Most people are disconnected from the fact that lifestyle habits play a role in our immunity.

Irregular meals, high refined sugar intake, poor sleep patterns & large intakes of alcohol all supress and negatively effect the immune system.

So we wanted to outline from a food & supplement perspective what is proven to help you with strengthening your immunity.

Most supplement companies pedal vitamin C, Vitamin D and such like and its well-intentioned but it is like being in a sinking boat, taking on water and only having a small cup to bail out the excess water.

Important to understand is what’s going to unlock the strongest possible immune system, that is your cells.

A single cell is the first form of recognised life, when you get a collection of cells together you make tissue.

There are 4 types of tissue and when you combine various forms you can create an organ, multiple organs together create a system.

Then many systems together create us, the human organism.

Sadly conventional medicine and supplement companies treat you as a system all the time which doesn’t consider that all the systems of the body are constantly in communication via the cells.

Moreover, you have trillions of cells of which many are the same, they help you produce enzymes, hormones (think sex hormones), signal to other cells to warn them of issues etc.

Thus when we get a dysfunction of the cell, we have dysfunction of the human organism.

In essence if you want the strongest immune system you have to ensure the health of the cell, specifically the membrane which acts as a guard for the cell. Letting only very certain things in or out.

Essential for good cell health are things like B vitamins, manganese, selenium, magnesium, zinc, choline, glutathione, Vit A,D,E & K to name just a FEW.

That would be a LOT of supplements and a big bill each month.

What we always do within the A.R.A. Method is screen someone and optimise their diet based on their unique past and biochemistry.

But for now, here are the essentials for you to optimise your cells and total body function.

• Dark green leafy vegetables (think spinach, kale etc) are packed with micro nutrients, specially B vits that are important for literally hundreds of processes within the human body.

• Coloured veggies. If tolerated by eating a broad range of colourful veggies you will get access to all nutrient needed. Not to mention these veggies will provide a powerful punch of fibre which feeds the bacteria of the gut to keep the immune system healthy

• Nuts can be a great source of healthy fats and important cofactors like selenium (brazil nuts).

• Grass fed, organic (where possible) animal protein – If morally you are ok with eating meat, it provides many important amino acids (for build proteins in the body), things like B12 and other important cofactors.

• Wild Fish can be full of healthy fats that have been shown to combat inflammation in your body which would lower immunity.

• Organic Eggs. More than enough studies have debunked the egg-cholesterol connection, yet sadly conventional medicine hasn’t caught on. One essential nutrient in eggs is choline which is needed to help build phospholipids (part of the cell wall).

• Healthy oils. Think unrefined olive oil, coconut oil, ghee to name a few.

We could write a much longer list than this but the more of the above that I see people consume the better there markers are on the testing that we do with them.

What are your TOP healthy foods to consume on a day to day basis?

If you struggle with:

• Gut issues
• Headaches
• Skin issues
• Autoimmune
• Other inflammatory issues

Your focus should be on what we call the the Top Down Approach.

You have to make sure…

1. The brain is healthy – sounds extreme but many people have issues with swallowing food, with constipation and yeast issues.

Moreover, if you struggle with smell, taste and saliva production, these are further signs of brain dysfunction.

Much of this is due to poor signalling of the brain (parasympathetic nervous system)

2. Ensure adequate levels of stomach acid and enzymes.

As you age, with stress & infections you drive down stomach acid which ruins things like protein digestion.

Often people that say ‘protein makes me feel heavy’ are struggling here.

3. Gallbladder issues.

If you are lucky to still have this, the production and flow of bile is essential.

With poor flow, you will become deficient in fat soluble vitamins.

Meaning you will struggle with sex hormone production (and any day based hormones)

4. Intestinal valve issues.

When the above is present you are at greater risk of SIBO, a condition when you have a reflow of bacteria into the small intestine.

If this is you, you’ll find that HIGH FODMAP foods will be a real struggle for you.

