5 Ways to Boost Your Immune System Naturally
The virus fear that has swept the globe has sent many people into media-led hysteria. The fact this new virus has ‘no cure’ leaves the individual not only disempowered but also uninformed when it comes to their body and their health. Our immune system is our defense mechanism against viral, bacterial, and fungal infections– and today, we will help give back your power by highlighting some of the most effective ways to boost your immune system naturally.
Your Immune System
Fear alarm bells across the globe are going off, sending people in a panic about this ‘deadly’ virus with ‘no cure.’ Just about every year, we are faced with a worldwide pandemic regarding a new type of illness, be it SARS, H1N1, Zika… the list goes on. The concept of needing a ‘cure’ to these viruses is entirely absurd: the body ‘cures’ itself thanks to something called your immune system.
What is the Immune System?
The immune system is comprised of the organs and bodily processes that provide resistance to infections and toxicity. Key players include the thymus, bone marrow, lymph nodes—and leukocytes (white blood cells).
How Does the Immune System Work?
When a foreign substance (known as antigens) enters your body, your white blood cells go to work. These leukocytes are divided into different camps, some that fight the bacteria, others that keep a record of the invaders. This response is known as an antibody response. A type of protein that stays in your body and increases your resilience to future pathogens.
The complex network of cells and proteins that make up your immune system keeps a record of every microbe that enters your body so that it knows how to defend your body against viral, bacterial, or fungal foreign invaders. This protection is why exposure to mild to moderate infections makes the immune system stronger!
Feeling Better From The Inside Out
The very concept of needing a ‘cure’ for something doesn’t acknowledge the fact that instead of fighting a virus from the outside in, your best bet is to support your body’s innate intelligence and let it go to work.
There is no ‘cure’ for the seasonal flu either, and yet countless people catch the flu every year and fight it off. Whether your goal is total prevention or getting over a virus quickly: the secret is immune strength.
Now, let’s get to the good stuff: how to boost your immune system naturally.
Top Ways To Naturally Boost Your Immunity
Keeping your immune system healthy and strong requires a holistic approach and an understanding of balance. Stressing it out with exercise can help boost it, but too much exercise (and stress in general), can harm it. Sunshine is great, but a burn is not. Taking a natural antiviral supplement cyclically is good, but if you take it indefinitely, it can actually start to kill off the good bacteria too. Navigate the rest of this article with that concept in mind.
Sunshine / Vitamin D
The sun’s UV rays are nature’s antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal healers. Exposure to daylight has benefits that include setting your circadian rhythm (which is key to a good night’s sleep), it boosts mood, it regulates hormones, and provides fat-soluble vitamin D.
Getting enough daily sun can be difficult, especially during virus-prone seasons like winter. Although you should still try to expose your face to the sun even during the weaker UV months, supplementing a high-quality vitamin D can be a great way to bridge the gap between fall and spring.
Supplementation depends slightly on the individual’s needs and the strength of the supplement itself. For our recommended vitamin D supplement DV3, we suggest 1-2 capsules, up to twice a day for 1-3 months, or as directed. Then, take as needed for maintenance.
Boost Your Immune System Naturally: Quality Sleep
Sleep is the backbone of a robust immune system because it provides your body the opportunity to rest and digest. High-stress lifestyles of modern-day require rest to enable the body to continue to operate optimally and feel energized. Poor sleep triggers poor lifestyle choices (like too much sugar and caffeine), which can also lower immunity.
The key to sleep isn’t quantity so much as quality. Quality sleep starts the morning of, with exposure to the morning light. This helps set your circadian rhythm for a day of hormonal health. Other critical aspects of cultivating quality sleep include:
- Avoiding artificial blue light after sundown
- Avoiding caffeine after midday
- Having a regular sleep/ wake time
- Turning off wi-fi and electronics at night
- Avoiding alcohol before bed
- Avoiding big meals 3 hours before bed
- Avoiding exercise 3 hours before bed (ideally, training in the morning or early afternoon)
Hands to Face Awareness
Washing your hands to prevent catching a virus is similar to looking left, and right before crossing the road to avoid getting hit by a car, it’s common sense and will prevent the majority of infections. Your face (eyes, nose, and mouth) are the most significant gateway into your body. Keeping your hands away from your face is key to keeping bacterial and viral pathogens out of your system.
