The TRUTH about your IMMUNE system

The human body is magical in the automation and seamless communication that happens every second of every minute in every human-being on the planet.  The body is resilient beyond belief, self-regulating, self-cleaning, repairing and restoring itself back into equilibrium.  As inhabitants of these bodies, there are fundamentals required to ‘fuel the tank’ as well as regular ‘tune-up’s’ and annual/ bi-annual ‘servicing’, depending on how hard we have been pushing ourselves.  If we fail to put the right fuel in, perform the tune-ups and forget about the servicing, this magical system can only prop itself up for so long before a ‘break down’ is imminent.

So, what are the fundamentals that impact our immune health and what is the tipping point that leads to burnout and break down?

Nutrition

Nutrition that caters to your unique blueprint is essential to providing adequate energy requirements and to ensure you are getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals to support your health.  Remembering that, one person’s food is another person’s poison, so there is no one size fits all approach.  

By prioritizing the below, you will be setting yourself up for success:

• Home cooking- when you cook your own food you know exactly what is being used in the process.  This is important when figuring out what foods make you thrive and identify the foods that you are better off without.  

• Local produce – sourcing food at farmers market’s where you know the food is fresh/ seasonal and farmed locally has massive advantages in overall gut health.  If you improve your gut health you will improve your overall health!

• Organic (organic) – buy organic produce for the foods listed in the Dirty Dozen.  If you can’t find fresh organic, frozen will suffice.  

• Vitamin D – get out into the sunshine and get some vitamin D EVERYDAY!  

  Fair Skin - Summer - 10 minutes. Spring/Autumn - 20 minutes

  Dark Skin - Summer - 20 minutes. Spring/Autumn - 60 minutes

Hydration

Adequate hydration is so important for the body to function optimally.  The human body is mostly made up of water and if we allow these levels to drop, we will often experience symptoms like headache, lethargy/ fatigue and increased risk of allowing a virus to take advantage of our dehydration and take hold in the body.  

Note: drink clean water and avoid drinking water with meals.

Sleep

‘Burning the candle at both ends’ can lead to illness in many people.  As individuals our thresholds for activity vary but there comes a point for everyone where the body will force a SLOW down, usually manifesting as the latest seasons cold and flu.  Getting enough sleep (rest) is imperative for the body to keep going.  Aim for eight hours every night with the aim to go to bed (sleep) and wake up at the same time (i.e., go to bed at 9:30pm and wake up at 5:30am every day).  

Relationships

‘The quality of your life ultimately depends on the quality of your relationships’ is a quote from Esther Perel and this is hands down my experience.  Training for long distance running events I would do everything I could to support my additional nutritional/ rest requirements but if I had a dust up (argument) with the hubby or had a conflict-ridden week at work (HR Manager) I would come down with the latest virus going around (usually leading to a chest infection which as a runner means a DNS - Did Not Start).  All that hard work/ training down the drain…Crystal Clear Communication is the key to nurturing the important relationships in your life.  To learn more about this technique I recommend Melissa Ambrosini’s book – Open Wide.  Remember to prioritize and nurture the important relationships in your life.  Be present when you are with your nearest and dearest and slow down to enjoy your life.  It is the small things that make a BIG difference.

Career

Let’s face it, we are at work for the majority of the week/ year/ our life, so it is really important to like what you do.  It may not be where you want to be now but do your best, bring positivity, pride, and care into what you do and make plans to be working in a career that lights you up and brings you joy.

Joy

What is the point of life without JOY?  Make this a priority!  What brings you joy?  Personally, I love to get out into nature and witness mother earth in all her glory, I love cuddles with my husband (and poodle) and witnessing my children flourish.  If you don’t have joy in your life your immune system will let you down – it is as simple as that.  Joy stimulates the feel-good hormones (serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin) that support your health.

In my experience, you can push the boundaries on these fundamentals for a period.  Everyone has good days and bad days and that’s life.  But if you are pushing multiple boundaries too hard and for too long your immune system will remind you to take better care of yourself.  This is natures way of restoring equilibrium.  It is a ‘force quit’ or ‘force shutdown’ on your computer when there isn’t any other option.  It is a reminder to take stock of what is serving you and what is not serving you in life.  It is an opportunity to reorganize your priorities, recommit to yourself, let go of that which is no longer serving you and take steps to journey to your best life!  A life filled with joy, happiness, excitement, adventure, and all of the things that are a product of an intentional focus on better health and well-being.

If you want to improve your health and well-being and kick some health goals, contact me for a complimentary heart to heart call today.