Tia & Nicole’s TOP 10 tips for Boosting your Immunity Naturally
Do you know what your immune system is and what it is for? Your immune system helps defend your body against substances it sees as harmful or foreign. Sounds like a pretty important job so it enlists the cells in your skin, blood, bone marrow, tissues and organs to protect your body against harmful pathogens like bacteria and viruses. Your immune system also helps limit damage from non infectious causes like sunburn or cancer.
To protect your body you need an effective immune system which means every part needs to be working effectively.
👉 Healthy skin to help prevent germs from getting into the body
👉 Mucous membranes to help trap and fight germs
👉 White blood cells to fight germs
👉 Organs and tissues to produce, store and carry white blood cells.
Immune response is when your body recognises a foreign or harmful substance and attacks it. Your body produces proteins called Antibodies go to work to attack, weaken and destroy. A weakened immune system leaves you open to attack and a strong healthy immune system attacks back.
👉 How can you boost your own immunity?
👉 Healthy lifestyle
👉 More good quality sleep
👉 Don’t smoke
👉 Healthy weight
👉 Reduce stress
👉 Exercise
👉 Alcohol (in moderation)
👉 Look after Chronic conditions
So how can we improve our immunity?
Tia Veech (Aromatherapist Tia – the Oil Lady) recommends the use of essential oils to help support your immune system. Tia says there are oils that can help you to sleep by relaxing the central nervous system as well as stopping the mind chatter, oils that help your stress levels naturally and oils that can help you fight off bacteria and viruses. The use of quality pure essential oils can help improve your immune response to help combat bacteria, viruses and pathogens.
Essential oils help our bodies remove toxins from our blood streams so if we start with making lifestyle choices that reduce toxins in our homes – cleaning products and personal care products we make it easier for our immune system to do the job it needs to do.
Here are some essential oil suggestions for you to try:
👉 Frankincense: apply a drop to pulse points to help with depression and anxiety, also great for cellular function (frankincense is one of the main ingredients of doterra’s DDR Prime supplement)
👉 Kumquat: 1 drop in a glass of water for immune support and boost metabolism, 1-3 drops on the bottom of your feet for immunity support and nervous system health, to boost your mood inhale 1 drop from cupped hands.
👉 Lavender: To help with stress and anxiety apply 1 drop to your temples or add to your diffuser.
👉 Lemon and or Lime: Lemon & Lime Oils comes from the rind of the fruit. Adding 1 drop of lemon or lime oil to your water daily helps your body detox, works as antioxidants and much more.
👉 Siberian Fir: As an immune stimulant apply 1-2 drops to the bottom of your feet each day. You could make a roller up with 10-20 drops of Siberian Fir and topping your 10ml Roller up with Fractionated Coconut oil and rolling on your feet daily.
👉 Spikenard: one of my all time favourites works the same as Siberian Fir on the base of your feet (could combine the 2).
👉 Wild Orange: as well as being a cheering and mood enhancer, Wild Orange can also be added to the base of your feet to help with immune support. You can also gargle 2 drops daily with water to help.
👉 DDR Prime (the cellular complex): is a supplement available from Doterra that helps repair damaged DNA, rheumatoid arthritis and 1 soft gel each day will help with immune support.
👉 Stronger (the kids protective blend) is a ready made roller for the little ones, apply to the bottom of their feet each morning for an immune system boost.
👉 On Guard (the protective blend) in roller bottles can be rolled on the bottom of your feet daily for an immune system boost, the oil can be diffused daily, use the sanitising hand mist to protect yourself, the soft gels (from the US) can be taken daily. On guard also has hand wash and cleaning products that help reduce the toxins in your house, the less in the house the less your body absorbs, the less stress on your system.
(reference: https://www.go.oilmagicbook.com/library )
Nicole Cusack (Food & Nutrition Coach at Nictricious) suggests these great foods to help boost immunity:
👉 Citrus: This is a bit of a no-brainer- we all know that Citrus contains lots of Vitamin C. This very useful vitamin can protect the body against oxidative stress which helps to support immune function. Oxidative stress is associated with an increased risk of various health conditions including cancer, stroke and diabetes. As a type of antioxidant, Vitamin C is a free radical scavenger and enhances immunity by supporting cellular function.
👉 Capsicum: If you thought that Citrus was the king of Vitamin C, think again! 30g of capsicum contains almost 3 times as much vitamin C as an orange.
👉 Broccoli is hands-down one of the healthiest vegetables. It is packed with vitamins A, C and E as well as fibre and other antioxidants. The key to get as many nutrients as possible is not to overcook it- better yet eat it raw!
👉 Ginger may help to decrease inflammation which can help to reduce a sore throat and inflammatory illnesses.
👉 Garlic has been recognised since early civilisation for its value in fighting infections. It may also slow down the hardening of arteries and lower blood pressure.
👉 Spinach, like broccoli, is rich in Vitamin C and also packed with antioxidants and beta carotene which may increase the infection-fighting ability of our immune systems. Similar to broccoli, spinach is healthiest when it’s cooked as little as possible. However, light cooking allows the body to absorb Vitamin A more easily.
👉 Nuts & Seeds are a great snack and also aid the immune system as they are rich in magnesium and Vitamin E, an antioxidant that’s been shown to improve the body’s ability to fight off bacteria and viruses. Just one brazil nut contains more than 100% of your daily selenium needs, a mineral that can strengthen the immune system. A handful of sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts and pecans can also give you a Vitamin E boost.
👉 Yoghurt is rich in probiotics which is the good bacteria that support good gut health. As already stated, a huge proportion of the immune system resides in the Gut. When enjoying yoghurt look for plain and unsweetened varieties.
👉 Seafood, Poultry and other protein sources: Zinc is a mineral found in meats like oysters, poultry, seafood, beef and lamb and it works with the protein in meat to strengthen the immune system. Fish such as salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel contain Omega- 3 fatty acids which help to enhance the functioning of immune cells.
👉 Dark Chocolate! I had to include this in the list for all those chocolate lovers. Dark chocolate is high in magnesium, which plays a huge role in immune function, but remember to eat it in moderation! It is also said that a craving for dark chocolate may indicate a magnesium deficiency in the body. I should also say that magnesium can be found in other foods such as avocado, dark leafy greens, nuts & seeds, salmon & tuna and bananas to name a few.
We hope this has given you some great and practical ideas to help you boost your immunity naturally.
Tia Veech - Aromatherapist
https://www.tiatheoillady.com
https://www.theoilhut.com
Nicole Cusack - Food & Nutrition Coach
https://www.nictritiious.com.au