Look after yourself

 

If you feel a sniffle or an itch in your throat coming along, your immune system might be down and in need of a boost. Here are great ways to give your immune system the boost that it needs.

How to boost your immune system

1. Determine the cause of your immune crash

2. Reduce stress

3. Get more rest

4. Eat healthy

5. Try a natural immune booster

Give your body its strength back.

1) Determine what is hampering your immune system

If you’re feeling a little vulnerable at the moment, it could be because of something that you are going through.

Are you facing a stressful situation at work? Try doing things that will relax and de-stress you.

Have you had one or two too many late nights? Have a few early nights to even out the balance.

There could also be a few things that you do every day that negatively affects your immune system. If you get sick regularly, it could be because of substances like cigarette smoke, alcohol or medication.

You might have been eating too much junk food or consuming too much sugar lately.

Have you been depriving yourself from natural sunlight? Are you deficient in a specific nutrient?

Lack of exercise also causes your immune system to crash.

Clean up unhealthy things.

2) Reduce stress

Too much stress will negatively affect your entire body, from muscle tissue to your immune system.

There are two main types of stress: mental stress and physical stress.

Mental stress

Mental stress releases a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is good in small quantities because it primes your body for increased energy output.

Our cortisol levels are supposed to be the highest in the morning when we wake up and slowly taper off throughout the day until we go to bed in the evening.

Low cortisol levels lead to a decrease in energy levels. Too much cortisol from too much stress, though, can also wreak havoc on your body.

When you are stressed, your body cannot recover as efficiently because it is preparing for ‘fight or flight’.

If you are stressed out almost all of the time, your body uses less energy to heal itself. If mental stress is getting you down, use coping mechanisms like thinking about the stressful situation in a positive way.

Positivity reduces the amount of stress you will feel when doing a specific task. This will lower cortisol levels over time.

Make sure that you spend time doing something that you really enjoy like reading a book or catching up on a good TV series.

Relaxing and enjoyable activities reduce cortisol levels, speed up healing and boost your overall health.

Make time to relax.

Physical stress

Physical stress can also damage your immune system.

Exercise is really good for your health; but too much exercise, referred to as overtraining, can wear the body out at a faster rate than what it can recover from.

Increased frequency of colds and flu is actually one of the first signs that athletes are pushing their bodies too far.

This can lead to adrenal fatigue, muscle and energy loss, sleep problems (some people will crave sleep all the time, while others won’t be able to sleep at all) and decreased immune function.

If too much exercise is hampering your immune system, take a few days off and let your body recover.

I give myself a healthy rest week every two months or so to let my body recover fully.

When you get back to your normal exercise routine, you’ll see how much rest you actually needed because your physical performance will increase.

Lack of exercise can also lead to physical stress, because our bodies were made to move around regularly. Prolonged sitting times are linked to an increase in all diseases.

Staying in one position for too long will limit blood circulation.

If you sit too much at work, try taking a stroll every few minutes. The improved blood circulation and quick mental break will reduce mental stress while giving your overall moral a boost.

Taking brisk walks during your office job can actually increase your work output.

Take breaks.

3) Get more rest

Our bodies naturally go through cycles of activity and recovery.

If the balance swings too much in one direction, our health suffers.

Too much activity is as dangerous as too little. If you spend more time racing to complete the next task than you do relaxing and enjoying something, your body compensates by decreasing health.

Get some extra sleep for a few days to let your body catch up with your busy schedule. Make some time to power down and enjoy the moment that you are in right now.

If you can enjoy at least one thing every day, your day not been wasted.

When was the last time that you did something that you really enjoyed? Think about a hobby or time spent with your friends and family.

When was the last time that you got a full night's sleep?

These things are not optional. Your life depends on them. Happiness and health and heavily intertwined.

Make time for happiness.

4) Eat healthy

Over 70% of your immune system is in your gut. 

Once you correct the balance between activity and recovery, you need to make sure that your body has the right nutrients to replenish and heal itself.

Good protein sources will help to rebuild muscle, bone, nerve, and brain and organ tissue. A healthy combination of protein, carbohydrates and fats will give your body the building blocks that it needs to replenish its energy stores.

Make sure to include lots of fruit and vegetables in your daily diet. They are packed with micro nutrients that we need like vitamins, minerals, phyto-nutrients, trace elements, fiber and anti-oxidants.

Try to eat at least 5 different servings of fruit or veg every day. If 5 servings is too much for you to handle right now, eat as many as you can and build up slowly towards your 5-a-day goal.

It is better to have an apple and a banana today instead of nothing because the idea of 5 whole fruit and veg intimidates you.

Maintain gut health.

5) Try an immune booster

Green tea

A hot cup of green tea with a squeeze of lemon juice can do wonders for your immune system.

The antioxidants in green tea will regenerate your body on a cellular level while the amino acid, L-theanine, will protect the mind by helping it to relax.

If stress is disturbing your immune system, L-theanine will ease its effects.

