You Can’t Fast-Track Immunity
Forget the random ginger shot. If you’re someone that gets a cold every time the weather shifts, I’ve got tips. Plus: Sandra Bullock, D'Angelo, and An Inconvenient Woman
We only think about immunity when something goes wrong. The threat of a sore throat before a big shoot. A headache as you start packing for a long awaited holiday. When I worked full time at a creative agency, my body would wait until right before christmas to unleash a cold so brutal I’d be incapacitated for the entire break (bar the intervals to steam my head under a towel, very elegant).
No amount of ginger shots could save me. By that point, all I could do was lie on my side (obviously couldn’t breathe through my nose otherwise) and do absolutely nothing. My body had made up its mind. There was no more “pushing through” to be done. It was time to stop and hope the dusty lemsip stash would pull me through.
I wish I’d known back then that you don’t need to wait until you’re at death’s door to start weaving immune-supportive foods into your meals. The immune system is never off duty. It’s working so hard for us, filtering and responding around the clock, scanning for threats. It’s your body’s security team and it’s longing for you to feed it something it can work with.
You know where most of that security team live? In the gut. About seventy percent of our immune cells live there lined up along the intestinal wall, constantly sampling what comes through. That’s why what you eat and how you digest matters long before someone sneezes near you on the train.
The tells
Signs that your immune system is struggling aren’t always dramatic. Feeling tired for no reason, slow healing cuts and grazes, a cold that seems to carry on and on.
In nutritional therapy, we look at these as early signals that you could use a little help. Could it be your diet is low in protein, iron, zinc, vitamins A, C and D? Not having a consistent stream of these may make it harder for your immune defences to work effectively.
Chronic stress weakens immune function… but you already know that. I’m not here to make things worse by telling you to relax. Instead, here are some ways to actually support relaxation. Try weaving them into your week and, before you know it, you might find yourself saying what one of my clients did: “I felt less stressed this week, not sure what happened.” What happened? I’ll tell ya. You fed your immune system and built a little structure back in.
Here’s some ideas for you to try. You don’t need to do all eight - just pick one that feels doable and start there. I mean it, just one.
Eight ways in
1. Don’t confuse eating light with eating right
Undereating is one of the quickest ways to drain your immune resilience. You can’t expect your immune system to do its best work on coffee and a slice of cheese between calls. Real meals with protein, fat and fibre tell your body it’s safe. When you graze all day or eat too little, your body can stay in alert, scavenger mode. Proper meals are your way of saying: we’re fed, we’re fine, you can stand down.
At the very least, have breakfast. You know I’m a cheerleader for Breakfast Soup but in a pinch, two boiled eggs and a carrot will do.
