Greetings Readers,<\/p>\n
Our immune system performs a complex range of tasks to overcome various types of foreign invaders and diseases.\u00a0 Several organs and processes are\u00a0involved such as bone marrow, lymphocytes, the spleen, lymph nodes, and the thymus gland.\u00a0 White blood cells such as neutrophils, macrophages and dendritic cells identify what is not our body and destroy those cells.\u00a0 Eastern medicine focuses on building up the body\u2019s internal defense system so that the microbe has no chance of getting a foothold.<\/p>\n
Strengthening the immune response involves building the Defensive Qi, an energetic layer of Yang (warm, invigorating) energy that lives between the skin and the muscles.\u00a0 Since Defensive energy depends on sufficient strength and warmth of the body, this explains why we need to keep our body warm in fall and winter and get enough rest to keep colds at bay.\u00a0 When the Defensive energy is strong we either don\u2019t catch the cold or flu going around, or if we do catch it, our body has the strength to fight it off quickly.<\/p>\n
One recent study presented by the Sleep Research Society concluded that those who sleep only 5-6 hours per night have a greater risk of catching a cold.<\/p>\n
The lymph system acts as the body\u2019s internal vacuum cleaner, cleaning up all the microbes and waste materials and flushing them out.\u00a0 Since the lymph system does not have a pump, it requires exercise or therapy such as massage, cupping, or skin brushing to move the lymph to promote proper drainage.\u00a0 For this reason, it is so important to get some type of regular exercise to avoid lymph stagnation which can weaken immunity.<\/p>\n
There are also foods and herbs that can support the strengthening of the Yang\/Defensive energy as well as improve blood circulation to support lymph drainage.<\/p>\n
Foods that Strengthen Immunity:<\/strong><\/p>\n Green leafy vegetables (kale, spinach, collards, broccoli, cabbage, parsley), mushrooms (shitake, reishi, chaga, oyster, etc.), raw honey, goji berries, fermented foods (such as kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, tempeh, pickles, yogurt without sugar), coconuts and coconut oil, berries, chlorella, garlic, ginger, green tea.<\/p>\n Herbs that Strengthen Immunity<\/strong><\/p>\n Licorice (avoid if blood pressure is high), tusli,\u00a0 honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, elderberry, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, oregano, yarrow, tumeric, echinacea.<\/p>\n Foods that Weaken Immunity<\/strong><\/p>\n Sugar, artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, processed fats such as margarine, trans-fats, fried foods, rancid oils, preservatives, artificial colourings and flavourings, rancid oils, red meat, alcohol, drugs, processed foods, and foods that are not fresh.<\/p>\n Regular acupuncture treatments can also build up immunity using point combinations to strengthen your Defensive energy, your warming invigorating Yang energy, as well improving circulation of blood and lymph depending on what each individual requires.<\/p>\n Wishing you health and happiness!<\/p>\n Cynthia<\/p>\n References:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Greetings Readers, Our immune system performs a complex range of tasks to overcome various types of foreign invaders and diseases.\u00a0 Several organs and processes are\u00a0involved such as bone marrow, lymphocytes, the spleen, lymph nodes, and the thymus gland.\u00a0 White blood cells such as neutrophils, macrophages…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[182,175],"tags":[176,180,179,177,178],"class_list":["post-16426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knowledge","category-naturopathy","tag-acupuncture","tag-acupuncture-immune","tag-immune-boost","tag-immune-system","tag-junction-health"],"yoast_head":"\n\n