How To Boost Your Immune System Naturally
Now, more than ever, we need to do everything we can to stay healthy and strong. We may not be able to avoid viruses and bacteria but we CAN boost our immune system to fight them off. Here are some of the things we can do. Some will be new, others will be common sense but as my teacher used to say “common sense is not common to all” and other things would be a good reminder.
PREPARE YOUR GUT
Having a healthy gut is of paramount importance to being healthy! Those good microbes in your gut help you fight off illnesses, allergies, inflammation and keep you healthy, among many other things.
Probiotics. Start a good course of probiotics. You want to increase the population of good bacteria and diversify it as well. Some good brands are BioGaia, Genestra, Culturelle but there are many others.
Prebiotics. Prebiotics are food for your probiotics. Excellent prebiotics foods are: leaks, onions, garlic, bananas, asparagus, blueberries, potatos and more. Incorporate these into your regular diet.
Bone Broth. It strengthens your gut lining reducing your exposure to allergens, leaky gut and inflammation. It’s also incredibly rich in minerals and is so good for you. It has collagen which makes your skin look younger and less wrinkled. How about that instead of Botox? Make your own bone broth and drink 3x a week. I make one large batch once a week, drink some of it and freeze some more.
EAT HEALTHY FOODS ONLY
This is a no brainer and yet how many of us still put garbage food into our bodies? Cookies, sugar, pizzas, processed grains … the list goes on. Seriously. STOP.THAT.NOW! I know many people find comfort and emotional nourishment in junk foods, but common! Find these qualities in other things, like meditation, your children or your partner, good movie, brisk walk etc. Stop coming up with excuses like “you only live once” or “I gotta enjoy what I can” … Enough said. The advise here is simple.
Eat healthy, whole, minimally processed foods. Mostly vegetables, some fruit, healthy proteins (chicken, fish, eggs, beans, legumes, nuts) and some whole grains, preferably gluten-free, like rice, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, millet. Find what works best for you body.
Consider reducing or eliminating dairy. It’s inflammatory.
Consider reducing or eliminating gluten. It’s also inflammatory and could cause leaky gut according to many sources.
Reduce and ideally eliminate all processed foods and garbage foods. These are not good for you anyway and they feed the bad bacteria in your stomach, cause inflammation and all sorts of wreck in your body.
Eliminate all processed sugar from all food sources, including ketchup, tomato sauces, baked goods etc. Stick to fruit, and if you have to a little honey or pure maple syrup on occasion.
Eat Garlic. If you and your family can tolerate it. It’s has anti-microbial properties and helps fight colds and flu.
Eat onions – for similar reasons as garlic.
Consume ginger and turmeric. These are anti-inflamatory and help fight colds as well. My favourite way of consuming these are found in this recipe: https://mamaschronicles.com/ginger-turmeric-butt-kicker/
Make chicken soup. Not along ago Janapense scientists published a research on how good chicken soup is for you when you’re sick. It has many vitamins and minerals that help boost the immune system when you’re sick. Well, excuse me, but my great-grandmother knew that all along. Make this soup once a week and enjoy!
Drink lemon juice with warm/hot water first thing in the morning. This cleanses your liver and is an excellent source of vitamin C
Take Vitamin C and D supplements.
EXERCISE
Another no-brainer and yet are you getting enough? The advise here is to get at least 30-60 mins a day.
If you are pressed for time break down your 30-60 mins into small chunks: Get 15mins first thing in the morning before you begin your day and your family wakes up. Squeeze another 15mins running up and down the stairs before lunch if you are stuck in the office. Walk everywhere you can. Worst case scenario, do a 10 minute Tabata workout in the morning and another 10 minutes in the evening. (Another blog post is coming up on Tabata workout) but for now – know that it’s a workout where you do intense exercise for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds rest and then repeat. The idea is that you put your 100% into those 20 seconds and workout as hard as you can. You can check out my YouTube video on the Tabata workout on the rebounder here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p62WGMObvQw&t=145s
General recommendation: Do different workouts and length of workouts every day. For example, go for 45mins fast paced walk one day, do a 30min cardio another day, 20 mins of weights on a different day, a long 1-2hr hike yet on another day. You get the idea.
Do Yoga. It’s great for strength, flexibility and relaxation and it’s good for your overall health.
REST
Get your sleep. Not the 8 recommended hours, but what your body needs. For me it’s close to 9hrs!
Meditate: unplug your mind. Do it on the subway, on the bus, at home, in the office, anywhere. Even just 5 minutes will do your body and mind good. Don’t know where to start? Try Calm app (or any other meditation app out there). I really like Calm.
THE COOL STUFF
Do Square Breathing every day. Breathe in for 6 seconds. Hold for 6 seconds. Breathe out for 6 seconds. Hold for 6 seconds. Repeat 12 times. This will calm your mind and your nervous system and will allow more oxygen into your cells.
Contrast Showers. Take alternating hot and cold shower, preferably first in the morning but any time of the day is fine. 20 seconds hot water, 30 seconds cold water, repeat 3 times.
It will be hard to start at first so my tips are:
Start slow. Begin with hot shower followed by 5 -10 seconds of cold shower. Don’t make it too cold at first. Repeat. Eventually you can make your cold temperature colder and hold it for longer. This is so good for your arteries.
Try this first after you have done cardio workout and your body is still warm/hot. It’s easier to experience the cold shower then, plus it’s refreshing.
Check out Wim Hof guy on the internet for some inspiration!
Dry Skin Brush: Get yourself a dry skin brush and dry brush your body every morning, ideally before your contrast shower or just any shower. Dry skin brushing is good for draining your lymphatic system and detoxifying your body, among many other benefits.
You have to incorporate above things into your routine and every day life. You don’t have to do it all, but the more things you do the better, of course. Only then will you see the benefits. I have personally been doing the above for years and I’ve noticed a huge improvement in my health.