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3 Simple Strategies to Boost Your Immunity

10/19/2020

With “cold and flu season” right around the corner for the northern hemisphere, I wanted to share some of my favorite tips to staying healthy. Something I think we are all prioritizing this year with a threat of a second round of COVID erupting this fall.

Sure, there are many, many things I can think of to boost immunity, but none of us need any more complications in our lives. My hope is that these 3 simple focuses will be a reminder on what to do to stay well this fall!

LIFESTYLE

If there is one thing that will lower your immunity fast, it’s stress. Living in a chronic state of stress, even if it’s a low grade stress, can create a constant release of cortisol into the system. Over time, elevated cortisol will lower your ability to fight infection.

So right now, if you can think of a few ways you can lower stress in your life...do it. If you, like most, feel like stress is a little out of your control at the moment, consider focusing on a few things you CAN control that we know help lower stress.

Sleep
You need at least 7 hours of sleep each night to fight off infections. If you haven’t already established a good sleep routine that prioritizes blue lights being off 2 hours before bedtime, now's the time to refocus on it!

Meditation
Learning to quiet your mind, even if it’s just for 5 minutes each day, has been shown to lower cortisol. If meditation isn’t your thing, you should try some restorative yoga, stretching or even a quiet walk outside where you focus on your breath. All of these things can help you turn off the thinking cycle and give your brain a break.

Exercise
Daily movement boosts your immune system! Ideally, you would make time to get in a 30 minute sweat session each day. Not only will this improve your immunity, but sweating daily helps drive unwanted toxins out of the body!

Hydration
Your body needs the proper amounts of fluids and electrolytes to function at its best. Proper hydration levels are especially important to maintain a healthy mucus membrane in areas like your gut, lungs and sinuses (the areas that are usually first to encounter harmful bacteria and viruses).

Supplements

Sure, there are a few supplements that are helpful to have on hand this time of year! But if you know me, you know I’m a “food first” person. However, in the case of these supplements specifically, the evidence I have seen shows that the dose you can obtain from food alone is not enough to effectively fight off certain colds and flus. Therefore, it is my recommendation to consider additional supplementing with specific nutrients during cold and flu season. Three of my favorite to add in this time of year are:

Zinc
Zinc is an essential mineral that plays many vital roles in the body. It is the second most abundant mineral in the body (behind iron) and is present in every single cell. However, since the body can’t make zinc on it’s own, it needs to be obtained exogenously through diet and supplements. Foods rich in zinc include: shellfish, meat, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds, eggs and dairy products. Prioritizing these foods during cold and flu season can help provide the RDI of zinc (which is 11mg for men and 8mg for women). However, when exposed to a bacteria or virus that challenges the immune system, additional support can be helpful!

Supplementation of zinc between 80-92mg per day has been shown to reduce the length of the common cold by 33%!

It is generally recommended to obtain zinc supplementation during cold and flu season in the form of a lozenge. With the majority of cold and flu infections starting in the throat, using zinc in lozenge form puts the zinc directly in that region allowing it to be effective in the throat, nose and mouth.

“Borrowing from the research on the common cold, I think the best way to enrich the tissues of the mouth, nose, and throat with zinc is to use zinc acetate lozenges at a low dose preventatively, at a more intensive dose when encountering a potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2, and at a dose used in common cold trials at the first sign of illness” says Chris Masterjohn, PhD.

Vitamin D
We know that vitamin D is an important nutrient to promote calcium homeostasis and bone health. What we also know is that a deficiency in vitamin D is associated with an increased susceptibility to infection. As humans, we can obtain vitamin D from foods, but most of it is absorbed through our skin from sunlight. That poses a challenge during cold and flu season when rates of infections are higher but the hours of sunlight during the day are shorter. This means supplementation with Vitamin D3 and K can help keep your vitamin D sufficient.

