Real Talk on Immunity
How Anyone Can Stay Healthy
Even Pregnant and Breastfeeding Mamas..
When I finally graduated from being a sickly child to a strong healthy adult (not all that long ago) I became incredibly interested in nutrition and wellness. Herb school was foundational to my knowledge and even shifted me away from a vegan diet back to a healthy omniverous one. Since then food and lifestyle medicine is my thing.
I say medicine because what we do every day is far more important to our health than any miracle drug. For most of us attaining health is fairly simple. It does not require an enormous amount of expensive superfoods, herbs and supplements. But it does demand some balance, discipline and a large dose of self love, especially if your natural instinct is to eat a standard amerian diet or see food as a source of comfort rather than nourishment.
COVID-19 has brought about a mass state of panic but the truth is that people are dying every day from lifestyle-related diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. In 2015 alone, over 8 million people died from heart disease. And 1 in 12 pregnant women will suffer from pre-eclampsia, a mostly preventable pregnancy induced high blood pressure than can be deadly for mother and baby.
We are a culture who knows very well how to be sick: how to fight germ warfare and rely on medication and vaccines to keep us safe. But what about in cases like now, when those things aren’t providing us solutions? I believe this illness is a call to action for us to take our health into our own hands and stop relying exclusively on doctors and scientists. I don’t mean that doctors and scientists aren’t important, they very much are. And I’m so grateful that hospitals exist for when we really need them. But what matters most when it comes to health is the way we eat and live every single day.
There is no time like the present to get our health on track. So I want to share a no nonsense guide to wellness for whoever might be interested. This is so simple that it can work for anyone, so no changes need to be made during pregnancy or for older folks taking medications.
1. “Eat Food. Mostly Plants, Not too Much.”
Michael Pollan is a journalist who dedicated much of his time to exploring food and nutrition. He consulted for a documentary called “Food, Inc.” that shares most of what he’s found research wise. His advice is summed up in the sentence… “Eat food, mostly plants, not too much.”
This means shopping around the perimeter of the grocery store to find fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products. So basically all the real foods and no processed ones. Think about what your great-grandmother would cook. A step further would be choosing organic grass-fed, or pastured raised meat, eggs and dairy.
Mostly plants is just that: meat should be a side dish. While protein and animal fats are often key to a healthy body, especially during the childbearing years, there is no need to consume a 14oz piece of meat or fish. A palm size serving is just right. A note on meat: consuming bone broth or powdered collagen will provide the amino acids necessary to lower inflammation that can occur from consuming only muscle meats.
Vegetables, grains, legumes and healthy fats should take up most of the space on your plate. Eating organic and in season is the ideal way to avoid unnecessary toxins and keep up nutrient density. I try to make my plate as colorful as possible and avoid cooking on high heat because that will destory the enzymes you need for healthy digestion. A note on fried food: there is absolutely nothing healthy about cooking your food in a boiling vat of processed vegetable oil!
And be reasonable with your portion sizes. It seems so simple, but just eating this way can make a huge difference in your well being. I would also add two more rules: eat the rainbow and cut out sugar. If you choose fruits, veggies, and legumes that are a variety of colors you’ll know that you’re getting a variety of nutrients. And sugar is one of the biggest killers of immune system health.
2. Move Your Body
Take a walk, do some strength training or yoga, dance, absolutely anything that makes you feel good. Just make sure you are moving your body every day for 20-30 minutes. If you sweat, even better, this means you’re detoxing. Your skin is an elimination pathway, so breaking a sweat gets your lymph moving (which is essentially your immune system) and helps push those toxins out of your skin.
Movement is key to health, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend an hour inside a gym every day, in fact over-exercising can backfire and not only burn out your adrenals but increase oxidative stress in the body leading to inflammation. This is especially true for pregnant women. A daily ritual of walking, dancing, light aerobics or yoga is the perfect way to train for the marathon that is birth.
3. Drink Water and Fluids
In order to be properly hydrated you must drink at least half your body weight in ounces. So if you’re 150 pounds you should be drinking 75 ounces of water, which is about 10 full glasses. This has been the hardest thing for me to maintain, I’m terrible at drinking water. I have had to train myself to do it. I started by adding cucumber, lemon, or anything I could to flavor it. Now plain water works for me.
