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Tips to Rev Up Your Immune System and Optimize Energy

As you make your way through your busy day, your body is constantly working to keep you healthy. Your nutrition choices as well as your emotions can have a big impact on your body’s ability to keep up your energy levels and immune system.

The good news is that our bodies are exquisitely programmed to self-correct and fight off invaders. In the simplest terms, the number one job of the immune system is to identify intruders and get rid of them. This article walks you through some nutrition and lifestyle changes you can make to help your immune system function at its best.

Five Supernutrients to Bolster Your Immune System

Getting enough of these five nutrients will help your immune system do its job better.

• Vitamin C: When you get sick, the first vitamin you usually think of is vitamin C. But did you know what vitamin C actually does for the immune system? First of all, it increases antibodies -- one of the ways the body defends against foreign invaders. Second, it increases something called phagocytosis, which is the Pac-Man-like process of "eating up" the bad guys. And finally, it increases chemotaxis, a technical word meaning the speed with which white blood cells travel to the infection. Vitamin C is plentiful in fruits and vegetables.
• Zinc: If vitamin C is the "super immunity" vitamin, then zinc may just be the super immunity mineral. American's diet is low in this trace element, according to the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, which reported in 1995 that zinc intake has declined among American adults resulting in widespread immune problems. Zinc levels of vegetarians tend to be lower than those of meat eaters because animal products, meat in particular, provide about 70 percent of the zinc in American diets and because the absorption of zinc from plants is lower than that from animal products. The richest non-meat sources of zinc include whole grains, beans, nuts and nut butters,  pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
• Vitamin A: A deficiency of vitamin A increases the severity of bacterial and viral infections -- it's another vitamin that's critical for optimal performance of the immune system. Vitamin A (as in  beta-carotene) is plentiful in almost any fruit or vegetable with a red coloring: carrots, cantaloupe, melon and guava, for example.
• Essential Fats:  In addition to strengthening your heart and supporting healthy brain function, essential fats actually increase resistance to infection! Essential fats include Omega-3 fats, which are found in flax as well as sardines and cold-water fish like salmon, and Omega-6 fats, which are found in evening primrose oil, borage oil, black currant oil and cold-pressed organic vegetable oils.
• Garlic: When it comes to immunity, one food is considered a superfood by just about everyone: garlic. Garlic is literally a global remedy and one of the oldest medicinal foods on the planet. Garlic neutralizes dozens of bacteria, viruses and fungi. It contains strong antibacterial and antiviral compounds that boost your resistance to stress-induced colds and infections. The key to the astonishingly wide range of health benefits in garlic is a compound called allicin, which is only created when the garlic clove is crushed or chopped. Experts recommend crushing a little raw garlic and combining it with your food shortly before serving. It's a turbo-charger for the immune system!

Avoid High Sugar Intake. Some foods, particularly those with excess sugar, depress immunity. Studies have shown that downing 75 to 100 grams of a sugar solution (about 20 teaspoons of sugar, or the amount that is contained in two average 12-ounce sodas) can suppress the body's immune responses. Surprised? Leukocytes are the white blood cells that make up the bulk of the body's immune defense system; the leukocytic index is a measure of how many organisms one white blood cell can eat in an hour. The average leukocytic index in the U.S. (and remember, "average" is not necessarily optimal health) is about 13.9. Within 15 minutes of eating 100 grams of refined carbohydrates (sugar), the leukocytic index drops to about 1.4! So next time you crave something high in sugar, take a moment to think about how that sugar is going to affect your immune system.

Turbo-charge Your Immune System

You can turbo-charge your immune system by doing the following:

• Get plenty of vitamin C on a daily basis -- more when you feel a cold coming on.
• Make sure you get plenty of zinc.
• Drink plenty of water -- eight full glasses a day is best.
• Eat garlic on a regular basis.
• Avoid high sugar intake -- studies show that it suppresses immune system functioning.

There's more to protecting your immune system than nutrition, though. A positive attitude, connecting to other human beings, and minimizing stress all have a lot to do with immune system health, as well.

Stress and Your Immune System

The relationship between stress and immunity is a complicated one. Some stress is actually good for us - it "primes" us to be stronger and more able to adapt to the little bumps in the road that we all encounter in our daily life. But continued, unremitting stress depresses our immune system measurably. Stress produces a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is an essential hormone in our bodies and is also known as the "flight or fight" hormone. Nature designed us to produce cortisol when immediate action was needed - such as when our ancestors had to run from a woolly mammoth or pick up a club and fight a saber-toothed tiger. But a shot of cortisol was meant as a turbo-charger, a way of firing up the body's engine for immediate action. It was never meant to be elevated 24/7. While cortisol is needed for every cell in the body, our overstressed lifestyles produce far more of it than we need. Here's what cortisol does to immunity:

• It destroys T-cells.
• It causes T-cells to be released before they mature.
• It shrinks the thymus gland (one of the essential immune system glands where leukocytes are stored).

Because of the connection between stress and health, stress management should be a cornerstone of your healthy lifestyle. Finding ways to "lower the temperature" with pleasant activities like long walks, time with friends, warm baths, interaction with animals and so on is not just relaxation - it's actually making an investment in your health by normalizing your levels of stress hormones.

To learn more about how your immune system protects you and what you can do in return to help it do its job better, be sure to enroll in this month's featured free course, “Tips to Rev up Your Immune System and Optimize Energy" at the Atkins Learning Center. The stronger your immune system is, the better you'll feel!

This free, instructor-led course has a lively Message Board where you can ask questions and discuss your health and nutritional goals with others. And while you're there, check out our other great course offerings at the Atkins Learning Center. See you in class!