The immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues, and organs that detect threats to our health and mobilize to combat them automatically.
Your immune system relies on healthy food choices, exercise, restful sleep and minimal stress to function optimally.
Exercising regularly can help lower stress hormones and boost circulation, making it easier for immune cells to circulate around your body and fight infection.
Eat a Balanced Diet
Your diet should include a wide variety of whole food sources that provide essential vitamins A, C, E and D that will support an efficient immune system so that it can fight off viruses and bacteria when they invade.
Consume plenty of protein-rich foods in your diet to support healthy tissues and protect yourself against illness. Include lean red meats, fish, poultry eggs beans and nuts as protein sources.
An effective strategy to protect yourself against chronic inflammation and boost your immunity is increasing your intake of vitamin E and selenium – two nutrients found in almonds, sunflower seeds and broccoli among others.
A healthy diet should consist of about 50-50 vegetables and fruits, 25 percent protein and 25 percent healthy grains or starches, such as whole grain bread or pasta, which should all contain at least some fiber for proper functioning of our bodies and prevent inflammation. Avoid processed, fried or high saturated fat foods which could increase inflammation levels in our bodies.
Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is essential to healthy immune system functioning and can speed recovery after illness as well as lower your risk for chronic diseases.
Our immune systems protect us against diseases and infections by attacking bacteria, viruses, parasites and other threats posed by bacteria, viruses, parasites or any other potential threats to health. This requires the delicate balance between various immune cells and their functions in our bodies.
When you are sick, your immune response becomes out of balance, leading to inflammation and weakening your immunity system. But while sleeping, your body normally self-regulates this response so as to restore the normal cycle of innate and adaptive immunity.
T cells, in particular, become more effective at binding with foreign pathogens when sleeping because stress hormones like adrenaline and noradrenaline decrease with sleep.
Exercise Regularly
An effective immune system can help protect you against infections and illness. Achieve this naturally requires eating well, sleeping soundly and exercising regularly – with each one playing an essential part. Exercise being one of the best ways of strengthening it naturally.
Exercise routine can boost the cardiovascular system’s ability to provide oxygen and nutrients throughout your body, helping strengthen immune cells against germs that could pose potential threats like heart disease, cancer or other illnesses. Regular physical activity could even prevent heart disease.
Physical activity can help you manage stress. Engaging in physical activity reduces levels of your body’s stress hormones and stimulates production of endorphins – your brain’s natural painkillers and mood enhancers.
People who are overweight or sedentary have a higher risk of chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. Therefore, it’s advisable to engage in 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity at least five times each week in order to minimize risk factors like these.
Take Supplements
While eating healthily, getting enough rest and engaging in regular physical activity are all crucial components to optimal immune system performance, taking supplements such as antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and probiotics can further help support overall wellbeing.
Vitamins C and D, for example, are two essential vitamins that play an integral part in immune health and taking daily supplements of these can improve overall wellbeing.
Selenium, another essential mineral that may bolster your immunity system, also aids with producing energy production within cells as well as protecting them against damage to prevent further cell degeneration and malfunction.
When looking for immune-boosting supplements, opt for natural ingredients over synthetic ones. Synthetic ingredients are manufactured in laboratories and may have different molecular structures than naturally occurring nutrients.
