5 Ways to Prime Your Immune System

Stop Boosting Your Immune System... Prime It Instead!

By Jayne Williams

It’s that time of year! Kids are back to school, many are back to work, gatherings are happening with holidays ahead…….AND with all of that comes many reasons to really focus on our health.

I know the world has felt off-kilter with the addition of Covid and now with fall and winter germs trying to creep in, we have an even BIGGER reason to focus on our health and do everything we can to “assist” our body with building and strengthening our immunity.

So what can we do to “prime” our body against these unwanted germs and feel good during and after the holidays are over???

1. Build a Better Plate

Ideally, every meal that you consume should include protein, healthy fat, fiber, greens, and spices/ superfoods. This way of eating gives you ALL the feel-good components to assist your body with better fueling throughout the day. It also assists your body in better digestion, a healthier gut, and elongates your blood sugar curve (keeping you away from sugary snacks that cause increased inflammation, metabolic disease, and in turn putting you at a higher risk for a weakened immune system).

2. For Goodness Sake, Hydrate!

It goes without question we need lots of water throughout the day, BUT we also need MINERALS, and superfood primers! Most of us are walking around mineral deficient, especially in essential minerals like sodium, magnesium, and potassium. It’s incredibly important to hydrate with “benefits” or “EXTRAS” in your water or health tonics.

My favorite kind of water is water with benefits: You can use something as simple as a 32 oz mason jar…fill with room temp water and a tablespoon of chia seeds (they are rich in omegas, protein, fiber, and magnesium…which women tend to be especially low in). A pinch of sea salt — for mineral and electrolyte content — and 1/2 lemon to help detox and reset the kidneys.

3. Get Your Sleep

I know we hear this ALL.THE.TIME., but honestly, how many hours of quality sleep do you get a night? Do you even really know? If you aren’t sleeping well, why? Is it because you are eating too late? Eating sweets before bed…spicy or heavy food maybe? Not setting up your sleep environment in a way that invites “quality” sleep? Do you go to bed with electronics? Is it hot in your room? Is it dark in your room? What are you doing to wind down, to promote better sleep at night? These are ALL questions you should be asking yourself. If you are answering YES to any of these questions, it’s time to make a few changes! If you aren’t sleeping well, you are not allowing your body to do the repair, reset, and digestion work it needs to do overnight.

4. Get Regular Movement

WE. NEED. TO. MOVE! It’s as simple as that! I’m not talking about turning over in the bed or going from sitting to standing at your desk. It needs to be an “active” movement.

Think walking at a good pace for 20 minutes or more (get that heart rate up), incorporating strength training into our weekly routine (weights are great, but you can also use bodyweight and even a chair), or doing interval training (one of my favorite workouts is a HIIT, high-intensity interval training, workout)

5. Practice Mindfulness & Purposefully Breathe

Did you know when we sleep our cortisol levels (an inflammation marker) naturally increase? If you are running around all day, not managing your stress levels, not taking time to breathe, not making space to remove tension you are holding in your body, then guess what????

You are actually increasing inflammation levels in your body. Don’t forget to breathe with purpose, even try a short 1- 2 minute breathwork exercise.

BIGGEST takeaway??? What we need to do for our bodies is to stop focusing on boosting and focus more on priming so we are well ahead of any curve that may be lying ahead this year and beyond.

The better you treat your body, the healthier you are, which means the better equipped you are for ALL you encounter. Here’s to priming and building resilience!

Jayne Williams is a Certified Integrative Health and Nutrition Expert and long-time advocate of health and nutrition. Having suffered for many years with gut and stress-related issues, Jayne empowered herself to learn everything she could to get healthy and, in turn, has made it her life’s work to help others to do the same.