by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath The cold and flu season is just around the corner. So do you want to wait until you get sick and work your butt off on healing your body and work on regulating your immune system? Or do you want to be proactive and work on preventing getting sick in the first place? Maybe your plan was to change nothing and run out to get flu shot. If you’ve been following Depke Wellness for some time, you’ll understand that I would not be supportive of the flu shot anyway. It does not make sense, get a shot that has a very small percentage of chance to actually guess on the correct strain of flu anyway. All this plus the risk of adding potentially dangerous levels of mercury or aluminum from the vaccine also. This does not sound like a good idea to me. While there are a host of immune supportive supplements you can take, I want to take advantage of this opportunity to address deeper underlying factors to support your immune function heading into this upcoming cold and flu season. The first step to prepare your body to skate through the cold and flu season with ease is to take care of your simple fundamentals of health. Addressing this will provide the balance needed to support your immune system to ward off any bacterial or viral infections that you will be exposed to. And trust me, you will be exposed to these. How your immune system responds is what makes all the difference. So back to your fundamentals of health. These are the simple and essential factors to support your body’s immune system function. After all, if you cannot take care of the simple things, your still left in the dark with your immune function.
Here are your fundamentals of health that are essential to address:
- The air you breathe which is deep breathing to increase oxygenation of the cells of your body
- The water you drink which is maintaining proper hydration throughout your day
- The food you eat which addresses your digestion, potential food sensitivity as well as your daily food choices
- Your sleep patterns which play a major role in the health of your immune system
- Your daily movement which includes bodily movement as well as movement of your spine and colon
- Your exposure to the sun to support vitamin D, melatonin production and hormones to assist with your immune function
- The foundation of your fundamentals which is tied into your mental, emotional and energetic health, which is a key component to immunity
I know that everybody wants deeper information on your fundamentals of health and you may ask how I know this? If you are following my articles, blog posts or social media, you desire to live the most vibrant and healthy life you can and you desire to feel young again. You can get comprehensive information on your fundamentals of health now along with action steps to help support your immune system during the upcoming cold and flu season. This comprehensive information is in my latest book “Fat, Fatigued and Frustrated?” And you do not have to be overweight to find extraordinary value from this book. Here is a link to this invaluable book to address your fundamentals of health and support your immune system. The good news for you is that you only have to cover shipping and handling. The paper back book itself is my gift to you! What others are saying about “Fat, Fatigued and Frustrated?” “Get prepared to have the rug pulled out from under you. The topics Glen discusses challenge what you’ve been told by your doctors, nutritionists, physical trainers & your parents. I’ve followed them all until I met Glen & practice his protocol. As a transplant recipient, I wish I had met Glen before transplant. I know I would still have my original organ. Read with an open mind and take in all he has to share. He’s helped transform my “health”: mind, body & spirit. His advise is simple to follow and it works. Read and be healthy. PMPavin” “Hats off to Glen Depke for writing this book at such a crucial time for humanity. The Body, Mind, and Spirit journey can be fraught with complication and frustration. The power of Glen’s book is in his ability to simplify the healthy living process by showing us easy to understand knowledge and steps that are doable. This book was written out of compassion, and is fun and easy to read. It can immediately and easily create positive changes in your life. Thomas M. Skrenes, Traditional Naturopath” If you would like to read these yourself feel free to visit Amazon here. Just don’t buy from that link unless you want to pay full price for the book.
The second tip for you is to support your digestive system.
This is essential because at least 70% of your immune system function originates in your gastrointestinal system or often referred to as your gut. There are many tips to help your gut in “Fat, Fatigued and Frustrated?” and I will share some with you hear also.
- Always deep breath before eating to enhance absorption and assimilation
- Chew your food throroughly
- Take a high quality Prebiotic/Probiotic Formula (If you have SIBO you do not want a prebiotic)
- Use a comprehensive high quality digestive enzyme such as the Prime Enzyme Support
- Be sure to enjoy two or more health bowel movements daily
- Check for the possibility of food sensitivity (this creates inflammation in your gut suppressing immune function)
If you are living with any type of digestive disorder, your immune system will suffer. I regularly see clients that are suffering with the digestive conditions below:
- Inflammation due to food sensitivity
- Digestive distress due to mental/emotional stress
- Living with pathogens such as parasites, protozoa, H-pylori, detrimental bacteria and more
- SIBO which stands for small intestinal bacteria overgrowth
- Brain disorders affecting gut health
The third essential area to address to support you immune system function is tied into your stress hormones. This is such a significant factor for most of us. Fist off, we all have stress. You do, I do and everybody we know does. We cannot escape the stress. Sometimes it is mental/emotional stress yet other times it is physical tied into infection, inflammation, toxicity, injury or even structural factors. So what happens when you are living with chronic stress? If you guessed that you produce high amounts of stress hormones, you are correct. What most do not know though, is that the same system that is tied into stress hormones production (your adrenal glands) is also tied into immune regulation as well as the first layer of defense of your immune system. So if your stress hormones are “out of whack” your immune system if going to follow that lead. So what can you do if your stress hormones are creating issues with your immune system function? The best scenario for you is to test your adrenal function and to implement a protocol to assist your body in balancing your stress hormones and adrenal function. I am realistic though and understand that not everyone is motivated to test and comprehensively assist their stress hormones and adrenal function, so I will list two key supplements to approve in this area that does not depend on testing. If you would like to utilize a FREE adrenal assessment to get an idea on your stress hormone production follow this link here. So here are two supplements that you can use to assist with proper stress hormone production and adrenal gland function. Number one is vitamin B5. Vitamin B5 is so important because this is at the core of your hormone production. So in essence, to enjoy proper stress hormone production, adrenal function and immune function, this is an essential vitamin for you. Not only does this assist with the immune system tie into your adrenal glands, this also helps you get through the daily grind of your chronic stress you are dealing with. The supplement we use with our clients at Depke Wellness to assist in increasing your vitamin B5 levels is the Prime Adrenal Support, which is something I take on a daily basis personally. Learn more about this here. Many people like to take their adrenal function to a much higher level though and that is where the Prime Energy Support comes in. I find fatigue to be at an epidemic proportion in our culture and you likely feel this on some level yourself. Most of our fatigue is tied into poor adrenal gland function which is leaving us tired or exhausted. The Prime Energy Support can assist your body in improving adrenal function as well as addressing some of the core energy factors in your body, such as your mitochodnria (the little engine that drives every cell in your body.) It is also important to recall that your stress hormones and adrenal function play a significant role in your immune system function. So if you want your immune function strong going into the cold and flu season, you want your stress hormones and adrenal function balanced as well. Learn more about the Prime Energy Support now. To summarize, if you want to prepare yourself for the cold and flu season be sure to take care of these three factors below:
- Improve your fundamentals of health
- Improve the function of your digestive system
- Improve your adrenal stress hormone function
Next week we are going to discuss the use of essential oils to boost your immune system.
Don’t forget your FREE book below to address your fundamentals of health and support your immune system function.
Here’s a couple more reviews of “Fat, Fatigued and Frustrated?” for you to read. “This book is great! Glen really does a nice job of breaking down some very complicated material into an easy to read and more important easy to understand format. It won’t frustrate you to give it a read and you certainly finish the book with a much better understanding of how the body works. This isn’t a diet book….it’s a book about how to live life better because you understand how things are all inter-connected. Thanks for writing this book Glen, it’s certainly been a big help. Anonymous”
“I just finished this book and really enjoyed it. The book was very well written and easy to read and no dogma. It gave tons of insight and helpful information. A great place to start for anyone on any fitness level. Joseph Thompson”
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