12 Immune Support Strategies to Flourish in Life

Your immune system is a complex system that protects you from viruses, bacteria, parasites, and other pathogens. It is a complex system that’s essential for your health and survival. As we face more stressful experiences it is even more important to strengthen your body with good immune support strategies.  
The 12 strategies below are not supported by the FDA as a treatment for any health condition. But they can be highly supportive for your body’s overall wellness.

What is the Immune System

Your immune system is absolutely essential for your health and survival. Your immune system keeps you healthy and protects your body from viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi, and other pathogens.

If you want to understand your immune system, imagine a network of cells and tissues spread throughout your body involving your cells, tissues, and organ. Your immune system is on a constant lookout for invaders and ready to attack and protect you through a so-called immune response. It is your defense system and inner-army of protection.

Immune Response Process

Antigens are any substances that are considered to be an invader. They prompt an immune response. They include viruses, bacteria, fungi, toxins, or other foreign materials. When your B lymphocytes, or B cells, spot an antigen, they release antibodies. Antibodies are part of the immunoglobin family and are a type of protein that can lock antigens.

Each antibody has a special function and can help to protect you from a specific antigen.

If we encounter a new virus, we don’t have antibodies to it, so it can potentially cause more harm until our body adapts and creates appropriate antibodies is that because it is a new virus. Antibodies attach to antigens and mark them as cells called phagocytes in order to kill them.

T lymphocytes, also called T cells or Th cells help to coordinate the immune response. They communicate with cells, prompt B cells to produce antibodies and phagocytes to kill antigens. Killer T cells or cytotoxic T lymphocytes can also fight other cells and are especially important for fighting viruses and destroying cells infected by a virus.

Immune System Problems

Your immune system is a very complex system, hence there are various ways it can get out of balance and become compromised. 

Immunodeficiency
You may develop an immunodeficiency that means that one or several parts of your immune system cannot function optimally. Immunodeficiencies may develop for a variety of reasons, including genetic defects from birth, age, obesity, malnutrition, infections and alcoholism. AIDS is a form of immunodeficiency acquired from an infection with the HIV virus.

Autoimmunity
You may develop autoimmunity or an autoimmune condition. This means that your immune system attacks and destroys cells in your body mistaking them for pathogens or compromised cells. Autoimmune conditions include Celiac disease, Hashimoto’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, and lupus

Hypersensitivity
Hypersensitivity means that your immune system overreacts to something and damages healthy cells. Anaphylactic shock due to an allergen is one example of this.
Even if you don’t have any of these immune system problems, unhealthy lifestyle and dietary choices, toxins, and stress can weaken your immune system and thus compromise your immune system response making you more vulnerable to illness and making recovery more difficult.

Supporting a Balanced Immune Response

Your immune system is a complex entity that works hard every moment of every day to protect you from infections and illnesses. When it is out of balance, suppressed, or overstimulated, it cannot function optimally.

Your T cells help to coordinate immune regulation and kill compromised cells. However, T cell function decreases as you age and lowers immunity, especially in older adults. This is why respiratory infections, influenza, and pneumonia cause more risk and are among the leading causes of death in those over 65. Unhealthy lifestyle choices, including an inflammatory diet, lack of exercise, smoking, inadequate sleep, chronic stress, and improper hygiene can also compromise your immunity and make you more prone to disease.

Supporting a balanced immune response is critical for your health and well-being. The good news is that it is never too late to start making dietary and lifestyle changes to support proper T cell function and immune regulation.

Top 12 Immune Support Strategies

Supporting your immune system is important no matter what. You want your body to be strong and healthy so that it can protect you from infections, illness, and disease.  There are certain strategies that promote optimal immune system expression.

It is important to remember that none of these strategies are supported by the FDA for treatment or prevention of any health condition. 

This is a personal list:

1. Be Grateful & Positive
   
2. Prioritize Good Sleep For Immune Support
   
3. Avoid Sugar & Processed Foods
   
4. Practice Intermittent Fasting For Immune Support
   
5. Consume Immune Support Enhancing Foods
   
6. Fresh Air, Sunshine, and Grounding
   
7. Regular Movement & Exercise
   
8. Good Hydration & Drink Herbal Teas
   
9. Optimize Vitamin D Levels
   
10. Take Probiotics & Digestive Enzymes
    
11. Use Vitamin C & Zinc For Immune Support
    
12. Use an Infrared Sauna For Immune Support
    

Be Grateful & Positive

Chronic stress can be detrimental to your immune system, increase inflammation, and make you more vulnerable to infections and illness. Being grateful and keeping a positive mindset is more important than ever before to lower your stress level and protect your immune system. Keep a daily gratitude journal. Stop several times a day to be thankful for the good things. You can even set a timer on your phone to remind you to practice a moment of gratitude.

