal nutrition.
The wellness strategies mentioned below can help you fight off an infection in case you do get sick (with covid or any other virus!).
Get back to health basics!
It’s tempting to skip basic wellness strategies and instead supplement with fancy immune boosting herbs and nutrients because they’re easy to take (pop a pill and move on with your day).
Supplements can just act like a bandaid if you ignore basic wellness practices. If you’re still eating tons of sugar and drinking alcohol and not sleeping enough, there’s no amount of vitamin C or zinc that will fix that.
Here’s what I mean when I talk about getting back to
immune health basics:
Get enough sleep. Immune cells like cytokines and antibodies, which help the body fight infection, are produced when you sleep. Too few hours or poor sleep quality may compromise your ability to produce these immune cells.
Take some time to consider your sleep hygiene. Limit screen time at night (which can disrupt your sleep) and aim for 7-9 hours. I also like sleeping with a black eye mask, which blocks light and optimizes the melatonin production. Melatonin is a potent antioxidant and also a hormone that promotes sleep and a healthy circadian rhythm.
Hydrate well. Drinking enough water is essential for immune health because it not only helps the body eliminate toxins, but it helps keep lymph fluid flowing. The lymph system is a network of specialized vessels that move immune cells throughout the body.
To determine your water needs: half your body weight (in pounds) and that’s how many ounces that you need per day. Note that caffeine and alcohol are dehydrating, so if you indulge in either you will need that much more water
to compensate for your losses.
Eat a clean diet. Our bodies use the nutrients from food to fuel all biological functions. The food we eat supports the production of hormones, neurotransmitters and immune cells. Think of your immune cells like warriors - they need to be well fed before going off to battle! Our nutritional status also affects our body’s digestive health and detox capacity, both indirectly impact immune health.
Limit irritating foods like sugar, alcohol and processed foods as much as possible. Focus on clean proteins, fresh fruits, veggies and complex starches. Foods closest to their ‘grown state’ (how they came out of the earth) tend to be the healthiest ones!
Fresh produce not only provides the body with essential nutrients, but also contains compounds called phytonutrients. These compounds are like nutritional powerhouses that protect against oxidative damage and fortify the immune system even more.
If you need more guidance on improving your nutrition and eating better, check out my Food Foundations e-course here .
Exercise, but not too much. Physical activity has an anti-inflammatory effect on the body and regular exercise helps regulate immune health. A lot of us are spending more time at home than usual, so it’s even more important to be mindful of how much you’re sitting vs. how much you’re getting up and moving. Aim for at least 30-45 minutes of exercise per day. Nature walks have been my favorite exercise these days! It doesn’t need to be anything too fancy - just get up and get moving!
At the same time, too much exercise (for ex: those training for an event and exercising more than 2 hours per day) can start to deplete nutritional status and wear on the immune system. Just something to be mindful of in case you fall into this category!
HOW TO RECLAIM YOUR HEALTH AND START HEALING YOUR BODY
If you’re ready to cut through the nutrition noise and start making changes to actually heal yourself — follow this guide.
Manage your stress. Mental and emotional stress has a very real effect on the body’s physical health. When you’re stressed, your body releases cortisol (stress hormone). This serves us in acute situations, for example our fight-or-flight nervous system helps us react quickly if our safety is threatened. However, chronic stress keeps this response turned on and keeps cortisol levels elevated. This is problematic over time because cortisol suppresses the immune system and can make you
more susceptible to infection.
If you’re feeling extra stressed these days, consider small actions that can help you relax. I have found that practicing being in the present moment has been really comforting and grounding for me lately. All of you will need different stress reducing tools, so think about what would feel meaningful for you to start building into your weekly routine. Some ideas to get you started: take a hot bath, do a meditation (I love this grounding meditation from insight timer!) or take a 24 hour digital detox.
Individual Nutrients
OK - so if you already have all of those areas down (woohoo! Yay for you!), here are some supplemental nutrients that can help bolster the immune system even more! There are so many herbs and nutrients out there, but these are my go-tos for immune support:
Vitamin C - is required by immune cells to fight off infection. Vitamin C also protects those immune cells against oxidative damage. Doses of about 1 gram per day have been shown to fortify the immune system. Check out the link below for a smoothie recipe that provides over 300% of your daily requirement for vitamin C.
Zinc - works alongside vitamin C in fighting infection. Taking an appropriate amount of zinc (20 mg), especially if you’re deficient, can help improve immune function and reduce the risk of upper respiratory infections. If you want to boost your intake of zinc from whole foods, enjoy more pumpkin seeds, cashews, oysters and lamb.
Vitamin D . Vitamin D is like a super nutrient and its vast role in the body is still being discovered - it’s estimated that vitamin D helps regulate over 900 genes! Many people are either deficient in vitamin D or do not have optimal levels, myself included! But it’s clear that vitamin D plays an important role in immune modulation. Interestingly, a small preliminary study found a correlation between vitamin D insufficiency and severity of symptoms associated with covid19.
The best way to get vitamin D is through spending time outside (our skin makes vitamin D when we’re exposed to sun) or through supplements. Next time you’re at your doctor, ask them to test your vitamin D so that you can supplement appropriately!
Gut Health and Immunity
In this podcast interview with Alexis Rockley host of Call Me When You Get This and author of Find Your F*ckyeah, we dive deep into digestive health and clean eating. I’m sharing this here because working on your gut health supports your immune system.
The digestive tract contains 70% of the body's lymphatic vessels and improving gut health is one of the best ways to support your immune system!
Stay healthy my friends! Sending lots of love your way.