Immunity is something that is built or destroyed over time. Your immune system is becoming less adaptive or more adaptive over time. Adaption is key to not only survival, but thriving in energy, mind, body and spirit! Immunity is meant to be adaptive to threats such as foreign invaders, pathogens, infections and more. A pathogen can include anything from viruses, bacteria, fungus, candida (yeast) infections and more.
The body needs to recognize these threats and have the necessary resources such as nutrients and adaptogens in order to deal with them quickly and effectively.
Unfortunately More Often Than Not We’re Working Against Ourselves
The immune system is healthy and adaptive when we are healthy and making the right decisions. Unfortunately it can be an uphill battle at times as we live in a modernized, stress-driven society. Being a part of it and keeping our peace and health can be a challenge when certain factors that we participate in consciously or subconsciously can hinder our immunity.
Today we’ll be exploring the top 5 causes of immune decline. The mistakes that we can make and how to deal with them in a smart and science driven way.
5 Immunity Mistakes That Are Too Easy
- Too Much Hidden Sugar:
We know that sugar isn’t great for our health. It causes inflammation and weakens immunity. But one hidden thing which we seem to overlook more often than not are hidden sources of sugar. Did you know that many breads, cereals, ketchup and other condiments contain sugar? Sugar is lurking in the supplement aisle also! Many vitamin gummies now add sugar (unfortunately) and that hinders immunity. Reducing sugar intake is beneficial for the immunity to not be overloaded by pathogens that sugar feeds. That bacterial overgrowth is fed by sugar. Candida is fed by sugar. Fungus, parasites. The list goes on and on. These pathogens when fed by sugar cause the immune system to work harder, therefore weakening it. Your best bet is to reduce sugar overall but also focus on adding in more foods that help to regulate and balance blood sugar levels as a whole. Cinnamon is my go to blood sugar balancer because it tastes great, it’s easy, quick and accessible. Not only that cinnamon acts as an antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial agent. It directly supports the immune system while taking a load off the immune system with blood sugar regulation as well. - Not Enough Sunshine (Vitamin D):
Vitamin D is an essential vitamin for support and health of the immune system. The nice thing about it is that its free to receive, just walk outside! Being in the sun allows for the body to absorb vitamin D through the skin. The scientific community recommend just 15 minutes of sunshine per day. But personally, I think that’s very low. Forget what scientists think for a minute and think for yourself. We are told that our ancestors were ancient cavemen. That hunted and foraged for food, correct? How long do you think they spent in the sun each day? 15 Minutes? or a few hours? I personally question the official narrative that 15 minutes of sunshine per day is enough. It’s hardly any daylight. We have 12 hours of sunlight each day and 15 minutes would equate to just 2% of that daylight time in the actual sun. Do you think your ancestors both hunted and foraged with 2% of their time? I highly doubt it. 10% of daylight in the sun would equate to 1 hour and 15 minutes each day. That’s more reasonable in my eyes. What’s important to understand is that vitamin D3 is received by sunlight but we also don’t want to be damaged by the sun. Antioxidants such as lycopene (found in tomatoes and watermelon) as well as astaxanthin (Salmon and algae are sources) are important antioxidants to consume to help the body deal with the oxidative side of the sun. - Sluggish Lymphatic System:
We don’t move enough in our country. We have the comforts of luxury. A comfortable couch with a cold fridge to serve cold tea, to sit down and eat popcorn and watch a movie streamed from the ethos. It’s all very much conducive to comfort and relaxation. The body needs movement however. The immune system sends cells called macrophages and cytokines out into the lymphatic system to the entire body. These specific immune cells find infection sites and signal instructions to other cells to take action, whatever is needed. It is important for the lymphatic system to be healthy in order for the immune cells to travel through it effectively. The heart pumps the circulatory system in the body the lymphatic system relies solely on movement from us. Walking, running, sports, any kind of movement is good. When you move your body your lymphatic fluid moves also. You hydrate more often and you then oxygenate your body better as well. The three components of a healthy lymphatic system are movement, oxygen and water. This is why it is important to MOVE and M.O.W. (move, oxygen, water) your lymphatic system. Neem has been called “Ayurveda’s first immune responder” by Dr. John Douillard for it’s purpose in balancing the immune and cytokine response through the lymphatic system. Unfortunately neem does not taste great at all! - Too Much Stress:
They say stress is the #1 killer, but I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily true. I would say a better way of looking at it would be to say “A body unable to respond to stress is the #1 killer.” What do I mean by that? We all have stress in our lives. Sometimes there is more stress, sometimes there are less. Sometimes we have financial stress, or relationship stress, or health stress. Or multiple forms of stress at once. If the body is struggling with stress it’s in part due to the external circumstance but also in part due to the internal response of the body not working optimally. Antioxidants help the body deal with oxidative stress. Adaptogens help the body deal with unexpected stress. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade right? Not so fast. You need tools for lemonade. You need the recipe, the ingredients, the formula to convert lemons into lemonade. The same is true with our stress response system.
