What can we provide you as natural health professionals during this time of worry and fear?
As Naturopaths, we are working with patients and informing communities about the best possible ways to increase resilience and defences when it comes to immunity this season.
We are using the same methods, being nutrition and herbs that we would be using for other viral infections like the common cold and influenza.
We are choosing nutrients for immune cell development, immune and lung specific herbs due to the respiratory nature of this virus, and instilling basic sanitary and containment measures to keep our patients and followers safe.
In prevention we are focusing on
First line barriers -
Skin - hygiene & avoiding transmission
Lungs & gut - enhancing our membranes and mucous production to trap and eliminate invaders before they can enter our body
Internal systems -
Our big hitters when it comes to immune defences are
T cells – release toxic chemicals into infected cells to kill the virus
Natural Killer cells – can identify infected cells that are not as obvious to T cells, again releasing chemicals to eradicate the cells
The chemicals released by both these immune cells also cause other immune chemicals and messengers to the site of activity to assist in containing and removing the viral waste.
Antibodies – cause the single virus particles to clump together making them unable to enter cells and replicate. Antibodies then engulf the viral mass and destroy it.
How we enhance these immune pathways
Supporting the cells of our nasal, throat, respiratory and gut lining. The immune tissue that surrounds our gut is the largest reservoir of immune cells accounting for 80-90%.
This is known as gastrointestinal-associated lymphatic tissue – lymphatic tissue being the circulatory system that is specialised for immune cell development, storage and waste elimination.
It’s important to eliminate any substances we ingest or are exposed to that may be causing inflammation to these barriers, altering our mucous membranes and microbiome. At the same time, promoting the immune building activity of our friendly gut bacteria.
Any lifestyle factors that compromise these systems will weaken our immunity.
Smoking, dehydration, poor dietary choices (processed foods, simple sugars, food intolerances, alcohol etc), fragrant cleaning products and more.
To enhance our barriers we need 3 major things:
Nutrients to fuel our mucous membrane linings:
Zinc
Glutamine
Antioxidants
Fibre to feed our microbiome
Fruit
Vegetables
Oats
Nuts
Seeds
Hydration 2 ltrs/day
We then work on the internal processes that promote better immune vigilance and virus disposal to avoid catching illness. The nutrients and herbs give our body a huge push when it comes to T cell, Natural Killer cell and Antibody activity!
Nutritional
Zinc
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Herbal immune stimulants and antivirals Herbal
Astragalus
Andrographis
Echinacea
Lemon Balm
Olive leaf
Licorice
Medicinal Mushrooms (reishi, turkey tail, shiitake)
Lung tonics Exercise
To ensure the lymphatic system is being cycled and cleared.
This information is intended as educational. For our health, having proper nutrition and immune function means our body may respond with more resilience and may recover faster from an array of illnesses ⠀
If you have any concerns or questions be sure to contact us!