Prevention is better than cure. We hear this all the time, so anything you can do to strengthen your immune system now will pay healthy dividends going forward.

How Does the Immune System Work

The immune system operates a selection process strategy as to what it does and doesn’t respond to.

For example, it will eliminate pathogens and toxins because it sees them as a threat, and on the flip side it will tolerate anything it doesn’t consider to be a threat, like self-antibodies. This means it won’t usually attack the body's own cells, tissues, and organs, unless immune tolerance is lost, which is when autoimmune disorders and food allergies may occur.

The immune system also keeps a memory of any past immunological encounters, so it has the ability to respond more quickly and effectively to pathogens previously encountered. Very clever!

How to Strengthen Your Immune System Naturally

While keeping your immune system fighting fit may seem easier said than done, focusing on gut health together with diet and lifestyle habits can help to strengthen your body’s natural defenses and fight harmful pathogens, chronic inflammation or disease-causing organisms. Let’s look at how to do this.

1. Improve Your Gut Health

With approximately 80% of your immune system residing in your gut it’s impossible to have a healthy immune system without a healthy gut.

A healthy gut also helps you absorb the nutrients needed to maintain a strong immune system.

Plus, the gut and immune system work together to fight foreign invaders. When all is functioning well, your immune system can distinguish between different types of bacteria, keeping the good and protecting against the bad.

However, sometimes your immune system goes awry, loses its tolerance to what shouldn’t be seen as a threat, and starts harming the body’s own tissues.

It could be the thyroid, the skin, the intestines, the joints, the brain, or another organ. No matter what part of your body is experiencing autoimmune symptoms, the underlying trigger in this loss of tolerance is within your immune system.

To reverse or prevent autoimmune activity it’s important to address your gut health, so that you can gain control of and strengthen your immune system.

The Benefits of Gastrointestinal Testing

One of the best ways to start gut health improvements is to investigate what's happening and residing in your gut.

A functional gastrointestinal (GI) test together with symptoms will help you clearly identify where you need to focus your efforts.

With GI testing you glean so much information. You can explore your gut microbiome profile and see if there’s a dysbiosis (imbalance) in the gut microbiota. You can find out your level of digestive enzyme production which is linked to nutrient absorption. You can discover whether you have any candida, parasites or worms. You can also assess how weak or strong your first line of immune defence is. Plus lots more valuable and intriguing information can be gained as a result of a simple GI test.

As a Functional Medicine Practitioner I have access to specialist, diagnostic testing, including GI tests. My clients find them insightful and helpful, so if you're interested in GI testing, do get in touch.

2. Eat a Healthy Diet

While gut health is super important, so too is diet, which of course also impacts how well your gut functions.

Studies show that deficiency of single nutrients also results in altered immune responses. This is observed even when the deficiency state is relatively mild.

Micronutrients - zinc, selenium, iron, copper, vitamin D, A, C, E, and B6, and B9 (folate) have important influences on immune responses. Obesity also reduces immunity.

By eating food that supports proper digestion and absorption you can drastically improve your nutrient intake.

Here are some of the best foods that you can include in your diet to promote a healthy immune response.

Beta-carotene Foods

Your body turns beta-carotene into Vitamin A, facilitating the production of white blood cells, which fights off pathogens in your bloodstream.

Vitamin A also supports a healthy mucosal lining in your gut, trapping unwanted bacteria and viruses and helping good bacteria to flourish.

Beta-carotene rich foods include: broccoli, carrots, apricots, leafy green vegetables (e.g. spinach), sweet potatoes, butternut squash, red bell peppers and romaine lettuce.

Vitamin C Foods

Your immune system relies heavily on vitamin C - it’s vital to the development, growth, and repair of all your body’s tissues.

Since it's a water soluble vitamin your body doesn't store vitamin C so you need to replace it daily.

