Expert advice for boosting your immunity

Never before has our need to strengthen our defenses been so essential. The strategy? Boost our immune system and preserve one of our best shields: the skin flora, the key to anti-aging.

Immunity. Since the emergence of the coronavirus in our lives, it's the only word on our lips... We had indeed forgotten that we live in a world of invisible enemies: parasites, bacteria, fungi, and the famous viruses. "They are not living beings in the strict sense," explain doctors Valérie and Denys Coester, authors of the book 'Les Secrets d'une bonne immunité' (The Secrets of a Good Immunity, published by Albin Michel), "but rather fragments of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or RNA (ribonucleic acid) surrounded by a protein coat. In short, it's simple genetic information that aims to colonize our cells and use them for replication.

Maintaining Balance

This is not to forget our immune system, both innate and acquired. It's a true biological army tasked with repelling intruders but also with tolerating foreign bodies that can be useful to us. Some risk factors are beyond our control and cannot be changed: age, genetics, blood type. However, we are increasingly discovering the role of epigenetics, which is the interaction between genes and our lifestyle. Even cosmetics take a keen interest in it. The key challenge is to keep this sentinel system in perfect balance.

For our experts, the goal is not to boost the immune system at any cost or to combat inflammation indiscriminately because if done excessively, it can become overly reactive and turn against us. This is what happens in cases of allergies or autoimmune diseases. The task is not simple but not impossible because we can optimize our immunity without overburdening it. Not just with medications, loads of trendy vitamins, or dietary supplements, but simply by improving our lifestyle. Our immune system has two key organs, two essential barriers: the skin and the intestines. The keys to providing the right bacteria to your gut and staying healthy. In recent years, the microbiome has become the epicenter of our well-being, and no one ignores this second brain anymore. It might even be the new anti-aging weapon to modulate the passage of time.

Stress

The book mentioned earlier, 'Les Secrets d'une bonne immunité' by Dr. Valérie Coester, a specialist in natural medicine and an instructor in yoga and meditation, and Dr. Denys Coester, an anesthesiologist and intensive care physician, and a therapeutic hypnosis instructor, is perhaps the most psychological. For them, it is crucial to address stress through psycho-immuno-endocrinology, which deciphers the connection between stress and immunity using inflammatory molecules called cytokines. It's this chronic inflammation that silently ages us, affecting the autonomic nervous system. This subtle and insidious inflammation often goes unnoticed, even in blood tests. Their first piece of advice is to balance omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. The ideal is to assess these membrane fatty acids through a biological test. The test costs approximately 90 euros and is not covered. The ratio between the two should be less than 4, but it often exceeds 20.

The Plate

At the table, Drs. Coester advocate for a Mediterranean-style diet, which emphasizes vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, fatty fish, including anchovies, blueberries, broccoli, garlic, onions, turmeric, walnuts, and sweet potatoes. They also endorse intermittent fasting. "If we eat too often, the body is busy synthesizing molecules to digest and doesn't have time to produce immune cells. The idea is to go without eating for twelve hours so that the body has time to cleanse and regenerate itself. This type of intermittent fasting is recommended with seasonal changes, two to three times a week for three weeks.

Additional Assistance

Propolis and bee pollen, apple cider vinegar, and certain organic essential oils (EOs): add 2 drops of black spruce EO + 2 drops of lemon EO to a bit of vegetable oil to massage the adrenal glands each morning, these small glands located just above the kidneys. You can also put 3 or 4 drops of ravintsara EO on your wrist or a tissue and inhale deeply before attending a meeting or using public transportation. You can also stimulate your VG-14 point, which is the Governor Vessel 14 point, the first point that can boost the immune system, according to Drs. Coester. It is located just below the seventh cervical vertebra. To find it, slightly lower your head forward, move your fingertips down the first six flat vertebrae. When you reach a small, slightly protruding bump, that's it. Massage it neither too hard nor too gently while breathing calmly.

The Secrets of Resilience

For Véronique Liesse, a dietitian and nutritionist, and Alix Lefief-Delcourt, an author specializing in health nutrition, authors of 'Le Grand Livre de l'alimentation spécial immunité' (The Big Book of Immunity-Focused Nutrition, published by Leduc.s Pratique), there's no doubt that the intestinal ecosystem plays the primary role in immunity. For them, it all comes down to the 5 A's: Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant, Antihyperglycemic (low in fast sugars and refined carbohydrates), Antidysbiosis (beneficial to the microbiome), and Antitoxic (neutralizing internal and external pollutants) nutrition. They specifically list 50 foods rich in antioxidants and offer 75 recipes.

They also have their "immuno-champions" such as astragalus, Siberian ginseng, ginseng, black seed oil, Asian mushrooms (reishi, shiitake, maitake), and blackcurrant bud macerates. They also recommend checking your vitamin D levels, which play a significant protective role and tend to decline in winter and with age. You can find it in fatty fish, salmon eggs, eggs, cod liver oil, veal liver, or a potential supplement prescribed by a doctor. Sun exposure allows the body to synthesize it.

Know Your Immune Identity

Finally, discover the excellent book authored by Valérie Lamour, a naturopath and hypnotherapist, and Olivier Madelrieux, a pharmacist and nutritional coach. Its title: 'Boost Your Immune Defenses According to Your Blood Type' (published by Flammarion). Their message is clear: 'Each blood type has its immune identity, its neuroendocrine system, and its specific digestion. This immuno diet method categorizes immunostimulant, immunoneutral, and immunonegative foods for each blood group.'

For example, you learn that blood group A (45% of the population), which has a less robust immune system, benefits from adopting a vegetarian diet. Blood group B (9%), which defends well against viruses, assimilates meats, dairy, cereals, and vegetables efficiently. Blood group AB (4%) has a longer healing time and must be extra vigilant. Finally, blood group O (42%) is the most resistant but does not tolerate processed foods well. However, everyone should avoid zinc deficiency, a fundamental micronutrient and immune sentinel. In COVID-19, the loss of taste and smell appears to be associated with low zinc levels. It can be found in many foods, including seafood, but with age, supplementation is sometimes necessary.