One of the most important (and overlooked) ways to maintain your immunity is actually managing your stress. We get it, though—telling you to simply “chill out” isn’t exactly a solution here. So we teamed up with Healist to show you that, despite gestures broadly at everything, finding balance by dialing down the stress (and dialing up the immunity!) is well within everyone’s reach. But you’re probably more familiar with distress, which is the feeling you get after the death of a loved one, the experience of a financial loss, or a fight with your partner. Eustress is a short-term response, and is (typically) a force of good, while distress is what causes long-term health issues—and it’s the one we’re here to talk about. I think you see where this is going: These days, “infrequent stress” is a lofty goal at best, and our bodies are constantly pumping out cortisol. So while those short bursts of cortisol are helpful in the moment, too much stress over time (and thus too much cortisol) can do serious damage to your immune system. In a time when we’re all feeling bogged down with fear, restlessness, or anxiety, the Immune Support Capsules from Healist are a welcome source of calm and balance. We tried them, and after taking one capsule in the middle of a deadline-packed day, we could feel the stress dialing down. Plus, knowing that we were supporting our all-important immune system gave us a sense of empowerment—we CAN do something to proactively fight off the sniffles. This combination of calm and in-control was exactly what we needed to regain focus and power through the day. Think of a time when you were feeling particularly worried or anxious—post-breakup, moving to a new city, or pulling an all-nighter to cram for a college final. For many of us, this may very well have been accompanied by feelings of congestion or flu-like symptoms (you know, the stuff associated with a weakened immunity). Why? Because left unchecked, stressors like these may cause you to withdraw from social interactions, which may, in turn, affect your body’s ability to fight infections. So, if your goal is to minimize stress, the tools to do so are right at your fingertips: Prioritize your relationships, focus on your immunity, and utilize solutions that both soothe your mind AND build your defenses at the same time.
