Boosting Immunity Through the Winter

 

 

“So many of our health problems can be avoided through diet, exercise and making sure we take care of ourselves.  By promoting healthy lifestyles, we can improve the quality of life for all Americans and reduce health care costs dramatically,” Tommy G. Thompson, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Healthy and Human Services.

 

What does this look like day to day? Listed below you will find 4 tips to help you maintain your health through the colder months.

 

1.  Eat Health Supportive Foods:  These are real foods.  Whole foods.  These are foods that have been processed or refined as little as possible and are free from additives or other artificial substances.

 

By eating real foods we can ensure our body receives all the vitamins and nutrients it needs to sustain health and keep the immune system strong.  Since it is difficult to do this 100% of the time I offer some guidelines:

• Read labels and teach your children to read labels.

• Pick your “absolutely nots”.Mine is high fructose corn syrup. (Others: words you cannot pronounce, words you don’t recognize, etc.)

• Choose items that have five ingredients or less.This is one of my favorite Michael Pollen tips from his book, (2009).

 

I understand when feeding your family there can be some roadblocks, for example, “picky eaters”.  This adds a whole other dimension, but it can be worked with and I will address it in my next newsletter.

 

2.  Limit Sugar:  Why is sugar so bad?

• It undermines all other health strengthening actions

• Sugar is the root of many illnesses and causes inflammation.It can lead to a weakened immune system, obesity, digestive disorders, mood swings, and anxiety.

 

 

3.  Move Your Body.  Stay Active.  Be creative.  This does not have to happen in a gym.  Spend time with your family outside, play tag, ride bikes, jump rope, have a dance party.  Refer to my website for more ideas.

 

 

4.  Manage Stress:  It is important to remember to take care of yourself.  In addition to the above points, it is helpful to:

• Sleep and rest enough

• Have a support system

• Do something that makes you happy

  • Buy fresh flowers

  • Enjoy a nice cup of tea

  • Wear a cute hat

 

 

We all know lots of things we can do to take better care of our families, and ourselves but we do not always do them.  The key is support.  Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions and please let me know how I can best support you.