If you’re running on default, you can make lifestyle changes to revitalize your health, energy, and life. These start with the immune system. You don’t have to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars to do it, and you can start right now! In fact, here are 10 easy and free habits to support immune health. Plus, an invitation to join a 21-day health-changing program to detoxify your body and support immune function and whole-body health.

How Can Habits Support Immune Function?

There are a few different ways lifestyle habits can affect immune function.

First, they can reduce inflammatory actions and oxidative stress in the body. Next, they can activate immune cells directly. Third, they can indirectly affect your immunity. For example, high blood sugars are associated with increased infection risk, while controlled ones are not.

Lastly, and on the other side, they can negatively impact immune function by diminishing the health of immune cells or degrading the body’s overall health.

Your daily habits matter. Throughout each day, you can choose to support your immune function. Make your habit choices wisely.

10 Free Daily Immune Habits

1. Free Habit #1: Gratitude When You Wake

How can you prioritize your health and immune function right when you wake up? You can be purposeful to start the day with gratitude. Whatever lies ahead in the day, you can be grateful for something or someone to start.

How does this support immune health?

Gratitude is one of our daily immune support habits because it can reduce stress and cortisol. Cortisol increases inflammation in the body. What’s more, gratitude can improve sleep while reducing stress.

A study of 400 individuals found that writing gratitudes during the day and/or before sleep improves both the quality and duration of sleep (1). Another study found that gratitude was linked to a 10% improvement in sleep and a 19% decrease in sadness levels in patients with health issues and insomnia (2).

For an extra boost, combine your time of gratitude with meditation. Focus on the moment, the day, and those things for which you are grateful. Be present in these thoughts, not thinking ahead or behind. Incredibly, this sort of mindful meditation can stimulate the immune system. Its benefits include improvements in specific markers of inflammation, cell-mediated immunity, and biological aging (3).

2. Free Habit #2: Ice-Cold Shower for Better Immune Function

Not everyone enjoys an ice-cold shower or burst of cold water in the morning. But for those who can stand it, it will support immune health!

How?

First, cold showers are linked to an improved immune system. A recent study from the Netherlands found that cold showers significantly reduces sick days in workers. In fact, 30 seconds or more of cold showering per day reduced sick days by 29% in the study. Additionally, more than half the participants decided to continue the cold-shower practice after the study since they were convinced by the results (4).

Why would cold water improve immunity? It’s thought that cold-water-stress induces the production of catecholamines, which may play a critical role in supporting the immune system.

3. Free Habit #3: Get Outside into the Sunshine Early

There are many benefits to getting outside. And, the earlier you do it, the better. Sunshine and time outdoors supports immune health, for free! They:

• Increase vitamin D production: Optimal vitamin D levels are associated with fewer seasonal illnesses. What’s more, optimal vitamin D levels support health throughout the body, from bones to skin to organs.
• Improve melatonin levels, especially if you’re out in the early hours after waking. Why does this matter for immune function? Optimal melatonin improves sleep, and sleep is directly beneficial to the immune system.
• Improve mood, which decreases cortisol to support health and immune function.

Get outside whenever you can, and aim for early hours if possible.

4. Free Habit #4: Daily Hydration for Health and Reduced Cortisol

Did you know that fluid restriction and dehydration may increase cortisol in your body? This becomes especially true if you are participating in an outdoor activity (5).

To reduce cortisol and therefore inflammation, hydrate your body regularly.

As a bonus, you’ll promote overall cell health and skin. One recent study has shown that increasing water consumption by 2 liters per day improved skin condition and physiology, even in those who already consumed high amounts of water. The researchers concluded that this increase and improvement in skin health would likely have the most positive effect on those with lower daily water consumption (6).

If you want to take the immune and health benefits even further, drink green tea for part of your daily hydration.

5. Free Habit #5: Focus on Immune Support Foods: Anti-Inflammatory, High-Antioxidant, and Healthy Fat Foods

Throughout the day, choose foods that are anti-inflammatory and full of antioxidants. These foods include:

• Fish and seafood
• Healthy fats such as extra virgin olive oil, avocados, MCT oil powder, and more
• Vibrant vegetables and small amounts of fruits
• Cacao, spices, and herbs such as ginger, garlic, basil, and more
• Potent greens and herbs like spirulina, wheatgrass, milk thistle, and more

Sound expensive for a list of free habits? Consider this: You have to eat anyway, so being more mindful about your food is a switch, not an addition. What’s more, there are many wonderfully inexpensive foods that are high on the list. Black pepper, whole or ground ginger, turmeric and/or garlic cloves, spinach, broccoli, and more are concentrated in immune-supporting nutrients and don’t cost much at all.

