Chronic conditions, such as POTS, can be heightened and triggered by sickness. So, this makes it very important to do what you can to stay healthy! Read on to find 10 easy ways to boost your immune system!
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Why You Should Boost Your Immunity
No one likes being sick! It’s not fun to feel crummy and be stuck in bed all day. However, it becomes more important for those with POTS to actually avoid getting sick. Any type of sickness will exaggerate and increase your POTS symptoms. Here are 5 reasons why this happens.
5 Reasons Why POTS Symptoms Increase With Sickness
- Fever increases your heart rate: this will increase heart palpitations and spikes
- Sickness leads to more rest: more rest means lower blood volume and increased blood pooling
- Inflammation from sickness will also increase nausea and body aches caused by POTS
- Your body re-directs blood to the area of infection to naturally fight it off and increases your heart rate to compensate for this
- Your body loses a lot of fluid when you are sick
All of these factors work together to cause a temporary increase in POTS symptoms. The main reason is due to your autonomic nervous system controls your blood flow and heart rate. If you have POTS, then your autonomic nervous system does not function properly. This causes your heart to not be able to pump blood throughout your body normally. So, anything that causes changes to your blood flow will also cause changes to your POTS symptoms. As a result, you will not only have to deal with the symptoms of whatever sickness you have, but also temporary flare ups in your POTS symptoms as well. That is no fun!
Also, you are very limited on what types of medication you can take to fight off sickness when you have POTS. This will make it harder to fight off sickness so it’s best to try boosting your immune system instead! So, let’s take a look at 10 easy ways to boost your immune system!
10 Ways to Boost Your Immune System
As you can see, it is very important to avoid getting sick. One of the best ways to do this is to boost your immune system. Your immune system is your body’s natural defense to sickness.
Check out this article to find out more information on what your immune system is and how it works!
(Side note, how amazing is it that we have bodies that can naturally fight off infections and sickness?? To me, that’s one sign that points to creation. I just don’t see how things like this could happen out of coincidence! Our bodies were designed to do incredible things like this!)
Now that we have learned why it’s important to increase your immune system, let’s take a look at how to actually do this. Here are 10 easy ways to boost your immune system!
- Eat a healthy diet
- Exercise Regularly
- Get enough sleep
- Keep stress levels low
- Do not smoke
- Avoid drinking alcohol
- Wash hands frequently
- Drink elderberry syrup
- Take vitamins and supplements
- Stay hydrated
1. Eat a Healthy Diet to Boost Your Immune System
Have you ever heard the phrase, “You are what you eat?” Well, in this case, that actually rings true. It turns out that if you feed your body with junk, you will also feel like junk! Here are some tips to help you learn what you should and shouldn’t eat in order to have a healthy immune system.
Do:
- Eat more healthy fats– Healthy fats found in foods like olive oil, salmon and chia seeds are known to reduce inflammation and reduce your chances of chronic diseases.
- Eat more fermented foods– Fermented foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, miso, tempeh, and natto, are rich in probiotics. Probiotics are crucial to maintaining a healthy gut. Research suggests that a flourishing network of gut bacteria can help your immune cells differentiate between normal, healthy cells and harmful ones to better fight off sickness.
- Eat more whole plant foods– Whole plant foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes are rich in nutrients and antioxidants. Antioxidants are important to repair cell damage and reduce inflammation. Also, these foods are high in fiber. Fiber is important to maintaining a healthy gut. Finally, many fruits and vegetables are also high in vitamin C which is known to boost your immunity!
- Eat more garlic– Garlic has SO many health benefits! Try eating 1-2 raw cloves of garlic a day to help keep the doctor away!
- Eat healthy lean proteins– Lean proteins such as seafood, chicken, tofu, lean cuts off beef, and legumes contain high amounts of zinc and vitamin B. Zinc is a great immunity booster and vitamin B increases your focus and energy levels! Consuming lean proteins also curbs your appetite, helps you lose weight, repairs muscles, and lowers your risk for heart disease!
Don’t:
- Don’t eat foods with added or processed sugars– Sugar is known to decrease your body’s ability to fight off infections, germs, and viruses. Sugar also leads to weight gain and an increased risk for diabetes.
- Don’t eat a lot of simple carbs– Simple carbs like bread and pasta are quickly digested and create spikes in glucose levels. Simple carbs are also processed and contain minimal vitamins and nutrients. Consuming simple carbs will lead to higher sugar levels, weight gain, and a decreased immune system.
2. Exercise Regularly for a Boost in Immunity
Studies like this one have shown that “prolonged periods of intensive exercise training can depress immunity, while regular moderate intensity exercise is beneficial.” In other words, moderate levels of exercise are very beneficial in boosting your immune system! However, too much exercise can actually decease your immunity. The same is true for those with POTS. Too much exercise will increase your POTS symptoms and slow your recovery. However, consistent moderate exercise will greatly improve your POTS symptoms. It is so important to find the correct balance!
If you do have POTS, then you are hopefully already exercising consistently by using a therapy plan like the Levine Protocol. If not, then check out this page below to find out how and why you should be doing this!
3. Get Enough Sleep: An Easy Way to Boost Your Immune System
Did you know that almost half of Americans today say they do not get enough sleep? That is a pretty alarming statistic! Studies like this one, reveal why this is dangerous and damaging for your health. Having a good sleep schedule is not only important for treating POTS, but it is also important to boosting your immune system.
Sleep plays such an important role in your overall health. A good night’s sleep will give your body time to rest and recover from the day, improve your mental health, and give you energy needed to get through the day. On the other hand, getting poor sleep will wear you down both mentally and physically.
