8 Ways to Boost Your Immune System

One of the primary causes of dying of “old age” is illness. An ineffective immune system makes it much more likely that someone will die of pneumonia, Covid-19, or even cancer.

While this is more common in the elderly, even younger people can suffer from an immune system insufficiency. Your immune system keeps you alive every day by fighting off disease-causing bacteria and viruses. It also kills cancer cells.

Use these strategies to boost your immune system and optimize your chances for a long and healthy life:

Eat nutritious anti-inflammatory foods.

Along with getting enough sleep, this is probably the most important tip on this list. We have studied several ways of eating over the years and we like to implement what we learned from the Anti-Inflammatory Diet, the Mediterranean Diet and the Alkaline Diet. We recommend eating a whole foods plant based diet where grass-fed or wild caught meats are eaten sparingly.  Studies like the Blue Zones have shown that people around the world who eat a little meat and a lot of plants fare the best when it comes to health and longevity.  Eating healthier is the most powerful way to be healthier.

Your body is constantly creating new cells that are part of the immune process. Providing those mechanisms with the right building blocks is one of the effective ways you can boost your immune system. Eat plenty of berries, nuts, healthy fats like olive oil, leafy greens, whole grains (non-GMO), and fatty fish like wild caught salmon. Sign up for our email list to receive a free eBook with 60 free clean eating recipes!

If you’re not a fan of fruits and vegetables, take a multivitamin each day or try an organic green drink mix like Tenvis Organic Super Greens.

Exercise.

A healthy body leads to a strong immune system. Scientists believe that a strong circulatory system can help to support your body’s immune response.  Studies have shown that a daily walk helps to decrease our chance of getting Alzheimer’s!

A healthy body weight, normal blood pressure, and overall cardiovascular health minimize the stress on the body which can reduce the likelihood of getting sick.  We enjoy tracking our fitness to make it fun to hit daily goals.  We have our FitBit accounts connected to our MyFitnessPal accounts so that we can track our water, steps, exercise and foods and challenge ourselves with some friendly competition and motivation from friend groups in the apps.

Relax.

Stress is hard on every part of your body, including your immune system. You’ve probably noticed that you’re more likely to get sick when you’re chronically stressed. Minimize the amount of stress you’re exposed to and find healthy ways of dealing with stress when it can’t be avoided.  This goes hand in hand with exercise!  Breathing, exercising and meditation are great ways to deal with stress.  We accomplish many of these at the same time when we walk around our neighborhood.  While we are walking, we focus on deep breathing, meditating on positive thoughts, practice being grateful and then power walk or jog while listening to some great music and getting our heartbeat up.  

A steaming bath with some essential oils and soothing music can be a great way to unwind at night.

Try our supplement Tenvis Serenity to help calm down mild anxiety.

Seek a counselor if you need additional support dealing with stress.  Part of the Clean Lean Serene life is taking care of mental health!

Get plenty of Vitamin C.

The biochemistry is complicated, but among other functions, vitamin C improves the structure of the skin to keep out pathogens. It also accumulates in immune cells and regenerates their oxidative ability which is one of the mechanisms used to kill pathogenic cells. You can get plenty of Vitamin C in your diet but if you feel like you aren't check out taking a multi-vitamin.  Make sure you are getting enough magnesium and zinc while you are at it!

Fast.

As we age, our stem cells tend to become dormant. Stem cells are the cells that produce cells. The stem cells that support the immune cells can be woken from dormancy by fasting.

Some studies suggest that three days without food is enough to trigger this effect. Others are showing 4-5 days.

Fasting stimulates the body to remove older, damaged cells and the stem cells to produce new cells, including those related to the immune system.  Studies have shown that this process helps reduce our chance of developing Alzheimer’s as well as helping with immunity.

There are also diets that successfully mimic fasting sufficiently to show the same results. Search for “fast mimicking diet” online.

Avoid smoking.

Smoking has several negative effects on the immune system. One of these is the effect of nicotine. Nicotine suppresses the immune system and suppresses the inflammatory response which is an important part of the immune response.

Get enough Vitamin D.

We just posted a blog article dedicated to Vitamin D and foods you can eat to boost your body's Vitamin D production.  Along with getting some sunshine and fresh air everyday, did you know that mushrooms are a great source of Vitamin D? Check out our Tenvis Vitamin D3 + K2!

Sleep.

Not getting enough sleep is a great stressor on the body. The science is quite clear that 7-9 hours of sleep is optimal for the vast majority of adults. If you don’t have time for at least seven hours of sleep each night, it might be time to make some changes.  Have a night time routine, stick to a sleep schedule as often as possible, and avoid blue light at night.  Do you have a comfortable mattress and pillow?  Adding a mattress topper made a world of difference for us. 

 

Supplements like Tenvis Serenity or Tenvis Deep Sleep could help you get a restful night of quality Zzzs.

 

You might not think about your immune system a lot, but it’s working hard for you every day. You’re exposed to roughly 60,000 types of germs each day. That’s types, not the total amount. Even in a clean setting, your body is exposed to millions of pathogens each day.

 

Giving your immune system some consideration can do wonders for your health and longevity. Eat a healthy diet and get enough sleep!

Everything on this website is for information only and not meant to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease.  Always consult with your physician before taking new supplements or trying new diets or exercises. Children, people with known medical conditions, and pregnant or nursing women should not consume this product without first checking with a healthcare provider. 

 

JC DAVIS, Co-Founder Tenvis Nutrition, MPAS, ACE Certified Health Coach

 

This is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor before making changes to your lifestyle and nutrition plans.