The Real Immune-Boosters

What comes to your mind when we say “immune support”? Vitamin C and maybe zinc? Those have their place, but there are things we can do that are a lot more important!

It’s just, these things are not talked about as much, because stores can’t sell them to you

Sleep

One of the biggest difference-makers. Get good sleep! Getting at least 7 hours decent sleep (not lying in bed, not counting interruptions to sleep as part of the sleep duration) can improve your immune system by three or four times.

Put another way, people are 3–4 times more likely to get sick if they get less sleep than that on average.

Check it out: Behaviorally Assessed Sleep and Susceptibility to the Common Cold

Eat an anti-inflammatory diet

In short, for most of us this means lots of whole plant foods (lots of fiber), and limited sugar, flour, alcohol.

For more details, you can see our main feature on this: Keep Inflammation At Bay!

You may wonder why eating to reduce inflammation (inflammation is a form of immune response) will help improve immune response. Put it this way:

If your town’s fire service is called out eleventy-two times per day to deal with things that are not, in fact, fires, then when there is a fire, they will be already exhausted, and will not do their job so well.

Look after your gut microbiota

Additionally, healthy gut microbiota (fostered by the same diet we just described) help keep your body pathogen-free, by avoiding “leaky gut syndrome” that occurs when, for example, C. albicans (you do not want this in your gut, and it thrives on the things we just told you to avoid) puts its roots through your intestinal walls, making holes in them. And through those holes? You definitely do not want bacteria from your intestines going into the rest of your body.

See also: Gut Health 101

Actually get that moderate exercise

There’s definitely a sweet-spot here, because too much exercise will also exhaust you and deplete your body’s resources. However, the famous “150 minutes per week” (so, a little over 20 minutes per day, or 25 minutes per day with one day off) will make a big difference.

See: Exercise and the Regulation of Immune Functions

Manage your stress levels (good and bad!)

This one swings both ways:

• Acute stress (like a cold shower) is good for immune response. Think of it like a fire drill for your body.
• Chronic stress (“the general everything” persistently stressful in life) is bad for immune response. This is the fire drill that never ends. Your body’s going to know what to do really well, but it’s going to be exhausted already by the time an actual threat hits.

Read more: Effects of Stress on Immune Function: the Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

Supplement, yes.

These are far less critical than the above things, but are also helpful. Good things to take include:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• Zinc
• Elderberry
• Echinacea
• Garlic

Enjoy, and stay well!

Out-Cheating “Cheat Days” (Or Even Just “Cheat Meals”)

If you are in the habit of eating healthily, the idea of a “cheat day” probably isn’t appealing—because you simply don’t crave junk food; it’s not what your gut is used to.

Nevertheless, sometimes cheat days, or at least cheat meals, choose us rather than the other way around. If your social group is having a pizza night or meeting up at the burger bar, probably you’re going to be having a meal that’s not ideal.

So, what to do about it?

Well, first of all, relax. If it really is an exception and not a regular occurrence, it’s not going to have a big health impact. Assuming that your basic dietary requirements are taken care of (e.g. free from allergens as necessary, vegan/vegetarian if that’s appropriate for you, adhering to any religious restrictions that are important to you, etc), then you’re going to have a good time, which is what scientists call a “pro-social activity” and is not a terrible thing.

See also: Is Fast Food Really All That Bad? ← answer: yes it is, but the harm is cumulative and won’t all happen the instant you take a bite of a chicken nugget

Think positive

No, not in the “think positive thoughts” sense (though feel free, if that’s your thing), but rather: focus on adding things rather than subtracting things.

It’s said:

❝It’s not the calories in your food that make the biggest impact on your health; it’s the food in your calories❞e

…and that’s generally true. The same goes for “bad things” in the food, e.g. added sugar, salt, seed oils, etc. They really are bad! But, in this case you’re going to be eating them and they’re going to be nearly impossible to avoid in the social scenarios we described. So, forget that sunk treasure, and instead, add nutrients.

10almonds tip: added nutrients remain added nutrients, even if the sources were not glowing with health-appeal and/or you ate them alongside something unhealthy:

• Those breaded garlic mushrooms are still full of magnesium and fiber and ergothioneine.
• The chili-and-mint peas that came as an overpriced optional side-dish with your burger are still full of protein, fiber, and a stack of polyphenols.

…and so on. And, the more time you spend eating those things, the less time you spend eating the real empty-calorie foods.

Fix the flaw

We set out to offer this guide without arguing for abstemiousness or making healthy substitutions, because we assume you knew already that you can not eat things, and as for substitutions, often they are not practical, especially if dining out or ordering in.

Also, sometimes even when home-cooking something unhealthy, taking the bad ingredient out takes some of the joy out with it.

Writers example: I once incorrectly tried to solve the fat conundrum of my favorite shchi (recipe here) by trying purely steaming the vegetables instead of my usual frying/sautéing them, and let’s just say, that errant-and-swiftly-abandoned version got recorded in my nutrition-tracker app as “sad shchi”.

So instead, fix the flaw by countering it if possible:

• The meal is devoid of fiber? Preload with some dried figs (you can never have too many dried figs in your pantry)
• The meal is high in saturated fat? Enjoy fiber before/during/after, per what’s convenient for you. Fiber helps clear out excess cholesterol, which is usually the main issue with saturated fat.
• The meal is salty? Double down on your hydration before, during, and after. If that sounds like a chore, then remember, it’s more fun than getting bloated (which results, counterintuitively, from dehydration—because your body detects the salt, and panics and tries to retain as much water as possible to restore homeostasis, resulting in bloating) and hypertensive (which results from the combination of the blood having too much salt and too little water, and cells retaining too much water and pressing inwards because it is the cells themselves that are bloated). So, tending to your hydration can help mitigate all of the above.
• The meal is full of high-GI carbs? Preload with fiber, enjoy the carbs together with fats, and have something acidic (e.g. some kind of vinegar, or citrus fruit) with it if that’s a reasonable option. _{^{Yes, this does mean that a Whiskey Sour is better for your blood sugars than an Old Fashioned, by the way, and/but no, it doesn’t make either of them healthy.}}
• The meal is inflammatory? Doing all of the above things will help, as will eating it slowly/mindfully, which latter makes it less of a shock to your system.

See also: How To Get More Nutrition From The Same Food

Enjoy!