Click on this link to see how much sleep you should actually be getting
4. Keep Stress Levels Low
Mental health is such an important thing to focus on for your overall well being! Unfortunately, the craziness of our society makes it very difficult to avoid stressful situations. Studies have shown that long term stress will increase inflammation and suppress the immune system.
Keeping your stress levels low is probably the hardest item on my list of 10 easy ways to boost your immune system. However, it is possible and also very important to keep your stress levels low to help keep sickness away!
Activities that may help you manage your stress include exercise, journaling, yoga, reading, prayer, and finding a hobby. You may also benefit from seeing a licensed counselor or therapist.
Check out this post on How Mental Health Can Make or Break POTS Symptoms for other suggestions on how to improve your mental health!
5. Do Not Smoke
Cigarette smoke has been known to cause a number of health problems. Smoking harms your immune system and lowers your ability to fight off infection. In addition, smoking messes up the balance of your immune system and makes you more susceptible to getting auto immune disorders.
Please visit this site to find out more on the damage smoking can do to your body.
If you have a problem with smoking, please call the number listed below or visit these websites to get help!
1-800-QUIT-NOW
smokefree.gov
cdc.gov/tips
6. Avoid or limit Alcohol Consumption
Drinking alcohol weakens your body’s ability to fight infections, increases the risk of complications, and makes it harder to get better if you are sick. If you have POTS, alcohol can also increase your symptoms and dehydrate you. Those are some big reasons to avoid it!
Check out this post on Why Alcohol and POTS Should Never Be Mixed.
Instead, here is a great list of non-alcoholic options to try!
- Athletic Brewing– this company has won numerous awards around the world for their tasty craft brews! They also have non-alcoholic seltzers as well!
- Ritual Zero Proof– this company has non-alcoholic versions of tequila, rum, gin, and whiskey so you can still enjoy your favorite “mock-tails”
- Sutter Home Fre– here are some great non-alcoholic options for wine!
- ProofNoMore– this site is full of non-alcoholic products to try!
Please visit this site for more ideas on how to get help if you struggle with alcohol consumption.
7. Wash Hands Frequently
Ok, so washing your hands doesn’t actually boost your immune system, but it does help prevent you from getting sick! This easy step will lower your chances of getting any type of sickness because it will eliminate germs from your hands. I don’t know if you have noticed, but we kind of use our hands to touch everything. Germs and viruses can live on surfaces and then spread to our body through our hands. So, wash those germs away!!
Washing your hands also helps prevent the spread of germs to other people. So, this step can also help your friends and family!
8. Drink Elderberry Syrup to Help Boost Your Immune System
Elderberry is a superfood with major immunity boosting qualities! In fact, just one cup of elderberries contains 40% of your recommended daily amount of vitamin C! Elderberries are jammed packed with vitamin C and antioxidants which help fight off sickness and repair cell damage to reduce inflammation.
Elderberries can be taken in pill form, chewable, or syrup. My personal favorite is drinking it in it’s syrup form! It is very easy to make your own recipe and also saves you a lot of money!
Check out this post to learn How to Make Elderberry Syrup
However, if you want to just purchase already made products, I would recommend Garden of Life.
Shop Garden of Life Elderberry Products Here
9. Take Vitamins and Supplements to Give Your Immune System A Boost
Ok let’s face it, we all know we can get all the vitamins and nutrients needed for a healthy lifestyle through the foods we eat. However, I don’t think there is a person on the planet who actually does this! So, taking vitamins and supplements are a great way to ensure you are getting the correct amount of vitamins and nutrients essential to living a healthy life!
Here are the supplements I take on a daily basis:
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Multi-vitamin
- Flaxseed Oil or Chia See Oil for Omega 3’s
- Elderberry Syrup
- Probiotic
Other Immunity Boosting Supplements:
- Zinc
- B Complex
I personally do not take a zinc or B complex supplements on a daily basis because I get enough of that from the lean proteins I eat. This was also confirmed with some bloodwork I had done. I would highly recommend you get bloodwork done to see where your levels are. Getting bloodwork done will also reveal any potential deficiencies you may have. However, increasing your zinc and vitamin B levels when you are sick will help you fight off your illness faster.
Taking at least a Multi-Vitamin, Vitamin C, Zinc, and Elderberry will be a great place to start to gain some immunity boosting fuel to your body! However, it will be a good idea to base your daily vitamins and supplements off of the levels revealed in your bloodwork.
What Brand of Vitamins Should You Take to Help Boost Your Immunity?
Thankfully, there are a lot of options when it comes to vitamin brands. I personally love Garden of Life products. All of their products are made from food. Real food. Not some artificial stuff grown in a lab to have higher vitamins and nutrients.
Great news is, Garden of Life has EVERY type of vitamin and supplement you can dream of. They also have diet and exercise products as well!
Shop Garden of Life Products Here
10. Stay Hydrated
Increasing your fluid intake is an essential step for treating your POTS. So, this won’t be a problem to you! However, it is also very important to push the clear fluids as much as possible in order to give your immune system a boost.
Staying hydrated flushes out toxins and gives your body the fluids needed to refuel and replenish itself. If you are dehydrated, your body will not be able to do this properly. Dehydration will also lead to an increased level of toxins which will cause sickness and low energy levels.
Closing Thoughts: 10 Ways to Boost Your Immune System
I hope this post has given you a better understanding of why boosting your immune system is important! Thankfully, it can be an easy process to do this as well!
Try your best to follow these 10 easy ways to boost your immune system and you’ll be on your way to keeping sickness away and feeling great!
Finally, what are some ways you boost your immune system? I would love to hear about them in the comments below! As always, please share away on social media to help spread the word!