5. Immune barrier (leaky gut)

Many practitioners try to fix this issue first and it’s pointless if you don’t address the above issues.

Moreover, you have to ensure your immune system is working well.

If you are reacting to lots of foods, have skin issues, migraines and such like,

Calming the immune response becomes upmost important.

6. Microbiome Diversity.

We are 100% that the diversity of the microbiome is shrinking in the western world.

Low diversity is associated to more diseases than I can write here.

When we eat the same meals all the time,

Have low fibre diets

Drink alcohol in excess

Don’t sleep well…

All negativity effect microbiome health.

7. Chronic infections (large intestine)

Your large intestine is home to a huge array of diverse bacteria / yeast and much more.

However, when we get stressed, get travel illnesses, over exercise, have a poor diet.

We fail to protect ourselves from infections, both bacterial and parasites.

I could write 10 more with ease but hopefully you get the idea why so many people struggle to lose weight

And keep it off.

That’s why on the women only WOW program we address inflammation and show you how to correct it,

As when you do.

Weight loss is EASY.

And good news, this weeks live training in the group will run you through exactly how to action the above.

Plus, if you join in the next few days you save yourself 25%

Drop us a message to see if it’s a good fit.

It’s not just a weight loss program, it’s a transformation program.

C x

We work with complex clients and autoimmune issues are at the top of nearly all complex issues.

Sadly, conventional medicine is awful when it comes to autoimmune, and you likely will just end up on immunosuppressant drugs that cause other long term issues.

I also have a personal interest in this after being symptom and medication free for the last 11 years.

So, without further ado, here’s the list (it might surprise you)…

1. Not taking dietary restriction serious

Loss of tolerance – The reality is that once you have lost tolerance to parts of your immune system, there are certain foods and cross reactors that are off the list for life likely.

Things like gluten and dairy.

Sadly, most don’t really understand autoimmune and because they only get mild symptoms when they eat trigger foods, they think its not so bad. Wrong!

Think of autoimmune like a spinning wheel, the more trigger foods you keep eating, the faster that ball spins, causing more symptoms and worse issues are later in life.

2. Don’t have a diverse microbiome

People that have started to educate themselves on autoimmune issues become aware of trigger foods and start to cut them out. As there can be lots of reactive foods, they end up on a very restrictive diet.

This reduces the diversity of the microbiome and will actually create more problems long term.

One thing we have to work on with autoimmune is oral tolerance, ensuring your are getting enough diverse fibres and foods you can tolerate without symptoms.

3. Chemical exposures

We all know we are exposed to air pollution, but sadly our homes are home to some of the worst toxins out there. From commercial cleaners, pressed woods, mould and much more.

Doing a full audit of your living conditions is essential to ensure you progress.

4. Silent infections that trigger autoimmune

There are silent infections like H. Pylori that have been proven to tigger autoimmune responses within people.

It’s very important, even if you have no symptoms to rule out silent infections as they will 100% slow your progress and chance of hitting remission.

5. Not getting enough sleep

It’s totally possible to have a great diet, good hydration, low stress AND move your body, but BAD sleep will hold you back.

You should be sleeping through the night for at least 7 hours.

6. Circadian Rhythm

This is to do with consistency of meals, light exposure and movement.

If you are irregular with meals, sedentary and spend a lot of time indoors under artificial lighting, these will all negatively affect your progress.

7. Not enough movement

Linked to the above, it’s important to move our bodies in line with what you can recover 100% from by the next day.

For some it might just be brisk walking, as where for others it might be more vigorous. However, you have to be moving your body to help bring up the bodies resilience.

8. Do things that make YOU happy / have goals / hobbies

If you feel lost in life and don’t know where you are going…

This causes stress, that stress has a potent effect on the immune system and will hold you back.

Thus making sure you have things you enjoy and are working towards are essential.

9. Unhealthy relationships

If you have very poor at home or work relationships, this stress is holding you back.

It’s very often seen that when people resolve these issues, their conditions calm down and they reach remission faster.