Eating vitamin C-rich foods everyday is therefore a great way to support your gut health and immune system. If you're unsure of what foods are high in vitamin C, here are some of the best ones:

• Oranges (an obvious one)
• Cantaloupe melon
• Honeydew melon
• Grapefruit
• Kiwi fruit
• Green bell peppers
• Red sweet peppers
• Brussel sprouts
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower (raw)
• Cooked cabbage - contains more vitamin C than raw cabbage
• Pineapple
• Potatoes
• Tomato juice - raw tomatoes aren’t a bad source of vitamin C but you’ll get so much more when tomatoes are concentrated into juice

Vitamin E foods

Vitamin E supports your body’s immune system by supporting the growth of T cells. The role of your T cells is to combat infection by fighting against infected cells and activating other immune cells for a healthy immune system response.

As a result, Vitamin E is a necessary tool in helping your body fight off (and prevent) infections and illness. Vitamin E is readily available in a lot of foods so if you have good gut health and a diverse, healthy diet you shouldn’t have a problem getting vitamin E from food. Many nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables contain vitamin E.

Zinc foods

Zinc deficiency is associated with depressed immune function because it plays a crucial role in white blood cell production and a healthy thyroid. Both of which are vital for a healthy immune system.

Foods rich in zinc include: sweet potatoes, free-range chicken, wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef, and dark chocolate (Yum).

Ginger

Ginger I think is amazing. It contains many essential nutrients in high quantities. The main vitamins in ginger are vitamin C and B9 (folate), but it also contains minerals, such as potassium and magnesium. As an added bonus ginger can promote nutrient absorption too.

Ginger root supports proper digestion and is known for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. It can be included in the diet raw or cooked.

The nutritional value of ginger is higher when it’s consumed raw though. This is due to the fact that many of the nutrients in ginger, such as vitamin C, break down during the food prep process.

Adding ginger to your diet - in tea, smoothies, stir fry dishes, soups, or grated and mixed in with your salad or dressing.

Garlic

Studies show that garlic enhances immune system response by stimulating protective immune cells.

Like ginger, eating it raw will give you the most powerful immune health benefits. However, for obvious "breathy" reasons this isn’t great socially, I know! To get round this when cooking with garlic, mince or chop it 10 minutes before cooking. This will allow it to sit for a while so that you can reap the immune health benefits, and still keep your friends!

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is very beneficial for your immune system in many ways.

Like humans, viruses and bacteria (pathogens) have a skin, or outer coating to keep foreign invaders out. Most viruses and bacteria have a malleable, fluid-like skin that is composed of a fatty substance. Inside this fatty skin resides the rest of the organism, including the organism's DNA.

Because the fatty acids in coconut oil are similar to the pathogen's own skin, the fatty acids are attracted to the organism and are easily absorbed right into it. Bingo!

Once inside, the pathogen finds that the medium chain fatty acids are actually much smaller than the fatty acids that make up its own outer casing and this begins to break apart the pathogen's casing.

Using coconut oil in your diet - Sautéing veggies and meats, add creaminess to your coffee with coconut oil, use in smoothies, and as a fat in home-baked cooking.

You can also use coconut oil as a mouthwash - it makes a great antiviral, anti-bacterial, antifungal mouthwash after cleaning your teeth.

Swish 1 dessert spoon of coconut oil around your mouth for about 10-20 minutes (no longer) and then deposit it into the bin, not the sink! Your teeth will feel amazingly clean afterwards.

3. Stress Less & Self-Care

Stress drains your body of energy which inevitably affects your immune system. Whether you have big or little stressors, your immune system is constantly stretched to its limits to overcome that stress.

Give yourself time every day to not only de-stress if needed, but also just as importantly make time daily to increase your stress resistance levels. When you are better equipped to deal with stress your immune system is less challenged.

Self-care means different things for different people, but essentially it's doing things that make you feel Zen (relaxed and at peace with yourself, life and others). This could be exercise, massage, meditation, art or another hobby that lifts you.

4. Get Quality Sleep

Sleep is a regenerative process for your body. When you are sleep deprived your immune cells, or T cells, go down, and inflammatory cytokines (inflammation cells) go up. That means good sleep results in a stronger immune system so sync your circadian rhythms and practice good sleep hygiene.