Your body is mostly water and cannot function when it is dehydrated. In order to eliminate sickness and other waste, you need water inside your cells. This will help push toxins out of your skin, pee and poop. This is especially true for all my pregnant folks, the extra progesterone in your body during pregnancy is constipating and you need more water than ever to keep things moving. Don’t neglect this simple hack for staying regular!
4. Eat Soluble Fiber
We are a fiber deficient culture, for sure. The liver is great at doing it’s job of removing nasty stuff from our bodies. It does this through a chemical reaction with bile. The bile is full of excess hormones, toxins, viruses and bacteria. And it is taken down to the large intestine to be disposed of through the poop. However if there is no fiber in the large intestine that bile gets re-circulated back through the body. This can happen over and over until the liver is totally overwhelmed.
The best way to eat soluble fiber is through beans. I know there is much debate about phytic acid in legumes, but when beans are soaked and prepared properly- like in an instant pot or pressure cooker, that is not an issue. And the benefits of soluble fiber far outweigh the possibility of consuming some phytic acid.
When you eat beans away from fats, or drink a cup of water with pysillium husk in the morning, the bile full of toxins, viruses and bacteria will bind to the fiber and leave you body. That’s how elimination should work. If you aren’t pooping easily every single day, and evacuating your whole bowel, you’re not eliminating properly.
5. Breathe Well
Breathing is another type of detox pathway. Yes we actually exhale toxins from our bodies! Not only that but intentional breathing will also calm your nervous system and tone your vagus nerve, which connects your brain to your heart and gut. This is vital for immune system function.
When we are in fight or flight, our digestive system, detoxification pathways and immune function all shut down. Changing your breathing can quickly put you into a rest and digest, parasympathetic state. This will turn on all of the healing functions of the body. A simple exercise is this:
Inhale for a count of six
Hold for a count of four
Exhale for a count of eight
Hold for a count of four
Repeat for as long as you need.
When you extend the exhale longer than the inhale, it teaches your body to relax, providing a feeling of safety and ease.
6. Put Your Feet on the Ground
Take your shoes off and put your feet on the ground. We all feel good at the beach but not just because we’re on vacation. We also feel good because we are literally charging our bodies with the electromagnetic frequency of the Earth.
It may sound silly but it’s based in science. We are electrical beings, even our hearts function on an electrical circuit, that’s why pacemakers work. The Earth gives off an electromagnetic field too, and it provides grounding for the electrical system inside our bodies. When we put our bare feet onto the Earth our own electrical signals become more balanced. This improves immunity, lowers inflammation, and instantly calms our nervous systems.
7. Take Breaks from Technology
There is a reason why getting outside away from your phone makes you feel better. And there are multiple ways that technology can interfere with your health. One is technology gives off electrical signals that can overwhelm or interfere with our own body’s electromagnetic field. Science shows that non-native EMFs are especially dangerous for developing babies.
Another way technology interferes with our health is that the blue-light emitted from computers, TVs, and phones changes your hormones. When your eyes take in the bright spectrum of blue light, your body believes it is solar noon. If you’re exposing your eyes all day long to this light, you’re telling your body that all day is noon. This disrupts circadian rhythm which then interferes with hormone production, immunity, fertility and detoxification.
I use orange toned halogen bulbs for all my lighting at home. It’s soothing and creates a nice ambiance at night. I also use the “flux” app on my computer. You can set a timer and it will automatically shift away from blue light during those hours. I have shifted the tone on my phone as well, and keep the last two hours before bed technology free. Black out curtains are amazing for your bedroom, as sleeping in total darkness allow melatonin production to increase. Melatonin is a hormone that is crucial for immunity and detoxification. If you don’t want black out curtains, silk eye masks are comfortable and work just as well!
