Supporting general immunity has always been important, but I’ve had many more questions about it this past year, as you can imagine! I often get questions like, “What can I take for X, Y, and Z?” I’ll share some of my favorite nutritional supplements, but I definitely don’t feel like this is the most important. Supporting Whole Health Immune Resilience starts with the basics. So let’s strategize ways to optimize your health foundations first! It’s the absolute best way to prevent illness.
While reading this information, you may feel overwhelmed. Don’t worry; you can create resiliency through small changes in daily habits. Pick a couple and see if you can stick to it for a couple of weeks, and only when you’re feeling successful try adding something new. Over time it will become second nature. You’ve got this!
1. Nourish Your Body
Nutrient-Dense, Plant-rich, diverse, Whole Foods Diet
- Jam-Packed with Colorful Vegetables, Berries, Spices, and Mushrooms
- Tip: Shoot for at least 12 different plant-based foods a day and see if you can include all the colors of the rainbow.
- Lots of Fiber, Especially From Veggies (aim for at least 25 grams per day)
- Tip: If you’re unsure how much fiber you’re currently getting you could track it for a couple of days in a free app like Cronometer.
- Tip: Fiber is a natural prebiotic source, meaning it feeds the beneficial bugs in your gut that contribute to immune resilience.
- Anti-inflammatory Omega-3 Fatty Acids Found in Coldwater Fish, Nuts, and Seeds
- Tip: The fish with the least mercury and highest Omega-3s are: salmon, sardines, rainbow trout, and Atlantic mackerel. The Environmental Working Group has a great, free seafood guide. EWG’s Consumer Guide to Seafood – Check it out!
- Fermented Foods offer a natural source of probiotics to support your gut microbiome which contributes significantly to your immunity.
- Tip: Add 1-2 TBS of kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, or yogurt to your day! It doesn’t take much to get a lot of these helpful bugs. 🙂
- Adequate Protein from animal and plant sources provide the amino acids necessary to make your immune cells.
- Tip: Include a palm-sized portion of protein with each meal.
- Quality Fats keep your cell membranes healthy and blood sugar stable
- Tip: Some of my favorites are avocados, olive oil, whole eggs, nuts, seeds, and nut butter.
- Stay hydrated with clean, filtered water! Don’t forget water makes up the majority of our cells, it allows toxins to be flushed from the body through urine and keeps our bowels moving. DO NOT underestimate the power of hydration, especially if you aren’t feeling well.
- Tip: Drink .5-1 ounce of water per pound of body weight. If you weigh 150 pounds, you need at least 75 ounces each day.
- Steer clear of bottled water and plastic drinking containers!
- Skip the sugar, processed non-food junk, and alcohol!
- Choose organic when possible!
Most Importantly… Connect with the food you’re eating. Try new things. Enjoy every chew. Share your meals with someone you love. And slow down enough to savor the flavors!
2. Sleep
No other lifestyle strategy, food, vitamin, mineral, or botanical will do the job of cheering on your immune cells like sleep! Here’s how it works. As daylight decreases, we start producing melatonin. This super hormone which generally makes most of us feel like snuggling into our pajamas and getting more shut-eye, is accompanied by the release of other proteins and growth hormones. These are like cheerleaders for our immune cells fundamental to fighting any bug (virus, bacteria, parasite) entering your body. You might be asking; well, can’t I just take melatonin then? The answer is NO and YES. There is some evidence that it is helpful, but the special sauce happens when you’re asleep, so there is no bio-hack for this!
Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep with the goal of waking rested!
No other lifestyle strategy, food, vitamin, mineral, or botanical will do the job of cheering on your immune cells like sleep!
3. Move
Movement is Medicine! It’s amazing at supporting overall health, immunity, and fertility in men and women. There is no doubt that it can mitigate stress, improve sleep, mood, and energy, reduce the risk of chronic disease, boost immune resilience, enhance the gut microbiome, manage blood sugar and insulin, and balance sex hormones!
Movement is Medicine!
Some things I find fascinating about movement…
Our body works its tail off to create all of the important virus and bacteria-fighting cells, but these cells have to migrate to every nook and cranny of the body to do their job. Motion, by increasing circulation through blood flow and lymphatic exchange, is a driving force behind this!
That exercise high you feel when you’re working out is a massive release of opioids. These super feel-good chemicals also rev up the production of immune cells. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) stimulates opioid release like a rocket engine on the space shuttle!
4. Support Gut Health
Have you ever heard anyone say that most of your immune system is in your gut? Did you wonder what the heck that even means or why that is? Our gut comes into contact with more potential immune triggers in a single day than any other system in our body.
Think about it… we consume pounds of food and dozens of ounces of liquid that are loaded with beneficial things but undoubtedly polluted with toxins and covered in microscopic bugs, all inherently capable of stimulating an immune response. Out of pure brilliance, the bulk of our immune system is located in and around our gut, constantly surveying all of the daily commuters running through this intricate system, alerting us to offending intruders and knocking out unwelcome guests. We’ve even created a superbug immune interconnection with the trillions of beneficial bacteria that have taken up residence, lovingly known as the gut microbiome.
When this intricate system of immune surveillance, response, and interconnection is working properly, it is exquisite! However, when overwhelmed by a junky diet, leaky gut, high stress, poor sleep, sedentary lifestyle, lack of nature, sterile environments, antibiotic use, and environmental toxin exposure, the immune system gets overwhelmed. It commits to reacting to everything, even the good stuff but is so dysregulated we often can’t fight a simple cold. Alternatively, our body can become so confused that it starts fighting against its own tissues, known as autoimmunity.
