It’s Basic Bitch Season
As a heads up, this blog contains some affiliate links. Read about it here.
Basic Bitch Season is here!
Aka, pumpkin spice lattes.
Which also means cold & flu and another COVID mutation are right around the corner.
Here’s 7 ways to level up your immune system from basic to bad bitch.
Plus a unicorn bonus at the end.
Limit the basic bitch sugary lattes.
A study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that just 75 grams of sugar (a grande Pumpkin Spice latte, 50g sugar, + a pumpkin cream cheese muffin, 34g sugar, is already 84grams of sugar!) is enough to bring your immune system to its knees for 5 hours. But by then, you may have eaten another sugary load as a “pick me up” from the sugar crash. This vicious cycle keeps your immune system perpetually weakened and susceptible to that Karen (or Ken) who openly hacked up a lung in the coffee shop. Opt for a classic immune-boosting green or black tea instead. Bring your own organic stevia if needed.
2. Don’t drink hot plastic.
It’s been known for years that plasticizers like phthalates and bisphenols - BPA, BPS, and several other “BP’s” - leech into food and drinks, especially when heated or in contact with acidic liquid. Bisphenols and phthalates dysregulate the immune system (and thus, your ability to ward off infection) and mimic estrogen to disrupt the endocrine system and promote obesity and cancer.
It’s important to realize that “BPA-free” plastic does not protect you. BPA is just the poster-child to distract you from the BPS and BP(pick a letter) they used instead.
Some people are genetically more susceptible to the adverse effects of BPA, which showed up in red on my Self Decode analysis. It looked at over 20 different gene variants (SNPs, or single nucleotide polymorphisms) that have the biggest impact on my body’s ability to detoxify BPA. Interestingly, and unfortunately, I saw the effects of this show up on my Prenuvo full-body MRI, but that will be for another post. Just remember that bisphenols and phthalates are xenoestrogens - foreign estrogen that mimics estrogen and binds to estrogen receptors. Most people don’t know that estrogen plays a role in modulating the immune system too. Both phthalates and bisphenols lead to not only lowered immune defenses, but also promote inflammation and increased risk of autoimmunity, when your immune system goes Karen on you.
A screenshot of part of my BPA report. No bueno. Want to get your own report? Purchase your Self Decode.
While it’s basically impossible to 100% avoid plastic in this world, you can still be mindful of your exposure by removing plastic lids, using biodegradable straws, and kindly requesting drinks and food to be served in paper, glass, ceramic, or stainless steel when it’s available. Even better, GPT your own sugar-free or low-sugar pumpkin spiced latte recipe at home and take it with you in a plastic-free tumbler. My favorite is this triple-walled, stainless steel tumbler with a ceramic and silicone lid from Elemental.
Another Pro Tip: Opt for email receipts or none at all. Most receipts are made of thermal paper that have BPA 250-1,000 times greater than BPA-lined cans.
3. Eat shrooms.
More specifically, Asian mushrooms. The beta-glucans in mushrooms help to prime your immune system to be ready to attack the “bad guys”. Take a trip to your local H-Mart or 99 Ranch to pick up some immune-boosting culinary shrooms like shiitake, maitake, oyster mushrooms, beech, and enoki. If you’re lucky, you might find some lion’s mane or culinary cordyceps (the kind without the dead caterpillar attached).
While it’s true that older generation Asians don’t believe in organic (“Ohganic or no ohganic all the same. They trick you. Waste of money!” - My mother), you might be pleasantly surprised to find some organic mushrooms in Asian markets. And, contrary to what my mother says, I do recommend buying organic whenever possible, especially when it comes to the dirty dozen. Pesticides alter immune function as well. And like BPA, some people may be more genetically susceptible to the adverse effects of organophosphates. This was another red sad-face area for me on my Self Decode report.
