Taking the effort to learn about and build your immune system will add quality days to your life. Self-care needs to come first in order to live life to the fullest, and everyone you love will also receive more, especially the gift of your vibrant self.
A healthy Immune System helps you fight off disease and recover more easily when you do get sick. In a weakened state over a period of time, people can develop an autoimmune disease, which are conditions that make your immune system attack your body by mistake. Under normal circumstances, your immune system protects you from viruses and bacteria. As soon as it detects these invasive pathogens, it will send out a battalion of cells to wipe them off the face of the earth.
Any healthy immune system has no trouble differentiating between your own cells and those that are invading. That said, for those with autoimmune disease, the immune system will think that the skin, joints, or other parts of your body are actually a foreign entity.
It then releases proteins to attack these healthy cells since it is under the impression that they are invasive pathogens looking to cause the body harm. Some autoimmune diseases will target a specific area of the body like how type 1 diabetes attacks the pancreas, whereas other diseases such as lupus could attack the entire body.
NUTRITION
The first and most profound way you can improve your immunity against all manner of illnesses and infections is to make sure you have your nutrition well covered. The immune system is powered by what we eat and is unable to perform optimally unless it gets the necessary ingredients.
Eating a primarily plant-based diet may help give the immune system a boost. The immune system relies on white blood cells that produce antibodies to combat bacteria, viruses, and other invaders. Vegetarians have been shown to have more effective white blood cells when compared to nonvegetarians, due to a high intake of vitamins and low intake of fat.
Eating a low-fat diet may also be protective. Studies have shown that limiting dietary fat helps strengthen immune defenses. Research also shows that oil may impair white blood cell function and that high-fat diets may alter the gut microbiota that aid in immunity.
Maintaining a healthy weight can also benefit the immune system. Obesity has been linked to increased risk for influenza and other infections such as pneumonia.3 Plant-based diets are effective for weight loss because they are rich in fiber, which helps fill you up, without adding extra calories. Fiber can also lower BMI, which is linked to improved immunity. A plant-based diet has also been shown to reduce inflammatory biomarkers.
Vitamins, Minerals, and Antioxidants
Studies have shown that fruits and vegetables provide nutrients—like beta-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E—that can boost immune function. Because many vegetables, fruits, and other plant-based foods are also rich in antioxidants, they help reduce oxidative stress.
Beta-Carotene: Beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant that can reduce inflammation and boost immune function by increasing disease-fighting cells in the body. Excellent sources include sweet potatoes, carrots, and green leafy vegetables.
Vitamins C and E: Vitamins C and E are antioxidants that help to destroy free radicals and support the body’s natural immune response.
In particular, vitamin C is considered one of the most important nutrients when it comes to supporting good health and fighting invaders. Among other things, vitamin C is an antioxidant, meaning that it helps to destroy “free radicals” that damage cells. Vitamin C is also a precursor to the feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin, which can help to put the body in a calmer and more restorative state.
You can find vitamin C in countless fruits and vegetables, including (in particular) citrus fruits, mangoes, apples, peppers, kale, sprouts, berries, and more. Most people don’t need to supplement with extra vitamin C, but this being a water-soluble vitamin means that it is nearly impossible to “overdose.”
Vitamin E meanwhile is a powerful antioxidant too, and also a key player in many of the fundamental biochemical reactions throughout the body governed by the immune system. Vitamin E sources include nuts, seeds, spinach, and broccoli.
Vitamin D: Research shows vitamin D supplementation may reduce the risk for viral infections, including respiratory tract infections, by reducing the production of proinflammatory compounds in the body. Increased vitamin D in the blood has been linked to the prevention of other chronic diseases including tuberculosis, hepatitis, and cardiovascular disease. Food sources of vitamin D include fortified cereals and plant-based milk and supplements.
Zinc is a mineral that can help boost white blood cells, which defend against invaders. Sources include nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, beans, and lentils.