Green tea is anti-bacterial – and so is lemon juice. This can help fight against the germs that are building up in your throat.

Glutamine

Glutamine is one of my favorite amino acids.

It is one of my top ways to speed up recovery when I actually get sick. 

Exercise and stress decreases our natural glutamine levels. Supplementing with it helps the body to speed up recovery.

Glutamine can also increase sleep quality because it increases the levels of the neurotransmitter GABBA (gamma-aminobutyric acid).

GABBA is needed to relax and have a good night’s sleep. You can find this supplement at health or supplement stores.

A good multi vitamin

A good multi-vitamin can help you to make sure that you are getting the micro nutrients that your body needs.

Although supplements should never replace a healthy diet, a multi-vitamin can help you to make sure that your body gets all the right vitamins.

Choose natural remedies when you can.

By cutting out unhealthy habits, reducing physical and mental stress, prioritizing rest and eating a healthy diet; you will give your immune system the raw materials that it needs to recover.

Remember to also replenish fluids by drinking enough water and make time to enjoy your everyday life. Stay Strong!

Tea or hot chocolate can be good for your health

Improve your health with a hot beverage.

We all have those days where we want nothing more but to cuddle up in front of a screen and binge out on one of our favorite hot drinks.

For a health enthusiast like me, that’s often translated into a little guilt the next day, along with the feeling of needing to exercise a little harder to keep myself on track.

If chosen correctly, the right hot beverages can actually be healthy. Today I want to share two of my favorites with you: tea and hot chocolate.

1) Tea and honey is healthy

Tea is good for you. It contains antioxidants which help prevent premature ageing and it assists the body to clean out oxidants and other toxins.

Different teas have different compounds and antioxidants that are beneficial to your health. Here are some of the most popular kinds of tea that you may want to try:

Black tea

Black tea, or ‘normal tea’, is the most common form of tea, consumed by almost 80% of the human population.

Black tea does have caffeine, although less than coffee, so I would recommend only drinking it during the first half of your day. 

Black tea is very high in antioxidants. The color of the tea comes from theaflavins and thearubigins - compounds which are loaded with a host of health benefits.

Black tea is good for your heart, lowers cholesterol and stress, improves oral hygiene, improves bone integrity, improves blood circulation, lowers blood pressure and increases digestive health.

Black tea is good for you.

Green tea

Green tea is made from the same plant as black and white tea (The Camellia Sinensis, or ‘tea bush’).

Green tea is less processed. It is manufactured in a different way.

Black tea is fermented to release more flavor, while green tea is pan fired so that fermentation is prevented. This is why green tea takes longer to steep and is lighter in color.

Green tea has less caffeine than black tea and is generally regarded as the healthier option because it has not been fermented.

Green tea contains the amino acid L-theanine, which provides a calming effect on the brain while elevating mood. 

You can find the same health benefits of black tea in green tea. Green tea has a higher concentration of EGCG, a powerful antioxidant that helps the body metabolize fat.

Add green tea to your regime.

White tea

White tea gets its name because it is picked from the plant when it has not yet bloomed. At this stage, the sprouts are covered in tiny white hairs.

White tea is not fermented and uncured, making it the least processed out of the three variants.

Since it is the least processed, it has a higher antioxidant concentration compared to the other two forms of tea. White tea might lower the risk of insulin resistance and may also reduce skin ageing.

White tea has the most antioxidants.

Oolong tea

Oolong is made from the same plant as the black, green and white versions.

It is partially fermented and semi-oxidized. This gives it the taste and color similar to black and green tea combined.

It also has similar health benefits because of its anti-oxidant content, ranging from boosting metabolism and aiding weight-loss to protecting heart health and looking after skin and hair.

Oolong tea is healthy.

There are other types of tea to try

There are many other teas to experiment with that aren’t made by the same plant. Almost all natural teas are great for your health. These include ginger, chamomile, rooibos and barley tea.

Caffeine-free varieties like chamomile and rooibos are enjoyable and relaxing, making them great choices for night time without negatively affecting sleep.

I love the taste of tea. Having honey instead of sugar lets me drink it just the way I like it: Strong and sweet.

Honey is also high in sugar, but it is a lot healthier.

The benefits of honey instead of table sugar

Normal sugar is a single natural ingredient: sucrose.

Too much of any single, natural ingredient can become unhealthy.

The sugar content of honey consists of fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose. While these are all different forms of sugar, they take a little longer to break down in the body.

This lets the sugar spike that you get from honey a little less drastic than that of normal sugar.

Honey is antiseptic, antiviral and anti-fungal. This is why it is often recommended to sooth a sore throat or a nasty cold. Honey has also been used for thousands of yours to speed up wound healing. 

Honey has small amounts of vitamins and minerals, but the antioxidants are what make honey so good for you.

Research has shown that although honey differs wildly because of the different types of flowers or bees that it comes from, they all contain super healthy ingredients like peptides, antioxidants, organic acids and enzymes.

Darker honeys seem to have higher concentrations of antioxidants.