Before you willy nilly take a random dose of Vitamin D, I recommend having your vitamin D levels tested in your serum. This will help you understand where your current levels are and will allow you to dose appropriately. My recommendation for most healthy adults is to aim for a serum vitamin D (Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy, Total) level between 60-80 ng/mL. If your test results reveal that you are lower than that range, consider taking a Vitamin D3 with K supplement. My favorite Vitamin D supplement is Designs for Health Vitamin D Supreme.

Probiotics
Did you know that 70% of the cells that make up your immune system reside in the gut? This is why focusing on gut health can be so powerful in boosting the immune system.

The gut is an interesting place. Despite what you might think, the gut is technically outside our body. When you eat food, the nutrients it contains don’t actually enter into the body (specifically into the bloodstream) without first passing through the lining of the gut.

This lining plays an important role in the body’s immunity because it acts as the body’s first line of defense against unfavorable bacteria and viruses. It does this by lining itself with a whole crew of “body guards,” otherwise known as beneficial bacteria. They hold the key to deciding if a nutrient gets in, or has to say out.

You can only imagine that if the body is flooded with lots of bad guys (like during cold and flu season), we want as many (or more) good guys to help keep them out. This is where probiotics come in very handy. One specific probiotic you should be looking for is Lactobacillus. These guys have been shown in studies to enhance the immune system and reduce cold and flu symptoms if you are to be exposed.

My favorite probiotic is Klaire Labs Ther-biotic Complete which has multiple types of Lactobacillus, but includes all 3 forms of Lactobacillus that have been clinically tested and have shown to give the immune system a boost: Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus acidophilus.

Whole Foods

It’s pretty amazing how whole, unprocessed foods can boost your overall health! Some of my favorites to prioritize this time of year to naturally boost your immune system include:

Garlic
Garlic has been used as an antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal agent for thousands of years. Garlic contains the compound alliin which has been shown to boost the disease fighting white blood cells when they encounter an invader, like the virus that causes the common cold or flu. Looks for different ways to include garlic into your cooking during the cold and flu season. And check out the fire cider recipe below for your daily dose of garlic!

Vitamin C rich foods
Vitamin C has long been touted as the immune boosting vitamin. And it’s true...Vitamin C is fantastic for the immune system because it helps encourage the production of white blood cells which make up our immune system.

When most of us think of vitamin C rich foods, we think of citrus fruits such as oranges. The problem with these foods is they are also full of natural sugars, which can add stress to the immune system. Instead of increasing your vitamin C rich foods from fruit, considering adding in vitamin C rich vegetables such as bell peppers, brussel sprouts and broccoli! That fire cider recipe below also includes rose hips, a herb chalk full of Vitmain C!

Bone Broth
Bone broth is a highly nutrient rich broth that is obtained from simmering the bones and connective tissue of animals. The nutrients in bone broth work mostly in the gut by helping repair damage done from a poor diet, stress or unfavorable bacteria.

This type of damage causes a weakened immune system, so using bone broth to help it heal can also improve your immunity! The main nutrients hard at work in bone broth are amino acids which aid the immune system, including arginine, glutamine and glycine.

Bone broth can be consumed daily. It is generally recommended to swap water for bone broth in recipes such as soups and stews, rice dishes and even smoothies!

Fire Cider
Fire cider is a traditional herbal drink used to boost the immune system! It was developed by an herbalist in the 1970s. She started with apple cider vinegar, a fermented ingredient proven to have antibacterial and antioxidant properties, as the base, adding other ingredients such as horseradish (for decongestion), ginger (for warmth), garlic and onion (for antibacterial properties), cayenne (to boost metabolism and immunity), and honey to tie everything together and make the drink more palatable.

Fire cider is said to restore and invigorate one’s system, and additionally, many claim it has benefits that include boosting energy, warding off colds and flus, easing sinus congestion, lowering blood sugar, curbing cravings, and aiding digestion.

Most people drink 1-2 tbsp of fire cider daily, either as a shot or diluted in water. Personally, I love to add mine to homemade salad dressing to give it punch of flavor and a kick of heat! If you feel a cold coming on, consider taking a shot every 3-4 hours to help support your immune system.

