As we find ourselves stepping into what we commonly refer to as “flu season,” still bobbing and weaving our way through a pandemic, there’s a lot of talk around boosting our immune systems, and for obvious and very good reasons. But a strong immune response isn’t just critical now, it’s crucial for keeping us healthy and resilient throughout every season of our life.
To briefly scratch the surface: The immune system is our bodies internal defense system against infections, viruses, toxins, and other cell changes that could potentially lead to tissue damage, illness, or disease. This intelligent and complex system is comprised of special cells (like white blood cells), proteins, chemicals, and organs (like the spleen).
The lymphatic system is also a part of the immune system, and as I’m learning through my continued education with Yoga Medicine, an important part at that. The lymphatics are both the transport and the clean-up crew for our immune system and an essential regulator of fluids. The lymphatic system is comprised of infection-fighting white blood cells, lymph fluid that transports these white blood cells throughout the body, and lymph nodes that help to filter out any harmful substances or waste. We’ll look take another look at the lymphatic system in a moment.
As stated by the National Institute of Health, a functioning “immune system can distinguish between normal, healthy cells and unhealthy cells by recognizing a variety of ‘danger’ cues… When the immune system first recognizes these signals, it responds to address the problem. If an immune response cannot be activated when there is sufficient need, problems arise, like infection.”
Many factors can affect our immune system and its response — and I think that it’s important to always remember (and trust) that our bodies are brilliantly built, incredibly intelligent, and really resilient and adaptable beings — but, there are still a few things that we can regularly do to help support this hard-working system and to boost our innate, inner resiliency for this season, and many more to come.
Here are three tips that have been helpful for me, and I hope that they are helpful for you!
1. Move your body and breathe deeply.
Remember how I said we’ll look at the lymphatics a little more in a moment? Well now is the time. And like I said, as I’m learning through my studies, good lymphatic flow is a critical component for a strong immune response.
You see, unlike the circulatory system that uses the heart to pump blood out to the organs and tissues of the body, the flow of lymph is dependent on local and mechanical changes in pressure — mainly via muscle contractions (movement) and breathing (the ‘pumping’ of our primary breathing muscle, the diaphragm). It’s also interesting to note that our lymph nodes, that filters the lymph, are located in areas of the body — like the armpits and the groin — where you commonly see movement just from doing daily life things, like using your hands and walking. You could also help encourage this lymphatic flow through regular soft-tissue manipulation like myofascial release or massage.
Also, keep in mind that if you are focusing on immune support, or feel like you’re on the verge of getting sick, keep the movement gentle as to not deplete your energy, and, maybe more importantly, whatever movement you decide to engage in, let it be something that you enjoy doing as mood plays a big role in immune response too! (Source).
2. Learn how to manage your stress.
This tip should probably be #1, but I’m not going to lie, managing stress is still something that I struggle with. Let’s call it a “work in progress,” and I think many of you could maybe relate?? We all know that stress is bad for you. Like really bad for you. But we live in a society where stress is at an all-time high. Stress affects every system of the body and when looking at the immune system, chronic stress can have some serious effects on our bodies ability to be resilient, to battle infections, and to heal (source).
And I think this makes another great case for adopting a regular breath-work practice… And another reason why I’ve really been leaning into my breath-work practice over these last 8 months: The power of our breath is truly amazing!! It is something we carry with us everywhere we go and something that we can tap into at anytime. And when it comes to the immune system, as we spoke about above, not only does the movement of the diaphragm (our primary breathing muscle) help to “pump” the lymph through the body, stimulating the diaphragm (like in diaphragmatic or “belly breathing”) also stimulates the vagus nerve that runs through the diaphragm — And this nerve is intimately connected to our parasympathetic nervous system, aka our “rest and digest” mode, a state in which relaxation and healing can occur.
The counter to this parasympathetic mode is the sympathetic nervous system, which we like to refer to as our “fight or flight” mode. This mode is essential, in small doses and when something is truly life-threatening, but we can all too often find ourselves stuck in “fight or flight” when we experience chronic stress.
Now breath-work is not the only way to manage stress, but for me it’s been the most effective and efficient. And as I mentioned before, breath-work is accessible to everyone because we all breathe, and it’s something we can tap into anytime and anywhere. But there are many other positive and powerful tools to help manage stress, like a regular meditation practice, among other techniques. (source).
I think the key is to find something, or even a few tools, that are helpful for you, and to more importantly practice incorporating them when you feel stress beginning to creep in, also using them regularly whether to start or end your day!
3. On top of a balanced diet, consider adding a supplement.
First, I must point out that I am not a nutritionist or a dietician. And I, like most humans, struggle to eat a balanced diet every single day. But, what I do know is that food is fuel for our bodies and its systems, and if we want these systems to be running optimally, then we shouldn’t be feeding them a bunch of crap.
It’s also important to consider that as much as we want to separate the systems of the body in order to study them and understand them better, the thing is that these systems are all intricately connected — they all work together — and when one is not functioning properly, it’ll eventually effect the others.
When looking at both the digestive and immune systems, there is most definitely a relationship: Around 70% of our immune system lives in our GI tract in the form of gut-associated lymphoid tissue (or GALT), with the gastrointestinal system exposed to many toxins and potentially ‘harmful invaders’ like bacteria and viruses on a daily basis, as it’s a major pathway between the external environment and our internal world (source).
And as amazing as our bodies are, we can’t expect them to run optimally and be resilient if we keep overloading them with toxins like processed foods and an excess of alcohol.
According to this article by the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, “Your immune system is best prepared to take action against viruses when you choose foods that provide a steady stream of key nutrients. Diets centered around whole plant foods in particular appear to stimulate natural killer cell activity. Natural killer cells are part of the innate immune response that hones in on pathogens.” The article continues to recommend some “immune system booster foods” such as bright fruits and vegetables, bitter greens (like arugula and dandelion), whole grains and legumes, flax seeds for omega-3s, and medicinal mushrooms, like chaga.
And while nothing compares to consuming nutrient-dense, whole plant foods, if you’re looking to add a little extra boost to your immune response, maybe consider adding a supplement on top of your balanced diet. Again, I am in no position to make any prescriptions or medical statements — I can only speak from experience — but aside from doing my best to eat a well-balanced diet, I’ve been incorporating these Immunity Supplements by Aneu Apothecary into my daily routine for a little over a month now and I’m really loving them!! I’m definitely noticing a little better digestion, decreased brain fog, and increased energy and capacity to focus. These supplements contain a signature blend of organic, medicinal mushrooms extracts (like chaga, reishi, cordyceps, maitake, to name a few) that are intended to repair and reinforce gut health to help regulate harmful bacteria, enhancing our bodies innate ability to defend against viruses and infection. If you’d like to give them a try, feel free to use the code CAIT10 to get a little discount off of your order at www.aneu.com.
As always, feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have!