Use honey.

2) Hot cocoa with honey is healthy

On days where I feel like hot chocolate, I make my own.

Many ready-made hot chocolate brands contain refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, flavorings and other ingredients that make it less healthy.

Cocoa powder is actually very good for you. It is good for your heart, elevates mood and also has some powerful antioxidants of its own.

Cacao is a generally more expensive than normal cocoa powder, but it is healthier because cacao is less processed than cocoa.

They come from the same bean, but cocoa powder is processed at a much higher temperature than cacao. The heat diminishes some of the antioxidant content.

If you can only afford cocoa, you are still getting a lot of health benefits from it.

Instead of buying a hot chocolate mix from the store, simply buy cacao (or cocoa if you’re on a budget) instead.

You can make your own delicious hot chocolate by adding cocoa and honey to hot or cold water or milk. You can choose how chocolaty or sweet you want it to taste by adding more or less honey and cacao.

This tastes really good!

Both of these hot beverages will taste great while helping you to stay healthy. Stay Strong!

Not all fluids keep you hydrated

The importance of proper hydration

The health benefits of water are undeniable. Every cell in your body needs water to function. Cells need substantial hydration levels to function at their best. Your body uses water to detoxify itself. Dehydration is a major cause of a variety of symptoms like headaches, fatigue, poor sleep quality, indigestion and constipation.

Dehydration may lead to weight gain

Dehydration can lead to weight gain. This happens because fat metabolism occurs within the liver. When the liver does not have enough water to clean itself and the rest of the body, it will struggle to perform some of its most important tasks. This is clearly demonstrated by the way that repeated excessive alcohol consumption will lead to cirrhosis (liver damage). Healthy livers are better at metabolizing fat into usable energy. This is why drinking more water is one of my top methods to reduce body fat.

Fatty liver disease

A fatty liver, or hepatic steatosis, is a disease where too much fat has accumulated in the liver. Diet and exercise plays a key role in preventing the development of fatty liver disease. Water does too because it helps the liver to keep itself clean. Water is your liver's best friend.

Drinking the right liquids is essential for optimum health: Many popular drinks won't help to keep you hydrated 

Drinks with too much sugar won't hydrate you

The best way to re-hydrate is to consume enough liquids. The type of liquid that you drink will determine whether or not it will hydrate you. Sodas that are high in sugar, for example, will have a positive effect on hydration. These drinks can actually dehydrate you even more. The reason for this is because your body will need more water to dilute all of that sugar.

It would take 69 liters of water to dilute 500 ml of soda into normal blood glucose levels

Your body has around 5 liters of blood at any given time. Less than a teaspoon (4 grams) of sugar should be in that blood. Compare that to 11 grams of sugar per 100 grams in the average soda. This means that the average soda has 137.5 times more sugar than what is normally found in your blood per milliliter. By that math, it would take 69 liters of water to dilute the sugar content of 500 milliliters of soda to natural blood glucose levels. Of course, most of the sugar isn't diluted. It is quickly stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver or converted to fat to correct the blood-sugar balance. For this reason, drinks that are high in sugar do not hydrate the body very well.

Drinks that are high in unhealthy ingredients like colorants and artificial flavors also have a dehydrating effect on your body

Think about this: Your pee is a lot lighter than the unhealthy drinks that you consume with darker colors. That means that more water is needed to wash away all of these nasty colorants. More water is also needed to cleanse the body from the unhealthy flavorings that aren't reflected in a dink's color. Since more water is redirected to the detoxification process to clear out all of these negative ingredients, less of it is used to replenish the body's hydration stores.

For the above reasons, making sure that your hydration methods contain less harmful ingredients will increase your body's ability to use that water.

Bonus water and hydration tips

It is possible to drink too much water

Your body loses a lot of water through sweat, detoxification, breathing (water vapor is released every time you exhale) and the metabolizing of many chemical and hormonal processes in the body. This is why you should make sure that you give your body enough water to do everything without hindrance. It is also possible, though, to be drinking too much water. This could dilute your blood so much that its nutrient content drops. Too much water can also wash away precious nutrients. Learn more about the possibility of drinking too much water here. 

Dehydration reduces physical performance

Dehydration could be the primary cause of why you might feel cold or sick after exercise (click the links to see more possible causes).

Water is not the only good thing that you lose through sweat

Sweating is beneficial because it helps the body to get rid of toxins and replenish skin health. You need to replenish the good things that sweat causes your body to lose, such as water. Water is not the only thing you lose through sweat. You also lose precious electrolytes and minerals - which also need to be replaced.

Spice up your hydration without consuming unhealthy drinks

Try eating more healthy foods that are naturally hydrating like lettuce and spinach. Add lemon to your water for more health benefits or exchange unhealthy drinks for healthier alternatives like green tea.

You might not think that a single can of soda or an alcoholic beverage will impact your health that much, but these habits become addictive very quickly. These choices might feel like one drop in the pond, until we realize that the entire pond is made up of little drops. Stay Strong!

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