It’s that time of year again…the time when the cold and flu are more likely to strike your house. For some people it seems inevitable that they will get sick at some point this winter; however, I want to show you that does not have to be the case.

In fact, since I started to focus on really improving my gut health and making a concerted effort to eat well, I haven’t been wiped out by a cold or the flu at all. Once or twice I have felt like something might be coming on, but I was able to use a couple of my home remedies to kick it in less than a day without it interfering with my daily activities.

Now, I don’t say this to boast, but instead to encourage you that it is possible to take control of your health and to greatly reduce the chances of you (or your family) getting sick. Instead of going to the pharmacy or the doctor to take care of a problem that has already shown up, I want to show you how to boost your immune system naturally so that you can avoid these bouts of illness in the first place.

Your Immune System

Our immune system is a pretty amazing thing when you think about it! When our bodies are healthy and functioning well, the cells involved in our immune system constantly patrol our body, looking for harmful bacteria and viruses to destroy.

Isn’t it amazing that our bodies are designed to avoid getting sick?!?

The catch is that we have to take care of our bodies so that our immune system can perform its role effectively. Unfortunately, modern life is not conducive to supporting our immune system…processed foods, refined sugar, antibiotics, and chemicals are just a few of the many things that weaken our immune system.

 How to Boost Your Immune System Naturally

So often we hear of a “magic bullet” that will boost your immune system and prevent you from catching the flu that’s spreading through your office.

Unfortunately, just taking vitamin C every day or washing your hands regularly is not going to prevent illness by itself. You could even choose 1 or 2 of the tips I will give you in this article, but that alone may not be enough to keep your immune system strong either.

I know this may be discouraging for some of you, but my point is that our bodies are complicated systems that are designed to stay healthy and strong…when we treat them well.

You can’t take one supplement and expect that to cancel out the effects of eating (or drinking) sugar with every meal…or only getting 4 hours of sleep every night…or eating fast food 5 nights a week.

So instead of a quick fix, I’m going to share 9 actions you can take that will greatly reduce the chance of you getting sick this year. Focusing on your lifestyle as a whole is truly the answer to improving your immune system and your health. Just don’t stress out about addressing all of these actions at once, but focus on one at a time. Your health will improve each step of the way!

Eat REAL Food

If you’ve read my blog at all, you’re probably not surprised that I’m starting here! Real food (like vegetables, fruit, meat, and quality fats) are full of the necessary nutrients that support your health and optimal functioning of your immune system.

Additionally, research shows that when you eat processed foods instead of real food, the components of that processed food (like sugar, preservatives, synthetic ingredients, trans fats, etc) set the stage for a weakened immune system.

If you would like to know exactly which food to eat and which foods to avoid to support your immune system, click here  to download my one page graphic.

Avoid Sugar

We all know sugar is not our friend, right? When it comes to our immune system, this is especially true because eating sugar can have an immediate impact on our immune system. So, if you think you are coming down with something, lay off the sugar right away. And the rest of the time…it’s not a bad idea to stay away, either!

Get a Good Night’s Sleep

We hear all the time that it’s important to get enough sleep, but I’m not convinced that we truly understand how much of an impact sleep can make on our health. Sleep will strengthen your immune system so that you are better able to fight off illness before it even strikes.

I would recommend 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night depending on your body’s unique needs, but it’s not just the amount of sleep that’s important. It’s the quality of sleep as well. Ideally, you will be sleeping deeply throughout the night without waking up until morning.

Eat Garlic Regularly

Garlic is full of antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties, which is perfect if you are trying to avoid getting sick! These properties are only available in fresh garlic, however, so be sure to use it that way instead of in a powder or dried form.

I personally try to include fresh garlic in one of my meals at least once a day, especially during the winter. It doesn’t hurt that I love the taste of garlic!

Consume Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is made up of 50% lauric acid. What’s the benefit in that? Well, our bodies change the lauric acid into monolaurin, which has been shown to help fight off many viruses and pathogens. Coconut oil also fights off bacteria as well. So coconut oil is one more tool you can use to strengthen your immune system.

Increase Your Vitamin D Levels

Vitamin D plays a critical role in your health as it enables your immune system to produce the antimicrobial peptides which are essential to fight off infections.

One study actually showed that students who were taking a vitamin D3 supplement were actually less likely to come down with Influenza A as compared to a control group who were not supplementing with D3. That’s a pretty powerful vitamin!

Unfortunately, as winter hits, most of us are much less likely to get good sun exposure to boost our vitamin D levels. Because vitamin D is critical to your health in numerous other ways as well, I would recommend talking with your doctor about testing your vitamin D levels. It’s a simple and relatively inexpensive blood test that can provide you with valuable information.

One word of caution, however…most lab ranges will tell you that a vitamin D level in between 20 ng/ml and 40 ng/ml is considered adequate for healthy people. Newer research indicates, though, that vitamin D levels should be at a minimum of 40 ng/ml, but ideally over 50 ng/ml.

If your vitamin D levels are low, I would first try to consume food-based sources of it. Some foods that contain relatively high amounts of vitamin D are:

• Cod liver oil
• Sardines
• Oily fish like trout, salmon, and tuna (not farm raised)
• Egg yolks (from pasture raised chickens)
• Organ meats from pastured raised animals

If your vitamin D levels remain low, you could also discuss supplementation options with your doctor.

Take Probiotics

Did you know that 80% of your immune system actually resides in your digestive tract? It makes sense when you think about it because any viruses or bacteria that enter our body through food or drink will first go through our digestive system. If our immune system is healthy enough to fight off these toxins before entering our blood stream, we won’t ever get sick from them.

As a result, the health of our gut is critical to a strong immune system. Unfortunately, many American staples such as processed foods, refined sugars, antibiotics, and other chemicals all throw off the balance of good bacteria in our guts, thereby weakening our immune system.

A simple fix would be to consider supplementing with a good-quality probiotic which will repopulate your gut with the good bacteria necessary for a strong immune system.

Another option is to consume fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, and kefir to repopulate the good bacteria in your gut naturally.

Exercise Regularly

You’ve heard this one before, but it’s a great reminder for all of us. When you exercise, you increase the circulation and blood flow throughout your body which allows your immune system to circulate throughout your body as well. This increases the chances that your body will be able to find and attack a potential invader before it spreads.

Manage Stress

Here’s a statistic that really surprised me: research estimates that up to 90% of illness is stress related. Wow! It makes sense to me, then, that if we can better manage our stress, we will drastically reduce our chances of getting sick.

Many Americans live in a constant state of stress without even realizing it. Stress will automatically raise our cortisol levels, which leaves our body in a “fight” mode. Being in this state makes our body less capable of fighting off illness.

It truly is critical to your health to manage your stress. Some simple, but powerful options include focusing on deep breathing several times throughout the day, practicing yoga, praying or meditating, and building a support system around you who you can turn to during stressful situations.

A New Spin On Boosting Your Immune System

I truly believe that a healthy immune system begins with eating real food and avoiding processed foods and sugar as much as possible. Then, by beginning to incorporate the other dietary and lifestyle factors mentioned above, you will further support your health.

No, I don’t have a quick fix or a magic bullet for you, but I can tell you that slowly working towards a more healthy lifestyle overall will have such a profound effect on your health and your life that you won’t ever want to turn back! In my experience, improving my health has been worth every step of the journey.

I’d love to hear what you think in the comments! Are you tired of quick fixes that don’t really work? Are you ready to take a more holistic approach to your health?