How to Boost Your Immune System

If you are looking for ways on how to boost your immune system, you are on the right path. However, you are probably looking during this crazy virus, and while that is a wonderful thing to do, you should continue to do these things all throughout the year, so that when the next flu season hits, you will feel a bit more confident in your body’s ability to handle anything.

So, here are 10 things to do year-round to promote a healthy immune system, in no particular order:

1. Get Outside: Many people do the same thing everyday. Go to work, come home and hang out inside cooking dinner, tending to children, etc. Getting outdoors, especially during the daytime, provides the body with needed Vitamin D, but also breathing in the chemicals produced by the plants, can help increase our white blood cell levels. (I don’t mean the manmade chemical plants like in Houston lol)

2. Keep Up Your Microbiome: basically, make sure you are feeding the good bacteria in your body, and replenishing the good bacteria. This can be done by a plethora of fruits & vegetables, yogurts, kombucha, kimchi, etc. Gut health greatly affects immune health.

3. Nutrient-Dense Diet: Speaking of fruits & vegetables, you need to make sure your diet contains plenty of nutrient-dense foods and minimal to no processed foods. Fruits & vegetables have so many needed vitamins and minerals that help your body function properly.

4. Exercise Regularly: Working off the previous tip of eating healthy, you need to make sure you are moving your body DAILY. This doesn’t mean high-intensity exercising or lifting a bunch of weights. This could be as simple as a 20 minute walk. Keeping your body moving will allow your body to produce more of the cells that attack bacteria that are looking to cause infection. MOVE. YOUR. BODY. EVERY. DAY.

5. A Good Sleep Schedule: Why do you think when you are sick that all it is you want to do is sleep? This is the time when your body can restore itself and for the immune system to recharge. Getting 2-3 hours of sleep per night can be detrimental to your body.

6. De-Stress: Americans, especially, are always stressed out. Somehow we think constantly being busy is something good. NEWSFLASH: chronic stress is one of the most dangerous things to your body. It can create inflammation, attack the body and boom, you’re sick. Do something that relaxes you and do it more often than not.

7. Stay Hydrated: Humans are basically water and then a little bit of other things, so why do we deny drinking water? There are too many functions where water is necessary, but think about those needed vitamins that are water-soluble, they NEED water. So, make sure you are drinking no less than half your body weight in ounces. (120 pounds = 60 ounces of water)

8. Cut Down On Sugar: no, this does not mean go Keto, or cut out fruit. This means relax on the amount of sugar you intake. Sugar can weaken your white blood cells, and you need those, because they are the ones that fight off bacteria and viruses.

9. Herbs & Spices: kick up your cooking by adding lots of herbs & spices to your food. Things like turmeric, ginger. garlic, etc. provide anti-inflammatory properties to help your immune system out.

10. WASH YOUR DANG HANDS: this should be self-explanatory, but here we are. Wash them and do it often enough to protect yourself.

Do all or majority of these things year-round and you will find yourself in a good position when the next cold or flu comes around. Do these things now and you are only helping your body get ready to fight anything it comes in contact with!

Part 2 of this blog includes the foods you should be incorporating year-round. Read Foods to Boost Your Immune System here.

Until next time,

Keep it Fresh. Keep it Simple. Keep it Real.

Love, Aubrey

5 Ways to Make Eating Vegetables More Fun

“I know I should be eating them more often, but I honestly hate eating vegetables.”

That is a sentence I hear almost every single day and definitely at every Farmer’s Market when someone sees our green juice. Thankfully, I am able to convince just about every person to try a juice sample and they end up surprised they like drinking these vegetables. Unfortunately, I can’t always be there to encourage or give samples, etc. I know it can also be a struggle to get your kids to eat them, but if they see you eating them and enjoying them, they might just be willing to follow your lead.

So, let’s talk about a few really easy ways to get more vegetables in your daily diet:

1. Make it a family challenge. Because who doesn’t love a challenge? Create a chart with each family member's name and earn a point for each vegetable you eat in a day. Offer bonus points for including a variety of vegetables that encompasses each color of the rainbow! Decide what the ultimate prize will be and make it good! For example, maybe the winner won’t have to do chores for a week? That might be quite the incentive.

2. Incorporate into a juice or smoothie. I include TONS of vegetables in the Real Peel juices, but smoothies are also a really easy way of getting your greens in without having to cook and eat them separately. Most people or kids won’t even bat an eye when they drink a smoothie, especially if it’s a pretty color like purple or green! The rule of thumb for a healthy smoothie that isn’t packed full of sugar is three greens/veggies to one fruit. For example, you can choose spinach, kale, cucumber, and an apple or beet greens, beets, celery, and an orange. There are millions of combos you can come up with.

3. Grow your own. This is probably the most cost-effective and healthiest way of incorporating more vegetables in your life. You can start small with an herb garden and eventually grow in succession planting throughout the summer and fall. If gardening is new to you, pick out two or three of your favorite vegetables and grow them in a pot or container. If you already love gardening, maybe expand your variety of crops and incorporate new vegetables you normally wouldn’t grow or buy. This could be an incredibly rich experience for children to learn where their food comes from and will be much more delicious and nutritious than any store-bought veggie. For an awesome gardening resource check out The Farmers Almanac (www.almanac.com/gardening)!

4. Join a CSA or go to a farm. If starting a garden isn’t the right choice for you, then benefit from someone else's green thumb! Finding a local organic farm will give you the opportunity to purchase a crop share or simply shop in their market. Through community supported agriculture (CSA) each week you will have the privilege of eating vibrant, just-harvested produce while simultaneously giving back to your local farmer. If you decide to shop in their market, bringing your entire family could be exceptionally fun if they offer pick-your-own produce! Getting yourself or kids involved will make your experience around vegetables more positive.

5. Bake a sweet treat. Yes, you can incorporate your vegetables into your baking! Vegetables like squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, zucchini, and beets are the perfect addition to many baked goods. The goal is to find a recipe that includes other whole-food ingredients. Growing up, my mom made us Zucchini Bread and I never bat an eye at the fact there was zucchini in it. I would share that recipe, but it’s a family one, so I will share another one that’s alllllmost as good ;) Check out this zucchini bread recipe from Ambitious Kitchen!

Pick one and give it a go and start reaping the benefits of getting those “hidden” veggies in! Once you get one down, start another!

Until next time,

Keep it Fresh. Keep it Simple. Keep it Real.

xo Aubrey