8 Ways to Boost Your Immune System

The world is experiencing unique times and everyone is facing changes. Fortunately, you can incorporate positive changes into your life by placing an emphasis on improving Health and Wellness. Michelle Norris, Director of Corporate Wellness at Cypress Benefit Solutions, has shared the below tips for boosting your immune system.

Michelle is happy to provide more information related to Health and Wellness for you and your employees.

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With all that is going on in the world regarding COVID-19, there are many uncertainties but what seems to be becoming more clear each day is that the healthier you are, the lower your risk for a \”bad outcome\” if you were to be infected by this virus.

Data coming out of NYC is tilting heavily towards obesity and metabolic syndrome, food and lifestyle driven inflammation, as driving worsening disease in the younger populations from 20 to 50 years old. 

According to the Integrative Medicine Guidelines, the following 8 tips can help boost your immune system to help you fight the virus and have a better outcome were you to become infected. 

Reduce the amount of inflammatory foods you are consuming. Inflammatory foods suppress Th1 and NK cell activity. These cells are responsible for viral surveillance and killing; therefore, if you have less of these cells, you are more prone to a bad outcome with COVID-19. Inflammatory foods include:

• Added sugars & HFCS

• Corn fed animal products 

• Canola, soybean and corn oil

Consume REAL foods. Real foods are single ingredient items with no ingredient list. These include: 

• Vegetables

• Fruits

• Nuts

• Seeds

• Legumes

• Eggs

• Naturally raised meat & fish

Increase the amount of zinc you are consuming. This can come in the form of supplementation or food. Pure and Thorne make great quality zinc supplements you can order online. Foods high in zinc to consume include: 

• Dark green leafy veggies

• Radishes

• Eggs

• Almonds

• Legumes

• Seeds

• Grass-fed meat

Increase your consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids. This means eating more oily fish such as: 

• Herring

• Salmon

• Anchovies

• Trout

You can also opt for an Omega-3 supplement. Thorne and Pure make great quality fish oil. Omega-3\’s are a natural inflammatory. 

Get 30 minutes of direct sunlight each day! Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased autoimmunity and increased susceptibility to infection. If you have been tested and know that your Vitamin D levels are low, supplementation is available. It is also recommended to consume foods high in vitamin D such as: 

• Spinach/Kale

• Oranges

• Eggs

SLEEP. Shoot for 8 hours each night. Melatonin which rises at night as we get ready for sleep plays a critical role in helping fight inflammation in the body. Also avoid blue light screens after the sun goes down, and try to dim the lights in your house about an hour before you go to bed. This will help boost melatonin production and improve your quality of sleep.

Increase your Vitamin C intake. Vitamin C is found in foods such as: 

• Broccoli

• Cantaloupe 

• Cauliflower

• Kiwi

• Kale

• Bell peppers

Thorne, Pure & Metagenics all make high quality vitamin C supplements that can also help boost your immune system. 

Engage in meditation and/or prayer. Stress plays a major role in immune function. This is because stress causes the body to release cortisol and cortisol is understood to suppressed the effectiveness of your immune system. Other ways to help cope with stress include exercise, spending time outdoors, stretching and practicing gratitude

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Let us know if you have any questions about implementing some of these ways to boost your immune system! We miss seeing all of you in person and look forward to the day when we can all come back together again! 

Stay Positive, 

Michelle Norris, Director of Corporate Wellness