Get Ahead of the Cold & Flu Season—Build your Immune System!

Do you catch every “bug” that comes along?

Stomach bug?

Cold?

“Flu”?

Covid brought to the forefront how easy it is to pass those bugs on from one person to another. 

When Covid first started, they said “older people” were vulnerable, along with people who had pre-existing conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, and other “co-morbidities”.

When it all started, with all the warnings, etc., our office manager took her computer home, to work from home.  After a couple of days of the agents and clients continuing to come into the office and actually looking at properties and writing contracts and selling property, it was too inconvenient to be doing that from home, and she came back to work.

I stayed home for a week—because “they” said that virus knew how old I was.  I then made myself stay home another week.  I couldn’t stay home any longer.  I went back to work. 

It was hard to “keep our distance” in the office, so we usually just didn’t.  We used lots of precautions, but we kept working.  We kept purifying essential oils diffusing, and kept things wiped down with disinfectant; took disinfectant to listings with us, etc.—all the things.

It was months before any of us got Covid, a year and more for others (I was one of those), and several never did catch it at all.

Why?

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As the season is coming upon us that says flu season is here, and they expect Covid cases to increase, what are we to do?

If an infectious invader decides to enter our body, it is determined to find a way.  So maybe the best thing we can do is to keep our immunity as strong as we possibly can, to counteract it.

What we do every day to stay well actually makes a great impact on the strength of our immune system.

According to Ultrawellness Center, Dr. Mark Hyman (Functional Medicine Doctor) says there are a few tips  to support our immune system and discourage viruses and bacteria from attacking our bodies.

1.     Exercise.  Our bodies were made to move.  It might not be comfortable to go outside for a walk, even in bad weather—movement is proven to strengthen our immune system.  Natural killer cells are always present, ready to attack invading infections or abnormal cells in our body.  And we can actually influence how well they work!  Regular, moderate exercise has been shown to improve the activity of these natural killer cells.

2.     Eat a whole-food diet (rich in zinc, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin D.  Malnutrition is the number one cause of immune deficiency worldwide.  It’s not just a problem for underdeveloped countries. 

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is high in calories but often deficient in important vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that are necessary for good health and a strong immune system. 

If you often get infections, Zinc is an important mineral for immune system functioning. Animal protein and some vegetable proteins such as beans are good sources of zinc.

Vitamin A is also critical for proper immune function and is found in liver, fish, cod liver oil, chicken, eggs and dairy.

Beta-carotene, found in yellow and orange vegetables, can turn into it Vitamin A in your body if your body is functioning properly.

Vitamin C is another important nutrient for immune function.  Eating four or five cups of fruits and vegetables every day should give you plenty of Vitamin C.

Vitamin D is also essential.  Vitamin D is absolutely necessary for a strong immune system.  Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to many cancers, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, depression, fibromyalgia, chronic muscle pain, bone loss, and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis.

3.     Microbiota.  Our Microbiota is amazing; it creates a wall of defense that prevents infections from entering your body.  When these bacteria are disrupted, our risk of getting an infection skyrockets.

Probiotics strengthen the immune system, decreasing the risk of intestinal infections, asthma and eczema; and shorten the length of the common cold.

So how can we protect the trillions of bacteria that line the surfaces of our body?

First, eat a high-fiber, whole-foods diet.  Fiber-rich foods (beans, legumes, nuts and seeds) feed these good bacteria.

Second, avoid unnecessary antibiotic use.  Antibiotics kill off the good bacteria along with the infections they’re treating.  Don’t use antibiotics for viral infections; they are ineffective and will do harm to your body.

4.     Eight hours of sleep.  Do you sometimes get a short night’s sleep for a few nights in a row—with just so much going on!  Then the first thing you know, you have a head cold.  Sleep is critical for your immune system.  For most of us, the goal is 7-9 hours of sleep per night.

Keep your bedroom dark and cool; turn off (all) your devices (and TV), and dim the lights an hour or two before bed, to let your body know it’s time to get ready for sleep. 

This will help you get the deep, restorative sleep that is so nourishing for our immune system.

5.     Rest.  Not just sleep.  Take a break from work; give yourself time to go outside and enjoy nature, take a class, meditate, go our with friends, or enjoy a funny show.

Lots of us find ourselves working most all the time.  Resist that urge.  Your health truly does depend on it.  Build rest into your schedule to help you fight infections and keep yourself healthy (all year long).

6.     Supplements.  In addition to the ones mentioned above, Probiotics are good; elderberry helps fight the common cold and flu, and possibly other viruses.

7.     Try to protect yourself from extra stress.  This is actually one of the most important things, and possibly one of the hardest to do.  When you see the negative, or the “upset” around you, try to re-frame your thinking to see a positive.  Go ahead and acknowledge the truth of it to yourself, but turn it around to see a positive in it.

Some stresses just nag and don’t go away, and it’s possible Meditation could help you with those pesky stress intruders.  Twice a day is best; just 15 minutes twice a day makes a big difference in your stress level, and improves your level of peace and calm.

Try to keep your calendar up to date, and schedule your time to give yourself extra time to get things done, and to give yourself space between big projects, etc. so you can “take a breath” and re-group before the next thing.

8.     Relationships are a great thing to have around the holidays (if they are good relationships).  Enjoy this blessing deeply if you can.  This may also be a time when you need to overlook things, to be able to have a peaceful and stress-free holiday—and you can do it.  And Enjoy the good relationships to their utmost.  (It’s good for your health!)

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When our immune system is weakened, it is harder to fight off pathogens, and we are more susceptible to infections.  These are some of the symptoms of lower immune system:

●       Frequent infections (bacterial, viral or fungal)

●       Infection or illness that lasts longer than usual, or hard to treat

●       Fatigue, even when you have enough sleep

●       Fever

●       Weight loss

●       Diarrhea or constipation

●       Nausea

●       Loss of appetite

●       Low white blood cell or platelet counts on lab work

●       Inflammation in our body

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According to Rupa Health, to boost our immunity, we must first address the lifestyle factors that have weakened us.  Avoid alcohol, increase physical activity, get good sleep, eat an anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense, high-fiber diet, and managing our stress will increase our immune system. 

Just a few things, I know.  But each one has a different world around it for each of us.  That’s where I can help, if you have problems with those.

Supplements can help, as Dr. Hyman said, and according to Rupa Health, who recommends C and D and probiotics, in addition to others, but says it will still take some time to actually build your system to a good level.

If you should begin to get symptoms, and possibly have Covid, there are some things that can help.  There is a local doctor in Mena who has his own recommendations, which I would be happy to get you in contact with for his information.  Among other things, he recommends having your Vitamin D levels checked, and also Zinc—in addition to other health measures.

I personally believe that the way we look at life makes a difference—I believe our perspective goes a long way toward the condition of our health.  I am curious to know your thoughts on this subject, if you would reply and let me know. drhyman.com

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So, do your best during this cold & flu season to strengthen your immune system.  There are lots of simple things we can do to support these bodies God gave us.  Let’s focus on these I’ve listed, and any others you can come up with.  We’ll enjoy this wintertime!

Thank you for reading; if I can help you in any way, please contact me.

Sharon

P.S.

We had a really good in-person class this past Friday in the Picket Fence Building, on “Why we are so Sick?”

I probably won’t be having any other classes through the holidays, but will start again in January, when I am planning for a class online.  But I’m here now if you need me!