When we talk about going back to school, everybody thinks about the kids and how to support their health and well-being; however, very little thought goes into the adults that are every bit as exposed to hundreds of kids every school day. Part 1 and Part 2 of this series discussed how to support children’s immune health as they head back to school. This post will focus on how the teachers, coaches and parents that interact with all these children can support and boost their immune function.
Boost your Vitamin D Levels
Almost everyone that doesn’t live on the equator has low vitamin D levels. If you want to know what your levels are, get tested (the test you want is called ‘twenty-five hydroxyl vitamin D’ or ’25 (OH) Vit D’) – you want your level to be between 50-60 ng/ml. If you are not supplementing, your levels are most likely (very) low. Here are two easy options:
Bio-D-Mulsion Forte – 1 drop twice daily (each drop contains 2000 IU of vitamin D3) with meals
D3-5000 – 1 capsule 1-2x/day with meals.
Feed the Good Bugs
Over 70% of your immune function is contained in your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. How well your immune system performs depends on the balance of the billions of microorganisms (e.g., ‘bugs’) that live inside your GI tract. Eating foods that promote the good ‘bugs’ like yogurt, kefir, fermented foods, fresh and cooked vegetables, beans, peas and lentils can help, as can avoiding foods that feed the bad ‘bugs’ like sugar, white flour products, alcohol, soda and trans-fats. In addition, taking a probiotic (i.e., good bugs) can help make up for any deficits; we recommend Ortho Biotic – 1 capsule 1-2x/day on an empty stomach.
Get Extra Support During Cold and Flu Season
Research has shown that the immune system benefits from adequate amounts of vitamin C and zinc. In addition, recent research has shown that certain mushroom extracts help the body identify and destroy foreign invaders (i.e., viruses and bacteria), keeping you healthier.
From October through April everyone at our clinic uses a product called ImmuCore on a daily basis (1 tablet 3x/day with meals). As you can imagine, we see a LOT of ill people on any given day and if we are sick, we can’t help very many people get well.
Doing these three things won’t guarantee you won’t get sick, but the research shows that it will drastically reduce the frequency, intensity and duration of whatever Mother Nature (or her kids) throws your way this school year. And that’s something we can all benefit from!
