Naturally Support Your Immune Health This Winter

It’s that time of the year again when coughs and sneezes are doing the rounds. Sometimes it seems like it’s down to luck whether you’re laid low with a cold or flu. But in reality, it’s due to how well your immune system is working to protect you.

The exciting thing is, there’s so much you can do to give your immune system a helping hand. Read on to discover how you can naturally support your immune system so it can work harder for you.

Meet Your Immune System

Your immune system is on duty 24/7 to protect you against invaders like viruses and bacteria. It does this by employing an army of white blood cells, constantly on the lookout for invaders. If any enemies breach the defences, they’re hunted down and neutralised. So, not only can your immune system help you fend off colds and flu, but it can also help shorten their duration if you do fall victim.

There are two main arms to your immune system, the innate – the elite fighting force - and adaptive immunity. The adaptive immune system remembers specific invaders. It then produces antibodies able to recognise the invader in the future.

How to Support Immune Health

Prioritise Gut Health

Although many of your immune system’s warriors are patrolling around your bloodstream, a great deal of your immune system found in your gut. This is where immune cells learn the difference between dangerous substances and those not posing any threat.

A healthy immune system won’t react inappropriately to harmless substances, as happens in the case of allergies. Nor will it attack your body’s cells, as in autoimmune diseases. If it does, it won’t have the fighting force available to neutralise harmful bacteria and viruses.

Therefore, supporting your gut is key to a healthy immune system. This means eating plenty of natural plant fibre, a range of brightly coloured plant foods, and regularly consuming fermented foods like sauerkraut and kombucha. At the same time, reducing sugar is a must, as it doesn’t do your gut bacteria any favours at all.

Manage Stress

Stress is possibly the number one enemy of your immune system. While short-term stress is a mechanism intended to protect your body from danger, ongoing stress is a different matter. It leads to stress hormones like cortisol remaining high, suppressing the activity of infection-fighting cells (1).

Stress management techniques can therefore help support immunity, even practices as accessible as meditation. Initial research suggests regular meditation may support immune cell function and reduce harmful inflammation (2).

Managing stress includes getting a good night’s sleep. Even one night of poor sleep can suppress the activity of immune cells responsible for the first line of defence against infections (3).

Feed Your Immune System

The cells comprising your immune system work best when they receive the correct nutrients. To function well, they need plenty of vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, and omega 3 fats. The more your immune cells are working to protect you, the more of these nutrients they’ll need.

Bear in mind your body can’t store vitamin C, so it’s best to make sure you’re having a regular supply throughout the day. Meanwhile, garlic contains a compound called allicin, known to support immune cell activity and can help shorten the duration of colds and flu (4).

Movement

Moderate exercise when you’re well boosts levels of the white blood cells responsible for fighting infection. If you’re poorly, however, don’t try and force yourself to exercise. Your body in its wisdom will tell you to rest, so pay heed.

Herbal Help for Immunity

Echinacea has been used traditionally to support the immune system. It’s believed to modulate immune activity and positively influence immune cell production. Research has found it can reduce the incidence of colds (5).

On the other hand, extract of black elderberry has been found to have antiviral and immune-enhancing properties (6).

Astragalus root’s role in traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years has been to support immune health.

Mushrooms, particularly shitake and turkey tail, are emerging as nature’s stars for supporting immune health.

Integrative Medicine Support for Optimal Immunity

Both dietary and lifestyle choices have significant impacts on immune health. Integrative Medicine considers you as a whole person, and if you choose to start your journey with an Integrative Health Assessment we will assess your diet, lifestyle and health history to take a 360-degree look at what may be impacting your immune system.

We have a wealth of natural health modalities at the clinic. For example, an overactive stress response that’s impacting your immune health can be effectively retrained using Emotional Freedom Technique. If you’re dealing with difficult events in your past, German New Medicine can reduce the impact of trauma on your physical health, including your immune system. Meanwhile, a struggling immune system can be gently recalibrated using Micro-Immunotherapy.