Your body’s greatest protector is its immune system. An optimal immune system protects the body from simple illnesses such as cold and life-threatening diseases such as cancer. One of the best ways to boost your immune system is to eat nutritious meals and engage in exercise.
There are other notable ways to boost your immune system. We have compiled them in this post.
How to boost your immune system
1. Eat immunity-boosting foods
When you eat refined, processed foods, you weaken your immune system, leaving it vulnerable to disease and infection. Over time, this nutritional deficiency lowers the immune system and may lead to more serious health problems.
Eating foods with beneficial vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and nutrients creates a state of nutritional sufficiency. The immune system is strong enough to fight disease and infections. When you eat foods that boost your immune system, you lose excess weight, feel energised, look and feel younger.
To be as healthy as possible, you need to eat a lot of macronutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates and fats. These 3 macronutrients will help to boost your immune system fast.
2. Get adequate sleep
Getting adequate sleep is crucial for health. When you’re sleep-deprived, nothing else you do right matters. When you lack sleep, you risk a poor-performing immune system. Sleep deprivation also lowers white blood cells and you are at risk of getting ill, gaining weight, heart disease and early death.
Here are tips for getting more out of sleep in order to boost your immune system:
- Go to bed same time every night, even on weekends
- One hour before bedtime, eliminate noise and dim the lights
- Associate beds with resting only. Reading, chatting on the phone should take place elsewhere
- Don’t drink caffeinated drinks close to bedtime as this may affect the ability to fall asleep
- Avoid exercise close to bedtime
3. Sunshine
Sun exposure is vital for good health. An early burst of sunshine provides you with a healthy dose of vitamin D which boosts immunity and reduces the risk of cancers, stroke, colds and flu.
4. Drink water regularly
The body is made up of 60 – 70% water. Your body needs water as it needs macronutrients to function. The body can survive weeks without food but cannot last more than a few days without water.
Water helps to flush waste and toxins, regulates body temperature and acts as a shock absorber for joints, bones and muscles. You should drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water every day.
If this sounds like a lot, you can increase your intake gradually. Alternatively, add a slice of lemon into your water for a better taste. Liquids such as tea, coffee and soda are no substitute for water.
5. Be active
Exercising daily is a good way to boost your immune system. Exercising also helps the body to utilise nutrients efficiently. The immune system thrives on activities as this and makes the immune cells circulate at a higher rate.
The key is being moderate as too much of it can have adverse effects. Exercise does more than boost your immune system. When you sweat, you expel toxins from your body.
Combining exercise with a lot of water and a healthy diet helps to make you feel and look better.
6. Massage
Getting a massage after a long day feels good. It’s relaxing and reduces stress levels. It also helps to boost your immune system by decreasing the level of hormones responsible for stress. A massage also increases the cells that help the body to fight anything threatening to the body.
Massage has become an integral part of healthcare due to its usefulness in reducing physical and emotional tension.
7. Good hygiene
An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Simple practices such as washing your hands regularly, wiping shared surfaces help in keeping infections at bay. It is also important to bathe regularly.
Showering after exercise is also recommended so that the body does not reabsorb the toxins released through sweat. It may sound like a good idea to use antibacterial soaps but they are not safe for everyday use and lead to resistant bacteria.
8. Detoxification
Our body tries to detoxify all the time. The kidney and the liver function mainly for this purpose. The number of toxins that get into the body can make it overwhelming for those organs to function properly.
While not absolutely necessary, detoxifying helps to aid the activities of the liver and kidney. Detoxifying provides the liver with nutrients to do its job. It aims at delivering liver-specific nutrients over the course of several days or weeks and eliminating foods that cause the liver to overwork.
A good way to detoxify is by drinking a lot of water while eliminating dehydrating liquids such as coffee or alcohol so that the kidney can function properly. You can also use turmeric for detoxification.
Adopting an immune-boosting lifestyle gives you the following benefits.
1. Youthful appearance
Foods that boost your immune system keeps you looking younger because you have cut out a lot of your sugar sources. Eating sugar makes you have dull, wrinkled skin. The more sugar you eat, the more harmful molecules the body creates.
These molecules damage collagen which is responsible for firm resilient skin. Nutrient-dense foods also make cells lose waste, gain health and make elimination easy. This makes your hair, eyes and skin radiant.
2. Increased vitality
Your body benefits from quality nutrition. It keeps the cells clean and clears the paths for detoxification. The body eliminates waste easily and the body functions and systems balance out. Whenever you feel sluggish or low on energy, it’s most likely that your diet created an imbalance in one of these areas.
3. Improved sleep
One benefit you get from boosting your immune system is an improvement in the quality of your sleep. When the body starts getting used to eating cleaner and more nutritious meals, you’ll discover that your sleep is deeper and more restful.
4. Clearing up the skin and digestive issues
You can tell quite a bit about your immune system by examining the appearance of your skin. Boosting the immune system improves chronic skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis, and eczema.
The foods that can boost your immune system are everyday foods that are often overlooked. Making lifestyle changes and avoiding certain foods might seem overwhelming at first. It’s worth it though since the result is a longer, happier and healthier life.
Final thought
It is up to you to determine the state of your immune system. Regularly engaging in exercise, eating healthy meals, and following other tips highlighted in this post would prove helpful.