Tess Challis is back with Vegan Quick Tips to boost your immune system!
Especially this time of year, it’s so important to keep your immune system functioning at maximum levels. If you follow these 5 tips, you’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to stay healthy and illness-free, no matter what is going on around you!
However, please remember that you don’t have to make all of these changes overnight. For all of us, it’s a process. Just keep adding in more of the good stuff, and incorporating these tips as you can, and you’ll enjoy greater and greater well-being! Here’s to your ultimate wellness.
– Tess Challis (author, vegan chef, and wellness coach)
Vegan Quick Tips from Tess Challis: 5 Easy Ways to Boost Your Immune System
- Ditch refined sugars. I’m so sorry, sweet babies, but highly refined sugar really isn’t a friend to your immune system. There are even studies that show sugar to halt your immune system from functioning temporarily. However, if you have a sweet tooth (like me), you’ll still be able to partake in natural sweeteners (in moderation) such as raw organic agave nectar, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, coconut nectar, and coconut sugar.
- Have sweet dreams. So yeah, you’ve heard this before—get enough rest. For most of us, that means getting 7 or more hours of (ahem, restful) sleep each night and waking up refreshed. I find that going several days in a row without adequate rest is pretty much a guarantee I’ll catch a cold.
- Make time to relax. I know it’s easy to put relaxation on the backburner, but if you don’t, you could wind up paying for it later. Stress is the surest way to tax your immune system, and the best way to beat stress is to incorporate a relaxation practice into your daily life. Even if you just carve out a few minutes here and there throughout the day to breathe and meditate, it will help. Give yourself the gift of relaxation—it just feels good. And it will help you stay healthy.
- Add delicious immune-boosting foods into your diet. This is the fun part. What’s the one thing I make when my immune system needs a boost? Chili-lime noodles! They contain immune-boosting superstars such as garlic, ginger, lime, and chilies. Find fun ways to add immune-boosting foods to your everyday diet, and you’ll be ahead of the game. My top six picks are: Garlic, ginger, miso, kale, shiitake mushrooms, and chilies.
- Keep your system alkalinized. This means, eating more alkalinizing foods and less acid-forming foods—as well as keeping your system well hydrated with enough water. Examples of highly alkalinizing foods include fresh vegetables, lemons, and beans. Acid-forming foods include animal products, refined sugars, and refined flours. If you can stick with a plant-based diet (based mainly on whole foods, with plenty of fresh, organic produce) you’re pretty much golden.
Vegan Quick Tips on JLgoesVegan.com
Tess Challis is the author of four cookbooks, and teaches healthy cooking classes across the country. She’s also a wellness coach and speaker, as well as the co-founder of Get Waisted and the owner of Radiant Health, Inner Wealth. Tess’s greatest passion is helping others achieve excellent health while eating some of the most delicious foods on the planet!
