With the recent coronavirus outbreak, and flu season you might be wondering how you can boost your immune system to take a preventive approach. What I find most annoying is when you go to the doctor, and they say “There’s nothing we can do if it’s a virus”… With no advice at all, some might just go home and do absolutely nothing about it.
Well guess what? There is a TON you can do about it. Having been a health practitioner for a number of years, I’m going to share my top 5 tips on strengthening your immune system to overcome colds, flus, or anything viral.
What do your nose, throat, and skin have in common? Well for one, they’re your body’s first line of defense against pathogens. They’re therefore related to your immune system, and the health of your Lungs. Just think of the last time you caught a cold, you may have noticed skin aches all over, the sore throat, or even a stuffy and runny nose. So how can we ensure our body’s first line of defense is working optimally?
If you’re fighting something now here are some things you can do:
1. Keep your body warm
Such a simple concept – but does it ever do a lot! This is a good idea if you’re healthy, but even more important if you are fighting a cold/flu.
Remember, when you catch a flu, chances are you get a fever. That fever is a good thing. It’s a sign that your body is fighting, and attempting to raise your body’s temperature in order to kill off the virus.
You’ll want to bundle up, or stay under the covers and wrap yourself with multiple layers. What this does is it warms the surface of your body, allowing your body to carry on the fight against viruses with ease. A warm body has less work to do, and therefore allows it to focus on fighting the virus. By staying under the covers, it’s like creating a mini sauna – keeping you cozy and healthy!
2. Drink & eat everything hot
Remember the body is trying to create heat, in the form of a fever. How can we help? Drink more soups, and add a little spice (ginger, cardamom, black pepper).
Having more ginger teas, chai teas, or anything with a warming spice is said to help the lungs in eastern medicine, and thus boost the lungs’ ability to prevent pathogens from invading further. These spices help guide the body’s energy to fight those pathogens.
What’s EQUALLY as important is ensuring your body has FUEL in order to fight. You can’t just survive off of teas. You need carbs – chicken noodle soup, rice porridge (congee) with ginger. This ensures your body has fuel, and that it is being directed towards warming the body and improving immunity.
3. Get 8 Hours Of Sleep
Your immune system is like a constant defensive field that’s always trying to prevent viruses/bacteria from invading deeper. It requires energy from you in order to continuously defend. Maintaining your energy is key.
Get 8 hours of sleep every night, and don’t forget to take breaks at work. Working until you’re exhausted, allows for pathogens to invade more easily. You may notice this sometimes at the end of the day when fatigued, and go outside. You might feel a chill go right down your back.
4. Taping
If you’re fighting a cold now, and want to speed up the recovery time – tape your mouth at night. ‘Can you breathe???’ you might be wondering. Yes, I haven’t had any issue breathing through the night. Why is this important?
Breathing through your nose helps your immune system in two key ways:
1. It filters bacteria, particles, dust, etc. that get trapped by your nose hairs. This means unhealthy particles/bacteria are being trapped BEFORE entering your lungs directly, preventing them from going deep into your system.
2. It actually warms the air temperature before it reaches your lungs. Less energy is wasted warming your lungs of cold air, because well the air is warm as it enters the lungs.
I notice a rapid recovery if I have a cold – usually 1-2 days recovery as opposed to a week with this tip.
5. Heat Therapy (Moxibustion)
Lastly if your fever has been very high, and you have visited the doctor recently and they believe it is still viral, you might need some ‘heat therapy’ or moxibustion. This is where a herb is rolled into a small cone, and burned onto an acupuncture point. This heat therapy warms and invigorates your body’s energy so you can fight that cold/infection more easily. Don’t worry, we extinguish the herb right before it touches your skin so there won’t be any burns.
Hope these tips were helpful, and again if you are in need of help from an eastern medicine perspective feel free to book a session below. We’ll take a holistic approach in evaluating your health concerns and provide a treatment according to what your body needs.