Our immune system does a very good job of protecting us against disease-causing organisms and toxins. However, it is not infallible. Sometimes, an organism is able to invade our body successfully and make us fall sick. This is why doctors and health professionals always advise that we live a healthy life that would boost our immune system, in order to avoid this occurrence as much as possible.
In line with professional advice, our first line of defense in boosting our immune system is to follow good health guidelines and live a healthy lifestyle. So, in this period, in addition to washing our hands regularly, and staying indoors, here are some ways to boost our immune system and help us stay our healthiest.
Nutrition, Diet and the Immune System
Eating balanced diets that contain all the food nutrients our body needs to function in the right proportion has always been a healthy guide. A balanced diet is a diet that contains important nutrition like carbohydrate, protein, minerals, oil, and vitamins.
A lot of people would rather eat whatever they like and then take nutrient pills to supplement the nutrients while some others couldn’t be bothered at all. While supplements have the nutrients, experts advise that it is much healthier to eat foods, vegetables, and fruits that would supply these nutrients directly. This is because there are health benefits that come from the relationship of the foods combining to produce nutrients to the body.
Important Nutrients
Protein – Eat animal and plant-based proteins. Animal-based proteins are meat, fish, shellfish, and eggs, while plant-based proteins include peas, beans, nuts, seeds, and lentils. These proteins repair and build tissues in our bodies – these tissues help the immune system function properly and heal wounds
Probiotics – Probiotics are beneficial and good bacterial that live in the stomach and help protect our system by fighting any ingested substance that is harmful. You should also take probiotic supplemental foods such as yogurt and sauerkraut. So, next time you go to the grocery store, check for yogurts that have “live and active cultures” on their labels, like Greek yogurt. They can also be a great source of vitamin D, so you can also select brands that are fortified with vitamin D.
Food that contains infection-fighting and immune-boosting herbs such as garlic and ginger, vegetables such as kale and spinach which is rich in vitamin c. Several cuisines around the world especially Indian cuisine and other Asian cuisines are noted for their inclusion of these and other healthy herbs, vegetables, and spices to their cooking. Incorporating these nutrients into your meal through these spices and vegetables is a great way to introduce nutrients to your diet.
Fruits and vegetables — fruits such as oranges, lemons, tangerines, and grapefruit, provide the body with the immune system-boosting vitamin c. Get vitamin A by taking more broccoli, we all need broccoli, not kids alone, sweet potatoes, carrots, and red bell peppers. For vitamin E, almonds, hazelnuts, and peanut butter are great producers. Green vegetables, including spinach and broccoli, also provide some vitamin E, protecting the body against infectious diseases.
Vitamins – Vitamins are well known and effective for boosting the immune system as well. Taking vitamins help to supplement an incomplete amount of nutrients in the body that have not been gotten due to the unhealthy habits or the absence of good diets. Health professionals advise taking Vitamin A, C, D, and E because they help the body by regulating the immune system, forming antibodies that fight off disease, protect your body from infection, and boosts the immune system as well.
Water – Drinking water is important in increasing pour body fluid to be able to assist the immune system in fighting infections. Even if you are down with flu now or healthy, it is advised that you should drink lots of water as it helps to flush down any bacteria through your systems
Sleep, Stress and the Immune System
In modern times, medicine and medical experts have started to appreciate the health link between sleep and a healthy human being. This link also extends and plays a very important role between the body and the mind. According to health experts, getting a good night’s sleep is important to the body because the body systems take that resting time while we are asleep to repair itself and rejuvenate itself to function properly.
Stress, on the other hand, is bad for health. Stress comes in different forms. It could be physical or emotional and one always leads to the other. Stress can be caused by too much work, difficult situations, family issues, lack of sleep, emotional stress brought on by worry, physical stress. According to studies, scientists’ are still trying to find out if stress causes issues to the immune system, however, it is better to be safe by reducing your stress causing habits and getting enough sleep.
Exercise and the Immune System
Regular exercise has been described by health experts as one of the pillars of healthy living.
The health benefits of exercise include improvement of cardiovascular health, controlling body weight, strengthening of the muscles, lowering of blood pressure and protection against diseases. Although, there is no certain proof that it helps to boost the immune system, however, it is good for general body health and good circulation which helps the immune system do its job freely and so is good for the health.
In Conclusion
We all want and need healthy and top functioning immune systems to protect us from diseases and toxins but it is our diet and lifestyle that will help us achieve this. A healthy immune system is dependent on a good balance of fresh vitamin giving fruits, vegetables, and other foods which means that this new healthy lifestyle depends very much on fresh produce, good sleep, and exercise.
Next time you go to the grocery store, instead of purchasing canned foods, you should get fresh vegetables, fruits, proteins, and other foods. Even frozen fresh produce is fine too. They still contain the nutrients we need.
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