There are some simple, yet highly effective strategies for supporting your gut health and its intricate immune components.
Food is your friend! Follow the recommendations above, focusing on expanding the diversity of your diet, including as many different vegetables and spices as possible. The fiber contained in vegetables acts as a prebiotic. Prebiotics feed the beneficial microbes in your gut. These bugs then produce special nutrients called short-chain fatty acids that feed your gut cells, support your immune system, and communicate with your brain. It is a very delicate dance.
Get probiotics from foods! It only takes a tablespoon or two a day of fermented food to really boost the microbial diversity of your gut. Taking supplemental probiotics can be very helpful, but they are transient, meaning they don’t take up residence. Hence, feeding the good guys with prebiotic foods is usually more helpful long term.
Consider making bone broth and having a cup each day. The amino acids released from the bones during long periods of slow, low temp cooking help repair the gut lining.
Sleep, move, meditate, stay hydrated, play, make time to poop, laugh, skip the toxins, and socialize!
5. Reduce Physical & Emotional Stressors
I know reducing stress is often easier said than done, and there are always going to be stressors, but having strategies to manage these moments, days, weeks, years (2020!), and people is invaluable!
Physical and psychological stress creates the same response in the body. Initially, hormones are triggered that help us get out of whatever situation we’re in. Our heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, and respiration increase to circulate nutrients and oxygen to our extremities and lungs in case we need to run. Digestion and sex hormones decrease because our body is prioritizing safety over eating and reproduction. There are immune benefits to this in the short term, but over time as our stress levels are chronically elevated, your body’s natural ability to fight off infections, heal, digest, and reproduce is lowered.
Reducing and managing stress can improve your overall health.
- Avoid Negative Information Overload
- It seems like everywhere we turn is doomsday information these days. Practice intentional information collection and stop the mindless scroll through predetermined feeds of artificially curated “news.” Find an inspirational book or learn a new skill instead.
- Spend Time in Nature
- Reconnect with the earth, plants, fresh air, and dirt. Plant a veggie patch that nourishes you with food or a wildflower garden that brings birds, bees, and butterflies to your outdoor space. Seek refuge in the woods amongst the trees.
- Allow Time for Rest and Movement
- Find something you really enjoy doing, whether it’s yoga, dancing in your kitchen, walking your dog, ice skating, jumping rope, skipping, jogging, playing, biking… The options are endless. Movement helps to complete the stress cycle so your body can move through the process.
- Creativity
- When we create, through drawing, writing, cooking, painting, sewing, etc. our minds and hearts can relax from the more rigid thinking and processing mode in which we spend most of our days. You could consider a coloring book or a newer activity I found called ZenTangle which is a sort of creative doodling meditation.
- Meditation
- There are so many options for guided imagery and breathing-based meditations. Many are available on the little computers we each carry around with us. My favorite mediation app is Headspace, which offers some free and paid content.
Practice Gratitude, Celebrate, Laugh, Be With Friends!
6. Nutritional Supplements & Botanicals
I do have some favorite nutritional supplements that have been shown to favorably modulate cellular immunity, possibly reduce the severity and duration of acute symptoms, and may support recovery from immune challenges.
Disclaimer: This website and post include general information about nutrition, health, and fertility. This content is not medical advice. It is not a replacement for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment of any health condition or illness. With that said, if the reader or any other person has a medical condition, concern, or illness, they should consult with their personal doctor or another appropriately licensed healthcare provider. The reader should also never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking advice because of something discussed in this information. It is imperative to consult your doctor or another appropriately licensed healthcare provider before implementing any changes to your diet, fitness routine, lifestyle, medications, or nutritional supplements.
Information provided in this document and the use of any products or services related to this document by you does not create a doctor-patient relationship between you and Tamara Darragh, ND.
Statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
- Vitamin D3
- 2,000-5,000 IU daily with food
- It is important to have your serum 25-OH-VitD levels assessed for long-term need and dosing of supplementation.
- Vitamin A
- 5,000-25,000 IU daily with food
- Caution in pregnancy, do not exceed 10,000 IU of preformed Vitamin A per day
- Do not continuously take longer than 4 weeks.
- Zinc
- 15 mg 2x daily
- Do not continuously take longer than 3 months without a balance of copper.
- Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)
- 500 mg (standardized extract)
- Vitamin C
- 1,000-2,000 mg daily in divided doses, to bowel tolerance
- Start low and increase slowly
- Caution when pregnant or trying to conceive, do not exceed 1,000 mg daily
- Quercetin
- 1,000 mg 2x daily
- Do not take in pregnancy
Additional Resources
Online Supplement Dispensary: Fullscript
Enjoy 15% off!
NATUROPATHIC, INTEGRATIVE & FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE PROVIDERS
If you’re interested in a personalized assessment and plan to support your Whole Health Immune Resilience and would like to find a practitioner in your area, see the resources below.
- Dr. Tamara Darragh
- Minnesota Association of Naturopathic Physicians
- American Association of Naturopathic Physicians
- The Institute for Functional Medicine
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Disclaimer: This website and post include general information about nutrition, health, and fertility. This content is not medical advice. It is not a replacement for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment of any health condition or illness. With that said, if the reader or any other person has a medical condition, concern, or illness, they should consult with their personal doctor or another appropriately licensed healthcare provider. The reader should also never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking advice because of something discussed in this information. It is imperative to consult your doctor or another appropriately licensed healthcare provider before implementing any changes to your diet, fitness routine, lifestyle, medications, or nutritional supplements.
Information provided in this document and the use of any products or services related to this document by you does not create a doctor-patient relationship between you and Tamara Darragh, ND.
Statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
