Part One of Four of Boosting Your Immune series:
What to do before the Cold and Flu Season:
Hacking seasonal ills while navigating your way to well being, begins with wholistic wellness. Wholistic wellness is about prevention. Eating right, sleeping right, managing stress, enjoying some form of exercise and cultivating a gentle spirit should grace you with a healthy immune system. "Healthy" ideally means being sick one or less times in a given year. In today's stressful environment though, adults tend to have 2-4 colds a year, while children have between 6-12 colds a year! Top this with physical, mental fatigue and general malaise that today's generation is experiencing in large numbers and your immune system will be in desperate need of a tuneup. So aside from good hand hygiene, how can you take a proactive approach with your health, especially if you wish to avoid hugging a basin or a tissue box all season? That's where what you eat will determine how well you fair. Food really is medicine.
The body works optimally when it receives it's nutrients in its whole and natural form. Fortunately, God's Nature provides wholesome foods that can be utilized in a remedial ways to help you bust through the season! For example, when you eat a carrot, not only does the body recognize the beta-carotene, but also the vitamins A, C, E and minerals like zinc. When you take isolated vitamins, the body can't help but be left looking for the rest of the carrot! Food was made perfect with a full complement of nutrients and balanced nutrients are found in whole foods. Below is a list of some common nutrients that have been studied to assist the body's immune system and increase resistance to virus' and bacteria.
I begin every health journey with a staggered pantry makeover. I ask clients to take out all refined sugars, processed and refined grains. From there the list of add on's and take outs grows. Choosing to help the immune system means eliminating all sugar, junk food, pop, chips, confection chocolate, pasta, cookies, pastries, candy, crackers and concentrated juices. Start there and choose to focus on the list below.
Key nutrients to aid in immune health :
Make sure to increase these foods during and before the cold and flu season:
Beta-carotene: increases the action of "interferon" an immune system substance that the body uses to stop virus' from replicating.
Foods: carrot, kale, parsley, greens (romaine, mustard, dandelion, spinach, chard, beet greens, watercress etc), apricots, broccoli,sweet potato and pumpkin.
Vitamin C: protection against immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, adrenal health, aids in skin, collagen and eye health.
Foods: bell peppers, dark leafy greens, kiwifruit, broccoli, berries, citrus fruits, tomatoes, peas, and papayas.
Allicin: a sulphuric compound, benefits include improving respiratory and circulatory conditions; antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, immune
boosting and is considered to have many anti-inflammatory benefits.
Foods: garlic
Probiotics and Fermented Foods: the condition of you microflora influences whether certain genes in your genome get expressed and have significant impact on your immune system. If your gut bacteria is in proper balance, it releases thousands of disease fighting compounds to help you ward off many diseases. A mouthful of fermented foods can provide your body with trillions of beneficial bacteria. Probiotics are also very helpful if your diet lacks fermented or cultured foods, or you have taken antibiotics.
Foods: sauerkraut, kimchi, natural pickled foods (home made best), yoghurt, kefir, kombucha, miso, tempeh, natto, raw unpasteurized cheese.
Zinc: a mineral required by the body in small amounts, in balance with copper and used for hormone regulation, immune function and healing wounds.
Foods: spinach, beef, shrimp, pumpkin seeds,tempeh, tahini, chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, red meats.
Vitamin D: is not really a vitamin; it is a hormone, a very important hormone that the body synthesizes from the cholesterol in our skin when sunshine is absorbed. If you are on cholesterol lowering drugs, avoiding sunshine or are on a low cholesterol diet, this conversion will be inhibited. Nature in it's infinite wisdom provides higher levels of Vitamin D in cholesterol rich food, which happen to be all animal sourced. Vitamin D is mostly known for its role in calcium absorption, but it plays a very important role in overall immune function as well. (Supplement recommended during winter months, unless you visit or live in tropical places....)
Foods: beef or calf liver, cod liver, egg yolks, mushrooms
Further to the list above, other beneficial nutrients that are easier to get in supplement form and would impart an immediate medicinal value are: oregano oil and mushroom extracts.
Join me on the next three blogs, as we explore some common and not so common ways to use herbs, fruit, spices and chicken bones to add to your arsenal of cold and flu busting remedies. The recipe series can be used as a wellness protocol to help prevent a virus from taking hold; mitigate the severity and duration of a cold or flu and rebuild immunity. Part 2 to follow.....
"Make a conscious decision today to be a better version of yourself tomorrow"
-anna z