10. Being a passive client

This is when you go to the doctor and ask if food plays a role in your illness, they say no and you accept it.

You have to become the investigator, the chief researcher for your autoimmune issue.

Autoimmune is very very complex and it often will take years of doctors and advice to find the right approach for you.

The good news is that the help is out there, you just have to be ready to jump on board and make things happen.

P.s Note that I didn’t put supplements on the above list.

In reality, autoimmune is much more of a functional issue, not a deficiency of supplements.

Thus, when you correct the above, you’ll see a huge uptake in the quality of your life.

As ever, if you have any questions, let me know and feel free to get in touch with us

(long post but worth it if you struggle with ‘tough’ health issues’)

But it can get in the long term, symptom free remission

If you know the 7 main triggers.

I see so much BS on the internet and fundamental lack of understanding of what a autoimmune disease is.

When you trigger a autoimmune disease which is clinically recognised, that’s stage 3.

You have lost ‘tolerance’ to that tissue and it’s never coming back.

I learnt it the hard way.

Yet, what people with autoimmune don’t know is that there is also stage 1 and stage 2.

Stage 1 being ‘silent’ – this stage you have antibodies being produced but there is no tissue damage, thus no symptoms.

In stage 2, you have antibodies and symptoms but if you go to the doctor, there is not enough tissue damage to diagnose.

^ I see this all the time.

What’s worse, if you have 1 autoimmune issue you should always screen straight away to make sure you don’t have silent or reactive autoimmunity.

In 70% of people I work with, this occurs and is a MAIN element why they have spent THOUSANDS…

Changing their diet, using all the supplements……try cold exposure, red light therapy and much more.yet they just don’t improve.

The practitioner often thinks the person isn’t sticking to the diet or following advise.

In my experience, this isn’t often the case. Most of the time people come to me with the PERFECT diet… … yet still have all these systems ofExhaustion, low mood, poor sleep, lack of sexy drive weight issues.

Here’s the thing, as someone that has LIVED with an autoimmune issue and have been med and symptom free for over 11 years..

I learnt a lot about what doesn’t work!

Now I have the pleasure to help people recover and regain their life.

If you have autoimmune issues and a practitioner doesn’t look at the following areas.

Don’t be surprised if you struggle to improve long term.

1. Undiagnosed Autoimmunity – This is to ensure if you have autoimmune, that you don’t have others.

2. Stages of autoimmune – Are you stage 1, 2 or 3?

If you are stage 1 or 2 you can stop the progress to full blown disease.

Not always, but often.

3. Identify lifestyle triggers – Things like sleep, movement & stress can be potent triggers if not managed.

4. Chemical triggers – People often lose tolerance to chemicals. These are people that cant stand perfume, scented candles of petrol fumes.

5. Food protein cross reaction – lots of studies show the cross reactivity to foods and autoimmune.

Of course there are the standard gluten, wheat, diary, eggs & soy but it goes MUCH deeper depending on the antibodies and tissues affected.

6. Identify Antigen – things like parasites, viruses, bacterial and fungal. These will stop people improving and must be screened for to see if they are active in the body.

7. Immune barriers – did you know you have barriers, not just in the gut but also the brain and lungs to name a few. If these are not in tact, its hard work to recover.

8. Immune Tolerance – Many have lost immune tolerance and become reactive to almost everything they eat. This is because premature immune cells are being exposed when they shouldn’t. This often happens due to poor variation in the diet and a shrunken microbiome.

Ok, there are more but I don’t want to overwhelm,

Hopefully if you read this, you won’t buy into the BS that ‘diet’ will solve your issue.

Don’t get me wrong, its a KEY step in the early stages but its limited to how much someone will improve long term.

I’m not sure if this is useful but felt compelled to share as i see so much BS on the web re autoimmune like…

Just take turmeric..

Just cut out gluten etc.

It’s not about single things, its about building a strong body that can calm down the inflammatory responses and handle stress.