Well, it’s that time of year again – Flu season. And dealing with the seasonal flu on top of COVID-19 means one thing: Your immune system needs to be strong enough to pull double duty!
Of course, it’s vital to continue to take action to prevent exposure to COVID, and there are many guidelines to help you with this. However, now we’re able to move about more freely in our day-to-day lives, we can’t always remove ourselves from possible exposure.
With all that said, there is no better defense for any virus than a robust immune system. In this article, we’ll give you a few important ways you can boost your immunity now, and stay healthy long into the future.
Interested in Learning More?
You can reach us at (214) 740-4703, or complete the form below and we will contact you!
A Strong Immune System is Your Best Protection
The immune system has one main role – to protect the body against threats from viruses, bacteria, fungi, and the like. Once your immune system is weakened, the mitochondria (powerhouses of the cells) lose their strength as well and can appear poisoned.
Many different things can compromise the immune system, such as:
- Poor diet/poor gut health
- Chronic disease
- Lack of quality sleep
- Physical stress
- Emotional/mental stress
- Toxins
- Lifestyle
- Autoimmune diseases
At Renewed Vitality, we can help you identify exactly what may be contributing to a weakened immune system and correct it.
Our Functional Medicine Approach to Strengthen Your Immune System
When it comes to making sure you have a strong, healthy immune system, we incorporate a Functional Medicine approach. We spend the necessary time to get to know you, your symptoms, and your health history. In this way, we can delve deep to identify and address your specific health issues and any underlying causes that may be contributing to a weakened immune system.
Our treatment protocols include looking for all agents that may be causing damage to the mitochondria and working to rid the body of these toxins. We also use specific nutrient supplements and any other necessary treatment to get your body functioning as it should.
We will treat you with medications as needed, but our priority is to help you strengthen your immune system and identify and treat conditions that can cause you to continue to have health issues.
Hormones and Their Effect on Immunity
When you experience hormonal imbalances — which can occur for both women and men — it can lead to a weakened immune system, disease, early aging, infertility, and autoimmune disorders. So as you can see, getting your hormones properly balanced can be a huge boost to your immune system.
If a person is experiencing hormonal imbalances in one area, it’s not uncommon for the entire endocrine system to be disrupted since all the hormones work synergistically with each other.
At Renewed Vitality, we test all your hormones and key vitamin levels to ensure that your body is performing as efficiently as possible. And we offer Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy to keep you healthy and thriving.
The Role of Gut Health and the Immune System
Your gut microbiome greatly influences your immune system. It’s the first line of defense against disease and acute illness. Often, the breakdown of the immune system can be linked to the health of the microbiome.
The microbiome also affects your metabolic rate. An underactive thyroid, adrenal fatigue, stress, lack of sleep, and an accumulation of toxins can wreak havoc on your metabolism. Therefore, a healthy microbiome is critical to not only digestion, but mood, cognitive function, aging, and of course, your immune system.
While some conventional practitioners recognize the underlying causes of disease and symptoms linked to gut health, they often don’t fully understand the role of the microbiome. And they don’t test for it. Instead, they will prescribe a medication to treat a symptom. At Renewed Vitality, we recognize the importance of a healthy gut microbiome and offer testing to help identify the root cause(s) of what is ailing you.
Interested in Learning More?
You can reach us at (214) 740-4703, or complete the form below and we will contact you!
Stress and Your Immune System
Feeling more stressed than usual these days? You’re not alone! Yet stress can be a major contributor to a weakened immune system.
Our immune system is comprised of billions of white blood cells (lymphocytes and phagocytes) that fight off bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells in the body. Chronic stress can produce higher-than-normal levels of the hormone cortisol, which can suppress your immune system’s effectiveness in fighting off invaders. It does this by lowering the number of lymphocytes present in the blood and interfering with normal white blood cell communication.
If you’re dealing with stress you can’t seem to shake, try to identify the sources, and find ways to avoid or cope with them. Here’s one effective way: turn off the TV, stop scrolling through social media, and take some time to sit back and relax. That 24-hour news cycle isn’t doing anyone any favors!
Additionally, there may be other health or lifestyle factors contributing to your stress. With our functional medicine approach, we can certainly help you address those.
The Importance of Sleep
There is no question that poor sleep can affect your immune system. Many studies show that people who don’t get quality sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus. Plus, it will take longer to recover from any illness if you’re not getting enough sleep.
For the average adult, seven to nine hours of good sleep will not only bolster your immune system, but it will also help with every other system in your body. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body can’t produce enough infection-fighting antibodies and cells. That can make it much harder to fight of a virus like the flu, or COVID-19.
And while one or two nights of non-optimum sleep aren’t enough to cause serious issues, many people suffer from sleep disorders. These disorders can cause a host of other chronic conditions, yet they can be treated.
If you’re having sleep issues, it’s vital that you get them properly treated. To that end, our proven methods of sleep therapy may be able to help.
Vitamins and Foods to Boost Your Immune System
Part of building a healthy immune system includes eating healthy foods and taking immune-boosting supplements. A few of the most important foods to strengthen the immune system are:
- Garlic and onions
- Pomegranate juice
- G3 Juice from Pharmanex
- Home-squeezed orange juice
- Any kind of pepper
- A diet rich in brightly colored fruits and vegetables (carotenoids are part of your immune system)
And when it comes to vitamins, the following are key for a strong immune system:
- A good multivitamin
- 5000-10,000 IU daily of Vitamin D3
- At least 2000 mg daily of Vitamin C
- Vitamin A
While you can get many of these vitamins from the foods you eat, it’s important to know if you have any vitamin deficiencies which may need supplementation. We can help there, as well. You can also find more of Dr. Spurlock’s immune-boosting tips in this post.
We are Here for You!
At Renewed Vitality, we take your whole-body health very seriously. We will do whatever is needed to make sure you have a strong immune system.
Dr. Spurlock has over 35 years of experience as a viral specialist, treating complex conditions such as Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Chronic Viral Syndrome.
Our Nurse Practitioners have studied extensively under Dr. Spurlock and follow his same protocols. They also have years of knowledge and experience under their belts.
We’re all here for just one reason: To help you achieve optimal health so you can live your life with vitality and wellness.
We Can Help You Strengthen Your Immune System and Improve Your Overall Health
Please contact our New Patient Coordinator for your Free Phone Consultation. She can answer any questions or concerns that you may have and give you additional information about our providers, our protocols and fees, what is covered by insurance and what is not, and any other details you may need. She can also get you booked for your first appointments if you decide we are a good fit for you. There are no obligations to book an appointment.
You can reach us at (214) 740-4703, or complete the form below and we will contact you!