Top Tips for Immune Health

Top Tips to Support the Immune System

1. Manage stress – Stress suppresses the immune system so worrying about getting sick is just setting up the perfect conditions for any virus to sneak in. Take the opportunity to reflect on your stress levels and make a few constructive changes around avoiding or managing  stressful situations or people, saying no,  protecting yourself with more ‘me time’. Trying some meditation or mindfulness practice. Many apps are available to help you on your way such as Headspace and Calm. Find something that works for you and make some changes. Adaptogen herbs are also excellent when more support is required.
2. Sleep – make sure you get around 8 hours sleep a night or more if you need it. When we sleep, our immune system releases proteins called cytokines, which are needed to fight infection. Being sleep deprived reduces the amount of cytokines produced, likewise reducing the infection-fighting antibodies you need. If you have a problem with sleep try reducing your caffeine and follow some of the tips here. You may need some further support from helpful nutrients such as Magnesium which you can also absorb via an Epsom salts bath.
3. Eat a rainbow – make sure you eating lots of different coloured fruit and veg to ensure you are getting a wide variety of phytonutrients. Citrus fruit, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, red peppers, kiwi, parsley and thyme are all high in vitamin C.  If you are especially stressed you need to really build this one up as the adrenal glands require good levels of this vitamin to function properly.
4. Look after your gut – around 75% of our immune system is located in the gut. Our good bacteria have an important barrier function protecting us from viruses, fungi and pathological bacteria. Support your microbiome by taking probiotics or eating probiotic foods like raw sauerkraut and kimchi. (this does not include probiotic yoghurt drinks which often contain high amounts of sugar)
5. Feed your gut bugs – your good bacteria love fibre so make sure you’re feeding them by eating lots of lovely veggies. Cruciferous and root veg are backed with prebiotic fibre most of which are in season and very affordable in winter. Other prebiotics are onions, leeks and garlic.
6. Spice up your life! – adding herbs and spices to your food increases flavour but also supports our health. Garlic, ginger and oregano are well known for supporting the immune system. Turmeric is an important anti-inflammatory and clove has the highest amount of antioxidants.
7. Stay hydrated – Make sure you stay well hydrated to flush out toxins and help your immune system do it’s job. Avoid alcohol, sugary or caffeinated drinks. Switch to herb teas and water with slices of lemon, lime or mint leaves for flavour.
8. Avoid refined and processed food – refined sugar, refined grains, and processed food are going to make you feel lousy. High sugar levels have the potential to affect the work of our infection fighting white blood cells. Stick to whole foods and cook from scratch where possible  tom optimise nutrients.
9. Optimise vitamin D – Vitamin D is crucial for optimal performance of the killer cells within the immune system – the T cells – and without sufficient vitamin D, these cells will not be able to react and fight off serious infections within the body. We recommend taking 1000iu per 25kg of body weight to provide optimal levels. Want to test your levels first? We can do it here at Nourishing Insights, or post out a kit to do it at home. More on vitamin D in our blog
10. Wash your hands – You don’t need anything fancy, a plain old bar of soap and hot water is all you need. Make sure you scrub thoroughly and for at least 20 seconds (which is how long it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice!). Soap dissolves the fat membrane of the virus and inactivates it, making frequent hand washing and avoiding touching our face our most effective defence against viral infections.

If you have long standing issues with your immune system, autoimmune disease, allergic conditions such as asthma or eczema have a look at our Nutritional Therapy services which can support a wide range of conditions for adult and children  in prevention and management.