Immune Optimization
the natural way
In a previous post, What would happen IF, I discussed why a well functioning immune system is needed. I also wrote that I would give some clues as to how to optimize your immune system in a further post.
Well lucky lucky you as that is what today is about.
To start working on optimizing your immune system, the following areas are worth considering. I try and look at each of these areas as different SYSTEMS of the body. The more SYSTEMS that are functioning optimally, the better your overall immune health and actually overall health.
1- Improve your Gut health -
up to 75% of your immune system resides in your Gut. Think about that a second. The average person puts 2-3 lbs of food into their Gut every day and that does not account for fluids. So the immune system needs a big presence in the Gut to protect from things it doesn’t want or could be harmful to the body. If you overwhelm your Gut with inflammatory foods, it can cause your immune system in your Gut to become dysfunctional. Dysfunctional immune systems cause dysfunctional immune reactions which can cause increased inflammation and increased illness and a quicker aging process. So many health issues today have a root cause in our gut.
Soooo….
Avoid inflammatory foods. While this can be different for each person, the most common inflammatory foods include Gluten, Vegetable/Seed Oils, Processed Soy and Dairy from A1 Cows.
2- Improve your Diet -
correlates with #1 - If you have never looked at diet as a potential cause of your health issues, you should start looking. Probably the simplest place to start improving is by looking at a Paleo diet, which removes most processed, fake and inflammatory foods.
Less Gut inflammation = a healthier immune system
3- Improve your Metabolism -
correlates with #2 - It has been shown in many research studies that your immune cells work best when they are burning ketones, and are most stressed when burning carbohydrates/sugars.
Soooo, avoid eating EXCESS carbohydrates, as excess carbohydrates prevent natural ketone formation.
Think of Ketones as jet fuel with non-polluting anti-inflammatory exhaust while carbohydrates are fully leaded 85 Octane gasoline with many inflammatory pollutants in the exhaust.
You can’t eat a ketone, but you can eat to have your body naturally produce an abundance of ketones.
So pick your fuel wisely.
Your metabolism is NOT a TESLA.
While TESLA’s don’t create an inflammatory exhaust when driving, where does the electricity come from to charge your TESLA battery?
4- Improve your ability to naturally detox-
How does your body detox?
Every time you exhale you are clearing excess carbon dioxide.
Every time you sweat you are clearing out toxins via your skin.
When you urinate you are detoxing thru your kidneys.
When you defecate you are clearing out your colon of toxins.
When you fart you are clearing out excess gas buildup.
(Hooray- I got to say “fart” in a post)
When you sneeze or cough you are clearing out toxins.
Most importantly, when you vote this November you can clear out the politicians who are not doing their job and who are responsible for creating even more societal toxicity.
Ooopsy- not sure how that last sentence made it thru the editors.
5- Optimize your sleep -
It has also been shown that poor sleep can adversely effect not just your metabolism but also your immune system. Sleep allows your body to rest, relax and recuperate. Proper restful sleep improves your metabolism. Best is to develop a natural sleeping pattern 7 days a week, usually around the day/light or circadian cycle. Up close to sunrise. Start winding down after sunset. Yea I know, it gets dark sooner, but cold weather season is our mini hibernation time. As they say in GOT, Winter is Coming.
6- Optimize your exercise -
not too little, but not too much, and the type and amount can differ dependent upon your stage of life. Proper exercise gets many of the systems of your body working efficiently and as a team. Teamwork is best for a well functioning immune system. Exercise can also help you burn off excess inflammatory fat and build up healthy lean body mass, i.e. your bones, muscles and organs.
Exercise can slow the aging process
7- Optimize sun exposure and outdoor activities -
We were meant to be outdoor beings just like all the other wild animals. The key is balance which is different for everyone. We want as much sun and outdoor time as we can get WITHOUT burning our skin. Proper sunlight exposure also helps to improve your sleep and circadian rhythms. So get outside and enjoy!
8- Develop stress reduction techniques -
I hope by now you know that chronic stress is not a good thing for any parts of your body/health. Some stress reduction techniques can be immersing yourself in a good book, relaxing and watching a favorite movie, learning how to meditate, going for a walk while listening to your favorite music.
Keeping stress under control is so so important.
Recap time:
Let’s see if we can combine some of these.
How bout you wake up at sunrise, stretch a bit, go for a brisk walk outside in the sun while listening to music, carrying a few hand weights with you to build some muscle and get your heart rate going, enough to build up a little sweat as a detox.
The deeper breathing helps circulate blood thru your body better fueling your muscles and organs, which also allows them to put the toxins into your blood. But since you have your water bottle with you, you keep well hydrated so your kidneys can do a good job of detoxing your blood when you get home to urinate.
While home and after the exercise your endorphins have increased, your brain feels clear so you do some chores and knock off some of your honey-do list, read your favorite book and de-stress further.
You then decide to break your fast at lunchtime with a nice lower carb meal full of only non-processed food. This then stimulates your gastro-colic reflex which gets your bowels moving to clear out fecal toxins.
This time of regular thorough detox greatly aids your immune system to do its job better to keep you healthier and slow down the aging process.
I’ll end here as I hope you get the hints….
In a future post I may discuss some nutritional supplements that may be helpful for your immune system, but as I often say, supplements can’t fix a poor diet and lifestyle. Work on the above first and then add supplements if still needed.
I have written a lot today but don’t be overwhelmed. Go after one system at a time and build from there. Small steps work well.
As always, questions and comments welcome.
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Dr. Steven Horvitz is licensed to practice in New Jersey and now also the State of Florida. While the home base of Dr. Horvitz and the Institute for Medical Wellness remains in New Jersey, we are now able to Virtually evaluate, treat and help Florida residents achieve improvements in their health using a HIPAA secure video messaging app, similar to Facetime.
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Always better to use grassfed dairy products. No reason to drink milk as an adult, but fermented products(plain yoghurt/kefir) work great. Also, look for traditional long fermented(sourdough) breads, or bake them yourself. Most inflammation from breads is due to the modern shortcuts in bread making.
Very interesting post. Lots of info. But could you explain A1 cows?