Here are 3 lifestyle practices, 3 foods and 3 specific nutrients to support your lungs and immune system and help you stay resilient every season. 

Lifestyle Activities for Immune Health 

1. Quality restorative sleep: Poor sleep can completely throw off your day - and increase your risk of getting sick.

• Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep between the hours of 10pm and 7am.

• Your current health (ie. gut health) as well as your environment (ie. lighting in the evening) influence the quality of your sleep: What's the tiniest step you can take towards better sleep? Check out this Sleep Checklist for ideas on where to start.

2. Finish eating all calories at least 3 hours before bedtime: This ensures your gut and liver have had adequate time to digest your food BEFORE sleep and ramp up detoxification WHILE you sleep. Often eating dinner a little earlier or avoiding the late night snack leads to feeling more rested & refreshed in the morning.

3. Eat with the season:

• Variety: It's only in our very recent history that we've been able to eat pineapples in Vancouver in November😁 We evolved eating plants that were seasonally available to us so it's no wonder many of these fall/winter foods enhance the expression of our protective genes (more on which foods to eat below).

• Temperature: As the weather cools, remember to warm up your foods/drinks. Instead of salads, switch to soups, steamed or roasted veggies. You'll notice better digestion, feeling lighter and having more energy.

BONUS: Belly Breathing The powerful vagus nerve travels through our diaphragm, which means that we can activate our rest/digest (aka detox!) by breathing (= moving the diaphragm). Belly breathing also circulates lymph fluid like a pump - this is, of course, all in addition to detoxing CO2!

Nutrients for Immune Health

1. Vitamin D 🌞🐟 - low Vitamin D status is linked to greater susceptibility to colds and longer/more severe colds. This is because Vitamin D is an important immune system regulator. Sun exposure (or UVB) helps us produce Vitamin D but for most of us in the northern hemisphere, this is only a significant source of Vitamin D for 2 months of the year. Thankfully there are some tasty food sources: Salmon, sardines, cod liver/oil, beef liver and egg yolk.

If you have digestive issues (ie. Celiac disease or history of gallbladder issues) you need to be even more diligent about adequate Vitamin D. The best supplement form is Vitamin D3 and we recommend taking it combined with another important fat-soluble vitamin, Vitamin K2. Speak to your naturopathic physician especially if you're taking more than 4000IUs of Vitamin D3 per day.

2. Vitamin C 🫑🥬🍋- a well-known antioxidant supplement has been shown to reduce the duration and severity of colds. Vitamins C functions in maintaining strong physical barriers to infections like the lining of the gut and throat. It also supports the immediate immune response to pathogens and regulates inflammation. Cruciferous veggies are a great course of Vitamin C! Other food sources are red bell peppers, strawberries and citrus fruit.

3. Zinc 🥩🦪 - this important mineral suppresses a variety of common viruses at multiple stages of infection. Food sources are oysters, beef, chicken and pumpkin seeds. Zinc appears to work synergistically with other antioxidants so for supplements, we like combination products like Cytomatrix Active ACES+Zinc

BONUS: NAC (N-acetyl cysteine) - NAC is a nutrient used to treat people with life-threatening liver failure from Tylenol overdose. This is because NAC helps our body make one of the most important antioxidants, glutathione. That's why we include it in our 10 & 28-day detoxes. NAC also supports the lung system with its anti-inflammatory and anti-viral effects and its ability to thin mucus. As you transition to the cold/flu season, NAC can play an important role in both detox and immune function.