Although hand washing is vital, you want to avoid using antibacterial soaps or agents of any kind. These antibacterial properties kill not only harmful bacteria but also the good. Your skin microbiome is a line of defense against infection, and keeping it intact is very important to immune resilience.
There are a few critical natural ways to kill these germs without harming the good bacteria of your microbiome, including:
- Worm Seed Oil: Wormseed oil is loaded with limonene and terpinenes. This oil is widely used to treat parasitic infections, as well as inflammation of the joints and of the skin. Wormseed has calming properties that relieve anxiety, nervousness, and depression.
- Wintergreen Oil: comes from a creeping shrub and contains a unique chemical component called methyl salicylate that treats bacterial infections, colds, sore throat, headaches, skin conditions, and tooth decay.
- Basil Oil: due to its high linalool content, basil oil (that comes from the basil plant) is well known for its calming yet fortifying properties. It helps relieve respiratory tract ailments, soothes headaches, and relieves digestive upset.
- Spearmint Oil: Spearmint is commonly used to help relieve symptoms of indigestion, nausea, vomiting, and gas, but this perennial plant also has a wide range of benefits, including fighting bacterial infections, promotes balanced blood sugar, helps balance women’s hormones, and improving memory.
- Leptotaenia Oil: also known as desert parsley, this oil has been used by traditional Native American cultures due to its potent antiviral properties. It is particularly beneficial for respiratory tract and urinary tract infections, and to treat coughs, colds, asthma, hay fever, bronchitis, pneumonia, influenza, and tuberculosis.
WO Oil is made from therapeutic grade oils for external use only. It can be applied topically to the skin (avoiding eyes) and can be diluted in a carrier oil (like coconut oil). It can also be heavily diluted in a spray bottle with water, and used as a cleaning agent or to spray topically on wounds, abrasions, cuts, and bruises.
Boost Your Immune System Naturally With Colloidal Silver
Colloidal silver is one of the most well scientifically supported natural antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal agents with immune-boosting properties. Research suggests that it attaches to proteins on the cell walls of bacteria, damaging their cell membranes. Pathogens are water-soluble, but a fat-soluble layer surrounds healthy cells and good bacteria. Colloidal silver, therefore, selectively targets pathogens since it cannot penetrate the fat-soluble layer of your healthy cells and microbes.
Colloidal silver is making waves in the world of natural healing, for its ability to target even the most drug-resistant superbugs. It has been tested against 650 common and exotic infections and diseases, with positive results including the notoriously difficult infections like MRSA.
Colloidal silver can be used both internally and externally. When used internally, colloidal silver is a great preventative solution to illness during high-viral seasons, or while traveling. It can be taken undiluted, 2-3x per day. Topically, colloidal silver is a fantastic antibacterial and antiviral agent. It can be applied on cuts and scrapes to disinfect. Colloidal silver works to eradicate and soothe various skin ailments used topically, including eczema, rashes, insect bites, ringworm, and herpes. It can also be put into a spray bottle and used as a disinfectant spray for hands or surfaces.
Boost Your Immune System Naturally With Sweat
Sweating can be a great way to ‘sweat out’ pathogens. Raising your core body temperature to the point of breaking a sweat acts similarly to a fever, a natural response to pathogenic infections.
Be mindful that if your immune system is already compromised, you may be better off resting. Sweat-inducing activities do stress out the body, which can be too stressful if indeed your body is already fighting off a primary virus or bacterial infection. If you’re not sure whether or not you should be exercising, try opting for a sauna instead. Sauna shares the majority of the same benefits as exercise but is generally a more relaxing experience for the body and mind.
