Dr Jenna Macciochi explains how to look after your immune system and ‘empty your stress cup’

Virgin Radio

29 Mar 2022, 10:57

Dr Jenna Macciochi joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky to give some awesome tips on how we can better look after our health, our immune system, and how to empty our stress cups.

With over 20 years' experience as a scientist researching the impact of lifestyle on the immune system in health and disease, the doctor talked Chris through some of her Ten Commandments to put yourself on the path to better health. Starting with Commandment Three: Use extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) as your main culinary oil, she explained: “Some ingredients really stand the test of time and olive oil is definitely one of those. It’s a great source of those healthy fats. So, these fats are going to be incorporated into your immune cells, to help them move around and do their job really well. And it’s packed with polyphenols. So, we talked last time about vitamin P, these plant compounds that are so important for our health, and exclusively using extra virgin olive oil as your main cooking oil is associated with better health, longevity, less risk of dying from pretty much everything. I can’t speak high enough about it.”

Jenna occasionally posts recipes on her Instagram, with the most recent one being a Foraged Nettle Soup. She said: “Eat wild. Go out into nature. Forage. It’s springtime. We can get things like wild garlic at the moment. These wild greens that are edible, they’ve got up to 70% more of these plant nutrients that are really nourishing for our immune system than your regular greens that you find in the supermarket.

“We’re also getting the benefits of breathing in our biomes. So, we have these microbes that live on us and in us. These are the main educators of our immune system, so they are like little training germs that are going to teach our immune system what to do. And when you’re out in nature, these natural environments have their own microbiomes, and we’re breathing them in, and they are actually nurturing our own microbes in our guts, in our airways, and that way we are helping our immune system."  

The doctor continued: “It has this trickle-down effect. The more time outside, the more sun you get, the better for your circadian rhythm. You get better sleep, you’re more likely to be moving around when you’re outdoors, so there’s a whole host of benefits.! 

Talking about another Commandment - Take care of your muscles and protein intake - she said: “You don’t need to become a weightlifter, necessarily, but you do need to take care of your muscle mass. Even from our 30s, if we’re not using our muscles, we’re losing them. And, actually, our muscles produce things that are rejuvenating for our immune system. So we know as we get older our immune system declines, but your immunological age doesn’t have to be the same as your chronological age. 

“If you can keep hold of that muscle mass by just doing some sort of resistance work: lifting heavy bags, gardening, lifting your kids, going to the gym and moving or putting resistance on your muscles, that’s so, so important. And every decade older that we get, the more we should be focusing on looking after the muscles.”

On Commandment Eight - Love your lymph, move your body and stay hydrated - she said: “The lymphatic system is this whole system of vessels all over your body. It’s like your blood vessel system, but, whereas your heart pumps your blood around your body, the lymphatic vessels don’t have that. They rely on you moving your muscles to squeeze this lymphatic fluid around. And what’s in our lymphatic fluid? Our white blood cells. Our immune cells. They need to get around the body. They are performing a surveillance function, looking out for germs, looking out for damage and repair. So if we’re not moving our lymph, then we’re not having this amazing benefit from our immune system. And hydration is really important to make sure the lymph is nice and fluid.

“Your lymph also carries away toxins. So, every day, different bits of your body have metabolic biproducts, just from the day-to-day running of your body. Your lymph gathers that up and takes it to the liver, so it can be removed from your body. So you want to be moving that lymph as much as possible, break up sedentary time, get on your feet. I don’t know… do some dancing in your kitchen, skipping, break up the time that you’re sitting.”

The last of Jenna’s Commandments is Empty your stress cup and care for your emotional and social wellbeing. She told Chris: “I think stress is everywhere. I will hold my hands up and say I’m a natural stress head. So I kind of think of it as I have quite a small stress cup, so it fills up really quickly. So, I need to work hard to empty it. I need to be doing little things every day to empty my stress cup, and I really encourage people to go and explore different ways to empty their own stress cup, because there’s no kind of, one-size-fits-all.

“There’s mindfulness, meditation, but there’s also exercise or reading or just having solitary time, or engaging in things that you love, letting go of that stress. Because no matter what’s stressing you out: a job, work, a deadline, or something you’ve seen in the news. We only have one biological stress response, where we get this rise in cortisone, adrenaline. And this actually switches off our immune system, because a stress response is motivating you out of danger. 

“So, it’s going to say, ‘I’m not going to bother with the immune system now, because I’m too busy triaging all energy towards a stress response’.”

Explaining what people can do to reduce their stress in the moment, she continued: “If I’m in the supermarket and I get a stressful phone call, I’m not going to sit and meditate in the dairy aisle, but I might be able to use my breathing, because we know that the diaphragm has all the nerves that send a signal to the brain to calm me down. I can also go outside and look broadly. So, widen my gaze - because when we're stressed we tend to narrow the gaze - and that sends a signal to the brain that it’s calm, we’re okay, we’re safe."

Chris and Jenna also discussed hot and cold therapy. The doctor said: “They are a stress on the body, but it’s you that’s in control. You’re deliberately running into the sea, or into an ice bath, putting yourself in a very acute, stressful situation, which actually helps build your resilience to other stresses in life.” 

You can read Jenna's Ten Commandments in full here.

Doctor Jenna's book, Your Blueprint For Strong Immunity is out now. For more information, visit drjennamacciochi.com.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.