by Steven M. Rachlin, M.D.
As the owner of your body, you are in charge of your health, and when it goes off the rails, you need 
to take control to get back on track. But what happens when you keep getting sick? When just as you are coming out of one cold, you immediately you catch another? It’s a massively frustrating complaint that most people are all too familiar with. But as unpleasant as recurring ills can be, they are your body’s way of asking for some help, some attention, and perhaps a little extra TLC.
Physical symptoms are pointers that something in the system is out of balance—and not just an annoying disruption that must be extinguished and carpet-bombed with meds, like antibiotics. The challenge is, every day, we’re all exposed to a dizzying array of pathogens, and that goes double for those of us that work in offices and, maybe the most vulnerable, parents of school-aged children. But the trick is figuring out how to toughen up your immune system so that you don’t catch every cootie that rolls through home, office and schoolyard.
When a new patient comes in complaining of recurring sickness or seemingly high susceptibility, my job is to play detective and help them get to the root of what’s ailing them. I recommend these 10 essential immunity-boosting steps to every patient to begin repairing and resolving whatever is causing them to be out of sorts.
Get weekly IV vitamin injections—High doses of vitamin C build up the immune system to fight off illness.
Do a two-week elimination diet to detect and then remove irritating foods that weaken immunity.
Add fermented foods and probiotics to your diet to help balance the bacteria in your gut and strengthen immunity.
Prioritize sleep, which is a natural immunity-booster, and make time for downtime during your day as additional immune support (when you’re under-rested, immunity tanks).
Ensure Adequate vitamin D with sensible sun exposure and vitamins.
Do not take antibiotics indiscriminately; limit their use as much as possible to keep immunity and gut lining strong.
Add coconut oil to your diet—it’s a natural antimicrobial—and drink bone broth frequently to help heighten immunity.
Drink teas or tonics made from immune-boosting herbs, like andrographis, echinacea, elderberry and astragalus.
Be liberal with spices—Cook with immunity-boosting spices, like garlic, ginger and turmeric.
And if the above does not help, head to your doc or a knowledgeable practitioner to test for the following, all of which will help determine what’s going on in your body and what’s up with your immunity, or lack thereof:
∙ Complete metabolic panel (CMP) with lipids
∙ Complete blood count (CBC)
∙ High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP)
∙ Thyroid panel (includes TSH, free T4, free T3, reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies)
∙ Lyme disease with co-infections panel
∙ Epstein-Barr virus antibodies (IgG and IgM)
∙ MTHFR gene mutation
∙ Homocysteine
∙ Vitamin B12
∙ Vitamin A
∙ Vitamin D
∙ Folate
∙ Iron
∙ Total iron binding capacity (TIBC)
∙ Selenium
∙ Zinc
Steven M. Rachlin, M.D.
A final note: Step away from the hand sanitizers, antibacterial wipes, cleaning products, and so on. They’re not effective at killing germs, and regular exposure to most microbes actually helps keep our immune system strong and healthy!
Source: Steven M. Rachlin, M.D., of Rachlin Medical Center (927 Willis Ave., Albertson), has been practicing for more than 30 years. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 516-873-7773 or visit RachlinMedicalFacility.com.
