For many people, allergy season and cold season are synonymous. Having allergies can reduce your immune response and make you more susceptible to getting sick. While we can’t give you a solution to your allergies, we can provide you with tips and tricks for supporting your immune system.
Some of these ideas you’ll have seen before — there’s a good reason for that. Healthy habits impact all aspects of your physical and mental well-being. So building these habits into your life will improve more than just your immune system. They could improve your entire life as well!
Getting restful sleep can give your immune system the energy to fight off any bug that comes your way. Sleep is one of the most important aspects of supporting your immune system, but it can feel challenging to get an appropriate amount of rest. However, there are a few ways to help support positive sleep habits — and some of the other tips on this list can positively impact sleep.
However, if you’re looking to improve your sleep, it all starts with sleep hygiene. This doesn’t mean showering before bed but instead developing sleep habits that don’t negatively impact your sleep.
First and foremost, turn off the screens at least half an hour before bedtime. Blue LED light can trick your brain into thinking it’s still daytime which can cause circadian rhythm disorders. Additionally, make sure that your bed is only being used for the things it was designed to be used for — which means you shouldn’t be working, eating, playing video games, or watching television in bed. Instead, focus on going to bed in a dark room without distractions and breathing deeply while trying to fall asleep. Finally, stop drinking caffeine within six hours of bedtime. It can negatively impact your ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and get high-quality, restful sleep.
A bonus tip for good sleep: if you struggle to rest appropriately, you’re not alone! But there is help to be found. There are sleep products that contain melatonin that can help you get the sleep you need, like our CBD Softgels with melatonin. Melatonin is the hormone your body produces to help you sleep, and you can supplement it! Try it today.
I will start here with a caveat: this only applies when you’re already sick, not as a daily thing.
When you’re sick, your immune system requires a lot of energy to fight off the disease. You want to provide your body with easily accessed energy to fuel this system and protect your health in the long run. While, yes, many people strive to lose weight for their health, when you’re fighting a bug, you’ll want to set those weight loss goals aside, so you don’t compromise your immune response.
Healthy, whole foods that meet your daily calorie count are the best way to support your flagging immune system. In this regard, you’ll also want to integrate more carbohydrates and proteins. Carbs provide easily accessible energy for your body. It’s why people cut them to lose weight and why, for the week that you’re out with the flu, you should eat them.
Reducing stress is a huge part of living a longer, healthier life. You’ll feel better overall, and it’ll provide more support to your immune system.
Stressors trigger a biological response known as cortisol which can inhibit your daily function, increase your heart rate and blood pressure, and prevent your immune system from responding appropriately. Unfortunately, this flight-or-fight response that exists from our caveman days doesn’t lend itself well to managing in a modern setting.
There are many ways to reduce your stress load, including getting proper sleep, good nutrition, removing negative influences and environments, positive thinking, and meditation. Some or all of these might help you feel better about your life overall and reduce your negative mindset. In addition, this exercise of reducing stress can help you bolster your immune system.
There are many ways to improve your immune response with supplements. For example, many people lack vitamin D from the sun in the winter, so using vitamin D drops can help you feel fewer effects of the winter blues.
You could try ingesting more pre-biotics or pro-biotics to help healthy gut bacteria develop for your immune system. Your intestines play an incredible role in your immune system, both in creating the energy to run it and determining how it runs!
If you’re looking to support your immune system further, you could always incorporate a curcumin supplement which is believed to help reduce inflammation. In addition, Curcumin can prevent some of the negative side effects of illness.
If you lift like Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, you can ignore this, but if you’re more like John Cena (you can’t see me in a gym), then this one is for you.
Moderate exercise, defined as 30 minutes a day or 150 minutes a week, can improve health outcomes significantly. That can be as simple as just going for a walk or getting some fresh air. Of course, not everyone comes from the same level of ability. But there are alternatives. For example, if you’re able to do weights while sitting down for 15 minutes twice a day, you could gain the same benefits as going for a walk.
Doing what you’re able to do is a great way to improve outcomes in the long run.
Did you know that pneumonia and the flu are the leading causes of death in people over 65 worldwide? Not all illnesses are preventable but equipping your body to handle them is the best way to protect your future. However, there is more than one way to peel a potato, and a few things we didn’t touch on today include healthy nutrition and cutting out alterants like alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine.
Even if you’re able to improve just one of these or make minor improvements, you’d be moving forward and equipping yourself to improve a little more every day. If you have questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to our team!
