Fight sickness and toxins with a strong immune system.
While we all get sick with a cold or even the flu occasionally, there are several evidence-based ways to boost your immune system safely and provide protection against illness. Every person has an immune system but not all immune systems are created equal. Some are predisposed genetically to have a responsive immune system that provides solid protection. Others, due to toxic exposures, lifestyle decisions, or the natural aging process might have a weaker immune system leaving them more vulnerable to infection.
At Bastyr, we receive frequent requests about the best ways to boost your immune system, especially during travel season, at the start of the school year and during fall and winter seasons.
Strengthening your body’s ability to have a robust and balanced immune response should happen before stressful times arrive. You can support your immune function well before cold and flu season, family gatherings, or travel.
There are many ways Bastyr can provide guidance as you incorporate holistic, natural treatment options into your health care. Services that benefit the immune system can include acupuncture and Chinese herbs, naturopathic medicine, physical medicine and hydrotherapy, and nutrition consultation
How We Can Help
The naturopathic medical team will take your full medical and lifestyle history to clearly understand the root causes of your condition. A treatment plan will be provided to you that will possibly include blood tests or other diagnostic evaluations, dietary recommendations, specific immune balancing herbs, supplementation that can support the nervous and endocrine systems, sleep supports, and in-office and at-home hydrotherapy and physical therapies.
A nutrition consultation will focus on an evaluation of your current nutritional intake and provide recommendations for a diet full of nutrient-rich foods that will enhance your immune function. You may not know that food sensitivities and allergies are actually an immune response. Understanding what foods might be triggers and finding ways to replace them with healthier options can add to immune health.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicate that studies are indicating the importance of psychological balance and mental health on the body’s immunity. Psychoneuroimmunology (the study of brain – nerve – immunity) research indicates that thoughts, emotional patterns, and psychological dynamics are strongly interrelated with our immune response. Counseling at Bastyr will provide an opportunity for you to explore whether mental stressors, anxiety or depression may be a root cause in your immune dysfunction.
Acupuncture has been shown clinically to provide favorable effects on human immune functions. These effects have been shown to last up to one month after treatment. In one study, patients with anxiety were treated with acupuncture which resulted in significant improvement in the production of helpful immune cells such as white blood cells and cells that attack viral and bacterial particles. Other studies have shown strong anti-inflammatory effects stimulated by acupuncture’s effect on nearly every form of immune cell.