When we’re stressed our body produces a stress hormone known as cortisol. If the body doesn’t cope with high levels of cortisol then that cortisol will begin to run the show and we will be in a constant state of stress which weakens immunity. Ashwaghanda is one of if not the best stress adaptogen in the world as it has been studied and found to reduce cortisol (stress hormone) levels. It’s acts in an adaptogenic way adapting to your body when it needs it most. I also personally love cloves for my stress response because they are very potent ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) antioxidants. In fact, the #2 rated ORAC food in the world ranked 2nd only to Sangre De Grado, a sap that comes from a tree in the amazon rainforest. Cloves are great because they are mineral and antioxidant rich. The body burns minerals when under a state of stress and antioxidants cope with the oxidative stress load that the body has on a cellular level. - You’re Exhausted Often:
There is an unspoken art form to high quality sleep. Not many are speaking about it, but I know it’s real because I have personally experienced very low quality sleep and very high quality sleep, and everything in between. Years ago I struggled to fall asleep and to stay asleep. Everything that could go wrong with my sleep seemed to. Now, I sleep better than a baby. I go to sleep calm, I wake up feeling rested. It took a lot of time, energy and dedication to get my sleep back on track and get it to where it is. In fact, I almost wrote a book on sleep at one point! Here’s what I learned in that time. First, lighting is important. If you have bright lights on at night your sleep quality suffers. There’s a reason the sun goes down, mimic nature in your lighting. Warmer lighting in a red or orange hue actually improves sleep quality. Second, don’t eat or drink at night. The body is supposed to be recovering physically. The entire body is regenerating. If you eat before sleep the body and your energy go towards metabolism instead of healing and repairing your legs, your gut, your brain and more. Third, sleep in a dark cool environment. We get a higher quality of sleep and sleep more deeply in a dark and cool environment. The body simply responds better to this type of environment.
You can also boost your energy levels in the morning and move earlier in the gym or around your neighborhood. I personally like taking something like camu camu berry to get my brain going and something like Suma to boost my testosterone. Camu boosts happy brain chemistry in the form of serotonin and Suma boosts estrogen for women and testosterone for men. Getting your mind and body active in the day earlier is good because your body will be more physically tired at night. Then something like Ashwaghanda after dinner may be a good way to bring the body into a more relaxed, ready to sleep state.
We took the biggest problems facing your immunity and formulated a botanical supplement with 18 plants including cinnamon for blood sugar regulation, neem for the first response of the immune system, Ashwaghanda for stress adaption along with Sangre De Grado and clove to handle oxidative stress as the #1 and #2 highest ORAC rated foods in the world. We also included camu camu berry, the richest source of vitamin C in the world along with Suma to boost testosterone or estrogen so that your energy is good and your body has what it needs to radiate immunity on every level.
Click here to learn more about Radiate Immunity and what it can do for you.
