Four tips to boost your immunity...
Welcome to GreenNote Fitness Reflections.
Each month I share with you what I’m doing for longevity - to live my life fully with joy while serving others.
We will deep-dive into optimizing brain function and mitochondrial health while
maintaining strength and balance of body, mind, and spirit.
Time change. Less daylight. Cooler temperatures. Flu season. Pandemic...This year more than ever we are aware of our health and the importance of our immunity system.
There are some simple and effective things we can do right now to boost our immunity.
Increasingly I have been interested in improving immunity and will share with you my top four strategies of late.
Our health waits for no one, let’s get after it!
Tip #1 to Help Support the Immune System - Stress Management
We know that too much stress is inherently bad for us. One of many detrimental impacts of chronic stress is a weakened immune system. It’s very important then to pay particular attention to our stress levels. The tricky part is that we can get accustomed to being stressed that we don’t recognize that we have it.
Something I’ve shared with my clients, particularly young individuals, is to have a daily practice of relaxation. Do this BEFORE a major life event hits.
There are many strategies for managing stress. Keeping this simple (note simple doesn’t mean easy) here are a few suggestions to manage stress:
Breath work - Dr. Andrew Weil uses a “relaxing breath” or the 4-7-8 breath that he believes helps with reducing anxiety, getting to sleep faster, manage cravings, and controlling or reducing anger responses
Essentially you breath in for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 secs. You can see a video of it here.
Walking - if you can get out into the sunshine, even better. Going for walks gets the circulatory system moving and can help to “clear your head”. Some of my clients have implemented walking conference calls. Bonus! I personally will incorporate breath work while I”m walking. I use box breathing: 4-count in and hold for 4-seconds, 4-count out and hold for 4-seconds
Sleep - the quality of your sleep has a direct impact on your immune system. Set yourself up for sleeping success and have a wind-down process; avoid blue-light, exercise, and eating right before bed
Tip #2 to Help Support the Immune System - Rebounding
I’ve recently purchased a mini-trampoline and use it for a few reasons, one being to help move the lymph fluid. The increased lymph fluid circulation helps boost the immune system by providing greater white blood cell activity.
“The lymphatic system is part of your circulatory system and transports a clear, colorless fluid, called lymph, that flushes toxins from your body. It’s believed that there is an increase in circulation of this fluid when the lymphatic valves are opened during a change in gravitational pull.”
As I said, I recently purchased a mini-trampoline that doesn’t take up much room. Just bouncing up and down is a great way to get that lymph moving. It’s as simple of bouncing a couple of inches off the trampoline, keeping relaxed, for 20 to 30 repetitions. Rest for 15 seconds and repeat for two to three sets.
If you don’t have a trampoline or mini-trampoline, you can also get a similar effect by body shaking. This I learned from the former Commander of the Navy SEALS. It may look a little silly but it is doing the same thing - moving lymph fluid. You simply bounce up and down on your toes, shaking your arms and twisting your body. Try it! Been working for a long time on the computer, been on calls for hours? Get up and just start shaking your body. Hey, if it’s good enough for a Navy SEAL, it should be good enough for us.
Tip #3 to Help Support the Immune System - Nutrition
Yep. No getting around how utterly important a diet based on real, unprocessed foods is. Our immune system benefits from nutrients, vitamins, and minerals which is found in whole food and less so in ultra-processed foods.
Here is an infographic to give you some suggestions on what to eat more of and what to limit. Now we know what we should eat. Let’s look at things we need to eliminate or limit as they tend to impair cell function, increase inflammation, and decrease your body’s natural defense response:
Alcohol
Refined sugar
Artificial sweeteners
Processed foods and carbohydrates
Tip #4 to Help Support the Immune System - Supplements
You may have your nutrients all dialed in, even so, it may be advantageous to add a few supplements into your diet.
Especially as we head into winter and try to stay as healthy as possible, I’m reaching for my trifecta of Kion Oregano Oil, Kion Colostrum, and the new Kion Immune that contains both zinc and vitamin C.
These help in the following areas:
Kion Oregano oil helps with a balanced gut micro biome - add a couple of drops in water and drink
Kion Colostrum is derived from premium grass-fed goat’s milk. It’s a substance that’s been shown to support a healthy gut lining and promote a better immune response. I take these on an empty stomach first thing in the morning or before I go to bed.
Kion Immune is a blend of Vitamin C, which keeps harmful free radicals in check, and Zinc, which provides the foundation for strong immune cells. Lately I’ve taking two in the morning and two in the evening.
You can grab them here
Give some of these tips a try. Maybe you already have them in your tool-kit. How could you improve your practice and implementation of them?
The takeaway message here is to be proactive, look after your health, and keep working on supporting your immune system.
Remember, our health waits for no one.
To our reflection,
Lisa Schaffer
GreenNote Fitness
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See my last newsletter Coffee health benefits that may surprise you…?
