In light of things that are happening across the world, doing a post on boosting immunity seemed like a timely topic. While if you are a generally healthy person your risk at becoming very ill is low, it is our responsibility to not spread the disease to those who are more at risk. A lot of people start taking all sorts of supplements when they think of boosting immunity, and while making sure that you are getting adequate micronutrients can play a role, it is not where I would start. Here are the top three immunity boosting things you can start TODAY to living a healthier life.
SLEEP. Get. Enough. Sleep. So many of us are running on low, and all you are doing is running your body down and not allowing it to recover and heal the way that it needs to. When your body is exposed to bacteria, viruses, and other yuck, you are more susceptible to falling ill because your body is busy repairing and taking care of other aspects. The amount of sleep that a person needs is going to vary but a good average is 8 hours. I know... there are plenty of people who say, "I feel fine on six hours," or insert any other number there. The fact is that just because you CAN operate on it, doesn't mean that you SHOULD. Also, other things to consider- you run well on six hours, but what is your caffeine intake like? What is your afternoon crash like? What is the quality of those six hours? Everyone needs to get deep sleep and most people do not have the luxury of taking a nap to make it up. There are plenty of resources that talk about how to get more quality sleep, but I encourage you just to start here: go to bed thirty minutes earlier. Do you really need to watch one more Netflix episode? Or can it wait...? Get to bed consistently thirty minutes earlier and start working your way to that 8+ hours asleep goal.
MOVEMENT. Unfortunately, a lot of us are stuck at 9-5 jobs at desks where the only movement we get is walking from the parking lot to our desks. Or maybe you are able to get in a workout with some quality movement, but that's all you get to do that day. Research has shown that sitting for too long has terrible repercussions on the body, brain, and mood. I encourage you to set a timer at your desk for every 30-45 minutes. When that timer goes off, get up and go to the bathroom, get water, stand and stretch at your desk, go outside for a few minutes, but just DO NOT keep sitting at your desk (NOTE: if you have a standup desk, you still need to MOVE, not just stand. It's definitely better than sitting, but still make an effort to move around.). According to several studies, getting even just 5 minutes of movement every 30 minutes can have huge implications on living a healthier life. Not the only, but a big component of this is circulation. Movement boosts your heart rate which encourages healthy blood circulation. Circulation is like the highway that your body uses to not only move beneficial things around your body, but also to transport toxins OUT. Movement also helps regulate a lot of hormones that your body requires to run smoothly and stay healthy, so even if you can't get a workout in everyday, make it a goal to walk or consciously move around for at least 60 minutes a day, even if it is broken up into 5 minute long segments throughout the day.
GUT HEALTH. As we have learned more about the gut in the last ten years, some doctors now consider gut health almost synonymous with the health of your immune system. So much is still not known and understood about this, but one fact is glaringly true, an unhealthy gut makes a person extremely susceptible to all sorts of illness and are almost always unhealthier than someone with good gut health. Somehow throughout the years, medicine has become an area of "spot treatment" where we should be looking at the body as a whole to treat a person (I am speaking in general terms- there are situations where treating just a specific spot is clearly the answer). Unfortunately, this has thrown so many people into an unhealthy cycle, as we continue to treat symptoms, rather than dealing with the issue. I read a quote recently from Lara Briden, ND, "Antibiotics are amazing life-saving drugs. But if you're healthy, you should not expect to need them more than three or four times in your lifetime." IN YOUR LIFETIME. I know people who are almost perpetually on antibiotics. The problem with this is that antibiotics kill ALL bacteria in your gut and a healthy gut requires bacteria. Some bacteria is good and promotes absorption of nutrients, healthy hormone production, as well as removing toxins from the body. I know what you're thinking, but without antibiotics, how am I supposed to get healthy? And I'm not going to lie, it can be tricky depending on what you are taking them for. I would recommend talking to a good naturopathic or functional medicine doctor who can steer you in a good direction depending on what you are struggling with (there is a time and place for antibiotics - DO NOT stop taking your antibiotics without consulting a health care provider). If you are not on antibiotics, GREAT! Other things you can do to boost a healthy gut:
Eat real, Whole Foods. Avoid foods that are packaged and processed. Most of them have all sorts of additives that can irritate the gut.
Avoid sugar. Sugar is known to cause inflammation in the gut which can in turn inflame the entire body and cause all sorts of problems. If you are trying to boost your immunity, cut out the sugar.
Consider avoiding wheat, gluten, and/or cow dairy. These are common allergens and irritants to our bodies. An allergy we are probably aware of, but we might not be aware that something is just irritating our gut. Irritants and allergies are capable of disrupting all sorts of hormone production, as well as disrupting the growth of the good bacteria that's gonna be establishing a good gut colony. Not everyone is allergic and/or irritated by these foods though, so consider removing one from your diet for 30 days, see how you feel and go from there.
These three aspects are things that you can start doing TODAY to be healthier. I would encourage you to try to implement at least one. Or if you already do these, try and improve upon it! This is not about perfection, but just allowing your body the time and the space it needs to heal itself so that you can feel your best.
In the meantime, keep washing your hands, STOP touching your face, sneeze/cough into your elbow, and BE KIND to those around you. We are all in this together, let's support each other and get through this with as much grace as possible.
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