3 Ways to Boost Your Immunity this Cold and Flu Season*

Freaked out by the enterovirus, ebola and the upcoming cold and flu season?  We hear ya.  While we can’t guarantee that you won’t get sick this year, we can give you recommendations on how to improve your immunity so that you can fend off sicknesses that may come your way in the coming months.*  Here are the most important things you should do from the perspective of Chinese medicine:

• Optimize your digestion
• Increase circulation
• Manage your emotions
  

Improve your Digestion

They say that your digestive system makes up 70% of your immune system.  What you put into your body and how effectively your digestive system extracts nutrients and fights off bacteria and viruses are important factors in boosting your immunity.

Think about the food you’re putting in your body.  Ask yourself, what nutritional value am I getting from this?  (Hint:  Fruits and veggies often give you the most nutritional bang for your buck.)

Avoid:

• Sugar
• Greasy foods
• Cold raw foods

These foods can be taxing on your digestive system.  So those cold salads and smoothies you make in the morning?  You might rethink consuming those as the temperatures outside drop.  In Chinese medicine, we take our environment into consideration when deciding what to eat.  Generally, we eat foods that are in season and modify our choices as seasons change.  If you have a sensitive digestive tract, it is important to know that too much cold, raw foods will weaken digestion and can lead to increased bloating and loose stools.*  From our perspective, these symptoms indicate that your ability to digest, metabolize and absorb the nutrients in food is compromised.*  One way to reduce the strain on digestion is to steam, bake or quickly stir-fry your food.*  This assists in breaking down the cell wall of vegetables and makes it easier to digest.

In addition, at the clinic, we carry immunity boosting herbs and can create a formula specifically designed to help you this cold and flu season.*  Among other things, these herbs can help you with digestion, energy levels and processing phlegm.* Ask us about creating a formula to carry you through the upcoming cold months.

Increase Circulation

When your circulation is performing well, your body is in the best position possible to repair itself.  After the nutrients from the food have been digested and extracted, the blood cells’ carry those nutrients, antioxidants and oxygen to the cells in the different areas of the body.  You can see, then, why circulation is important when your cells are being attacked by bacteria and viruses. Just like we need roadways to be properly maintained so that first responders can quickly reach their destinations in the event of emergencies, so too do we need our blood to be circulating effectively.

How can you increase your circulation?

• Get acupuncture.  Studies have found that acupuncture improves circulation.*
• Exercise.  Exercise puts your circulatory system to work by getting your blood pumping through your body.

Manage Your Emotions

Yes, your mood can affect your health!  Managing your emotions can help you because being upset causes stress on your body, and the more stressed you are, the more difficult it is for your body to fight off the bad guys that invade it.*  Make sure you find ways of managing your emotions that work for you, such as:

• Engage in breathing exercises.  Feeling upset?  Find a quiet spot and take a few minutes to just focus on breathing evenly and deeply.
• Start a gratitude practice.  Write down something that you are grateful for every day and jot down what’s going well for you in your life!  It can really help you focus on the good in your life, whereas we, as a society, often tend to focus on the bad.
• Use positive thinking.  Along the same lines as using a gratitude journal, practice positive thinking and see its magic work for you.  Envision yourself living the life you’d like to live.  Focus on the positive instead of the negative.  Need help with this?  Check out the movie, The Secret.
• Power-pose.  Boost your confidence by picking your favorite super hero and spending just two minutes a day copying them.  No, we don’t mean leaping tall buildings in a single bound or rescuing kittens from a tree.  Rather, pose like them. Think about Superman or Wonder Woman standing with their legs shoulder-width apart and their hands resting on their hips.  There’s a fabulous TED Talk on how research has shown power-posing to improve your confidence as well as others’ perceptions of you! Check it out here.
• Get more acupuncture!  Acupuncture has been shown to help people manage anxiety and depression.*  Contact us today for an appointment!
• Do some yoga.  Yoga is super relaxing.  We promise you will feel calm, cool and collected afterwards.
• Exercise.  Not only does it help with circulation, but it releases endorphins which help improve your mood and positive outlook on life.
• Find constructive ways to release emotions.  In Chinese medicine, we believe if you keep your emotions pent up inside you for more than 72 hours it becomes pathological.  Instead of keeping it inside, release it. Try punching or screaming into a pillow, or talk with someone you trust but make sure to let them know you need to vent.
• Get your omega 3s.  Studies indicate that omega 3s are helpful in managing mood, and as a societal level, we are deficient in omega 3 consumption.*  Try incorporating flax seeds, chia seeds and/or a high quality fish oil into your diet.  (We highly recommend Nordic Naturals’ brand of fish oil.  Enter practitioner code 106250 for 15% off and free shipping!)

Family Acupuncture & Herbs specializes in treating infertility, chronic pain and women’s health issues, among other things, through the use of acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and nutritional counseling.*  Contact us today for a free consult!

*Disclaimer:  Specific results are not guaranteed.  Results may vary from person to person.