6. Free Habit #6: Move Your Body

Exercise provides a powerful 3-punch combination of immune function, health, and healthy aging. It:

1. Modulates antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in the body by supporting neuroprotective action, increasing circulating of anti-inflammatory markers, and improving antioxidant defenses (7).
2. Promotes overall body composition and healthy weights. Unhealthy weights are associated with a decline in immune function.
3. Decreases blood glucose. High blood sugars are linked to worsened infections.

7. Free Habit #7: Laugh and Enjoy Healthy Relationships

What do healthy relationships and laughter have to do with immune function and overall health?

Incredibly, the Harvard Study of Adult Development has shown that good social relationships promote physical and mental health, provide a buffer against loneliness, increase longevity, and foster happiness.  The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study found similar results. This means less anxiety and cortisol, and better health outcomes.

Next, laughter further reduces cortisol, increases dopamine, and increases endorphins. These chemicals decrease discomfort, cortisol (8), and depressed moods (9) while elevating cellular health.

8. Free Habit #8: Starting Mid-Evening, Employ Intermittent Fasting

Around 7 pm in the evening, consider starting a daily intermittent fast to support your health and immune function.

Amazingly, there are many documented benefits to intermittent fasting including:

• Immune function support (10)
• Improve cholesterol markers
• Reduced triglyceride levels
• Improved aging
• Healthy weight changes without negative cellular adaptations
• Reduced blood sugar abnormalities

In fact, many studies have shown that intermittent fasting supports healthy aging, brain health, heart health, and blood sugars (11).

To add intermittent fasting to support immune health, aim to fast 15-16 out of the 24 hours per day. Simply finish eating dinner at 7 pm each night, and fast with only non-carbohydrate liquids (like coffee) until 10 am or so.

9. Free Habit #9: 7 or More Hours Per Night: Sleep

Good quality sleep has many health and aging benefits. These include:

• Reduced daily cortisol
• Healthy immune function
• Better melatonin levels
• Less depressed moods
• Less inflammatory reactions
• Healthy body weight
• Healthy heart function

It’s a cycle. Good sleep begets good sleep, and lack of sleep increases cortisol for up to 24 hours which negatively affects sleep again (12). Lack of sleep has also been shown to reduce mental performance and alertness while increasing inflammation and cortisol (13).

10. Fast from from Detrimental Foods and Detox the Body Regularly

Here’s another habit that may seem like it’s not free. But again, it’s just a matter or trading out one type of food for another, so really, it’s a net “0.”

It’s time to reduce sweets, sugars, and refined carbohydrates, omit processed food fats like soybean oil, and help your body detox from the build-up of toxins and chemicals.

You can detox and fast from these harmful foods and substances. Join Dr. Colbert’s 21 Day Detox and Fast today!

Join Us for a 21 Days to Support Immune Function

Ready to join in and support immune function for the next 21 days? Start your journey with Dr. Colbert’s 21 Day Detox and Fast. Not only will you receive a full eating plan, food list, and detox recipes, you’ll truly learn how to eat for immune health.

What’s more, you’ll fast from foods and substances that are harming your health.

Within the 21 Day Detox, you can choose to purchase a few amazing supplemental powders that contain potent nutrients like antioxidants, liver cleansing herbs, healthy fibers, and more. You can also get Dr. Colbert’s Fasting Zone Book. Or, you can complete the entire detox with the free documents provided.

Add the detox plan to these 10 free habits to support your immune system, and you’ll be on a wonderful, healthy, immune-supporting journey for the months ahead!

Bottom Line

Ready to support immune health every day? For free? Follow our 10 free habits for a healthy immune system. Go a step further and join Dr. Colbert’s 21 Day Detox and Fast. It’s a great way to move forward with strong immune defenses!

Why Milk Thistle?

