There is nothing like the beginning of a school year to send the minds and bodies of our family into a tailspin. Suddenly all the little things that went by the wayside over the summer start to add up. We’ve forgotten the importance of time management and nutrition. While scheduling movement during the workday is becoming impossible.

One of the most difficult components of back-to-school season is the stress it can bring on. 

Maybe you’ve noticed your family feels a bit off right now – schedules and immune systems. It’s no wonder. You just got comfortable with summer when the urgency of fall comes knocking on your door. 

It’s the perfect time of year to recalibrate a sense of normalcy in your home. 

Let’s get back to basics. Here are some important pieces of health and wellness that are of benefit to your family – mind, body and spirit.

Use the following information to guide your decisions as you re-establish back to school routines:

SLEEP  

Natural sleep rhythms change in the summer. We are awake more hours of the day because of the presence of sunlight. Especially in the northwest. When the school year gets underway, though, we need regular sleep for. 

It’s helpful to get back into a normal sleep routine before school starts. It is good for cognitive function, immunity, and overall wellness. Sleep requirements vary from 7-10 or more hours nightly, depending on age and individual requirements.

With teenagers in the house, it can be hard to get anyone to adhere to a common sleep schedule. Teens are at the age where it’s normal for their internal clocks to be geared towards a later bedtime and wake-up time. Did you know studies show that young adults function better in schools with a late start?

One helpful thing to try is the practice of sleep hygiene. Here’s what to do: 

• at least a week before school starts, go to bed earlier
• dim lights 
• take a warm shower before bed 
• listen to calm music 
• put lavender essential oil in a diffuser by the bed 
• put technology away before entering the bedroom

MOVEMENT

Movement helps the sleep/ wake cycle and supports both cognitive function and immunity. However, movement can look different for each person depending on individual physiology. It’s not a one size fits all solution. One form of movement that can be beneficial to all humans is mindful breathing.

Try the technique called box breathing. It is a simple practice you can incorporate into your daily routine: 

Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, breathe out for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds. 

Repeat.

NUTRITION

A whole-foods, plant-based diet has the best outcomes for overall health and immunity. That doesn’t mean you have to be a vegetarian. Rethinking how you add food to your plate is a good way to start. 

The first step is to fill your plate with vegetables (avoid letting meat take up the largest part of your plate). Next, supplement your plant-based meal with lean meat or eggs for protein. Then, add in nuts, seeds, and legumes. Finally, flavor your food with healthy fats such as olive oil or avocado.

FOUNDATIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

Especially in times of transition, our bodies might need extra support to function at an optimal level. One way to add support to your regular diet is to supplement your meals with foundational nutrients. 

Here are the key supplements I recommend at this time of year:

• Probiotic – Basic gut health impacts the way all other systems in your body work. A probiotic supports healthy digestion and immunity.
• vitamin D – Especially in the Pacific Northwest, people are often low in vitamin D because of the lack of sun. Getting tested for vitamin deficiency is important because it’s possible to get too much. I will recommend a maintenance dose if you are not deficient, and a repletion dose if you are deficient.
• Multivitamin with the active form of B vitamins – B vitamins help keep our energy levels up while supporting the nervous system and stress response.
• Fish Oil – supports cognitive function and mental health.

Rhythms of life change with the seasons. During the fall, many aspects of our daily routines are in transition. Focusing on a healthy lifestyle – sleep, movement and nutrition – can improve our overall cognitive function and immunity. In addition, this healthy lifestyle is an important stress management tool which helps us deal with change in a more productive way, both mentally and physically.

Please contact Dr. Heather Buckle ND, FABNO if you have questions about integrative solutions for any gastrointestinal issues you may have. If you live in Washington state and would like to learn more about Dr. Buckle’s naturopathic approach to your wellness, please call (206) 643-2239 or CLICK HERE to schedule a consultation.

