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Since reading part one of top tips to enhance your immunity, hopefully you have been able to implement one or more tips to help you on your way to enhanced immunity! If you have not read part one yet, read it here.
See below for part two of top tips to enhance your immunity.
1. Get Enough Sleep
Getting enough sleep is important for everyone, regardless if they are sick or not. Sleep aids in body repair and recovery and is crucial for essentially every bodily system. Therefore, by getting enough sleep you are supporting your body’s natural regenerative processes.
The Sleep Foundation has found that both sleep and the immune system have a direct effect on each other. Sleep can improve the immune system by ensuring regular, consistent sleep patterns. However, it can also negatively impact the immune system causing you to get sick when you do not get enough sleep. Having less than six or seven hours sleep per night can lead to a higher risk of infections such as catching the common cold or flu.
Basic practices which you can implement to ensure a good night’s sleep include: having a consistent sleep and wake time, avoiding screen time at least 1 hour before bed, creating a relaxing sleeping environment (quiet, comfortable temperature, distraction free) and including meditation or any self-care practices you enjoy.
2. Exercise Regularly
Exercising regularly, at least 30 minutes per day has been shown to improve general health in individuals. Exercise improves cardiovascular health and the lymphatic system, lowers blood pressure and maintains or reduces weight. These factors all contribute to healthy bodily functions and in turn a healthy functioning immune system. Exercise doesn’t have to be boring, including different types of exercise can help to keep things feeling fresh and fun for you. Try to include different exercise ideas such as yoga, swimming, walking, running, weightlifting, pilates or tennis.
3. Prioritise Vitamin D
Ensuring you get adequate sun exposure to aid in vitamin D production is important in supporting your immune system. Many studies support the role of Vitamin D in modulating the immune system and preventing infection.
The most bioavailable form of Vitamin D is from the sun. The skin synthesises Vitamin D with the help of sunlight as UV rays from the sun aid in the conversion of the precursor in the skin to Vitamin D. Only 2-3 hours over a week of sun exposure is required to obtain adequate amounts of Vitamin D. However, Vitamin D can also be obtained from foods such as fatty fish and their oils (salmon, tuna, sardines), beef, liver, eggs and mushrooms.
4. Minimise Stress
Stress is well known to have a negative influence on the body’s immune system. In today’s world it seems all too common that stress in one way or another affects the majority of us. As we all are so busy, we often forget to take the time to consciously slow down and think about what is going on around us. The list below are key ways I recommend to help reduce stress levels. Not everything will work for everyone, so it is best to try them all and focus on what you find works for you.
- Practicing mindfulness/gratitude. This is a key way to help reduce stress and focus on all that you are grateful for. This can be done in a guided audio meditation, gratitude journal or simply by taking 5-10 minutes per day and thinking of what you were grateful for that day.
- Having a morning and/or evening routine where you set aside time to get ready or wind down in a way that is calming and benefits you.
- Set aside some time each week for something you feel is a non-negotiable, that you enjoy and brings you happiness.
- Reduce caffeine intake if you find yourself feeling anxious or fidgety afterwards.
- Practice diaphragmatic (belly) breathing. This technique is a key way to reduce stress levels, enhance the rest and digest functioning of the body and enhance the immune system.
What Can You Do?
After reading all of this, you may be thinking that was a lot of information to digest or that there is no way you would be able to implement everything each day. And that is not expected. By making small changes in a manageable way for you and including a new tip once a day, week or 2 weeks is achievable for you, then this is what you should focus on. When this starts to become a habit, introduce another tip. Overtime you will find you have introduced a range of new tips that all help to benefit you and will help to increase your immunity.
As mentioned before, EWA with the 54 point personalised immunity check is a great tool allowing you to get to the bottom of what is most pertinent for you during the next 88 days. By supporting your body in what it specifically requires allows for optimum immunity and functioning of your body including all body systems. Click here to find out more about how EWA can help you and your family.
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