Milk thistle is a prickly plant native to Europe. It was introduced into North America by early colonists and is now found throughout the eastern United States, California, South America, Africa, Australia, and Asia (1). The active ingredients in milk thistle are a group of plant compounds collectively known as silymarin (2). Silymarin compounds are known to be strong antioxidants, antivirals, and anti-inflammatories (3, 4, 5).

But, how does this help your liver and why does it need help anyway?

Here’s the story of your liver, what it does for you each day, and how you can give it some love with an ultimate liver cleanse diet.

Your Liver’s Story: Sorting and Filtering

Weighing in at about 3 pounds and setting on the right side of your abdomen, your liver is busy all day every day. Its functions are crucial to your health and life. Every time you take a bite or drink, your liver is ready and waiting.

When you eat, your food and drinks begin their digestion journey in your mouth. You chew and chew, and start to break down foods. Then, the food and drinks make their way down your esophagus to your stomach. Here, food is further broken down both chemically (by acid and enzymes), and mechanically (by churning). Once ready, the broken-down nutrients will make their way to your intestines. There, enzymes dismantle the nutrients further into absorbable sugars, amino acids, and fatty acids. Your intestines absorb the nutrients and send them to the liver.

The Mail Room

Now, have you ever seen a busy post office or mail sorting center? Your liver is the mailroom of the body. It has about 500 workers, and each has one job. As long as you give the workers a substance they know and can work with, the liver functions well. Overwhelm them, or give them foreign, chemical, or harmful substances, and it takes a toll on the workers. The toxins can build up.

Your liver “mail-room” takes in the nutrients, sorts them, and send them out to the body. The nutrients are sent out through the blood to cells and organs to be turned into usable energy, to be part of biochemical reactions (in the case of many vitamins and minerals), to help and repair cells, or to be stored. Your liver must be healthy to get this right.

What’s more, as it sorts, your liver also filters. It filters out toxins from foods, chemicals, and medications, and detoxifies the blood. Lastly, beyond all this, your liver helps your body maintain healthy blood sugars by not allowing them to go too low. It stores a bit of glucose it can send out in an emergency.

This is the around-the-clock hard work of your liver. The more stress the liver is under due to too many toxins, high and low blood sugars, and more, the more it can get worn out.

How Can Milk Thistle Help?

Milk thistle supports healthy liver function.

In fact, many people with liver damage and illness use milk thistle supplements. It’s been found to support healthy liver function after a liver is injured by acetaminophen, carbon tetrachloride, radiation, iron overload, phenylhydrazine, alcohol, cold ischaemia, and Amanita phalloides. (1). What’s more, it can provide protection to the liver against toxins (6, 7), and support liver function in those with inflamed and/or damaged livers (8).

How?

While the exact mechanism is not known, experts believe the silymarin compounds promote liver health. As your liver is working hard for you, it can become damaged when it filters out toxic substances. It’s thought that milk thistle’s antioxidant free radical damage and offer protection.

Milk Thistle Supports the Health of Other Organs

Milk thistle doesn’t stop with the liver. It also:

• may help protect neurons and support healthy brain function while aging (10, 11)
• stimulates bone mineralization  (12, 13)
• decreases skin inflammation and blemishes (14)
• promotes insulin sensitivity (15)
• supports healthy immune function

In addition to being part of the ultimate liver cleanse diet, milk thistle promotes whole-body health.

Of note, pregnant women, those allergic to milk thistle, people with blood sugar abnormalities, and others should discuss the use of milk thistles with their personal medical professionals.

More Ways to Help Your Liver

There are a few more things you can do to support healthy liver function. These include:

• Limiting excessive carbohydrates and sugars in the diet. Every time you eat too many carbohydrates and sugar, your liver has to turn them into fatty acids for the body. Overworking your liver with sugar may harm it over time.
• Choosing healthy monounsaturated fats as your main source of oils and fats. Specifically, use extra virgin olive oil, avocados, and other omega-9 fats in cooking and eating.
• Limiting or avoiding alcohol. Alcohol intake directly affects the liver and requires it to work overtime to detoxify your blood.
• Eating foods with fiber including vegetables, nuts, seeds, psyllium husk, and inulin.
• Avoiding sugary drinks like soda.
• Doing your best to maintain a healthy weight.