Folic acid is extremely beneficial for our immune system too, so much so that it is often added to foods. This is especially true for young children. Folic acid is found readily in whole-grain products, such as rice and pasta.
Iron is important due to its role in forming blood cells. You’ll get iron from beans, broccoli, red meats, and fortified cereals.
Selenium is a useful ingredient for regulating the immune system, improving its efficiency and preventing unwanted inflammation and other effects. Selenium is found in garlic, broccoli, sardines, and tuna.
Another tip is to try and support a healthy microbiome. This refers to the collection of microbes living in your stomach, intestines, and elsewhere. Most bacteria are harmless and actually good for you, and in fact, they play an important role in keeping bad bacteria AND bad viruses away. If you have a stronger gut fauna, then you will be less likely to contract viruses of all kinds.
So how do you support this in your own body? One tip is to try to consume more fibrous foods, as well as more fermented foods and yogurts. The latter two contain nature cultures of friendly bacteria, while the former will help to feed the bacteria by passing through to the areas where they live.
The most important thing you can do for your gut bacteria though is to consume as varied a diet as possible. Studies show that the cultures with the strongest microbiomes are also those that eat a rich and varied diet. One good goal to aim for is to consume 50 different ingredients/foods every single week.
STRESS
One of the most profound things you can do to strengthen your immune system is to learn ways to reduce stress. This is something many of us don’t consider as being truly important, but the truth is that when you are highly stressed, you become “run down” and far more susceptible to colds and other illnesses.
There is actually a very logical reason for this. When you are stressed, this essentially places the body into what is known as a “fight or flight state.” This is the body’s response to danger, controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, and intended to help improve our chances of a positive outcome in a physical confrontation. This literally prepares your body to either get into a physical fight or run away from danger.
In the fight or flight mode, our body increases the production of adrenaline, cortisol, dopamine, and other excitatory neurotransmitters and hormones. These trigger numerous physiological changes throughout the body: accelerating the heart rate, increasing muscle tone, narrowing vision, and even thickening the blood.
All these adaptations are intended to improve our chances of survival – the thickening of the blood for instance is intended to encourage clotting so that we will scab over and not bleed out in case of injury.
What this ALSO does though, is to drive blood and oxygen away from the vital organs and toward the muscles and the brain. We need muscle to fight, and we need a sharp mind to spot chances to escape. We DON’T need to be concerning ourselves with digestion at this point. Likewise, we don’t need to channel a lot of energy into immunity – there are more pressing concerns than the common cold right now! Thus, when you are stressed, your muscle tone increases but your immune system is suppressed. Stress alters the hormone cortisol and change your glycemic, sugar levels, and put you into a phase of adrenal deficiency. This leads to inflammation and auto-immune diseases (which includes a list of at least 80).
Fight or flight “stress” in the wild where our bodies evolved, was immediate and short-lived. Today though, sources of stress often persist and follow us around. You might be stressed about some aspect of your relationships for instance, about money, or about your boss. Perhaps you have too much work on your plate in the office. During these unprecedented times, we have lots of added stress.
Keeping yourself in an anxious state keeps your system suppressed. This means you are going for long stretches of time as highly vulnerable to ANY illness that might attack. This is chronic stress, and it’s terrible for our health.
So how do you overcome this stress? For many of us, sources of stress are unavoidable. It’s not so easy to simply quit your job, and your money troubles are unlikely to go away overnight, even if you want them to!
What you can do though, is to change the way you react to those troubles. This is where meditation and mindfulness come in, both of which are tools that we can use to better manage our long-term chronic stress. Studies show that meditation can help to reduce the incidence of disease, and this is a great way to improve many other aspects of health too. Mindfulness is the practice of focusing on the present moment, breathing deeply and allowing ourselves to appreciate all that we have. The SoundPath Method includes meditation and mindfulness through the practice of using music and vibration to manage stress in healthy ways.