The post BACK TO SCHOOL BASICS OF HEALTH first appeared on Pacific Northwest Integrative Medicine.

Did you know that the health of the body’s immune system starts in the gut?

In fact, the gut microbiome sets the pace for the whole body – all the way through the heart and into the brain. Therefore, one of the foundational pillars of immune support is something that directly supports your gut health.

Probiotics.

Probiotics are live microorganisms, or “good” bacteria, that when introduced into the body especially benefit the gastrointestinal tract. Probiotics not only improve the flora in your gut microbiome, they also improve your overall immunity. 

“Probiotics exert their beneficial effects through various mechanisms, including lowering intestinal pH, decreasing colonization and invasion by pathogenic organisms, and modifying the host immune response.” (Williams)

Use of probiotics improves outcomes for:

• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Chron’s Colitis 
• SIBO

Although I recommend probiotic supplements in general, for immune support, keep in mind they are not a one size fits all option. Probiotics can help most people, but it’s a matter of picking the right one for the right person. Which probiotic to choose and for what instance is the question.

Especially after a bacterial infection or a surgical procedure where antibiotics have been utilized, probiotics help to restore the gut. However, if symptoms appear to become more severe with probiotics, I dig deeper into the root cause of the disruption. 

For instance, if someone complains that a probiotic is making their symptoms worse, I most often suspect Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). Both SIBO and Fructose Malabsorption (FM) diagnoses get specific pre-biotic free or specialized FODMAP probiotics to help restore their gut microbiome.

Probiotics can also cause nervous system disruptions for those that are neurodivergent. In this case, I prescribe special probiotics specific to the patient’s needs.

Depending on your situation, it is wise to consider adding probiotic supplements into your diet.

In addition to probiotic nutritional supplements that a naturopathic doctor might prescribe to support your immune health, probiotics can be added to your diet naturally.

Do you have a garden you are about ready to harvest? 

It’s the perfect time to utilize the fresh food at your disposal and consider processing them through fermentation – a natural way you can create your very own probiotics. 

Here are a few ideas for fermented foods you can make from home, a simple way to process them, and how to incorporate them into your meal plan.

Try this recipe to make refrigerator pickles straight from your garden. You might try it on any of the following vegetables:

• Cucumbers
• Okra
• Radishes – tacos, korean beef
• Green Beans
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Onions

Any of these pickled vegetables can be added to salads or served as a cool summer side dish in place of something roasted or steamed.

Kimchi is most commonly used in Korean style cooking. Here is a recipe to make your own traditional style kimchi with fermented Napa Cabbage (includes substitution suggestions to make it vegan). Kimchi is also available at your local market. Try adding kimchi to Korean beef bowls or any one of these variations as a stand-alone option.

Here is another simple fermented food you can make at home. Try this recipe to make yogurt with or without an Instant Pot. Serve it up with fresh berries or a tiny bit of honey.

Through naturopathic medicine, there are often ways to use what we already have in support of conventional medical advice. Adjusting your nutrition is a way to support overall immunity and also gut health (which makes your heart and brain stronger).

As a naturopathic physician with a specialty in gastroenterology, it is my goal to equip you with information so that you can make the most informed decisions about your health. In fact, at the heart of naturopathic medicine is the philosophy of doctor as teacher. My intention is to empower you to participate in your own healing process.

Please contact Dr. Heather Buckle ND, FABNO if you have questions about integrative solutions for your health care needs. If you live in Washington state and would like to learn more about Dr. Buckle’s naturopathic approach to your wellness, please call (206) 643-2239 or CLICK HERE to schedule a consultation.

RESOURCES:

Williams, Nancy Toedter. “Probiotics.” American journal of health-system pharmacy : AJHP : official journal of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists vol. 67,6 (2010): 449-58. doi:10.2146/ajhp090168

The post A SIMPLE WAY TO BOOST YOUR IMMUNITY first appeared on Pacific Northwest Integrative Medicine.