Immune Boosters

So many people, myself included, have been riding this roller coaster wondering whether or not we feel safe sending our kids back to school and a bit fearful of what life looks like when the masks come off.  The unknown is always a scary place to be in, but here’s what I DO know about boosting our immune systems. I’m breaking it down into 4 main categories.

YOUR GUT!

Probiotics are not just for digestion!  I cannot stress this enough.  70% of your immune system lives in your gut so we are starting there!  There have been some recent publications lately of doctors questioning the benefits of probiotics.  The science behind the good that they are doing outweigh the skeptics (I’m personally exhibit A) but you DO need to invest in a quality product for you and your kids.  See full article The Pro’s in Probiotics about the different strains but I’ll link to my favorites below as well. Most importantly, make sure your kids are getting both the Lactobacillus and AND Bifidobacterium.  You want a variety of strains and at least 5 Billion CFUs for the kiddos and 15-20 CFUs for you.

FOOD!

WHOLE, REAL FOOD.

Shocker…an immune boosting food is not boxed or bagged.  Leave the gluten free pasta box on the shelf for right now and eat as many whole, REAL foods as you can.  No one is perfect, including me.  Food is medicine.  We are going for a reduction in sugar and an increase in Vit C, D, E, Zinc and Selenium. Here are the winners:

Vitamin C: Bell Peppers, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Lemons, Spinach, Brussel Sprouts

Vitamin D: Salmon, Eggs (My Vegetarians- See Supplement Section)

Vitamin E: Almonds, Avocado, Sunflower Seeds

Zinc: Red Meat, Chickpeas, Pumpkin Seeds, Dark Chocolate

Selenium: Brazil Nuts, Tuna, Beef, Poultry

 SUPERFOODS.  Want to be a supermom?  Integrate these into your life!  This list looks long but a lot of times you can find products that double/triple them up.  I’m linking to how/where I get all of mine and if you follow the recommended dosing, everything is safe to use DAILY.

Elderberry

Astragulus

Mushrooms (Cordyceps, Lion’s Mane, Maitake, Shitake, Reishi, Turkey Tail)  See my article Get Shroomin’

Spirulina

Chlorella

Tumeric

Maca

Chia Seeds

Ashwaganda

Lucuma

Cinnamon

LIFESTYLE!

SLEEP, STRESS RELIEF AND MOVEMENT.

Aim for 7 hours of sleep.  When you don’t get enough, even if you don’t feel tired, your body is and it cannot fight the fight in full capacity.

If you have never tried meditating before, now is a good time to start.  5 min a day is better than 40 min once a week.  Just close your eyes and let the power of your breath help bring you down.  It can enhance your patience, happiness and immune response by training your body to come out of stress mode.

Yoga is another incredible practice and same, just a few minutes a day of breathing and stretching honestly DO help.

Journal.  Just taking an old school pen to the paper without any rhyme, reason or punctuation.  Don’t worry about your handwriting.  Just go and you may be surprised what comes out.

Exercise.  That’s it.  Just try.  You may force yourself for the first week but I promise you will feel so good and you will keep coming back.  It will also help with the stress and sleep components!

SUPPLEMENTS!

For a long time we lived under the school of thought that as long as we ate a well-balanced diet, supplements were not really needed.  We were never about to go into Flu Season with Corona Virus piggybacking behind after months of house arrest.  This is the time to boost on some core vitamins.  You can get a Bloodtest to see where you shake up, test your methyl markers or analyze how you FEEL along with your diet.  Most people could really benefit from Vitamin D.  Vegetarians, B12.  All of us, a probiotic.  Talk to your physician or feel free to reach out if you have questions.

If you haven’t heard it yet today, you are strong and smart and the fact that you care enough to read this and take control of your health puts you ahead.  If you haven’t introduced some of these into your life yet, I would say that know seems like a pretty darn good time.  Do your best.  Stay Healthy.