With one of the worst flu seasons I can remember happening this year and the Corona virus infecting more and more people every day, now is as important of a time as ever to make sure that you are optimizing your immune system. The stronger your immune system is then the better chance you have of fighting off an unwanted infection. Also, if you do get sick it will keep the symptoms as mild as possible and improve your recovery time. In this article I want to talk about ways to optimize your immune system so you can hopefully avoid whatever sickness comes your way.
1. Practice good hygiene
This one goes without saying but wash your hands. Wash you hands after you use the bathroom, before you eat, and as frequently as you think about it throughout the day. Use soap and warm water and focus on what you're doing when you do it.
2. Sleep
Think back to the last few times you got sick. It's probably very likely that you had not gotten enough sleep in the last few days. When you don't get enough sleep your immune system gets depressed and it is harder for you to fight off infection. Make sleep a priority and try to be in bed every night for at least 8 hours. If you have a hard time getting enough sleep at night then try to take a nap or two throughout the day. Even a 10 minute power nap can have a huge impact on your immune system.
3. Stay hydrated
Water is used by our body for just about everything, so when we are dehydrated our body is not operating optimally. A good goal for most people is to drink 100 ounces of water a day at a minimum. Track this with an app or drink a certain amount of measured cups a day (I try to fill up my 20 oz shaker bottle with water at least 5 times a day) and you will give your immune system a huge boost.
4. Get enough to eat
Our body uses food as fuel. When we don't eat enough then we aren't getting our body the fuel that it needs and it doesn't operate optimally. Make sure you are getting enough to eat by tracking your daily intake or by eating well balanced meals (high in protein and vegetables) at a minimum three times a day.
5. Mind your micros
Micronutrients are the essential vitamins and minerals that our body needs to function. By eating a wide variety of types and colors of foods we have a much better chance of giving our body the micronutrients that it needs. Adding a good multivitamin supplement is another way to make sure that our body is getting what it needs.
6. Exercise regularly
Every time that we exercise we are training our body to recover. When we lift weights we are training our body to recover from the stimulus we put on it. The more consistently that we train the better our body gets at recovering, no matter what it is trying to recover from. Improve your recovery time if you do get sick by training your body to recover through consistent exercise.
7. Optimize your gut health
The gut is the second brain of our body and it controls our immune system. Our gut is made up of billions of good bacteria that play an important roll in digesting food, absorbing nutrients, and fighting off infection. The more good bacteria that we have in our gut the better we will digest food, the better our bodies will function, and the better our immune system will be. We can "feed" our good bacteria by eating a wide variety of foods and vegetables, increasing our fiber intake, avoiding inflammatory (foods that you don't digest well) and high processed foods, limiting sugar intake, and supplementing with a probiotic, among many others. You can find much more information on this crucial topic in our previous blog post here.
8. Listen to your body
The last point to make is to listen to your body. When you are feeling tired or run down then your body it trying to tell you something. Listen to it. Take an extra rest day. Go to bed an hour earlier. Take a nap. If we can stay in tune with what our body is trying to tell us then we can head things off before they get bad. Your body is going to get the rest it needs one way or the other, so keep it from getting sick and putting your down for a week by listening to what it is trying to tell you.
I hope that these points will help you stay healthy this year and the years to come. Remember to prioritize your health and your immune system and you will be glad you did when you are consistently avoiding sickness. Think of this work as putting a buffer between you and sickness. The better you do on these 8 points the less likely you are to get sick, and even if you do then it will most likely be much milder than it would be otherwise.