Fire cider is SUPER easy to make, but since it is a ferment, it needs time to sit. So plan ahead by making a batch early in the fall!

Ingredients

1 onion, coarsely chopped
7” ginger root, grated
7” horseradish root, grated
2 jalapeños, coarsely chopped
10 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 lemon, sliced
1/4 cup rose hips
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1” turmeric root, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
raw apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup raw honey (or more to taste)

Tools

1/2 gallon jar
plastic lid

Directions

Prepare your roots, fruits, vegetables and herbs and place them in a 1/2 gallon jar. **
Pour the apple cider vinegar in the jar until the jar is full and all of the ingredients have been covered.
Use a plastic lid, or a piece of parchment paper under the metal lid to prevent the vinegar from touching the metal. Shake well.
Store the jar in a cool, dark cupboard for 1 month. Shake daily.
After 1 month, use a cheesecloth to strain out the pulp while reserving the vinegar in a clean jar.
Add the raw honey to the vinegar, and stir until incorporated.
Taste your cider and add more honey until you reach the desired sweetness.

** If you have never grated horseradish before, you are in for an experience! Be prepared for a powerful sinus opening. To lesson the impact of the horseradish on your sinus, grate the root in a well ventilated area with plenty of air flow.

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6 ways to manage health, besides weight

10/6/2020

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You can’t manage what you can’t measure. -Peter Drucker

For years, people have known that if you track a metric (like calories, or weight for examples), you’re more likely to change them. Take the study done in 2015 on the effect of adherence to dietary tracking on weight loss. In the study, participants were encouraged to do the following:

maintain daily food journals and physical activity records
reduce portion sizes
reduce foods high in calories, fat, and simple sugar
increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products
weigh themselves frequently and at least weekly

The findings were clear.

Those that consistently tracked these metrics more than 66% of the time had significantly higher weight loss than those that tracked these metrics less than 66% of the time. This study is just one of many that shows the importance of frequent tracking for consistent, long-term, positive health changes.

But here’s the thing. Counting calories and stepping on a scale are old school metrics that may have seemed helpful at the time, but aren’t quite cutting it anymore. Today, we have so many other more useful tools available to us to give us better data about our health, are easier to use, and are becoming more and more accessible and affordable to everyone.

Measuring optimal health is complicated. I recently listened to a podcast from a well known fitness coach who was arguing that as long as you feel great, it doesn’t matter if your A1c is high, your hormones are imbalanced and your cholesterol is less than ideal.

WHAT?!?

I agree that these maybe aren’t the best (certainly not the most affordable) methods of measuring your wellness, but they are certainly a player in the game and should not be ignored just because you feel good!

If our western culture has done anything “great” over the last couple of centuries it has taught us to “suck it up” and ignore the signals our body is telling us. So pardon me if I’m going to advise against the “yeah, I feel pretty good” measure and actually take advantage of the now more affordable and more accessible tools we have that help us prioritize prevention. I’d rather not wait until I don’t feel good to start trying to figure out what might be out of balance.

First, let’s start with WHAT you might want to consider measuring.

GENERAL BLOOD MARKERS

One of the most common questions I get from private clients is, “I’m going to my doctor for my annual check-up. What should I ask him/her to pull?”

Well...this depends. Mostly on what your goals are, what your family history is, and if you have any current symptoms.

Let’s assume for the sake of ease, that your goal is to be as healthy as possible, that you have a clear family history and that you don’t currently have any symptoms. AKA- you “feel pretty good”.

