Tips for Boosting your Immune System this Winter

With colder, darker months approaching, it’s no secret that we start to feel the pinch not only in temperature but also in our uptake of vitamins and minerals. It’s even more important to eat right and manage any variables that can give your immune system the boost it needs during these winter months.

You can reduce your susceptibility to sickness, keep energy levels topped up, and also support a healthy sleep cycle by following these simple steps:

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep and immunity are closely tied. In fact, inadequate or poor quality sleep is linked to a higher susceptibility to sickness.

Upon falling asleep our body passes through four stages of ‘sleep cycles’ one complete cycle is roughly 90 minutes in duration. The stages within each cycle have their own benefits, which is why it is crucial we get not only the correct duration but the correct quality of sleep in order to see the benefits.

Read our blog on sleep cycles and how to improve your night’s sleep

Stay Hydrated

Hydration doesn’t necessarily protect you from germs and viruses, but preventing dehydration is important to your overall health. Dehydration can cause headaches and hinder your physical performance, focus, mood, digestion, and heart and kidney function. These complications can increase your susceptibility to illness 

Try to drink at least 2 litres of water a day!

Manage your Stress Levels

Relieving stress and anxiety is key to immune health. Long-term stress promotes inflammation, as well as imbalances in immune cell function.

A stressful situation — whether something environmental, such as a looming work deadline, or psychological, such as persistent worry about losing a job OR overthinking about what someone else thinks of you — can be all it takes to set off the stress response. Here is a list of things you can do that will actively reduce stress by stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system:

– Guided breathing and meditation

– Grounding and being amongst nature

– Sleeping and resting as often as possible

– Laughing and doing things that bring you joy

– Restorative exercise like yin yoga, gentle stretching and low intensity aerobics

– Spending time with friends, family and loved ones (pets too!) 

Eat the Right Foods

When the chances of catching a viral infection are higher than usual, it’s important to pack your diet with certain foods and vitamins to support your immune system. Feeding your body these foods may help keep your immune system strong:

Citrus Fruits

Vitamin C is thought to increase the production of white blood cells, which are key to fighting infections. Almost all citrus fruits are high in vitamin C. With such a variety to choose from, it’s easy to add a squeeze of this vitamin to any meal.

Garlic 

Garlic’s immune-boosting properties seem to come from a heavy concentration of sulfur-containing compounds, such as allicin.

Ginger

Ginger is another ingredient many turn to after getting sick. Ginger may help decrease inflammation, which can help reduce a sore throat and inflammatory illnesses. Ginger may help with nausea as well.

Greens (broccoli, spinach etc)

Broccoli and spinach are healthiest when they’re cooked as little as possible, so that you can retain all of the goodness and nutrients. 

Green tea

Both green and black teas are packed with flavonoids, a type of antioxidant. Where green tea really excels is in its levels of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), another powerful antioxidant.

Hack your diet and supplement your greens intake with SF Nutrition’s Supergreens! Boost your Immune System, Reduce Inflammation and Balance your Body’s PH Levels with our 100% natural magic potion. 

Shop Supergreens here

Use Supplements Wisely

Variety is the key to proper nutrition. Pay attention to serving sizes and recommended daily intake so that you don’t get too much of a single vitamin and too little of others.

The following supplements may strengthen your body’s general immune response:

Vitamin C

Vitamin D – read our blog on supplementing vitamin D

Zinc

Elderberry

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