Nobody likes being sick... It keeps us from our responsibilities and from enjoying ourselves. If our children are sick, even worse! But what is being sick? Our immune systems need to exercise, and when we try to take on too much when we are not feeling well, our ability to manage sickness is compromised.
Sometimes it feels as though it will be impossible to avoid coming down with a virus that’s ‘going around’, but prevention of colds and flus is quite a bit easier than we might realize. Artificial immunity can help support our immune systems, but only if our natural immunity is already healthy and strong.
Our bodies are intelligent power-houses capable of defending themselves. Health comes from the inside and we need to remember to support our natural ability to be well.
As society has evolved, our exposure to different environmental stresses has changed. Our powerful, natural immune systems need to be carefully nurtured and supported. Supporting the body and its innate intelligence is a simple and key part of optimizing a healthy immune response capable of protecting us from viruses in the winter season.
Some of our key concepts are:
- Respect your body and let it go through some of its natural processes
- Exercise and Activity – not just in the summer time, but all year round!
- Sugar – too much sugar will impair immunity
- Include specific natural health care strategies to enhance our immune response
- The sunshine nutrient – Vitamin D – plays a role in immunity, inflammation and bone health
- The bugs in our bellies:
§ probiotics are essential to healthy immune systems
§ bacteria aren’t bad!
When I was enrolled in Kinesiology at the University of Calgary a large focus was on the health benefits physical fitness and exercise provided. Among the many benefits, one concept that was regularly discussed was the pyrogenic nature of exercise. In short, exercise raises your body's temperature making it an unpleasant place for 'germs' to live. This natural fever keeps germs in check.
Many people are scared of the natural process we call fever. As with most fear, for the most part this is due to a lack of education. It is advisable for parent to know the typical temperatures of their children. Also if you take your child's temperature after they have been playing vigorously, you will have a good idea of what temperature range you should feel completely comfortable and not having any concern. Knowing this baseline temperature information will also help you educate any health practitioners that you may have to consult in case you have a concern that a fever is becoming dangerous.
We hope this information is helpful and remember natural immunity comes from proper nervous system function so be sure to keep your spine in line and your posture balanced to maximize the energy you have left to spend on keeping yourself healthy this winter.
**Thank you to Dr. Colin Race for his contributions to this article and the associated presentation.
At the Practice of Upper Cervical Chiropractic our doctors of chiropractic are dedicated to improving the Health IQ of our community. Health is optimized when your body, which is intelligent, has appropriate physical, chemical, mental, and environmental balance. Through the use of our Secondary Vitals metric quality of life is emphasized to allow our clients strategies for graceful aging. Please visit us at www.practiceofuppercervical.com.