Here is my basic panel I personally pull on my private clients and myself at least 1x per year:

CBC + DIFFERENTIAL + PLATELET
Hb, Hct, RBC, MCV, MCH, MCHC, RDW
WBC, Lymphocytes Absolute, Neutrophils Absolute, Monocytes Absolute, Basophils Absolute, Eosinophils Absolute
Lymphocytes %, Neutrophils %, Monocytes %, Basophils %, Eosinophils %

BASIC CHEM PANEL
Glucose
Uric Acid, BUN, Creatinine, BUN/cr, eGFR
Sodium, Potassium, Chloride, Calcium, CO2, Phosphorus
Total Protein, Albumin, Globulin, A/G Ratio
Total Bilirubin
Alkaline Phosphatase, LDH, AST/SGOT, ALT/SGPT, GGT
Iron & TIBC, UIBC

LIPID PANEL
LDL, HDL, Total Cholesterol, Triglycerides, Chol/HDL ratio
Lp(a), Apo B

THYROID PANEL
TSH, T4, T3, T3U, Free Thyroxine Index (FTI)
TPO and Anti-thyrogolubulin Antibody (every 5th year if they are negative)
Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3

VITAMIN D + INFLAMMATION
25-OH Vitamin D
Homocysteine
CRP-hs

+ADDITIONAL MARKERS
Ferritin, Iron Saturation
Hemoglobin A1c, Fasting Insulin
Fibrinogen Activity

Let me just give you a fair warning now. Most doctors aren’t going to like this list. They are going to find it way too extensive for a “healthy person.”

Which is the perfect time to bring up the difference between not being sick and thriving.

If you lack a symptom (headache, low energy, dizzy, etc) that does not mean that you are thriving. In other words, the lack of disease does not equal wellness.

So if your goal is to be thriving well into your late 90’s, you might want to consider not waiting until something goes wrong to seek help to fix it.

We want to PREVENT the onset of disease and there are SO MANY THINGS on a blood panel that can help you catch and fix things long before you have a symptom. I’m a HUGE advocate of being PROactive about your health! This is just one way you can do it.

When - and if - your doctor agrees to pull a panel like this, you need to make sure you work with someone who can interpret it for you outside of the conventional lab ranges.

Conventional lab ranges are the ones listed on the blood results. They are the ranges that the lab uses to determine if your markers are high are low. If they are, the likelihood of you having disease or developing disease in that area is high.

The problem once again comes back to the difference between lacking disease and thriving.

Just because your markers are within the lab range, does NOT mean that they are within a functional range. Functional ranges tend to be much tighter and are set to help get you reach optimal health, not just a “no disease” range.

If you need help with interpretation, reach out to me. This is one of the things I love most about what I do! Blood interpretation doesn’t typically lie, so this tool is incredibly valuable in personalizing a wellness plan for someone!

BLOOD SUGAR

Blood sugar outside of an ideal range (ideal fasting ranges being between 80-99mg/dL) is one of the five signs of metabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Roughly 90 million Americans are unknowingly living with abnormal blood glucose levels and up to 70% of them will end up being diabetic if they don’t catch it and address it immediately.

One of the biggest issues with having abnormal blood sugar (aka- being pre-diabetic) is that it comes without obvious symptoms.

The typical signs that accompany dysregulated blood sugar are energy imbalances and constant hunger. Two things that are fairly common in our culture, but not at all “normal”.

Need a coffee at 2pm to get through the afternoon? Or are you constantly thinking about food and where you’re going to get your next meal? Your blood sugar is likely out of range.

Here is how I recommend tracking/measuring it:

BEST- Continuous Blood Glucose Monitor (CGM)
Unlike a single reading from a blood glucose meter, a CGM provides real-time, dynamic information about the speed and direction (trending higher or lower) of your glucose levels. Having continuous feedback on diet, exercise, and lifestyle from a CGM can help you make more informed decisions about how to optimize your health.
Unfortunately, these CGM’s are incredibly hard to get if you are not currently diabetic. Luckily, there is a new company called Levels that is working hard to change all of that.