Another thing you can do is to try and counterbalance those negative moods with positive ones. That means spending time with friends, doing things you love, planning for the future, and going on holiday. If you think about the people you know who never seem to get sick, they’re likely the same people who have boundless energy and enthusiasm for life. This is not a coincidence!
Sleep is crucial for boosting your Immune System and Fighting Chronic Disease
Our bodies need sleep to rest and recharge. Without a sufficient amount of sleep, we increase our risk of developing serious health problems—like heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and obesity. Inadequate sleep has also been linked to suppressed immune function and even symptoms similar to those caused by diabetes. One study found that those who sleep fewer than five hours per night are more likely to have recently suffered a recent cold compared with those who sleep more.
Need help falling asleep? Try adding healthful fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans to your diet. One study found that diets rich in fiber and low in saturated fat can lead to deeper, more restorative sleep. Learn more about how a plant-based diet can lead to better sleep.
Likewise, you also need to make sure that you sleep as healthily as possible. The opposite of the fight or flight response (which is also known as a sympathetic response, or a catabolic state), is rest and digest – or an anabolic state. It’s during this tie that our body sends more energy to our immune systems and digestion, to help us repair and fortify our bodies for the day ahead. This happens when we are physically and mentally at rest.
And you are never more at rest than when you are asleep. Sleep is the most anabolic state the body can enter naturally and is a time when you will build muscle, restore tissue, and drive our infection and illness.
The more sleep you get, the more resilient you will be against all kinds of diseases.
Please read Karen Olson’s blog It’s Time to get the Health Benefits of a Restful Night’s Sleep. Here are some of the tips for getting the best sleep possible:
- Making sure that your bedroom is as dark and quiet as possible
- Aim to go to bed and wake up at a consistent time every night/morning
- Take a warm bath or shower before bed
- Use an essential oil like lavender or vanilla in a spray or diffuser.
- Avoid exposure to blue-light emitting devices for half an hour before bed
- Avoid stimulating activities such as exercising or watching movies
- Using supplements and not eating heavy food at night before you go to bed
- Use meditation and breathing exercises to calm your thoughts
- Keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature.
More Tips
Did you know that flossing your teeth has been shown to reduce your chances of getting illness and disease including cancer? These two things might seem wholly unrelated, but it makes sense when you consider just how much-unwanted bacteria enter the body through the mouth. This is why our immunity takes a constant beating from foreign invaders, and it’s why you will improve your chances of avoiding disease if you floss regularly! More importantly, this demonstrates the way in which seemingly unrelated issues affect immunity – and why self-care is so important.
Another tip is to make sure you spend lots of time outdoors. This is because spending time outdoors will increase your production of vitamin D – a vitamin that actually works more like a “master hormone” than an actual vitamin. This is to say that it will stimulate the release of other hormones, many of which boost your immunity. This is why recent research shows that vitamin D is actually significantly more powerful than vitamin C when it comes to strengthening immunity.
Sunlight and fresh air can also benefit your health in other ways, and to once again draw upon circumstantial evidence: consider that people who spend a lot of time outdoors rarely seem to get sick! Being in nature is calming, restorative, and fun!
While you may not be able to practice all of these things, taking into account just a few of these strategies can be highly effective in helping you to support your immune system against viruses and disease.
Remember, you are worth it! Good health is our most valuable gift. Don’t take it for granted. Make positive self-care a priority and enjoy every day to the fullest! Keep a “bank” of your positive thoughts, faith, and healthy habits so that you can count on them to get you through any challenges. Here’s to your health!
The SoundPath Method™ is not intended to replace traditional medicine but is meant as a complementary therapy. If symptoms persist or an ailment is severe, patients are expected to consult a medical doctor. SoundPath Method™ is a system of balancing energy for the purpose of stress reduction, relaxation, and empowerment only and is not intended to replace the prevalent medical or physiological diagnosis and treatment. It is only meant to complement traditional care and to be used as a preventive system. Additional benefits are possible but not achieved by all participants.