For the past few months, the province of Alberta has been seeing an increase in reported measles cases. Whether you are vaccinated or not, or that your children are vaccinated or not, is not the point of this article. Because whichever camp you fall in, you really need to consider practices to boost your immune system (as an adult and a child) so that if you or your child are exposed to the measles the body will be better prepared to overcome the illness. Are you ready to take an active part in your and your families immune system? Start adding these tips to your daily life now!
Tip #1 – Vitamin D – I’ve already written an article on the benefits of Vitamin D, but to reiterate Vitamin D is required for proper immune function – not just helpful but required! Our immune cells have Vitamin D Receptors on their membranes that if not bound by Vitamin D can not exert their action. Thus, when there is an upsurge of an infectious disease you really should be increasing the amount of Vitamin D you consume to ensure that your immune cells are able to do their job.
Tip #2 – Probiotics – Did you know that approximately 80% of your immune system is located in your gut! That’s huge! So when you’re looking at boosting your immune system or trying to fight an infectious disease, having a healthy gut is imperative to your success. With an outbreak, it’s best to start taking probiotics daily with meals (always have to be taken with food to protect them from your stomach acid). Try to pick a probiotic that has not been grown on dairy and that doesn’t contain the filler Lactobacillus casei. Remember not all probiotics are created equal and what an adult can take is not necessarily what an infant or child can take.
Tip #3 – Drop The Junk – This is probably the most important tip since we literally are what we eat. Your cells use the building blocks that your food provides in order to repair and grow, so can you imagine how unhealthy your cells are if they are being built on burgers and chips? Eating whole foods – fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, nuts and seeds will provide a plethora of vitamins, minerals, and other phytonutrients that are required for the proper functioning of your body. If your body isn’t functioning properly how do you expect it to fight any infection? Also important – avoid sugar like the plague! I’m not even kidding. One teaspoon of sugar will depress your immune system for up to 4 hours! When you’re trying to give your body the best chance it has to overcome any infection why would you set it up to fail by consuming sugar?
Tip #4 – Vitamin A – Out of all the vitamins this is probably the best one for anti-viral action (aside from Vitamin D which we already discussed why it is necessary). Interestingly enough, researchers have found that Vitamin A decreased the severity of many viral infections, including the measles. In addition, Vitamin A was also found to be necessary for the proper function of the anti-viral immune cells in our body, making this vitamin an important addition to your anti-viral immune boosting tool kit! Note that you have to take Vitamin A and Vitamin D apart from each other since they will bind to the same receptor. So a good tip is to take Vitamin D in the morning and Vitamin A at night. Vitamin A, like Vitamin D, is a fat soluble vitamin and thus must be taken in liquid or gel cap form for optimal absorption. This vitamin should be avoided if you’re pregnant.
With all of the products discussed above you need to be careful on the dosing since taking the inappropriate dose can either be ineffective or toxic. Natural therapies are natural yes but only those appropriately trained to use them will know the proper safe dosing based on your case. There are many other things that you can be doing to boost your immune system or take to add to your anti-viral immune boosting tool kit; however, these 4 tips are a good place to start. If you’re looking for more ways to boost your immune system in light of the measles outbreak please contact your local naturopathic doctor for more information.