8. Take Vitamins
Unfortunately even eating the healthiest diet may not provide all the nutrition you need. That’s because our food system is pretty broken. The soil it is grown in is often depleted of nutrients and food is usually harvested before it’s ripe and then shipped across the country. A good whole food prenatal or multivitamin is usually all you need to make up for that, but there are some vitamins that are very important to a healthy immune system and a healthy baby.
These are omega-three fatty acids, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, iodine, choline, folate, b-12, iron and selenium. So if your vitamin doesn’t contain these, make sure to take additional supplementation or get them from food.
You can get adequate choline by eating 2 pasture-raised eggs per day, folate and b-12 through liver and lentils, iodine from seaweed, selenium from a few brazil nuts, and omega-threes through oily fish like sardines, mackeral or salmon. Calcium and magnesium come together in supplement form and can improve sleep. Taking an epsom salt bath is another way to get magnesium into your body. The best way to get your vitamin D supply up is to expose your skin to the sun for 20-30 minutes at mid-day.
9. Probiotics
So much of what we do compromises our gut microbiome. Chlorinated water, birth control pills, antibiotics. The good bacteria in our guts is what helps us digest food, extract nutrients, and eliminate toxins. There is also research showing that serotonin production and immunity starts in your gut. If you’re eating enough fiber that’s a good start in repairing your gut microbiome because fiber is what the good bacteria eat.
But adding in probiotics are a great idea. This could be through kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles, kefir or any other fermented food. Some people are more sensitive to fermented foods, like me. I have an elevated histamine response, so instead I supplement with ion-biome which is a supplement I whole heartedly trust. Seed brand probiotics are also excellent as they are soil based and therefore more bioavailable.
10. Drink Nutritive Herbal Teas
Herbs are friends for everyone! A blend of nettle, oat straw and red raspberry leaf are not only safe but incredibly vitamin and mineral rich. My favorite way to get these teas in is to place a few tablespoons of the herbs in a big mason jar, add in a pinch of stevia leaf and top with boiling water. I then leave the mixture overnight in the fridge or on the countertop. This makes a tasty tea that I’ll add to my water throughout the day. This is like taking a multi-vitamin but in a way that is very easy for your body to assimilate.
What About When You’re Sick?
Keep Doing All the Things Above… And Add in These…
My husband got really sick with covid right at the beginning of the pandemic after traveling to LA and Seattle. He felt awful for a few days but he bounced back and I never got sick at all, even though I had recently experienced a miscarriage. Aside from some herbs specific to our constitutions and his symptoms, here is what we did to stay well.
Herbal Steams
This is a great way to clear the lungs by thinning excess mucus, keeping them moisturized, and getting clarifying herbs into the system. Thyme, rosemary and bay leaf are safe during pregnancy and are easily found in the grocery store since they are common cooking herbs. Simply boil a pot of water on the stove and add a few sprigs of each herb. We both did steam inhalations with this a few times a day and I kept a pot burning on the stove to clear the air in our home.
Heating Pad
Heat kills viruses and bacteria, which is why we get fevers when we’re sick. Wrapping a scarf around your throat keeps the lymph nodes warm and resting a heating pad on the chest provides much needed heat to the lungs. Hot baths with an herb like peppermint or yarrow that increases sweating is another great option.
If you are already running a high fever while pregnant I wouldn’t add anymore heat to the body and instead work to bring it down to 101 or lower.
Medicinal Soups
Food is medicine! Easy to digest, well cooked soups full of nutrient dense vegetables, bone broth and animal protein are so healing. Strictly avoid sugar and anything that is difficult to digest. Your body is already working overtime when you are sick so you don’t want to push your digestive system too hard.
Garlic, Lemon, Ginger and Honey Tea
I know, garlic tea might sound gross but I find it very soothing when I’m sick. Ginger, garlic, and honey are all potent antiviral and antimicrobial foods. Lemon is full of vitamin C. These are all pregnancy safe and can be sipped all day long.
I like to use fresh ingredients for this tea. Chop a knob of ginger and a few cloves of garlic. Add 24 ounces of water and cook until they come to a low rolling boil, then turn down and simmer for about 15 minutes. Squeeze in half a lemon and a teaspoon of honey, stir and serve!