3 Tips to Optimize Your Immune System

It is officially 2022 and as I complete this article, my household is dealing with a bout of Omicron. Fortunately, it has been mild but being sick is no fun! The one thing that has frustrated me over the past 2 years, is the fact that mainstream media and many healthcare professionals have not discussed the importance of optimizing our immune systems and the massive impact that lifestyle interventions have on the chances you will encounter severe disease when you do get sick. Let’s dig into what you can do to improve or keep your immune system functioning optimally.

1. Maintain a healthy weight –
In my opinion, this is the elephant in the room. Think back over the last 2 years and try to recollect how many times the media spoke about the importance of maintaining a healthy weight and not being obese on the severity of Covid. A new study out of the Cleveland Clinic looked at 20, 000 patients with obesity. What the study found was significant weight loss led to a 49% lower risk of hospitalization, a 63% lower risk of the need for supplemental oxygen, and a 60% lower risk of developing severe COVID. Pretty significant, huh? This aligns with previous research on the subject. The reality is losing weight (preferably bodyfat) can significantly impact the severity of Covid. In addition to the research connecting obesity with the severity of Covid, I have another sad fact for you. According to the CDC, over the pandemic, obesity in children aged 2-19 has DOUBLED, which is a concerning statistic.

What can you do?
Make eating healthy and exercising a priority. Small lifestyle changes make a big difference over time, the key is to BEGIN. Also, no step is too small. Taking daily walks, cutting back on your portions, or just increasing your intake of fibrous vegetables will make a bigger difference than you think.

2. Reduce stress –
What to hear something crazy? Straight from the CDC…The #2 Comorbidity, after obesity, was anxiety and fear-related disorders. Crazy, right!? I don’t think most people understand how much our emotions are connected to our health. Honestly, I was surprised to see anxiety and fear-related disorders as the second comorbidity. Watching the news and constantly obsessing about the pandemic does nothing to help with this. I am as guilty as the next person (probably worse lol) regarding spending too much time ruminating about the pandemic.

What can you do?
Take 10 minutes or so each day to ground yourself. Prayer and meditation both have a ton of research backing up their effectiveness in managing anxiety. Also, don’t underestimate the power of exercise to lower stress and anxiety. Breathwork such as box breathing has also been shown to lower anxiety as well. Feel free to reach out to me if you would like more information on breathing techniques.

3. Make sure you are getting enough sleep –
Another lifestyle tweak you can make to improve your immune system is getting adequate sleep. We all need different amounts to function optimally but research from the National Sleep Foundation suggests shooting for at least 7-9 hours each night. A recent study found people with sleep disorders are not at an increased risk of catching coronavirus and developing COVID-19 but they are at a 31% higher risk of being hospitalized or dying from it! The researcher looked at almost 360,000 patients who tested for COVID-19 in the Cleveland Clinic System. This group included 5400 people who also completed a sleep study.

What can you do?
Try to stick to a sleep schedule. The more consistent you are with your bedtime and waking, the easier it will be to get quality sleep. You should also avoid blue light and watching the TV or playing on your phone right before bed. Research demonstrates blue light can impact melatonin production. Melatonin is an important hormone that influences circadian rhythm. Ideally, avoid blue light for 2 hours or so before bed. Anecdotally, meditation and physical activity have made a difference in my sleep patterns.

Hopefully, this article highlights the importance of lifestyle interventions in optimizing your immune system. Many aspects of the pandemic are out of our control, but we do have control over our lifestyle choices. Being mindful of our lifestyle may not seem like the most cutting-edge way to bolster our immunity but research shows it can have a significant impact.

– Robert Buck