Boost Your Immune System With 6 Natural Wellness Habits
Having a daily natural wellness routine is essential to keeping a healthy immune system. It is better to be proactive about keeping our immune system strong and healthy instead of reacting when we get sick.
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This is not medical advise. I am not a doctor or healthcare professional, I am a mom who for the last 16 years has dedicated herself to the wellbeing of her growing family.
Through lots of research, reading, listening, and speaking to doctors, nurses, and people of greater wisdom than myself, I have compiled this list of natural wellness habits we can do daily or on a regular basis to keep a healthy immune system.
I encourage you to do your own research as well.
What is Natural Wellness?
Dictionary.com gives this definition for the word WELLNESS:
- The quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort. (emphasis added)
- An approach to healthcare that emphasizes preventing illness and prolonging life, as opposed to emphasizing treating diseases.
Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful for western medicine and it definitely has it’s place, but we have become much too dependent on it.
By exercising a natural wellness lifestyle you are making a choice to take back control of your own health. You are choosing to use the natural resources provided to us by God.
The 6 Pillars of Natural Wellness
1. Food
When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need.
Ayurvedic Proverb
The food we put in our bodies is probably the most important thing that will dictate the strength of our immune system.
We were given awesome bodies capable of withstanding so much if we properly take care of it and fuel it with the right foods.
Avoid: processed, packaged, fake, sugary foods.
Instead eat: lots of organic fresh fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants, grass fed organic meat, and probiotic rich foods.
Antioxidant Rich Foods
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Artichokes
- Goji berries
- Raspberries
- Kale
- Red cabbage
- Beets
- Spinach
Probiotic Foods For Gut Health
Did you know most diseases originate in the gut?
- Milk kefir
- Kombucha
- Sauerkraut
- Yogurt
- Raw milk and cheese
- Apple cider vinegar
2. Water
Drinking plenty of clean water is essential to detoxifying your body.
Staying hydrated is important for electrolyte balance, supports digestion, allows our bodies to disperse nutrients, and helps maintain normal functioning of our cardiovascular and immune systems. In fact, just about every organ and system in our bodies depends upon water to do its job.
draxe.com
For children, the best rule of thumb is for them to drink the same number of cups as their age.
1 year old = 1 cup of water
2 year old = 2 cups of water
3 year old = 3 cups of water and so on until age 10
after that it will depend on each individual. There are water intake calculators where you enter things like your weight and activity level and it calculates how much water you should drink daily.
3. Sleep
Even one lost hour of sleep can suppress an immune system. Adequate & quality sleep is pivotal in maintaining health or fighting infection.
Shannon Tripp RN
Getting good quality sleep is more important than most people realize.
When you are getting adequate sleep, your body cognitively and physically restores itself.
Not getting enough sleep negatively affects:
- The Immune system
- mental health
- response time
- weight troubles
- The lack of proper growth, development, and difficult learning in children.
{ Source }
| AGE | HOURS OF SLEEP |
| Toddler 1-2yrs | 11-14 hours |
| School age 6-12yrs | 9-12 hours |
| Teens 13-18yrs | 8-10 hours |
| Adults 18-60yrs | 7+ hours |
4. Physical Activity
Go outside and let the sunlight (vitamin D) hit you for a few minutes everyday and breath in the fresh air.
Any kind of activity is good, but if it gets you sweating even better!
It doesn’t necessarily mean heading to the gym or running a 5K everyday. Just move your body and let it sweat!
Chase the kids around the house, do the dishes by hand, park far away from the front door of the grocery store, take the stairs instead of the elevator, go on a bike ride, take a walk.
And don’t try to stop your body from sweating. Sweat is another way for your body to get all the toxins out.
Use a natural deodorant instead of using antiperspirant which blocks the sweat glands and causes them to shrink thanks to one of the main ingredient in them which is aluminum.
5. Supplements
Food is THE best way of giving our body the nutrients it needs, but sometimes it’s helpful to add extra supplements.
Fall and winter, during sickness, or when you have air travel planned for example.
Immune Boosting Supplements (source)
*Again, this is not medical advise. Be sure to do your research on any new supplements you are considering and discuss with your doctor.
6. Spiritual/Mental Health
There is a direct link between stress and anxiousness affecting the immune system. Learning to cope in a healthy way with stress will help your body stay resilient when your immune system is compromised.
Best Ways to Cope With Stress or Anxiousness
- Lean into your faith. Often times learning to trust God with our circumstances is the best/only way to find peace.
- Pay attention to what triggers your stress or anxiousness. For example, if social media or the news are a trigger then turn them off and take a break for a while.
- Connect with family, friends, and neighbors.
- Practice the six natural wellness pillars in this article.
Next week I will be sharing all the natural remedies I use when my family is sick plus a powerhouse recipe for elderberry syrup.
How about You?
What other things do you do to keep a strong immune system?
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Great article! It’s a good reminder for everyone that simple wellness habits can improve our wellbeing. Thank you!
Great info! Thank you!
Great research! It’s amazing how quickly we run to the medicine cabinet or a doctor for many illness and diseases, when a few lifestyle changes could of prevented it. Our family has been taking serious strides to eat better and live better. Thank you for doing this.