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Boost your
IMMUNE
system
TRIED AND TRUE IMMUNITYBUILDING LIFESTYLE TIPS FROM TAMMY FRY, HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE EXPERT AND DIRECTOR AT THE FRY FAMILY FOOD CO.
T
hese times have been incredibly challenging, so I choose to focus on what I can control. Where I can, I try to find the time to slow down, self-reflect, learn new ways of being, doing and creating, while focusing on gratitude for my health and my family’s health. We are all going to need to think of how we can boost our immune systems and better equip our bodies to deal with exposure to viruses and bacteria. We also need to consider how we can prevent lifestyle diseases which would leave us more exposed with a compromised immune system. Covid-19 has created a certain level of fear, and our quest for health and life is more important than ever. Now really is the time to take
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action and make positive lifestyle changes. “Let food be thy medicine!” Hippocrates was right, food can provide us with essential building blocks to health and vitality, and more importantly, keep our immune system in fighting shape. GUT HEALTH IS KEY Our gut health is a critical component of overall health and a marker for the state of the immune system. The stomach essentially performs the task of separating the inside of our body from the outside world. It acts as a filter by removing toxins and waste from the body and allowing nutrients through. The highest and densest microbe population in your body can be found in your gut, where it plays a critical role in digestion, weight regulation and immune system function.
So how do you support your gut? • Eat fermented foods in order to get a wide variety of probiotics, such as Kombucha, Kimchi and sauerkraut, which provide an array of good bacteria. • Take a probiotic supplement or find foods that contain probiotics, which support the good bacteria as they are the precursor for good bacteria. • Eat lots of fibre. Animal-based foods contain no fibre, but plant-based foods are loaded with it. Make sure you are getting a wide variety of plant-
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based foods, including whole grains, a wide range of fruit and vegetables and certain plantbased meats – like the range from the Fry Family Food Co. – which are usually very high in fibre and pesticide-free. • Avoid fruit and vegetables which have been sprayed with pesticides and chemicals. One of the most popular herbicides sprayed on crops contains the chemical glyphosate, which disrupts the gut wall and allows bacteria to pass through the gut lining. This affects the functioning of the immune system. Try to buy organic wherever possible.
