- Vitamin brand, nutriburst, has announced the launch of its NEW Turmeric Curcumin – a sugar free and vegan vitamin gummy to benefit your immune system, inflammation, skin, and overall health
- As World Health Day approaches on 7th April, looking after your health has never been more important
- Leading nutritionist Jenny Tschiesche has partnered with nutriburst to reveal if we can actually ‘boost’ our immune system and offers her top tips to keep it balanced
nutriburst – the first vitamin brand to develop a range of sugar-free vegan gummies – have launched a new daily vitamin supplement, Turmeric Curcumin. The latest range is zingy and spicy, and entirely sugar free, helping to kickstart your morning with a burst of nutrients.
As World Health Day approaches on 7th April, it’s imperative that we look after our health. Turmeric – also known as the Golden Spice – has been gaining huge popularity in recent years, hailed by nutritionists as the latest superfood on the block.
Turmeric contains the active components curcumin and turmerone, both strong antioxidants that do wonders for your skin, brain, joints, and your heart, as well as helping to reduce inflammation after a hard workout.
Leading nutritionist Jenny Tschiesche has partnered with nutriburst to share her top tips on how to improve your health and ensure your immune system is in top shape.
Jenny Tschiesche comments:
The pandemic has led to many of us looking for ways to boost our immunity. The idea of “boosting” our immune system may seem obvious, however, when we stop to consider what is meant by boosting our immune system we might start to wonder if it is a flawed concept. That is because if our immune system were too active, it would attack our own tissues, such is the case with autoimmune diseases.
Rather than thinking about boosting the immune system, it is better to think about keeping it healthy and balanced. What this means is that when our bodies face threats from invading microbes, our immune systems mounts a proper response, not underactive nor overactive.
So instead of giving your immune system a boost, give it balance. You just want your immune system to work well and to do its job, which is to defend your body against disease by fighting infection. Ideally, this balance will be created through both nutrition and lifestyle interventions. Not only do you need to eat and drink well, but there are other important aspects of your health and wellbeing that need addressing for balance:
- Sleep Well
Getting insufficient sleep is linked to lowered immunity. Without sufficient sleep, you are far more prone to getting sick when you are exposed to viruses and infection. Ideally, you should try to get 7-9 hours of quality sleep a night.
Top Tip: try tart cherry juice which provides the sleep hormone melatonin, chamomile tea or passionflower tea, both sources of apigenin known to aid sleep. There is also some evidence that passionflower increases the production of the brain chemical gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) which works to inhibit other brain chemicals that induce stress.
- Digest Well
A healthy digestive system is essential to support normal immune function. The immune system needs certain nutrients to work effectively and to defend your body against pathogens.
Top Tip: Enjoy probiotic and prebiotic foods. Probiotics are found in cultured dairy products and unpasteurised fermented foods. Prebiotics include onions, garlic, leek, Jerusalem artichokes, asparagus, bananas, and jackfruit. Fibre also helps to keep your digestive system healthy by encouraging regular bowel movement, so ensure your diet regularly includes whole grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
- Reduce Long Term Stress
In short spurts, cortisol (a stress hormone) can boost your immunity by limiting inflammation. But over time, your body can get used to having too much cortisol in your blood and this lowers your immunity. In addition, stress decreases the body’s lymphocytes — the white blood cells that help fight off infection.
Top Tip: Diaphragmatic breathing helps expands the lungs and increases efficiency in oxygen absorption and supply. It strengthens the muscles of the chest, improves digestion and quality of sleep, and strengthens the immune system by reducing stress.
- Stay Connected to Friends
Staying connected with friends, especially if they’re health-minded friends serves an indirect role in our immune system. Our friends and their habits and behaviours can encourage us to eat well, prioritise sleep and exercise frequently. Good friends also help to buffer the stress of negative events.
Top Tip: join a club or community with similar goals and beliefs to your own or simply make a regular date with a friend for a walk and talk.
- Eat Mindfully and Practice Hara Bachi Bu
Eating too quickly is linked to a host of health issues including weight gain, insulin resistance and poorer digestion and immunity.
Top Tip: try to sit down to eat, without electronic devices. Take it slowly with pauses in between mouthfuls. Chew your food well. Hara bachi bu is the Okinawan phrase that refers to eating to only 80% full. This is a great habit to get in to from a health and immunity perspective.
Instead of concentrating on ‘boosting’ the immune system, a more useful approach is to think about ‘balance’, as a healthy immune system is one that sits in balance.
