How can I boost my immune system during cold and flu season?
A healthy immune system is critical to fighting off unwanted viruses. Find out how to defend yourself during cold and flu season in this video with preventive and functional medicine specialist Dr. Susan Blum.
Transcript
Watch what you're eating. Right? Too much sugar actually suppresses your immune system as well. So if you know that there's people around you that
are sick, really work on cutting out the sugar, eating some good quality protein, and that will really help your immune cells
work better as well. [MUSIC PLAYING]
So here are your tips for how to support your immune system to protect yourself against getting the flu. First of all, stress--
so let's talk about stress and what it does. When you don't sleep enough every night or you have too much going on in your life and you don't have any time to relax,
your stress system causes your immune cells to be suppressed. And they will not protect you from the flu as much as they can.
So my recommendation is to make sure you're getting a good night's sleep. That's number one. Seven hours is sort of my minimum, you know.
But getting a good night's sleep is one of the best ways to help your adrenals stay healthy and to help your stress system stay in balance.
Number two, watch what you're eating. Right? Too much sugar actually suppresses your immune system as well.
So if you know that there's people around you that are sick, really work on cutting out the sugar, eating some good quality protein,
and that will really help your immune cells work better as well. Number three, we really want you to make
sure your gut is very healthy. Your gut immune system is the foundation for your immune system.
70% of your immune system lives in your gut. So taking a probiotic every day will help increase
your beneficial flora, which help interact with those immune cells in your gut and help your immune system be very strong.
So a probiotic every day is a great way to go. If anyone around you is sick, you definitely
have to focus on washing your hands. You can walk around with Purell or one of those hand sanitizers, but you can also just wash your hands,
definitely before you eat any meal. That's the single best way that I'm protecting myself. I wash my hands all the time, after I
see patients and definitely as soon as I get home before dinner. [AUDIO LOGO]
cold flu
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