The very best strategy for preparing yourself for the future virus outbreaks, whether those are
colds, flu, RSV, or COVID, is building a strong immune system. Natural immunity is the
uncontested best protection but when new strains of virus make their entrance on the scene you and I need to have put the time in to nourishing our immune systems BEFORE IT HITS. This pandemic has taught us so many things, but one thing that growing numbers of us are embracing is that lifestyle practices and nutrition matter!
In this current age of superbugs, going to your doctor to get that “magic pill” to make us all better quickly with zero lifestyle
changes on our part is becoming a thing of the past.
Things that will help build immunity and ability to fight new strains of viruses include:
– Regular 6-8 hours of sleep each night
– Reduced time on electronic screens and more time in the sunlight and outdoors
– Regular detox through fasting, saunas, exercise and supplements
And Getting plenty of Vitamin A, C, D3 and K2 and other nutrients through your food and
supplements.
What are some foods that you should be eating to help build your immunity?
Did you know that organic grass fed animal fats from meat and dairy products deliver the most
superior form of fat soluable vitamins A, D and K? The Weston A Price Foundation does a
wonderful job educating us on true immune system building in children and in adults. The
foundation’s president Sally Fallon MA has written the best selling cookbook “ Nourishing
Traditions” and many articles with information on the science behind immune system healing
with animal fats. What those of us who were indoctrinated with the low fat diet ideas of the
1980’s – 1990’s have learned is that since we changed over to the low fat diet we as a society
are sicker and fatter than ever! The United States now ranks low to the bottom or at the
bottom of multiple studies on multiple measures of health for a society, despite spending the
most money per capita on health care. https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2020/07/how-does-the-us-
healthcare-system-compare-to-other-countries There is much to be said on this subject but
suffice it to say, in my coaching practice when I switch people from carb heavy diets to a better
balance between good carbs and organic grass fed meats and fats they feel better and recover
faster.
Juicing is another great way to get more nutrients into your daily diet. Nourishing your cells
with the juiced equivalent of 10-15 veggies daily is a phenomenal boost to immune and overall
health. Juicing can get more of the micronutrients in you as you are not filling up as much on
the fiber that you would get in smoothies or in eating the foods. For those with Lyme and
autoimmune illnesses fighting for their health this is an excellent strategy and can get some
people into a better place rather quickly. That is because their gut is so inflamed they simply
cannot break the phytonutrients out of the fiber. So juicing is like a blood transfusion to their leaky gut.
I have even seen thyroid and other labs improve when individuals have made no
other change but daily fresh juicing. For those who aren’t battling a debilitating illness and have better digestion than others, doing smoothie with the fiber still included is a great strategy. You will get the equivalent of less
veggies- maybe only 5-6 servings rather than 15-20 in juicing, but even that is great and that
fiber that you get serves so many wonderful health purposes in your life.
The third strategy and probably my favorite is to put BENEFICIAL bacteria into your body each
day.
We are learning more and more how lactobacillus, acidophilus, bifobacterium,
Saccharomyces boulardii and more are some of our oldest and most powerful allies when it
comes to strong immune system health. The studies and evidence on this are evolving more
and more all the time. The more we see autoimmunity and mystery illnesses in the US growing
exponentially, we realize that we as a society are NOT doing something right!! Over use of
antibiotics, pesticides and herbicides, medications and many other chemicals we are daily
exposed to are slowly killing off many of the beneficial bacteria from our bodies. None of us are
drinking bottles of round up, but what we don’t realize is that we are getting tiny amounts of
glyphosate, the active ingredient in Round Up in our food and water every day. That is due to
commercial spraying of glyphosate on almost all US grown Wheat, corn and soy. IT does get
into most processed and gmo foods. Those tiny amounts coming in to our bodies every day
tend to overwhelm our detoxing organs and thereby accumulating in tissues and killing off our
good bacteria. We can’t live in a bubble and we will all be exposed to these toxins when we eat
out or drink tap water, so we need to develop DAILY HABITS of putting good bacteria back into
our bodies by eating fermented foods while at the same time limiting our exposures to
pesticides and antibiotics as much as possible.
Whether you are looking to build your natural immunity or to help slow or reverse the
progression of autoimmune disease, all the above practices are helpful and at this point in
human history – NEEDED to survive the newest infections getting thrown at us.
All the best in health,
Theresa