BETTER- Fasting Blood Glucose Readings
Nowadays, getting your hands on a blood glucose meter is EASY! Every pharmacy has them and you don’t need a prescription to buy one. To start, take your fasting blood glucose levels every morning for 7+ days in a row. If your readings are constantly between 80-99mg/dL, you’re probably headed down the right path. However, you can use this meter to help fine tune your diet and lifestyle too! Learn more about how to use this device to complete a carb tolerance test HERE.

GOOD- Annual Blood Tests
There are a few blood tests you get on an annual basis that most doctors will typically pull including: fasting blood glucose, A1c, and fasting insulin. These 3 markers are snapshots to your glucose tolerance. However, they are just a very small snapshot that will not give you an accurate picture of how you’re doing day to day. So if this is your only form of measuring your glucose levels, make sure you are keeping track of your numbers year to year and ensure they aren’t trending in the right direction!

BODY COMPOSITION

Oh, the scale. I’m pretty happy to hear that most people don’t own them anymore. They can be helpful, but they also are very limited in what they can tell you about the health of your body.

Instead, here are a few other body based metrics to consider:

Body Fat Percentage
Lean Tissue
Visceral Fat vs. Subcutaneous Fat
Bone density

How do you measure these?
BEST- DXA scan
DXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) is one of the most accurate and precise methods of evaluating body fat percentage, types of fat and lean tissue. In most metropolitan areas, there are now centers or traveling vans equipped with DXA machines. If you are close to one, these scans are typically very affordable for the information you are receiving.

BETTER- The “waist-to-hip ratio”
The waist-to-hip ratio can not scientifically evaluate body fat percentage, lean tissue or types of fat. However, this measure is a great measure of generally being overfat and is accurate for everyone. The great thing about this measurement is it can be done at home with one simple tool: a tape measure. What’s the ideal ratio? The waist, measured at the belly button, should be less than half the height. In other words, you’re striving for a measurement that is 0.49 or less. Having a measurement 0.50 or higher indicates being overfat. This measure can be easily measured over and over again, which makes it a great measure to know if your health program is working.

GOOD- Body Fat Scales
Unlike a tradition scale that just provides weight, the newer body fat scales can provide a few more metrics to help keep you trending in the right direction.

SLEEP

Gosh, if you haven’t read Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker yet, you need to. He does a fantastic job in his book explaining why getting restorative sleep is so critical to our health!

So I’ll assume you already know all those details and jump to my favorite ways of tracking.

For this, there is only one way I recommend tracking your sleep and that is with a wearable device like an Oura ring, a Whoop strap or a FitBit.
All 3 companies are continually doing research to provide better data through their devices and additionally give better recommendations to their users on how to improve sleep. In the end, the data means nothing if you aren’t doing anything with it, right!?

I personally wear the Oura ring and love it! But I have many clients who use the Whoop strap and have a similar affection towards it.

Whatever device you choose to use, you need to make sure you want to wear it. If wearing a watch to bed sounds terrible to you, the FitBit and Whoop strap may not be the best options for you.

STRESS

Stress is something that many of us experience more than we would like, but have found a way to cope with it.

Unfortunately, that coping mechanism may be hurting your health.

To better understand how your body is responding to stress, I highly recommend tracking your HRV. HRV stands for heart rate variability.

Many of the above mentioned trackers, like Oura and Whoop, track this data automatically for you. However, there are also apps you can purchase on your smartphone to use to take your HRV.

Simply put, HRV is a measure of the variation in time between each heartbeat. This variation is controlled by a primitive part of the nervous system called the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

The ANS controls out heart rate, blood pressure, digestion and breathing, but it also controls the hormones that help us fight or flee.

The more stress we have in our lives, the less variation we will have in our HRV (resulting in a lower score). The healthier our autonomic nervous is and the better response we are having to daily stressors, the higher our HRV will be.

Since this is a non-invasive way to measure your ANS, I highly recommend this as a trackable measure...especially for athletes who tend to think that their training is stress relieving.

PHYSICAL FITNESS

Depending on who you ask, there are a couple of key components to staying fit and active as you age. I can only assume that if you want to live a long life, you want to live it disease free.