Each day you can choose to support your liver with healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. And now, you can choose our ultimate liver cleanse diet.

The Ultimate Liver Cleanse Diet: Daily Milk Thistle Dose

Right now, you have the chance to accomplish all of this. You can go on a 21-day journey with us, and help your body and your liver cleanse and detoxify. In fact, it’s a great idea to detox a few times per year. With Dr. Colbert’s 21 Day Detox and Fast, you’ll utilize the ultimate liver cleanse diet by avoiding foods that harm it, flooding it with nutrients that help it, and giving digestion a break with fasting.

Within the cleanse, you’ll use Green Supremefood®. One primary ingredient is Milk Thistle Seed Extract, and it makes it easy to get in your daily dose!

How can you start? Join Dr. Colbert’s 21 Day Detox and Fast as your ultimate liver cleanse diet today.

Bottom Line

Your liver needs you. Starting today, you can join Dr. Colbert’s 21 Day Detox and Fast and give your body the ultimate liver cleanse diet. You’ll have wonderful food lists, meal plans, and instructions to use milk thistle each day alongside other nutrients that promote liver health.

How do they do harm?

Foods can be detrimental to the systems that support your immune response. Or, they can weaken your immune system directly causing chronic inflammation, overblown immune responses to allergens, or actually suppressing the cells that fight invaders.

Here are 7 foods that harm your immune function, and what to choose instead.

7 Foods That Weaken Your Immune System

1. Sugars

Sugars simply wreak havoc on many body systems, especially when consumed in large amounts.  In fact, sugar can:

• directly cause a latent immune response after large amounts are ingested
• contribute to an unhealthy weight which can harm immune-supporting systems
• increase blood sugars which can increase the risk of infection
• raise the risk of cardiovascular disease which suppresses the overall health and immune response
• increase inflammation, which directly and negatively impacts the immune system

In studies, it’s been found that inflammation is increased with diets high in added sugars (added to teas, sweets, etc.) and natural sugars from fruit juices (1).

Chronic inflammation is associated with a weakened immune system and illness.

Instead of Sugar Use: Do your best to simply wean off of “sweets” as much as possible. When you do want a treat, make them at home using non-sugar keto sweeteners such as stevia and erythritol.

2. Soybean Oil

Soybean oil is associated with increased inflammation. In fact, it is a concentrated source of omega-6s fats, and these fats directly work against healthy omega-3 fats in the body.

Unfortunately, soybean oil is used in almost all processed foods. It’s cheap. Soybean oil is easy to use. It’s available.

From a profit standpoint, it’s much more lucrative to use soybean oil than olive oil, avocado oil, or MCT oil in a food product. Now, it’s up to you as a consumer to be choosy and avoid it. Soybean oil is among the most potent foods that harm your immune function.

Instead of Soybean Oil Use: Whenever possible, always look for extra virgin olive oil in place of soybean oil when you’re dressing vegetables, making a sauce, etc.  Why? Oleocanthal and other healthy compounds.

Oleocanthal is a special compound found in abundance in high-quality olive oils. It supports healthy immune function and overall health. In fact, it is so strong it reduces inflammation in similar strength to some medications, like ibuprofen (2). Additionally, it provides direct immune support against invaders (3).

Other great oils include avocado oil, MCT oil, and coconut oil. While soybean oil increases inflammation, MCT oil has been found to directly reduce C-reactive protein (a marker for inflammation) (4).

3. Refined Carbohydrates

We all know that sugar hurts our bodies. But, do you realize that refined, white carbohydrates do the same? Once they are in the body, the starches from pasta act much the same as those from a sugar-sweetened food.

These starches are quickly digested and can spike blood sugars just like sugar does. In turn, the risk of illness and inflammation rises.

Instead of Refined Carbs Use: Luckily, there are many great food options to use in place of carbs. In any meal, opt for healthy fats, vegetables, and protein rather than carbs. Make carb-substitutes from flours that are low-carb rather than wheat. At dinner, use non-starchy vegetables such as zucchini and cauliflower in place of rice, potatoes, and noodles.

4. Artificial Flavorings (In Place of Real Spices)

Artificial flavorings, colorings, and otherwise “fake” ingredients have little place in our food system. They are simply another cheap way for food manufacturers to make foods without having to use nourishing, real ingredients. Don’t allow it.

