Immune Support

Boosting Immunity: An Approach to Wellness

Maintaining a strong immune system is crucial for overall well-being. The immune system serves as our body's defense mechanism against infections, viruses, and other threats. To keep it in top shape, a combination of a balanced diet, a healthy lifestyle, and strategic nutritional supplements is essential.

Nutrient-Rich Diet

First and foremost, we are essentially what we eat. Therefore, a well-rounded diet is the cornerstone of a robust immune system. Ensure your plate is filled with a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Of course, don’t consume certain foods or food groups that you may have a sensitivity or allergy to.

Vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, and antioxidants play a pivotal role in supporting immune function. Citrus fruits, leafy greens, nuts, seeds, and fatty fish are excellent sources of these essential nutrients. Emphasizing a diverse and colorful diet ensures that your body receives a spectrum of nutrients necessary for immune health.

Additionally, one of the most overlooked nutrients that play a pivotal role in immune health is dietary protein. Protein insufficiency won’t allow for a fully functioning immune system. Strive to consume some amount of protein at every meal, and shoot for a range of 0.5-0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight. This will also keep energy solid, improve blood sugar, support a healthy weight and even improve your sleep, just to name a few benefits of a protein rich diet.

Hydration

Staying hydrated is often underestimated in its role in supporting the immune system. Water helps in moving wastes and toxins out of the tissues and out of the body. Being chronically dehydrated impedes cellular function and in turn leads to overall poor functioning of the body as a whole. Staying hydrated thins mucous, improves circulation and helps regulate body temperature, just to name a few benefits. A basic guideline is to drink at least eight glasses of water a day, and consider incorporating herbal teas and natural fruit infusions for added flavor and benefits.

Regular Exercise

Regular physical activity has been linked to a stronger immune system. Exercise promotes good circulation, which allows immune cells to move freely throughout the body. Regular exercisers have half the risk of getting sick than do sedentary people, for catching all types of respiratory (lung) illnesses. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week at a minimum. Think cycling, brisk walking, jogging, swimming or really anything that gets your heart and respiratory rate up. Be sure to include strength training exercises to build and maintain muscle mass.

Prioritize Sleep

Quality sleep is a fundamental aspect of immune health. During sleep, the body repairs and rejuvenates, and the immune system functions at its peak. While sleeping the brain releases growth hormone, which is a key immune-supporting hormone. Aim for 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. Establishing a consistent sleep routine and creating a conducive sleep environment can significantly improve the quality of your rest. Here are some suggestions to improve your sleep.

Strategic Supplementation

While a well-balanced diet is the primary source of nutrients, certain supplements can complement a healthy diet. The most important immune-supportive supplements include:

Vitamin C supports the function of various immune cells, including white blood cells like neutrophils, lymphocytes, and phagocytes. These cells play a vital role in identifying and eliminating pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. Vitamin C enhances the movement of these immune cells to the site of infection, facilitates their ability to engulf and destroy pathogens, and supports the production of antibodies.

It’s also a powerful antioxidant, which means it helps neutralize harmful free radicals in the body. Free radicals are unstable molecules produced as a byproduct of normal metabolic processes and exposure to environmental factors like pollution and UV radiation. These free radicals can damage cells and DNA, contributing to aging and various diseases. By scavenging these free radicals, vitamin C helps protect immune cells from oxidative stress, allowing them to function optimally.

Citrus fruits are the most well-known sources of vitamin C in our diets but vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bell peppers, tomatoes, kale and snow peas are rich in vitamin C as well.

Vitamin D plays a crucial role in supporting the immune system. It does this through several pathways by regulating immune cell function, promoting antimicrobial defense, modulating inflammation, aiding in the maturation of immune cells, and potentially reducing the risk of respiratory infections and autoimmune disorders. Maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D is crucial for overall immune health; it’s perhaps one of the most important immune-supporting nutrients out there.

Vitamin D is unique among vitamins because the body can produce it in response to sunlight exposure. However, factors such as limited sun exposure, use of sunscreen, and geographic location can affect the body's ability to produce sufficient vitamin D. Additionally, dietary sources and supplements may be necessary to maintain optimal levels, especially during winter months or for individuals with limited sun exposure.

The best sources of vitamin D in the diet include salmon, mackerel, sardines, red meat, egg yolks and liver.

Mushrooms often get billed as containing vitamin D, but in reality they contain a precursor to Vitamin D2, which then has to be converted into the active form (D3) in the body.

Zinc is an essential trace element that plays a critical role in supporting the immune system. Zinc supports immune health as an antioxidant, by promoting the development and function of various immune cells, including white blood cells such as neutrophils, monocytes, and natural killer cells, by regulating the inflammatory response, ensuring a balanced and controlled reaction to infections and preventing excessive inflammation that could contribute to chronic diseases. It’s also anti-viral and and helps the immune system to "remember" previous encounters with specific pathogens. This memory response enables a quicker and more robust immune reaction upon subsequent exposure to the same pathogen.

Ensuring an adequate intake of zinc through dietary sources or supplements is important for supporting these immune-related functions. Zinc is found in beef, oats, pumpkin seeds, cheese, sardines, peanuts, eggs, salmon and long-grain rice. When you’re sick or people around you are, it can be a little tough to get enough zinc in higher amounts through the diet, so taking a low-dose supplement can be helpful in times of increased need.

Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms, primarily bacteria and yeast, that confer health benefits when consumed in adequate amounts. They are commonly known for their positive impact on gut health, but they also play a role in supporting the immune system. Here are a few of the many ways in which probiotics can support the immune system:

• Probiotics help maintain a balanced and diverse gut microbiota, which is essential for proper immune function.
• They also help support the production of compounds in the gut (short chain fatty acids or SCFAs) that have anti-inflammatory properties and help regulate immune cell function.
• Probiotics contribute to the maintenance of the intestinal barrier, preventing the entry of harmful substances into the bloodstream.
• Probiotics can influence the activity of immune cells, such as macrophages, T cells, and B cells, helping to regulate the immune response.
• Some probiotic strains produce antimicrobial substances, such as bacteriocins, which can inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria. This helps maintain a healthy microbial balance in the gut.
• Probiotics can stimulate the production of immunoglobulins (antibodies) in the gut. Immunoglobulins play a crucial role in the immune system's defense against infections
• Probiotics can produce anti-inflammatory molecules, helping to modulate the inflammatory response. Chronic inflammation is linked to various diseases, and maintaining a balanced immune response is essential for overall health.

Additionally, it’s important to get naturally-occurring probiotics from fermented foods, such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi, which form a healthy gut bacterial foundation, in addition to supplementation.

Stress Management

It’s well established that high stress levels, both short and long-term have a negative effect on the immune system. 

Stress creates a hormone called cortisol which, in limited, short spurts, can boost your immunity by limiting inflammation. However, elevated cortisol lasting several hours and longer paves the way for more inflammation and can suppress your immune system's ability to fight off invaders. You can measure your own cortisol at home using this convenient test.  Cortisol can be kept low using a few different natural remedies as well. 

Just like everyone needs to exercise for physical health, we all need to follow an stress-management plan to keep stress under control. Not only does excess stress lead to infection and immune system weakness, it also lays the foundation for chronic illnesses like heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure and even depression.

These are the basics for ongoing immune support; if you’re sick, or in an environment around a lot of sick people, take a look at our additional ways to fight off an illness here.