Keeping Yourself Healthy This Winter

Looking after your immune system makes very good sense!

Your immune system works incredibly hard. In fact, it’s nothing short of a miracle that you survive the plethora of viruses, bacteria, fungi, toxins and cellular abnormalities that have the potential to make you seriously ill.

This week we want to focus on three essential nutrients and four simple steps to help you improve your immune system and stay healthy.

The top three nutrients for lowering your risk for respiratory infections and improving your overall immune health. 

Vitamin D3 – Low Vitamin D levels have been associated with a wide range of serious health conditions including respiratory illness, auto-immune disease, muscular-skeletal problems, cancer and heart disease. It’s estimated that more than 50% of New Zealanders have sub-optimal Vitamin D3 levels and would benefit from a supplement. 

Zinc – Needed for immune cell development and communication, Zinc plays an important role in inflammatory response. Zinc also specifically protects tissue barriers in the body and helps prevent foreign pathogens from entering. According to research, 16% of all deep respiratory infections worldwide have been found to be due to zinc deficiency. 

Vitamin C – supports the function of various immune cells and enhances their ability to protect against infection. It’s also necessary for cellular death, which helps keep your immune system healthy by clearing out old cells and replacing them with new ones. Vitamin C is also a powerful antioxidant, protecting against damage induced by oxidative stress, which can negatively affect immune health and is linked to numerous diseases.

Supplementing with Vitamin D,  Zinc, and Vitamin C can be very helpful for your immune system and studies have shown that these nutrients play key roles in reducing the duration and severity of upper respiratory tract infections, including the common cold.  

Four simple steps to help you stay healthy this winter

• Maintain a healthy weight. Yes, your weight has a big effect on your immune health. Studies show the more weight you carry, the more at risk you are for serious health outcomes from common infections.
• Get plenty of sleep. 7-9 hours of sleep each night is essential for the proper functioning of all bodily systems including your immune system. If sleep is an issue for you, ask us for help in resolving this!
• Eat real food. We can’t emphasise this enough. Real food contains real nutrients. Processed food doesn’t! End of story!
• Use supplements to support your body. While fresh food contains many essential nutrients, modern intensive farming and storage methods mean that most foods contain fewer nutrients than they should. Quality supplements help meet this shortfall.

Click here to speak with one of our team about losing weight quickly and easily, and about which nutritional supplements may be the most helpful for you.