Special Episode: Eat for Immunity with Dr Jenna Macciochi
23rd Mar 2020
In light of the current Coronavirus pandemic - we're re-releasing a fantastic podcast with Immunologist - Dr Jenna Macciochi, who specialises in understanding how nutrition and lifestyle interact with the immune system in health and disease.
There’s a lot of information around at the moment concerning our immune health and we thought it would be a great opportunity to remind people just how incredible our bodies are and what we can all do to help ourselves stay well at this time.
The topics that we covered on the Instagram live are still very much current today, with isolation, social distancing and trying to limit any contact all key areas for us all to be focusing on and prioritising right now.
In this episode, we talk about what immune health actually means and where it comes from
- What is immunity?
- Where does immunity work?
- How it’s not as simple as eating to BOOST Immunity
- What defines a robust immune system
- Foods to support immunity
- Lifestyle practices to support Immune health
- Vitamin D and it’s impact on Immune health
- Autoimmune disease and support
- Clock genes and Sleep Hygiene
- Is suppressing fever beneficial?
- Mitochondrial function and support
Do take some time to listen to this episode in full - there’s a wealth of information being shared by the very knowledgeable Dr Jenna and you will find it super interesting, there’s something for everyone on this podcast.
And you absolutely must check out Jenna’s new book - ’Immunity - The Science of Staying Well’ by clicking on this link here - this is a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to understand their immune health in greater detail - it’s definitely well worth a read and covers a lot of great content that we didn’t have the time to talk through on the podcast too.
Episode guests
Jenna is an immunologist with a passion for understanding the impact of nutrition and lifestyle on our immune system. She holds a PhD from the Faculty of Inflammation, Repair & Development at Imperial College London specialising chronic inflammation. Jenna has since held positions at The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine & worked in Biotech specialising allergy and oral immunotherapy.
In 2009 Jenna was awarded a Fellowship to combine her personal interests in nutrition with study of the immune system in Switzerland, working on metabolic endotoxemia, post-prandial gut permeability, diet regimens & use of pre/probiotics. Life in Switzerland combined with her research shaped how she lives her life to give her the most energy to live life to the full. Currently a lecturer at the University of Sussex, Jenna teaches undergraduate & postgraduate immunology to medical, pharmacy & biomedical sciences students. Her research focus remains on understanding the role of nutrition & lifestyle on immunity. A Brighton-based & mother of twins, Jenna is a perpetual culinary experimenter who loves to cook from scratch using sustainable, local & seasonal ingredients. Growing up farm-to-table in rural Scotland, cooking has always been a big part of her life & nurtured her appreciation of food as the foundation of health. With a passion for movement, she is also a trained fitness instructor focusing on pre & post-natal womens fitness. nDr Jenna is currently working on a huge passion project and is writing a book all about the immune system: sorting fact from fiction, dispelling myths and with recipes and rituals to improve your immunity and help you adapt & self-manage, cultivating long term health & wellbeing.
