Forget Supplements: Focus on a Healthy Lifestyle

Winter will soon be upon us and with it the cold and flu season. Although there is nothing you can do to stop an infection or virus once you have it, there are steps you can take to boost your immunity, thus minimising the possibility of becoming ill.

There are many supplements you can buy that claim they’ll boost your immunity, but I’ve never found them to protect you any better than by just keeping a healthy lifestyle.

Food and Nutrition

Boosting your immunity means eating a daily diet which combines protein, carbohydrates and fats in the right proportions, so that the body receives all the necessary nutrition it needs for maximum health. A diet high in protein and fats with minimal carbohydrates might be the current fad when it comes to quick weight loss, but it does nothing to improve your health and wellbeing. Complex carbohydrates (ie potatoes, pasta, wheat, etc) are a very important part of your overall diet since they provide the energy to perform our daily tasks and activities, and they contain plenty of vitamins, minerals and fibre, which you wouldn’t get from other foods. Remember: A healthy body starts from the inside and food is the primary factor.

A lot of people ask me if they should take vitamin supplements. If you have a well balanced diet they are unnecessary. However, if your lifestyle is one of skipping meals and not eating properly, then I would recommend a daily multi-vitamin/mineral tablet until at such time you are able to adjust your diet to include these components.

Hydration

With water making up 60-65% of our bodies, hydration plays a key role in internal bodily functions (ie helping transport waste products in and out of cells). How much water should we drink? Normally, you’ll hear 6-8 glasses, but your urine will also tell you about hydration. If you’re properly hydrated your urine will be light in colour and free of odour.

Exercise

Exercise helps make you look good by keeping body fat levels down, muscles firm and toned, while also keeping your heart healthy and bones strong. For your immune system, exercise helps fight off simple bacterial and viral infections. Having said that, it is important to remember that doing too much exercise is just as bad as doing too little, since without sufficient rest your immune system will not be able to function efficiently, which is the opposite of what we’re trying to achieve!

Sleep

Sleep is where the body gets a chance to recuperate from your daily activities, and without good quality sleep your body will become so run down it will be more susceptible to infections and viruses. Also, should you succumb to any illness, being deprived of sleep will lengthen the time you have the ailment.

Minimise Stress

This is one area that is probably the most difficult for all of us to try to minimise. Stresses from work, family, etc are things that are part of our daily lives, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn to live with them in a less intrusive way. Meditation is not just for monks; anybody can learn how to apply these techniques in an effective way. So, when daily life stresses might be getting the better of you, meditation can bring you back to a healthy, relaxed state.

Individually, each of the above will increase your general health and wellbeing, but doing all of them together will help maximise your immunity over the coming weeks and through the winter season.