My Top Tips for Boosting Your Immune System

With the weather turning in the UK, with it comes the bugs and lurgies! I thought it might be a good time to share some of the things that we can all do to help boost our immune systems, both in general and when we are hit by a lurgy or some description.

The main purpose of the immune system is to identify the body’s enemies and destroy them.  These enemies include defective body cells as well as foreign agents such as bacteria and viruses, fungi and parasites. In order to do this, inside the body, the immune system has an army of special cells to deal with invaders. When working properly, we don’t even notice our immune system and the things it fights off, but when it is compromised, we get to know about it in the form of illness. Here are my top tips on what you can do to help support your immune system!
 

1. Get more Vitamin C – Most of us just don’t get enough vitamin C from our diets. This is the number one vitamin for immune boosting health and because it is water soluble (meaning we don’t store it), we need regular intakes of it. I recommend everyone takes a supplement of vitamin C every day, especially in the autumn and winter (I personally take 1000mg a day) and then increase this when we start to feel like we are coming down with something, and reduce again when symptoms subside.
2. Eat probiotic rich foods and/or take a probiotic supplement – Our GI tract is a key component of our immune system, hence if it is compromised, so is our immune system. Probiotics are good bacteria that help digest nutrients, detoxify the colon and support the immune system. Whilst probiotic supplements are one way to boost ‘good’ bacteria in the gut, eating probiotic foods is also very helpful. These include things like kefir (fermented yoghurt drink), kimchi (a fermented pickle) and sauerkraut (fermented vegetables).
3. Avoid sugar – Sugar is particularly bad for the immune system so whilst reducing intake is of course important for health in general, it’s even more so when you are trying to fight something off. This is the time to be eating lots of fruit and vegetables and ditching the refined carbohydrates and sugary foods!
4. Eat lots of garlic - Garlic has many immune boosting properties; it’s antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal! Trying to get this into your diet on a daily basis is a great idea but make sure it’s fresh as it loses its potency very quickly.
5. Get enough sleep/rest - If you’re over tired it is much harder for your body to fight off illness. Regular rest helps to keep you strong and ensure the body can fight off potential invaders. The same goes for stress; stress has a huge impact on our immune system (I’m writing a new article all about the multiple problems with stress, which will be published soon).
6. Increase intakes of immune boosting foods, herbs and spices - There are lots of foods that help your immunes system to function properly and these include (but not limited to): Blueberries, raspberries, citrus fruits, red peppers, broccoli, ginger, spinach, turmeric, almonds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Of course, increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables in general is going to be helpful to the body and immune system.
7. Use essential oils – there are numerous essential oils which can help to both boost and support the immune system, and to help attack body invaders. These include oregano, frankincense and lemon oils to name a few. If you are interested in discovering how you can use essential oils for this purpose (and many others), do join one of my FREE classes. I hold them locally in Walton on Thames (Surrey) and online. All upcoming classes are listed here.​