Transcript

Hello. Hello. Welcome back to The Hormone Hub. I am your host, Kylie Pinwill, and today we are talking about three surprising ways that you may not have thought about to strengthen your immune system. Now, according to the news, in Australia, New Zealand, we are coming into cold and flu season. Now, for the record, this is something that kind of irks me every time I hear it.

Cold and flu is a virus. Cold and flu is not a season, okay? Winter is a season. Summer is a season. But anyway, they are gonna keep telling us to, it’s a season, but it’s, it’s really not. So a healthy body begins with a healthy immune system. You know, we’ve just lived through hopefully what was a once in a lifetime pandemic.

So most of us are fairly familiar with the basics of self-care to avoid getting sick. So despite this, you know, covid, the flu and all the gastro bugs and all the other [00:01:00] unwanted, you know, nasty little germs are always coming up with new ways to win. So this means that, you know, the way we support our immune system needs to be an ongoing priority, particularly if we wanna continue to experience life doing what we love.

So while most infections come, you know, our body has a natural immune defense system. You know, they come, they go after a week or so, as we talked in a previous episode about looking after yourself with long covid, some of us can now experience ongoing symptoms for months after the initial infection.

 And anyone with any sort of chronic condition, you know, can also tell you this as well, so it leaves us feeling tired, feeling foggy, feeling rundown, you know, and that’s no way to live your life. So to combat this, in today’s episode, we’re gonna have a look at three different ways you can sort of fortify [00:02:00] your immune health and, you know, limit the chances of lingering postviral symptoms from holding you back to live the life you wanna live.

Okay, so let’s jump into our three things. So number one is boost your gut bacteria. So look after your gut health. So, you know, a couple of weeks ago on the podcast we talked about the importance of looking after your digestive health. And the role that our microbiome plays in keeping our digestive health, and also our mental health, happy. Now, it might also surprise you to learn that the gut is also the key to our immune health. So up to 80% of our immune system and our immune defenses lives in our gut. So they’re there, they’re ready to fight off any sort of ingested nasties. So things that we’ve inhaled, things that we’ve ingested, you know, that just don’t belong there.

Okay. So a [00:03:00] healthy immune system helps support that internal network of, of organs and cells that work really hard to protect us from, you know, different viruses, bacteria, and, and you know, other sort of nasties that we don’t want. So, you know, when we put it simply, a healthy gut microbiome full of beneficial bacteria helps to build that immune function.

While you know, a compromised microbiome can hinder our natural immune responses against infection. So there’s lots of things that can reduce our levels of good bacteria, and we’ll also have a look at, you know, what we can do to support our good gut bacteria. So if we are, you know, if we’ve got a, a diet low in fiber, okay?

So if we are eating like a largely processed diet, we are not giving our good gut bugs the food that they need to [00:04:00] thrive. So healthy bugs need healthy food. If you think of it, it’s really as simple as that. If we are, you know, we feed the good guy’s fiber, we feed the bad guy’s sugar, essentially is it in a nutshell. So lots of leafy greens, lots of whole grains, you know, things like broccoli, cauliflower leaks, oats, onions, you know, those beautiful whole foods are going to feed our good gut bugs. Okay. Alcohol can kill off our good gut bugs. I don’t think we need to go into why, but yeah, it can definitely impact our, microbiome health. Unmanaged stress is another one.

So when we are, you know, under a lot of stress, sort of ongoing, you know, cortisol and adrenaline sort of almost sensitise our body to, to inflammation. So this disrupts that gut environment and, you know, compromises, you know, the conditions that our, our [00:05:00] good gut bugs need to flourish. A lack of exercise can impact our immune system and our gut health.

 Overuse of antibiotics. So, you know, antibiotics are great because they come in and they target the, you know, the bad bacteria that we want to kill off, you know, a hundred percent. You know, antibiotics are good for that purpose, but it’s also good to keep in mind that that loss of beneficial bacteria every time we take antibiotics makes us more susceptible to future infections.