Engage in uplifting activities, such as dancing in your living room, playing with your kids or pets, watching a comedy, listening to music, or reading your favorite book. Say a prayer or practice any spiritual activities that feel right for you. If you need help in developing a positive mindset, seek help from a counselor, therapist, or life coach.

Prioritize Good Sleep For Immune Support

Getting poor sleep on a regular basis can lead to increased stress, high inflammation, and lower immunity. Make sleep a priority. Make sure to go to bed and wake up around the same time each day to help your circadian rhythm. Develop a nighttime routine that supports relaxation.

Avoid electronics and instead try board games, reading, relaxing music, crossword puzzles, crafts, coloring, meditation, and journaling. Make sure your bedroom is a safe sanctuary with a comfortable bed, bedding, and pillows.

Avoid Sugar & Processed Foods

Sugar and processed foods are extremely inflammatory to your body. Chronic inflammation can lead to poor immune function which increases your risk of infection and disease.

Avoid processed foods and foods that are high in refined sugar, refined oils, gluten, conventional dairy, artificial ingredients, coloring, and additives. Choose an inflammatory diet rich in greens, vegetables, fruits, clean protein, and healthy fats.

Practice Intermittent Fasting For Immune Support

Intermittent fasting is a strategy that involves fasting (not eating) for a period of time followed by a period of feasting (eating). Intermittent fasting increases autophagy, cellular rejuvenation, immune system function, and genetic repair. It reduces inflammation and the risk of disease.

Start out with a Simple Fast that involves 12 hours of fasting including your overnight sleep. Slowly increase your fasting time and graduate to Strong Fast or 16:8 Fast with a 16-hour fasting window.

Consume Immune Support Enhancing Foods

Eat an immune-supporting, anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense diet. Focus on organic greens including chard, kale, and spinach, vegetables, including cucumber, celery, and broccoli, herbs and spices including turmeric, ginger, and basil.

Use mint, low glycemic index fruits including lemon, lime, and berries, healthy fats including avocado, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, grass-fed butter, and ghee, clean protein including grass-fed beef, free-range poultry and eggs, wild-caught fish, and wild boar, fermented foods including kimchi, sauerkraut, and kefir, and medicinal mushrooms including reishi, cordyceps, and turkey tail.
Choose home-cooked meals whenever possible.

Fresh Air, Sunshine, and Grounding

Being outdoors has endless benefits. Being in the sunshine can increase your vitamin D levels which are important for optimal immune function. Sunshine can also improve your mood, reduce stress, and elevate depression and anxiety. Breathing the fresh air helps to clear your lungs. Grounding, standing or walking on dirt, grass, or sand, can help you connect you to the earth and improve your physical and mental health.

Be sure to step outside and spend time in your garden, yard, balcony, or street in front of your house or apartment as much as you can. Open the windows to let the fresh air in. Grow some plants to allow nature to be present inside. Go for a walk or a jog while keeping the recommended social distance in order to uplift your spirit and improve your immune system during this time.

Regular Movement & Exercise

Regular movement and exercise are particularly important for a healthy immune system. It improves your lung function, cardiovascular health, mood, and energy levels while reducing inflammation and building strength and muscle. Make sure to exercise 20-30 minutes a day.

Mix up cardiovascular exercises, such as walking, running, biking, or dance, as well as resistance and strength training including weight lifting, CrossFit, TRX, and pilates. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) provides the benefits of both.

Good Hydration & Drink Herbal Teas

Good hydration is essential for a healthy immune function. I recommend that you drink 8 to 10 glasses of clean water minimum a day. If you are exercising, spend time outside in the sun. If you are recovering from an illness or infection, or otherwise feeling dehydrated, drink more. Listen to your body.

Optimize Vitamin D Levels

Vitamin D is essential for healthy immune function. While the sun is your best friend for boosting vitamin D, chances are you don’t spend enough time outside in the sun to meet your needs.

Vitamin D-rich foods, including fatty fish, beef liver, and egg yolks offer some support, but not enough to optimize your vitamin D levels.

Take Probiotics & Digestive Enzymes

Your gut health and immune health are interconnected. Keeping your gut microbiome balanced is absolutely critical for a healthy immune system.

Use Vitamin C & Zinc For Immune Support

Vitamin C and zinc are both essential for immune health. Vitamin C-rich foods include lemon, lime, oranges, mandarins, grapefruits, guava, strawberries, papaya, pineapples, kiwi, sweet green pepper, broccoli, and brussels sprouts.

Foods that are rich in zinc include spinach, pumpkin seeds, salmon, and grass-fed dairy.

Use an Infrared Sauna For Immune Support

Infrared saunas have countless health benefits. They support detoxification, improve immune health, reduce stress, and improve energy.

 
Source - click here