Your Immune system…Take charge of it!
The Immune system…we hear about it often, but do you really understand what it does? I could get very scientific going into the immune system, but instead I would like to share with you what I know on all the ways to make your immune system functioning at it’s highest potential.
Unfortunately in the standard American diet, so many people are not getting the nutrients that the body needs. Fast food, frozen meals, GMO food supply, junk food and alcohol are all staples in many people’s diet. Now, I am not judging! We live in a world where everything is so fast paced, everyone is over scheduled, and we are being pulled in a million different directions. So what is the easiest thing to eat? Something quick right? But…this way of life is making us sicker and sicker, and it is destroying our immune systems. So it’s time to take our health seriously!
So what do we do? How can we make the immune system the strongest possible? Well, it takes time and it doesn’t happen overnight. Are you ready? Are you ready to take control of your health? Are you ready to make your health a priority in your life? Are you ready to be an example to your family and children that health needs to be made a priority?
First way to boost that immune system is food! It seems like common sense, but if it were we would all have booming immune systems! Eating whole foods is number one! There is too much processed food being consumed, and with that comes very little nutritional value. Eating whole foods means eating clean food that does not coming in a package. Shopping the perimeter of the grocery store is your best bet. Produce, fish, meat, and clean dairy. Frozen fruits and vegetables are good as long as there are no processed sauce packages with them. Nuts and grains come in packages, but those are whole foods that you can gain nutrients from, just read the label for added ingredients that you want to stay away from. Read ingredients, if there are more then 5 ingredients, don’t eat it! If there are names in the ingredient list that you cannot pronounce, don’t eat it! When you are eating whole foods this way, you are getting the most nutrients you possibly can!
Next thing to do…supplements. The way our food is grown and with GMO (genetically modified organism) food, we are not getting all the nutrients our body needs. So clean supplements are essential. My top supplements to take are Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and B12, zinc and magnesium. A really clean multivitamin is a good way to get these all. Another crucial group of supplements is Prebiotics, Probiotics and digestive enzymes. Gut health is one of the most important parts of the body to keep healthy for the immune system. Did you know that your immune system actually starts in the gut? There are immune cells in the gut, so when the gut is unhealthy, the immune system is not good.
Sleep is next on the list. When the body is sleep deprived, the body becomes stressed which in turns decreases the immune system. The average adult needs 6-8 hours of sleep each night. Going to bed at the same time each night is very important for proper sleep. Having a nightly routine helps your body relax to get into REM sleep, which is what our body needs to really rest. Not looking at laptops, tablets and phones 2 hours before bed is very important. If you must look at your phone, try using blue light glasses. The blue light emitting from the electronics interrupts the melatonin production which then interrupts our quality sleep. Try and make your room as dark as possible. Reading or listening to calming music before going to bed helps the body relax. When the body is relaxed and you go to sleep, your body is producing the right amount of melatonin to get you the proper sleep.
Exercise is so important! It is not only needed for your physical health, it is needed for your immune system and stress levels. When I say exercise, do not get all freaked out that I want you to join a gym and go 5 days a week! When I say exercise, I mean something you enjoy, it could be doing yardwork, taking and walk or jog, yoga or pilates, a swim or anything where you are moving the body. Our bodies were meant to move! Our lives are too sedentary and we need to put the effort in to move each day for out health and immune system.
The last thing I will talk about with immunity (even though there is so much more) is stress. Stress can be physical, emotional, or mental. Some stress we cannot control, if we are ill, if a family member is very ill, an accident occurs, we lose a loved one or something of this nature. We cannot control things like this that happen in our lives. What we can control is how we react to it. We can go crazy, have anxiety, panic attacks and lose it, and sometimes when really bad things happen in our lives we react this way for a short time and that’s ok. It’s when we continue to react this way and do not find ways to deal with the stress that it becomes a real health problem. I am not saying it is easy to find what works for your stress, but it is possible to find what works for your own health. Ways to help you deal with the stress is deep breathing, praying, meditation, gentle yoga, taking a walk, reading, something calming that relaxes your body so that you can take a few minutes to slow down and process the stress and how your are going to go forward with it. Are you going to let it continue to build up inside of your until you explode, or are you going to take small steps to try and release the stress within your body? The choice is yours, but you have to keep in the back of your head that continuous stress will weaken your immune system, create other negative things in your body and make your feel not your best.
These are just some ways to boost the immune system. We should always want a high functioning immune system, not just now with the Covid fear. This is something that we should strive for each and every day! You are worth it! You can do this! We are all capable of amazing things, we just need a little reminder every once in awhile!
“When you take your health seriously...amazing things can happen”