What about regular white button, portabello, or cremini mushrooms, you might be asking? These are fine too, but are all of the same species of mushrooms that are known to have higher levels of a toxin called agaritine. The good news is, this toxin is mostly deactivated with cooking. Although there are no human studies demonstrating that agaritine from mushroom consumption is linked to developing any health problems, it’s just better to cook all of your mushrooms to not only deactivate any potential toxins, but to also break down the cell walls for easier digestion.
I haven’t even gotten into medicinal Asian mushrooms yet - cordyceps sinensis, reishi, turkey tail, and others, which all have their own immune-enhancing superpowers. Like Panda Express, these amazing medicinal mushrooms, and other Chinese herbs I grew up smelling in my parent’s pantry (IYKYK), have been Americanized into mushroom coffees to make them accessible and palatable to our taste buds. I’m okay with that because boiled real reishi is super stinky and bitter and I refuse to eat mummified caterpillars in my soup with fungus sticking out the head. I’ll stick with my Four Sigmatic powders. Moral of the story is, that Asian mushrooms are superior!
4. Eat fermented stuff.
Visit your local mom & pop Korean restaurant for some delicious, nourishing soups, like Galbi-tang (beef short rib soup) and Soondubu Jjigae (soft tofu kimchi stew), and - my favorite part - all the delicious banchan (free side dishes), which almost always includes kimchi. I basically judge every Korean restaurant by how good the kimchi and banchan are. If you’re in Vegas, I love Soyo Korean Kitchen.
Probiotics in fermented food help to support a healthy gut and balanced immune system. Prebiotics are essentially fiber in veggies and fruits that “feed” the beneficial probiotics and healthy gut microbiome. Kimchi is perfect because it’s got it all! If your palate hasn’t warmed up to kimchi, there’s always sauerkraut or other fermented veggies, miso, and plant-based yogurts or kefir.
As a bonus, eating home-style, non-Americanized Asian food will expose your gut to a bigger variety of wholesome ingredients that don’t exist at Chick Filet or the Cracker Barrel. This applies to most ethnic cuisines, really. The key to having a balanced gut microbiome is eating a diversity of ingredients. Eating the same thing day in and day out shrinks microbiome diversity and throws off the balance of “good” and “bad” bacteria in the gut, which then throws off the immune system, since roughly 2/3 of your immune reservoir resides in your gut. Would you be surprised to know studies have shown that Americans have the lowest gut microbiome diversity in the world? You could say the gut microbiome has been “white-washed.” No coincidence that we’re one of the sickest first-world countries.
5. Load up on fresh herbs & spices.
Fresh is preferred. Basil, sweet basil, lemon basil, Thai basil, cilantro, culantro, Italian parsley, curly parsley, fresh oregano, mint, perilla (or shisho) leaves, dill, rosemary, sage, thyme, chives, turmeric, ginger, garlic, onions, and even micro-greens.
These types of leaves, herbs, and spices will give you the biggest bang for your buck with nutrients and aromatic, bioactive compounds that have antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant support. There’s a lot of good “anti-s” in there.
Pro tip: Treat the leafy herbs like veggies, not like garnish. Personally, I love having an obnoxious amount of different leafy herbs in my salads.
6. Get some D.
This is an easy, low-hanging fruit for boosting not only immunity, but also bone health, brain health, and lowering the risk of autoimmunity. Did you know vitamin D is really a hormone? It’s technically not a vitamin since your body can synthesize it with the sun.
However, with predominantly indoor living across the US, long winters in the upper latitudes, and the Standard American Diet (SAD), 42% of Americans are categorically deficient in vitamin D (defined as levels below 20 ng/mL). That’s not including all the people who are vitamin D insufficient (levels below 30 ng/mL), or suboptimal, which is considered levels below 50 ng/mL, but not in the insufficient or deficient range. Even worse, is that vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency disproportionally affects people of color. The lower your D, the more susceptible you are to getting colds, flu, and Corona (not the beer), which ultimately costs you and the healthcare system more dollars and resources. Unless you have Kaiser insurance, which discourages doctors from ordering vitamin D because it’s “expensive,” check your levels with your doctor to gauge how much vitamin D you should take. You might be surprised to find that you may need more or less than what’s typically found in multivitamins. People with severely low levels below 12 ng/mL typically require a weekly megadose for several weeks. I aim to optimize levels in the 50-80 ng/mL range for immunity and all of the other benefits. It’s not a vitamin you want to overdose on, either.
