June 16, 2025
As the summer months approach, many people shift their focus to outdoor activity, vacations, and lighter schedules. But while the sun shines brighter, so do common summer challenges—like travel stress, dehydration, poor sleep, or increased allergen exposure. That’s why building immunity naturally is essential for navigating summer with vitality.
At Hotze Health & Wellness Center, we believe the body has an amazing God-given ability to support and heal itself—when given the right tools. This blog post shares seven practical, research-backed strategies to strengthen your immune system naturally as the season shifts.
Spending time outdoors helps increase vitamin D naturally, but not everyone gets enough sun exposure, especially if you wear sunscreen, cover your skin, or live in areas with high humidity and heat.
Vitamin D supports immune function by enhancing the pathogen-fighting effects of white blood cells and reducing inflammation¹. Low vitamin D levels are associated with increased susceptibility to infection². For many, supplementation may be necessary to reach optimal levels.
Blood tests can help identify if your levels are suboptimal. Your provider can help you determine how much supplementation is right for you. At Hotze Health & Wellness Center we like to ensure our patient’s Vitamin D levels are within the range of 80 – 100. We recommend a minimum of 5,000 IUs per day and up to 10,000 IUs per day of Vitamin D. Remember to take K2 with your Vitamin D as this assists with absorption for optimal benefit. There are combined Vitamin D and K2 supplements to minimize the number of pills needed, such as the one HERE.
Up to 70% of the immune system resides in the gut³. Supporting gut integrity is one of the most powerful ways to build immunity naturally.
The good bacteria in your digestive tract regulate immune responses and help your body recognize harmful invaders⁴. Eating fermented foods like sauerkraut or taking high-quality probiotic supplements can support microbial balance. For an easy and effective way to incorporate probiotics into your routine, try our homemade probiotic yogurt recipe, which is a guest favorite.
In addition, following a yeast-free diet can help reduce inflammation, lower sugar intake, and limit the overgrowth of harmful organisms. At Hotze Health & Wellness Center, many of our guests see improved well-being after eliminating yeast and sugar from their diets. You can also use good-quality supplements that are free of sugar, soy, gluten, and unnecessary fillers to assist. You can visit Physicians Preference Vitamins for high-quality supplements. Great probiotics we recommend to our guests (we call our patients guests) are Probiotic Blend, Probiotic Blend Pro, and ReuteriBiotic. It’s always best to check with your provider or a nutritionist. Physicians Preference Vitamins is staffed by Certified Nutritionists who are available to assist with questions and guide you regarding a healthy eating program and supplementation.
Sleep is a non-negotiable when it comes to immune resilience. Chronic sleep deprivation affects the body’s ability to produce infection-fighting cytokines⁵.
Adults need seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Creating a consistent bedtime routine, limiting blue light in the evening, and keeping your bedroom cool can all support better sleep quality.
If you struggle to fall or stay asleep, it may be time to evaluate your hormone levels or adrenal health, both of which can interfere with circadian rhythms. Replenishing hormones can be life changing on multiple levels and has been proven to assist sleep health by assisting with stress levels, playing a significant role in reducing brain fog and chatter, and so much more. Often conventional doctors will treat insomnia or sleep issues with pharmaceutical drugs. This is not getting to the root cause, and pharmaceutical drugs can cause other side effects. At minimum, we recommend treating sleep disorders naturally with natural supplements, such as Sleep Formula.
Dehydration is more common in summer due to heat and increased activity. Water helps transport oxygen to your cells, flush out toxins, and maintain the lymphatic system—which supports immune cell circulation.
Even mild dehydration has been shown to impair concentration, energy levels, and immune response⁶.
Aim to drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily. For example, if you weigh 160 pounds, aim for 80 ounces per day. Add a pinch of sea salt or trace mineral drops to help with electrolyte balance, especially if you’re sweating more than usual.
Stress is a silent saboteur of immunity. The hormone cortisol, when chronically elevated, suppresses immune function and increases inflammation⁷. That’s why stress management is essential for building immunity naturally.
One powerful tool for this is activating the vagus nerve, a major communication highway between your brain, heart, lungs, and digestive organs. This nerve plays a vital role in regulating inflammation, calming the nervous system, and restoring balance to your body.
