8 Ways to Bullet-Proof Your Immune System

Flu Season. Wouldn’t it be great if we could avoid it all together? If you get hit hard with a bug this fall, have frequent or long-lasting illnesses, or are always tired, that’s a sign your immune system is in crisis and needs some attention.

Factors that contribute to a poor immune system include:

Poor digestion & protein metabolism
Underlying chronic infections like Epstein Barr Virus
Regular antibiotic use (even one dose can significantly impair immune function!)

Medication use
Refined foods & sugar
Stress
Lack of sleep & exercise
Caffeine & alcohol use

Chlorine & fluoride from city water
Mold exposure
Environmental toxicity

How Can We Strengthen Our Immune Systems?

Use Nature’s Medicine

Herbs, vitamins and minerals are powerful immune-stimulating, supporting and balancing tools. They are truly nature’s medicine and provide incredible defence against the bugs trying to take us out. Supplements commonly used for the immune system include vitamin C and D3, probiotics, echinacea, olive leaf extract, oregano, medicinal mushrooms and colloidal silver. Other important nutrients include B vitamins, zinc and glutathione, which we’ll discuss more in the next article.

Re-Think Comfort Food

As the colder weather approaches, do you turn to your favourite comfort foods? These foods are often full of processed sugars, unhealthy trans fats and refined, white flour and are known to put a lot of added stress on your digestive and immune systems. This doesn’t mean you can never enjoy these foods again, but try making healthier alternatives and avoid them especially when you’re unwell.

Healing Foods

Your Grandma was right, chicken soup really is the best for a cold! Broth (preferably organic) provides an excellent source of easily digestible protein, needed for a strong immune system. Consuming it with a variety of cooked rainbow-coloured vegetables, antioxidant-rich herbs and healthy fats like coconut oil is a great choice, because it’s packed with nutrients and doesn’t use much energy to digest. I love adding fresh ginger, turmeric, garlic and onions for an anti-inflammatory bonus!

Avoid Caffeine, Sugar, Alcohol & Artificial Sweeteners

A little bit here and there isn’t the end of the world (though I would never recommend brain-damaging artificial sweeteners!), but consuming these “foods” on a regular basis will definitely reduce our ability to fight off infections and avoid disease.

Get A Handle On Stress

Have you noticed that when you’re stressed to the max, you find yourself hit with a cold or flu shortly after? This is no coincidence. Stress increases hormones like cortisol, which suppresses our immune system and dramatically alter our good gut flora, leaving us defenseless during flu season. Finding ways to de-stress and learning to change our perspective of stress can make a big difference.

Sleep

According to sleep expert, Dr. Matthew Walker, getting less than 7-8 hours of sleep directly and remarkably decreases immunity, including our ability to fight off infections and kill cancer cells.

Clean Up Your Environment

Detoxing is important, but what’s even better is avoiding the toxic build up in the first place! By cleaning up toxic products used in our homes, our food and on our bodies, we allow our immune systems to focus on healing.

Lastly…

Other ways you can support your immune system are through regular exercise, contrast therapy, infrared saunas, grounding, coffee enemas, adequate sun exposure, castor oil packs and dry brushing.

If you haven’t already, check out my previous article on how to support a critical part of your immune system: the lymphatic system!

Asher Kleiber

Registered Holistic Nutritionist™

Sources:

Nutritional Pathology, Dr. Brenda Lessard-Rhead, BSc, ND

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK424937/

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker, PhD