If nothing else, 2020 has caused us to realize just how precious our health and wellbeing is. Over the past few weeks, we’ve experienced the worst surge this country has seen in terms of COVID cases. Now more than ever, it’s important to build up immunity to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe from this deadly virus. Aside from wearing a mask, washing your hands, and practicing social distancing, below are few ways that you can optimize your immunity to protect your health during such a scary time.
Eating Whole Foods: Whole foods, as opposed to processed foods, contain many vitamins and minerals that the body needs to stay healthy. Certain nutrients are key to strengthening the white blood cells’ ability to fight infection. These nutrients include: protein, vitamin C, vitamin D, Zinc, and Omega-3 Fatty Acids. Eating whole food sources of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes, protein, and healthy fats is the best way to ensure that you get enough of these key nutrients to stay healthy!
Maintain a Healthy Body Weight: Having too much or too little body fat can interfere with certain compounds and hormones that play a central role in immunity. In addition, an unhealthy body composition (either overweight or underweight) can be related to certain health conditions (for example, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, nutrient deficiencies, etc.) which can increase the risk of infections and can increase the mortality of infections.
Support Gut Health: Our GI tract houses over 70% of our immunity. This means that our digestive system is the “control center” for our immune system. If the organisms in our digestive tract are healthy and working properly, they will help to fight off infection and keep up healthy. To help support and keep the organisms in out gut healthy, it’s important to eat foods rich in pre and probiotics such as yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, tempeh, bananas, honey, and asparagus.
Move Your Body: A daily exercise routine has been shown to increase immunity by increasing T-Cells (cells that play a key role in immune function) and other “killer cells” that help to fight off diseases. Additionally, regular exercise decreases the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, etc. that can increase the risk and mortality rate of infections and diseases. Aim to get 30-45 minutes of moderate to intense exercise 5-6 days a week, any way you can! You don’t have to have an expensive gym membership to get regular exercise (especially since many gyms aren’t currently open!). Take a brisk morning walk, do air squats/pushups/sit ups in your living room while watching TV (make the most of those commercial breaks!),or enjoy a YouTube exercise video during your lunch break.
Prioritize Sleep: Not getting enough restorative sleep can decrease your immunity. When you sleep, cytokines (proteins in the body that are secreted by cells of the immune system and play an important role in immunity and inflammation response) are both produced and released. Without enough high-quality sleep, your body’s defenses are lowered, making you more susceptible to infection and disease. Aim to get between 7-8 hours of restful sleep every night.
Reduce Stress: stress has many negative effects, one of the main implications being a lowered immune response. Think about one time that you were extremely stressed, only a few days later to come down with a cold. It happens often, right? Cortisol, the stress hormone, can suppress the effectiveness of the immune system by lowering the number of lymphocytes in the body (one of the main types of immune cells). Engage in daily stress reduction activities to reduce stress and increase immunity!
Building up your own immunity and that of your family’s will not only help you to stay healthy through this pandemic, but will help to stop the spread in our communities. Let’s work together to keep everyone we know safe and healthy this holiday season. Follow these tips to stay well, and share this post with your loved ones!
In good health!