Engaging in vagal nerve stimulation exercises—such as slow deep breathing, humming, singing, gargling, or cold-water facial immersion—can help activate the body’s parasympathetic “rest-and-digest” response⁸. These exercises promote calm, reduce anxiety, and support immune resilience.
For additional support, consider using a portable vagus nerve stimulation device like Truvaga, which many guests have found helpful for calming the nervous system and reducing daily stress.
Daily practices like prayer, journaling, or quiet reflection can also help shift your body from a chronic stress state to one of healing and restoration. Additionally, physical activity and spending time outdoors further lower stress hormone levels while improving mood-supporting neurotransmitters⁹.
Exercise boosts immune function by promoting better circulation, reducing inflammation, and enhancing lymphatic flow¹⁰. It also improves sleep and helps regulate stress, two major components of immune health.
Even light to moderate activity, such as walking 30 minutes per day, can reduce your risk of upper respiratory challenges¹¹.
Summer offers great opportunities to stay active outdoors—hiking, biking, swimming, or gardening. Just remember to avoid overtraining, which can suppress immunity.
Supplements can help fill nutritional gaps and support your body’s natural defenses. Below are a few well-researched options:
If you have questions about choosing the right supplements or dosages, call to speak with one of our certified nutritionists, who can be reached through Physicians Preference Vitamins on 281-646-1659 for personalized guidance.
Building immunity naturally is not a quick fix; it’s a lifestyle. By taking daily action to support your body through nutrition, movement, sleep, hydration, replenishing hormones (when indicated), and supplementation with high quality vitamins and supplements, you give yourself a strong foundation to thrive during the summer season (and throughout the year as well).
At Hotze Health & Wellness Center, we champion an alternative approach, uncovering the root cause of symptoms rather than masking them with pharmaceuticals. For many, we are the final stop after visiting multiple doctors without solutions.
If you’re getting sick often, experiencing frequent fatigue, or dealing with persistent health challenges, these could be signs of hormone imbalance or hypothyroidism.¹⁶ If you’re interested in becoming a guest, we encourage you to schedule a complimentary wellness consultation—a 30-minute phone call with a Wellness Consultant. There’s no pressure and no obligation—just a thoughtful conversation about your health and your future.
Call us at 281-698-8698 or schedule your complimentary consultation online. It’s a no-pressure conversation that could change your health journey forever.
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Since 1989, Hotze Health & Wellness Center has helped over 33,000 patients get their lives back using bioidentical hormones that restore hormones to optimal levels, strengthen immune systems, and increase energy levels. Our treatment regimen addresses the root cause of hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue, menopause, perimenopause, low testosterone, allergies, and candida.
Led by best-selling author, radio host and leading natural health expert, Steven F. Hotze, M.D., our medical team has over 100 years’ combined medical experience backed by a staff of nearly 100 caring professionals who provide an environment of hope and extraordinary hospitality for each of our patients, who we call our guests. It is our deepest desire to help you obtain and maintain health and wellness naturally so that you may enjoy a better quality of life, pure and simple.
Do you want to live a healthy, happy, purpose-driven life? Do you want to restore your health so that your loss of energy, weight gain, joint pain, depression and lack of drive or motivation won’t hold you back from achieving your personal and professional goals?
Dr. Steven Hotze wants that for you, too. In fact, in his powerful and passionate video entitled, “What I Believe”, Dr. Hotze shares how his Christian worldview and pivotal experiences have ignited a deep desire to offer the message of hope and optimal health to all who need to hear it.
At Hotze Health & Wellness Center, our doctors are changing the way women and men are treated through the use of bioidentical hormones. Our natural treatments have helped over 33,000 individuals with hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue, menopause, perimenopause, low testosterone, allergies, candida, detoxification and nutritional deficiencies.
Meet our doctors"After just 3 weeks into the program, my joint pain was gone, climbing stairs became easy, my energy level increased from 2 to a 9 (out of 10) and I lost almost 30 pounds! ”
Holistic, functional medicine doctors in Houston, Texas specializing in bioidentical hormones, hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue, menopause, perimenopause, low testosterone, allergies and LDI treatment, candida, detoxification, nutritional deficiencies, longevity and aesthetics.
© Braidwood Management, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information on this website is provided for educational purposes only, and does not constitute any medical advice. By using this website you fully waive all legal claims based on any information contained herein, and fully agree to this disclaimer.
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