Winter is coming – tips to help your immune system!

- By Khushboo Patel

1. Eat to heal yourself – by eating a well balanced diet, one can naturally obtain the nutrients required by your body to maintain a functioning and healthy immune system. This includes nourishing foods rich in certain vitamins and minerals such as seasonal fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouts. Adding more herbs and spices to meals have shown to help during winter months as they have more antibacterial properties. Lastly, supplementing when you need the extra boost can help your body have a better fighting chance. Vit C - infamous for being the biggest immune booster, vit B6 - also known for its biochemical reaction support in the immune system and vit E – a powerful antioxidant which helps fight infections.

2. Cut back on sugar and alcohol – as we reach colder temperatures we also reach out for more comfort foods, usually high in sugar. Sugar feeds bacteria and even moderate amounts of alcohol can have dampening effects on the immune system. Try cutting these out completely especially when you know your immune system has been compromised.

3. Exercise and rest – exercise is crucial for our immune system as the slight increase in body temperature increases the blood flow through out our body allowing WBC (white blood cells) to better detect infection. Exercise also decreases the release of stress hormones which dampens our immune system. As beneficial as exercise can be its also important to know when you’re doing too much. Learn to strike that balance. Our immune system is rebooted and fine tuned when we sleep so make sure you’re getting adequate sleep in to allow this to occur – typically 6-8 hours.

4. Wash your hands – its never fun when the person standing next to you in a rammed tube starts sneezing and coughing in your face! May be an obvious statement but wash your hands after being on public transport and public areas to minimise chances of infection.

5. Manage stress – its a well known fact that stress causes our immune system to go haywire. Find ways to calm yourself and chill – yoga, meditation and doing activities that make you happy can really counteract the affects of stress.

6. Get adjusted – if your nervous system is working better your immune system will work better! It’s a misconception to think that being ill means its ok to miss your regular chiropractic adjustment – in fact now is the time you need it more.

For when your immune system is struggling - My not so secret anymore tea recipe:

• 1 thumb size piece of ginger

• ½ lime

• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

• 10 corns of black pepper

• 2 sticks of cinnamon

• 10 pieces of cloves

• 10 pieces of cardamom

Boil 1 ½ - 2 cups of water with all the ingredients apart from the lime, bring to a boil until
the liquid reduces to 1 cups worth and then squeeze in the lime. Yup this baby burns and its all for 1 cup of tea!