Pro tip: Unless you’re told otherwise, don’t let your D party naked. Vitamin D is best taken with vitamin K2 for bone and cardiovascular health, but caution in people who are on coumadin (warfarin). Speak with your doctor first.
7. Get more Z.
This one trumps everything. It’s the foundation for all foundations. Sleep deprivation not only lowers your immune defenses, it affects both physical and emotional recovery, resiliency, focus, productivity, appetite, and basically every system in your body. It only takes sleeping one less hour than needed to become sleep-deprived.
Just “getting by” on 5 hours of sleep every day is not a badge of honor, people. Most people need 7-9 quality hours, sometimes a little more, and that’s OKAY.
You deserve to wake up feeling refreshed before hitting the coffee pot and not feeling like the pot hit you. But if you’re struggling with insomnia, or sleeping enough and still not feeling rested, nodding off during the day, restless legs, or other sleep issues, be sure to speak with your doctor to check for underlying problems. Or, schedule a Foundations Edit!
8. Bonus Tip: Briotech to disinfect.
Hypochlorous acid is the unicorn of disinfectants you’ve never heard of. It basically works like bleach without being bleach and without any of the harmful effects of bleach. In fact, it’s completely non-toxic, yet kills 99.99% percent of viruses, bacteria, and fungi. This includes Coronavirus, Monkeypox, Influenza, MRSA, Norovirus, E. Coli, Salmonella, Listeria, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Staph aureus, and more. Yes, it’s too good and true. I’m telling you, UNICORN. Our white blood cells even produce hypochlorous acid naturally to kill microbes. It’s commercially made by electrolyzing water with sodium chloride (salt). That’s it. You can spray it on your skin, just don’t drink it. I don’t know what will happen to you.
The brand I use is called Briotech. I used this product everywhere on everything throughout the pandemic and still use it to disinfect whatever I need to. I’m not advocating for a “sterile” environment - that’s not good for the immune system either, but this is really handy and safe way to help reduce pathogenic exposure. It works by “punching holes” through the cell walls of microbes, leading to their demise without causing antibiotic resistance or harm to your skin cells. Again, unicorn status. It’s best for non-porous surfaces and does not need to be rinsed or wiped off; just let it air-dry.
So that’s my advice for the season. Take it or leave it from a doc who can count on one hand the number of times she’s been sick in the last 20 years. Anecdotally, each time I got sick, I was going through a combination of poor sleep + stress or overworking + slacking on my diet. All 3 have to happen for me to get sick because I can tell you stress never ends in the medical field. The last time I had a mild cold was from working in urgent care in Feb 2020, a month before the world shut down. I was fortunate to survive the pandemic without catching Covid, despite being directly exposed to someone in my house who did have Covid and wouldn’t quarantine in just one room. We were both already vaccinated, but that’s besides the point. Despite direct exposure during the infectious prodrome phase and entire infectious phase, I never had symptoms. However, a guest who stayed at our house around the same time came down with Covid not long after they left. And that’s the point - we’re always exposed to viruses and all sorts of bugs everywhere, all the time, all at once, but not everyone gets sick. Why? Because the immune system is either being basic or a bad bitch.
Disclaimer: The content provided on this blog and website is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as personal medical advice. The information presented is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare professional with any questions you may have regarding a personal medical condition. The author and publisher of this blog and website are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of any suggestions, procedures, or recommendations mentioned here. Full disclaimer can be read here.