While some artificial ingredients only have minor effects, when used in place of real-food flavor we miss a huge opportunity to support our immune system and health. In fact, some of the strongest anti-inflammatory compounds and flavors are found in black pepper, cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric.

Turmeric’s curcumin can reduce inflammation, joint pain, and provide a plethora of health benefits. Ginger can reduce inflammation, promote whole-body health, support the immune system, and relieve pain with its strong antioxidants. Black peppercorns support your immune system with potent antioxidants like piperine and anti-inflammatory compounds. . Cinnamon and cloves are not only known for being anti-inflammatory, but their cinnamaldehyde can also fight harmful invaders directly.

Instead of Artificial Flavorings: Add plenty of garlic, onions, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and other spices. Drizzle foods with extra virgin olive oil. Choose these delicious options rather than flavorings and foods that weaken your immune system.

5. Alcohol

Although alcohol is a drink rather than a food, we couldn’t leave it off our list of foods that harm your immune system. There are quite a few ways alcohol can impair your immune system. It:

• harms the healthy bacteria and microbes in your digestive system, which play a key role in immune function
• damages the epithelial cells themselves in your digestive tract, which can increase the risk of intolerances, reactions, and immune system inflammation
• disrupts the gut barrier, allowing more bacteria to pass into the blood from the gut
• may impair the function of immune cells in the lungs and upper respiratory system, leading to respiratory issues and illness (excessive drinking)
• reduces the number and function of three important kinds of cells in your immune system–macrophages, T cells, and C cells, making it difficult to fight off microbes (excessive drinking)
• disrupts the pro- and anti-inflammatory functions in the liver which leads to a state of chronic liver inflammation (excessive drinking) (5)

Instead of Alcohol Use: Many drinks promote full-body health and great immune function. Start with water. It’s vital for a healthy body.

Then, green and black tea are packed full of antioxidants that fight free radicals and support healthy immune function.

Consider adding lemon juice and slices. Vitamin C in lemons is one of our most-studied and well-known antioxidants. Lemons contain vitamin C plus antibacterial components effective throughout the mouth and intestines.

Lastly, add some high-antioxidants superfoods found in Green and Red Supremefood®. Their ingredients include health-supporting beets, spirulina, and wheatgrass (6, 7, 8, 9).

6. Antibiotics in Foods

If your food comes from an animal source, there’s a chance you are consuming antibiotics that have been given to the animal to keep it healthy (6).

Unfortunately, these antibiotics and their build-up can hurt your own health by tear harming the healthy bacteria in your digestive tract. Since your digestive tract is one of the primary systems for immune health and detox, antibiotics can weaken your immune response.

Instead of Animal Products with Antibiotics: Choose wild, local, or organic animal products whenever possible. Look for statements that show no antibiotic use if buying from the store.

7. Gluten or Other Individual Intolerances

Although the majority of adults do not likely have a gluten or wheat allergy, many display symptoms of intolerance when they eat modern strains of wheat. While they may tolerate smaller amounts or ancient grains, modern wheat may cause an immune response from their digestive tract or skin.

When it comes to intolerances, gluten stands out since it can weaken and flatten the villi in the intestines responsible for absorbing nutrients (7). When these are flattened, digestion suffers, and therefore the immune system suffers as well.

In addition, any individual intolerances can cause chronic immune responses and inflammation.

Instead of Eating Foods in which you are Intolerant: Avoid any foods that elicit immune responses from your skin, digestive tract, or respiratory system. If you are not sure what foods are the problem, make sure to rotate your foods and avoid eating the same foods or ingredients every day. If you know you are intolerant of gluten, avoid all wheat products and look for wheat and/or gluten listed on the ingredients list. Use non-wheat ingredients in its place, including nut flours, fiber supplements, and more.

How to Fast from These 7 Foods That Harm Your Immune Function

You’ve got the knowledge to make great choices with nutrition. Now, deliberately choose foods that support immune health (see 14 here), and avoid these foods that harm your immune function.

Ready to start fasting? Sign up today for Dr. Colbert’s 21 Day Detox and Fast! You’ll automatically fast from foods that bring down your health and flood your body with those that boost it.