Your immune system can be easily compromised over the holidays. Alcohol weakens the immune system and lack of sleep can contribute to it’s strength, too.
Well, you have a strategy for the alcohol consumption by wisely limiting it and you also know to get plenty of sleep. However, here are three of our top supplements to boost your immune system for the holiday season.
1. Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)
Vitamin C, taken in the form of ascorbic acid, is great for the body. It is essential for optimal health but, taken in high doses, it can be beneficial to fighting certain types of infection and dealing with chronic pain. Research suggests that Vitamin C can contribute to a shortening of duration of the common cold, which is often transmitted around the colder months duet to increased time indoors, lifestyle changes and poor eating habits. Still, more research suggests that Vitamin C is beneficial in preventing lung infections after a period of intense exercise. Vitamin C can also help with skin health, which, after a long night of partying and drinking, can keep your skin and body look and feel much healthy. It replenishes some of the vitamins you may have depleted while consuming alcohol.
2. Have You Taken Your Probiotics?
Probiotics play such an important part in our gut. A majority of our body mass consists of bacteria and microorganisms that aren’t actually part of our DNA, but they are linked to the body’s health. Probiotics are the good bacteria that our bodies use to digest food, and also regulate immune function. When you take your probiotics, especially species or blends that are researched and confirmed to exist in our guts, you improve the “community relations” between your body and your bacteria. Think of being able to hire a bunch of people to work on the same project you are working on now, how much easier and better quality the project is. That’s what a good probiotic supplement can do, is augment the already strong community biodynamics that exist in your body already.
These are especially important for people who have just recovered from a bacterial infection and have taken antibiotics to treat infections. The antibiotics didn’t just kill the bad bacteria, it killed the good bacteria, too. So, taking probiotic supplements contributes to the biodynamics of the stomach. It essentially doesn’t leave any space for bad bacteria to go, since the good bacteria have crowded the place up.
Probiotics also aid in the digestion of food, so a healthy gut will mean a better metabolism, which means you will be leaner in the long run.
3. Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a regulator for a lot of other minerals for the body. Contributing to bone strength, parathyroid health, immune function and cardiovascular health, Vitamin D is interesting in that the majority of it is made through exposure to sunlight. The radiation from the sunlight is absorbed by the skin to break down cholesterol in the body, of which a byproduct is Vitamin D. The key issue in the winter is getting enough sunlight exposure to break down the cholesterol, the light is weak at winter’s peak, and because of the cold, the body’s access to sunlight is blocked. So, while it is difficult to get Vitamin D through sunlight, supplementation and foods such as fatty fish have it. A healthy immune system is one that is bolstered with the right minerals and vitamins because a better functioning body has less of a risk of producing metabolic free radicals. Use Vitamin D as a way to keep your body strong and reduce the risk of illness.
The needs of the body are many, and the immune system has an incredibly important part in making sure the body gets those needs. Consider these 3 tips to be at your ultimate health this season!
