Our Miraculous, All Natural Immune System

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but as we get older, our bodies slow down and can be more susceptible when it comes to fending off a cold, or recovering from an illness.

Whether we’ve been binge eating over the holidays, had a few drinks, had late nights or been busy fending off changes in the weather, our body is constantly working around the clock to stay at our optimal state of health. It does well most of the time, however occasionally a bug or a run-down system gets the better of us.

Often as soon as we start feeling ill, we’ll reach for the quickest and easiest way to get rid of our symptoms and back to work and the world of the living  With so many big pharma pills and syrups that tend to the symptoms, can we instead ask ourselves what we can do to manage or even avoid the onslaught of germs and viruses naturally?

You bet there is, here are a few ways to do just that.

Let me introduce you to your own built-in superpower… 

When we do take pharmaceuticals and address the systems we are often overriding our own bodies’ attempt at self-healing and if done excessively can cause side effects.  You may have noticed that doctors now try to avoid prescribing antibiotics as they weaken your microbiome, which has a key role in your natural health.

Rather than address the symptoms, we have the ability to work on prevention rather than needing a cure. We have a pretty super secret weapon that doctors seem to have forgotten about, it’s called: Our Immune System.

A system that can defend against foreign invaders with a simple flying kick: Pow…..

It’s been with us since the beginning and defending us pretty well through all this time, we are still here aren’t we? However, we have lost touch with how it works. Animals for instance will instinctively eat a herb or grass that helps to medicate against parasites, or fever – in their natural habitat if those plants are available.

Once upon a time, we did too, check out this article. A study of the teeth of Neanderthal over 50’000 years ago found that they were self-medicating, and modern research was able to gain a wealth of information based on what was found between their teeth, what they ate, what ills they had and even what herbs they were taking such as yarrow or willow bark.

Fascinating article, it made me wonder how well we would find ourselves nowadays out in the wild, looking at trees without labels, and wondering which will heal or kill us.

Our immune system is the most important factor in our health and ability to fend off and recover from any illnesses, because if this it’s imperative that we know how it works and what we can do to look after it.  here are a few ideas.

5 Easy ways to keep the Immune System Healthy

1. Get enough sleep

   1. In all research, it’s lack of sleep that affects our bodies and minds the most. Be sure to get 7-8 hours. It’s only after a few hours that our body goes into REM mode of sleep – and it’s during this time that it works to heal itself, and rebuild cells and tissues.
      

2. Eat your Fruit & vegetables

   1. All types and colours, especially those high in vitamin C, such as oranges, guava, kiwi, and parsley. Do buy and eat organic, or eat homegrown where possible for the optimum amount of nutrients.

   2. Be sure to include some hearty winter fortifiers too,
      

3. Be sure in winter to include Ginger and raw Garlic in your diet

   1. Ginger has so many warming and digestive benefits

   2. Garlic is best eaten raw rather than cooked, and not every day, but when you are feeling a cold coming on, or feeling run down,
      

4. Exercise

   1. Our body is a collection of cells, muscles and bones yet are also comprised of energy. If that energy stagnates, so do we. Get that energy flowing, even if it’s a walk for an hour a day. It gets the blood oxygenated and pumping which benefits the whole body.  Stretching, yoga or tai chi – keep that energy flowing and keep it in motion and health.
      

5. Meditate

   1. Calming the monkey mind, which immediately has a positive impact on our overall state of well-being,

   2. Breathing, did you know that normally we only breathe at 30% effectiveness, and we shallow breath – yet the best way to clean out all the carbon dioxide from our lungs and to send clean oxygen to our lungs, heart and each cell in our body to take slow deep breaths in and out. Deep calm breathing is one of the many benefits of meditation. Even 10 deep breaths a day, are better than none.

These are not challenging or difficult steps, yet we often find it hard to find the time. It all gets lost on our to-do list, in between those moments of looking after everyone but ourselves.

Because that’s what we do, it’s called everyday life. Yet these steps are just simple reminders to take that time here and there to be kind and practice some self-care.

Anytime that we find is better than none, a five-minute walk or meditation is better than no walk or meditation.  If we can take that extra little bit of time to take any of these actionable easy steps, we’ll feel more refreshed and have a clearer head and stronger immune system.  With a stronger immune system, we are much less prone to getting sick and on the odd occasion we do, we’ll bounce back in quicker than we would otherwise.

As we get older, we learn the importance of looking after our bodies, with the deeper understanding that our body also looks after us, and we’d like it to work at its optimal health for as long as possible. It’s a reciprocal relationship and we are in it for the long haul.

I challenge you to spend 10 minutes, a day, a week looking after yourself and practising and building some self-care into your everyday routine. Trust me, you and your body and its immune system are worth it.