84 Burnett St Bundaberg
Want to avoid falling sick over the wintertime? Now is the time to act! With a few simple tweaks to your current routine, you can reduce your risk of getting sick, as well as improving your recovery time if you do fall ill. Find out how to prepare your immune system for winter.
When it comes to giving your immune system a helping hand, the best time to start is right now. Let’s look at some ways you can give your body the best chance at fighting off germs before they take hold and make you sick.
When it comes to a healthy immune system, the first place you want to start is your gut. The majority of your immune system resides in the gut, and the gut is also a major line of defence against infection.
If you have symptoms such as digestive upsets, bloating, pain and even general signs such as fatigue, you want to make sure you work on your gut health. But even if you’re symptom-free, you can still do a little extra gut support to keep it happy and balanced.
For some of our favourite gut-support tips, check out this article.
When it comes to a healthy immune system, vitamin D is one of the major players. If your vitamin D levels are low, it can leave you vulnerable to infection, particularly respiratory illnesses.
As vitamin D is primarily provided by the sun, you want to check your levels before heading into winter. That way, you know if you have enough to make it through the colder months! Otherwise, a vitamin D supplement may be needed to keep your levels up throughout winter.
It’s estimated around 15% of Queenslanders will not have adequate vitamin D over the wintertime. However, this rate may be higher with more people working from home or isolating due to risk of illness.
While vitamin D is a critical nutrient for immune function, it’s not the only one! You want to make sure that your diet is rich in the nutrients needed to support your immune system.
These nutrients include:
Your stress levels can play a big part in how well you fight off and recover from illness. Both acute and chronic stress can increase your risk of falling sick, but chronic stress is a greater concern because it affects both arms of the immune system.
Supporting your nervous system with stress relief techniques can take time. So, if you want to avoid getting sick in future, you’ll want to act on your stress levels sooner rather than later. For some helpful stress management techniques, give this article a read.
Want your immune system to be fighting fit when the cold hits? Make sure you’re getting plenty of sleep.
Even one night of partial sleep deprivation can reduce your immune response. So, you can imagine how much your immune system suffers if you’re regularly getting too little sleep or having poor quality broken sleep!
Finding it hard to get a good night of rest? See our top sleep tips here.
Yes, it’s tempting to stay bundled up inside on the couch when the weather gets chilly. But keeping up your physical activity over the winter could help reduce your risk of falling ill.
Research has found that frequent exercisers are less likely to catch a cold than those who don’t move regularly. So, pop on a jacket, some gloves and a beanie and get active! Even if you just go for a brisk walk around the block, it can help keep you healthier.
All the previous tips are general in nature and will be a good starting point for most people. But if you’re serious about reducing your risk of falling ill, your best bet is to seek advice from your healthcare team. That way, they can assess the best ways to improve your immunity based on your body’s specific needs.
That’s where the team at Burnett House are here to help you.
Our acupuncturist Jamie combines acupuncture with other tools such as dry needling and remedial massage to relieve symptoms such stress that could be contributing to reduced immunity.
Our naturopath Trish can look at diet and lifestyle factors that can help to support immunity. She can also assess whether you would benefit from immune-supportive herbs and supplements.
We hope these tips for how to prepare your immune system for winter have helped!
To book an appointment with Jamie or Trish at our Bundaberg clinic, book an appointment online here or call us on (07) 41522372
