health guides

Take your vitamins

Even if you never eat junk food or miss meals, your body may still need a bit of help getting all the nutrients it needs to stay strong, because many of the refined foods in a typical Western diet have been depleted of various vitamins and minerals. This is where a good multivitamin may help. In addition, boosting your intake of the nutrients below may help prevent marginal deficiencies that could lower your immune system defences, potentially making you more susceptible to infections:

• Vitamin C
• Zinc
• Vitamin D

relax

Excessive stress may lead to suboptimal immune system function, potentially making the body less able to fend off everything from bacteria and viruses to serious diseases. Finding ways to relax is an important part of a well-rounded health programme. Give the following a try:

• Yoga
• Meditation
• Warm baths with soothing oils, such as lavender
• Walking
• Reading

Whatever you choose, look for activities—or nonactivities—that give you a real break from everyday work and home obligations.

Catch some Zs

Skimping on sleep can undercut your immune defences, so be sure to snooze a full eight hours a night. If you can’t get a full night’s sleep because of time constraints, try to squeeze in a 15- to 30-minute nap during the day. Although not as beneficial as night-time rest, if you are rundown, a nap might help stave off illness. If you have trouble falling asleep or staying that way, try some remedies for insomnia.

Build good bacteria

Healthy probiotic bacteria stimulate the intestine’s immune system and slow the growth of infectious organisms in the digestive system. Good sources of healthy bacteria are yoghurt and other foods containing live cultures, and supplements containing 10 billion colony-forming units a day of acidophilus or bifidobacteria.

Try taming tonics

Miraculously, tonics are believed both to energise your system when it’s low and to protect it when it’s over-stimulated. That is the beauty of adaptogens, also known as tonics. Essentially, adaptogens may help keep the immune system in balance and help spare vital tissues from stress-induced damage. Examples include:

• Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus)
• Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)
• Reishi mushroom