5 Ways I Boosted My Immune System to Fight Lyme
Read on to learn easy, effective ways I boosted my immune system and helped my body fight back against Lyme, coinfections, and germs consistently and effectively.
It's about more than just hand washing, my friends!
EASY ways to detox every day include:
- Drinking enough water (a good rule of thumb is half your weight in ounces daily). Bonus: adding lemon to your water can help boost liver support and detox powers and your liver is one of your primary detox organs.
- Sweating regularly (literally sweating the toxins out!)
- Detox baths (see my blog post all about this HERE!)
- If you want even more detox info, you'll find free workshops in my holistic healing community for Lyme Warriors. I invite you to hop in!!
Key Supplements
Vit C - necessary for all sorts of body functions, including all body tissue growth and repair, formation of collagen, iron absorption, wound healing, cartilage maintenance, and of course immune system support! In some cases, high dose vit C might be appropriate to optimize your immune system. Work with a knowledgeable provider to determine the best dosing for YOU.
Zinc - crucial component of normal cell development and function, including cells that maintain your immune system. Zinc regulates LOTS of cellular function and immune response.
Vit D - unique because it is one vitamin your body can both produce on its own and get from external sources. A deficiency in vit D can increase your susceptibility to infections, AND some research suggests low levels can be linked to autoimmune conditions. This is an easy level to have checked via bloodwork to know where you stand. Dosing is often based on deficiency severity...and MANY (if not most) people, especially those with chronic diseases, are indeed deficient.
High in fruits and veggies - it’s all about the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, my friends! You are what you eat, in that eating “the rainbow” (plant foods of a variety of colors) isn’t a bad idea at all!
Low or void of sugar - no one, not even me, wants to hear this. But sugar isn’t helpful to your body one bit. Sugars from foods come in so many forms, and the more refined and processed they are, the worse they are for our bodies. Sugar causes free radicals (damaged, unhealthy cells), enhances inflammation throughout the body, exacerbates autoimmune conditions, and is an “anti-nutrient” that depletes the body of key vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Consider consuming foods high in vitamin C and antioxidants (help remove damaged and diseased cells from your body and protect against them), such as: colored bell peppers (and other brightly-colored veggies), ginger, turmeric, citrus, broccoli, garlic, lean meats, etc.
According to the Mayo Clinic: During sleep, your immune system releases proteins called cytokines, some of which help promote sleep. Certain cytokines need to increase when you have an infection or inflammation, or when you're under stress. Sleep deprivation may decrease production of these protective cytokines.
The stress hormone corticosteroid can suppress the effectiveness of the immune system (e.g. lowers the number of lymphocytes).
Meditate/pray/Yoga (YouTube has a lot of free videos that can help guide you)
Schedule regular self-care (you decide what that looks like and how often)
Try mindfulness and relaxation techniques (I enjoy the Headspace app to help with that!)
Research has shown immune supportive benefits of many types of essential oils. I encourage you to do your own research. Plants are powerful tools.
My family and I use them daily, year-round as immune boosters. It’s a simple addition that is easy enough for my toddler to do it, smells great, and dramatically impacts our immune function.
Oils of the highest quality can be used topically, aromatically, and some even internally for whole-body impact. You choose what works for you, and if you want to learn more, I’m here for it!