You want to be able to carry your own luggage through the airport. Walk from the furthest parking spot in the lot to the entrance of the grocery store. And certainly to do your own grocery shopping (which includes loading and unloading them into your car).

For that, there are a few areas of physical fitness that you might want to consider measuring and monitoring as you age:

FLEXIBILITY- you know...to bend over and pick up a pencil.

You can certainly create a list of movements that you can test monthly for free. I personally have found a love for the GoWOD in which they provide a daily protocol, tailor-made for you that can be done in 8, 15 or 22 minutes. No excuses!

STRENGTH- you know...to be able to pick up your old dog and lift her into the car without throwing out your back.

If you have the proper flexibility and strength, you should be capable of exerting force on the muscles you need in the direction they are supposed to go without dissipating that force to areas that don’t need it (like your back or your knees).

When you lack strength, especially in the little stabilizing muscles, that is exactly how injuries occur.

For strength training, I highly recommend you work with a professional to have an assessment done of your specific goals and body. A custom plan can be put together for you that doesn’t have to be complicated or require fancy gym equipment.

Once you have a few movement routines to complete weekly, keep a log and track your progress. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing (and feeling) your ability to lift more weight as you age!

AEROBIC FITNESS- aka “easy cardio.”

Majority of your cardio fitness should be done at this level. The general rule of thumb is 80% aerobic and 20% anaerobic.

The best way to monitor your aerobic fitness at home is with a heart rate monitor and a clock. You can test your fitness by doing your fastest 40 minute treadmill/track, elliptical or bike test WITHOUT allowing your heart rate to go above 180-age (maximum aerobic function or MAF heart rate).

As you continue to train your aerobic system, your aerobic fitness should increase and you will see your pace increase with a lower heart rate. Of course, working with a coach who understands endurance training is helpful if improving your aerobic fitness is needed.

ANAEROBIC FITNESS- aka “HIIT training.”

This is the high heart rate, don’t want to talk to anyone right now, type of training. This type of training should only make up about 20% of your endurance training.

Monitoring this type of training is similar to aerobic training. You don’t need more than a heart rate monitor and a clock.

The difference is you are trying to get close to your max heart rate (220-age) for just a few seconds multiple times during a workout. The measure of anaerobic fitness comes when you can recover faster between these bouts of sprints (aka your heart rate drops back down to an aerobic level faster).

IN SUMMARY

So, do you still feel tracking weight is the best way to gauge your health?

Monitoring metrics that actually have an effect on your long term health are now more accessible and more affordable that it doesn’t make sense not to use them. There are many other markers besides the ones I mentioned here that you can use from both a lab and at home that can help keep your health on track. But this is where I recommend you start!

Information is knowledge. However, understanding what to do with the data can feel overwhelming at times, so be sure to surround yourself with a team of health care professionals who can help you interpret and use that data to be driving far away from disease and into a state of optimal health.

If you want to explore these metrics, I’m here for you! Just click HERE to schedule a free discovery call where we can discuss your goals and how I can best help you reach them.

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3 Simple Strategies to Boost Your Immunity

LIFESTYLE

Supplements

Whole Foods

6 ways to manage health, besides weight

You can’t manage what you can’t measure. -Peter Drucker

GENERAL BLOOD MARKERS

BLOOD SUGAR

BODY COMPOSITION

SLEEP

STRESS

PHYSICAL FITNESS

IN SUMMARY

Author

Archives

Categories

Telephone

3 Simple Strategies to Boost Your Immunity

LIFESTYLE​

Supplements​

Whole Foods​

6 ways to manage health, besides weight

You can’t manage what you can’t measure. -Peter Drucker

GENERAL BLOOD MARKERS

BLOOD SUGAR

BODY COMPOSITION

SLEEP

STRESS

PHYSICAL FITNESS

IN SUMMARY

Author

Archives

Categories

Telephone

LIFESTYLE

Supplements

Whole Foods