Make Overcoming Illness As Easy at 40 As It Was At 20
Follow these 3 simple steps to give your immunity an almighty boost to ensure you’re working out at peak performance.
Maintaining immunity allows you to continue to exercise effectively.
THE BRIEF
Time to read: 3 minutes
Time to action: 5 minutes
Mantra: Stop illness from slowing you down
Main message: Extra immunity for minimal effort
Stat: 100% of microbes the immune system remembers it has ever fought and defeated
It’s a joyless irony that pushing your fitness levels upwards can send your health spiralling downwards.
Prolonged exercise can create a spike in your stress hormones, which can cause temporary suppression of immune cell functions. This can leave you susceptible to infection, which is bad for your body and reduces your ability to keep everything working in tip-top condition.
It’s our job to keep you in A1 working order for as long as possible. So, with the help of a panel full of consultants (GPs, immunologists, internists, pulmonologists, and ENTs), as well as the latest global research, we’ve compiled a simple checklist to keep you in peak condition for longer.
Known as RHS (recovery, hydration, supplementation), this simple 3-step prevention programme works with your body to help keep you working out at maximum performance.
Stage 1: Recovery – enforced downtime
Allow 1-2 days per week for recovery. If you think of immunity like muscle building, it’s the downtime where you’ll find the growth, so take this as a 40+ win. If you’ve worked out, you are ordered not to suppress your immune system again too hard or too soon.
Poor sleep is always associated with a greater risk of becoming unwell. You know it, we know it, so let’s say it aloud together: 8 hours is optimal for hormone function, but 7 hours is OK if you’re feeling wild.
Remember, you’re over 40 now, you need to take care of yourself.
Stage 2: Hydration – For immunity
Drink 150ml of water every 15 minutes when you're working out, regardless of the sport. This is just a rule of thumb – you don’t have to measure it out strictly, but you do have to drink it.
Now that you’re a little older, you need more water generally, so also aim to drink 3 litres daily. Millennials and Gen Zers can get away with being mildly dehydrated, but you’re not that naive. There is no such thing as days on or off when it comes to hydration, so teach your system to flow like a river, my friend.
Stage 3: Supplements – longevity through nutrition
Protein, as in many health scenarios, is a good friend to your immune system. Aim for 2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight daily for optimum illness prevention. Also, take a daily vitamin D3 supplement, which stimulates cells to produce peptides with antiviral properties. It’s like swallowing a small army to fight for you.
Take a daily probiotic supplement containing at least 10 billion live bacteria. It sounds like a lot (to be fair, it’s a significant number), but it is more commonplace than you’d imagine and plays a fundamental role in the function of your immune system.
Lastly, consider taking zinc supplements as your training intensifies. This preventative measure can reduce the length of any illness you might be struck down with.
These 3 basic steps have a super simple outcome: a healthier you for longer. If you can do it all, we suspect your body will be immune-boosted when even the worst downturn in weather arrives.
But if you can’t follow all 3, as we always say, just pick and choose whatever you can and do it. Remember the vital FORM mantra: it’s essential to consider the SELF(ish), which acts as an investment so you can look after those around you even better than you look after yourself.
DR DRAGON
A GP for an eclectic community, Dr Dragon is a prolific author in the world of health. Award-winning for his content creation and ability to answer the actual questions asked of him, his theories are always worth listening to for those looking for the little things that can make a real difference in our lives.
