Flu Fighters!
Enhancing Natural Immunity For Your Family’s Protection Against The Flu.
The immune system is a complex network of powerful players communicating and working in concert throughout the body to keep you healthy. Supporting the immune system on a variety of fronts will provide you with your best chance for staying flu free or reducing the amount of time you are sick this winter season.
Immune enhancing diet:
Eating a healthy diet is critical to robust immune function and therefore warding off the flu. Avoid and foods that impair your immune system, processed foods, additives, preservatives, and fried foods. These foods contribute to inflammation and become an immune suppressant by directly impairing immune cells.
Eat organic food whenever possible to avoid immune-impairing pesticides and herbicides. Not only do they decrease your immune system but food sprayed with these agents have been shown to be less nutrient dense as their organic counterparts in way of vitamins and minerals.
Antioxidants: are substances abundant in fruits and vegetables, each of which has it’s own unique effect on enhancing immune function and decreasing inflammation.
Use more herbs and spices: Beyond making food tastier, they also have antioxidant and immune-enhancing properties. A few examples are garlic, rosemary, ginger, sage, and turmeric.
Avoid eating too much: Not a simple feat when the holidays are upon us but trying to reduce the quantity of food you consume and/or times at which you eat can keep your immune system on track. Metabolizing food creates free radicles; so eating excessive calories exposes your body to more free radical damage draining your antioxidant reserves, burdening your immune system and diverting energy from your immune system.
Teas: Not only is this tasty ancient tradition a comforting drink, teas are essentially a route for drinking our medicine. Teas are a brew of a potent herb or herbs infused in water that we then consume, bathing our body with the plant’s mighty constituents. Some great immune stimulating options are ginger, cinnamon, fennel, chamomile and rose hips just to name a few.
Hydration:
Your body is made up mostly of water and taking in sufficient amounts is required for optimal immune function. As a rule of thumb drink roughly half your body weight in ounces a day.
Sleep:
Getting a good’s night rest not only makes us feel good but also has shown to increase immune function. Studies have shown that just one night of quality sleep increases the number of our T cells which are immune cells indispensible for a healthy immune system. Conversely lack of quality sleep can increase not only our chances of getting sick but other health conditions like cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and memory loss to name a few. So GET YOUR Z’S!
Exercise:
Moderate regular exercise (20-30 minutes a day) has a wide range of health benefits, including enhancing immune function. Too much exercise however can actually have the reverse effect and actually suppress the immune system. Consider the following immune benefits of regular exercise
Flushing bacteria from the lungs, which decreases risk of airborne illness
Flushing carcinogens from the body via urine and sweat.
Increasing the rate of circulation of antibodies and immune cells throughout the body, which could help the body detect immune threats earlier.
Temporarily elevating body temperature, which may inhibit bacterial growth and stimulate activity of immune cells.
Slowing down the release of stress-related hormones, which increase risk of illness.
Stress and the immune system:
When we are exposed to stress, physiological alarms are triggered and chemical signals are released. One of these chemical signals called cortisol actually acts as an immune suppressor and prolonged elevation of cortisol can lead to impaired immunity making a person more prone to infection. Finding ways to minimize and positively cope with stress like deep breathing and meditation have been demonstrated through extensive research to greatly protect and augment immune function.
Immune Enhancing Supplements:
Healthy immune function requires a multi-dimensional approach. Healthy diet, consistent physical activity, adequate sleep and reducing stress can be immensely helpful, but a beleaguered immune system may need some additional support to keep it hearty.
Mushroom supplements:
Mushrooms are miniature pharmaceutical factories and posses a unique and formidable combination of elements that improve our overall health especially related to the fight against viruses and bacteria.
Probiotics:
These supplements restore beneficial intestinal bacterial flora, which enhances the activity of immune cells located in the intestines. Probiotics improve the intestine’s immunologic barrier particularly by stimulating antibodies produced in the intestines. If the intestinal antibodies find pathogens they bind to them and then are excreted out of the body. This process is critical to keeping us disease free and also alleviates intestinal inflammation.
IV and Injection therapy: Concoctions of intravenous and intramuscular therapy gives a quick boost to the immune system by providing high doses of vitamins and minerals directly into the bloodstream that are indispensable for a strong immune reaction.
Remember, the immune system is complex but keeping it performing at it’s best does not have to be.
Be well,
Dr. Thea Rabb, ND
