Boosting Your Immunity
A strong and healthy immune system is important all year round. When cold and flu season hits, it’s especially important to make sure your body has everything it needs to give you extra protection.
There are a number of lifestyle habits you can make to boost your immune system and keep your body one step ahead of illness. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Staying Active Supports a Healthy Immune System
Exercise is an excellent way to boost your immune system. Staying physically active improves your heart health and causes your body’s antibodies and white blood cells to circulate more quickly. Meaning it takes your body less time to detect and defend against infections.
Exercise also releases endorphins, which lowers stress hormones and anxiety levels. You’re more susceptible to illness when your body is stressed, making it all the more important to keep your stress levels down to help maintain a strong immune system.
The National Health Service recommends getting in at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week. A few ways to get your 150 minutes every week include taking a brisk walk, going for a swim or bodyweight exercises. You can also include more vigorous exercises like running and high-intensity interval training. A few indoor options to get your heart rate up include vacuuming, climbing the stairs and online exercise classes.
Whatever type of physical activity you choose, it all adds up. Even if it’s only 10 or 15 minutes here and there. If you’re usually sedentary, try increasing the amount of exercise you do gradually over time.
Focus on Quality Sleep for Better Immune System Function
Adequate sleep is so important to your overall health. In fact, restful sleep may be the single most important thing you can do to help your body renew and restore all of its processes.
You might be surprised to learn that sleep and your immune system influence one another.2 This is because your immune system needs a lot of energy to function at full capacity and it depends on quality restful sleep, each and every night, to function at its best. When you sleep well, you become more resilient to stress and your immune system can do its job of protecting you against bacterial and viral infections as well as all types of disease.
While aiming for 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night is recommended, keep in mind that the quality of those sleeping hours is what’s most important. So while you’re canceling plans and staying in, work on creating bedtime routines that encourage quality sleep to keep your immune system going strong.
Focus on Fully Balanced Nutrition for a Healthy Immune System
To help keep your immune system healthy year-round, focus on eating whole foods, rich with proteins, fibers, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Ensuring your body has ample amounts of immune-supporting nutrients not only protects you from illness, but it also helps you avoid becoming deficient in vital nutrients. Plus, when your immune system is working overtime, actively fighting off bacterial and viral infections, it requires even more nutrients to work sufficiently.
Here’s a look at some of the nutrients that are most needed to keep your immune system in top shape:
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is an antioxidant required for a healthy functioning immune system. Vitamin A cranks up the number of white blood cells circulating in your blood, helping your immune system defend against infections. Vitamin A is found in foods such as carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, melon and butternut squash.
Vitamin C
When your immune system goes to work fighting off viruses and infections, vitamin C plays an important role in the immune response. From reducing inflammation to lessening the severity of symptoms of illness, vitamin C is a multitasking antioxidant. You can find vitamin C in oranges, strawberries, broccoli, kale and bell peppers.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D helps guard against various illnesses and reduces your risk of infections, especially respiratory tract infections. While you’ll get the most vitamin D from spending time in the sun, there are a few foods that contain vitamin D. Fatty fish and eggs are good sources and several foods are fortified with vitamin D as well.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is another powerful antioxidant that helps protect cells from oxidative stress and helps keep inflammation from getting out of control. Vitamin E is found in raspberries and blackberries, mangos, nuts and seeds, olives, avocado and Atlantic salmon.
Selenium
Selenium has a crucial role to play in your body’s defense system. From renewing immune cells to acting as an antioxidant to balancing oxidative stress, selenium promotes the health of your immune system. You’ll find selenium in brazil nuts, which is one of the best sources, along with fish, chicken, eggs, spinach and yogurt.
Zinc
Zinc is an important antioxidant enzyme needed for detoxifying and protecting your body from all types of infections. You can find zinc in beef and seafood as well as plant foods, including wheat germ, beans, nuts and tofu.
Boosting your immune system doesn’t have to be complicated. Creating healthy lifestyle habits and eating a healthy diet can go a long way in generating big health rewards.
Resources
1 https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/
2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5768894/
3 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6212925/
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