So it’s just something that, you know, is good to be mindful of. So, yeah, so, so, you know, taking diet into exercise, moving your body, managing your stress, you know, all the things that I talk about all the time are going to help your gut health, and that in turn is gonna help support your immune health as well.

Okay, so the second thing we can do to help support our immune system [00:06:00] and support that, that immune response is to build up our reserves of immune enhancing nutrients. So, when our immune cells are, you know, we get a virus, we get a bug, we get, you know, something in our body. You know, our immune cells are there waiting to, to go into battle, to, to combat and overcome that virus or overcome that bug.

And their potential for success comes from having, you know, enough nutritional support. Okay. So specifically we are looking at a combination of zinc, of vitamin C, of vitamin D along with regular protein. And this can make all the difference between an immune army that can barely make it through bootcamp versus our whole immune squad that comes in and gets the job done.

Okay. So we want to, you know, include things like citrus fruits include things like ginger, turmeric, [00:07:00] garlic, into our diet, you know, a lot of these have got antimicrobial properties, antiviral properties, you know, so they help support our immune system. Probiotics are a great one because again, you know, they’re giving our, you know, our, our supporting our gut bugs.

 And also too, you don’t need to get it from a pill necessarily. So include, you know, a good range of natural, full fat yogurt, kefir, fermented foods like miso paste, sauerkraut, kimchi, Tempe are all, you know, give us the nutrients that we need. Leafy greens, you know, cannot talk enough about leafy greens.

So they work as though that prebiotic fiber to feed those good gut bugs and promote the growth of good, healthy bacteria. Manuka honey, you know, again, shows beneficial. It’s antiviral, antimicrobial, you know, and can support a healthy, you know, immune system. So a great way of, or an [00:08:00] really easy way to sort of support our immune system, or at that first sign of, you know, cold and flu is, Lots of fluids, a pot of hot water with lemon, ginger, garlic, you can put in there.

A little bit of manuka honey, little bit of turmeric, you know, is all going to help give our body what it needs and support that immune system. You know, there’s a reason why we sort of, you know, talk about chicken noodle soup or chicken soup when we get sick. So again, you know, sipping on that, that chicken soup, it’s anti-inflammatory, gives us, you know, beautiful vitamin A, vitamin C, zinc as well. So getting out in the sunshine, getting some vitamin D, you know, is really beneficial as well. Now the third thing that you may not have thought about to strengthen your immune system, strengthen your recovery time is, Be kind to yourself.

Okay, so we all grew up with the Codral Cold & Flu, [00:09:00] soldier on, you know, you’ll be fine. And as women we, you know, we do scoff at man flu, let’s face it. But I think actually the guys are onto something. Sometimes when we need to, you know, put our life on hold so we can recover, you know, we are just not used to doing that.

But when we sort of give ourselves that recovery time following a viral infection or at the onset of an infection, you know, it can really help our recovery. So, you know, organizing time off work and time off, you know, doing all the household stuff wherever you can give, making enough time to relax and expend as little energy as possible.

It is okay if you are sick to sit on the lounge and watch Netflix. Okay? You have my permission. Set boundaries and so you’re not overextending yourself. Put your hand up and say, I don’t feel well. I can’t do that. I don’t feel well. Uh, no is a complete sentence. [00:10:00] Remember that? Just no, not doing it.

 Think about how you can make your life easier. Can you get your groceries online instead of going to the shops? Can you delegate household chores to your partner and to your children? Are you getting enough sleep at night? Okay. So all of these things can help your recovery time.

They can help sort of support your immune system against, you know, future threats, and giving yourself the time to recover is key. So think of it, slow and steady will always win out. Alright, so I hope that helps and yeah. Here’s to a happy, healthy cold and flu free winter, which is winter is a season, cold and flu is not.

Alright everyone, I hope that helped and I hope you enjoyed today’s episode and I will see you next week.