No one likes being sick. Whether it’s a cold, the flu, strep throat, or the coronavirus, the illness wreaks havoc on your body, causing various uncomfortable symptoms that can take days, weeks, or even months to overcome. Not only does it cause discomfort, but it limits your ability to keep up with everyday tasks and responsibilities. Although washing your hands and wearing a mask can help lower your risk of getting sick, boosting your immune system is the most effective approach. Continue reading to learn more.
What Is The Immune System?
The immune system is a combination of organs, white blood cells, antibodies, and proteins. They work together to help your body prevent or fight viruses and diseases. The immune system can eliminate or reduce the impact of germs that enter the body. A healthy system identifies foreign invaders and then mobilizes to attack the germs. However, when your immune system isn’t working correctly, it can lead to significant illness, infection, and the development of autoimmune diseases.
Supporting A Healthy Immune System
Your immune system is essential to ward off and fight harmful viruses and diseases. However, it can’t do its job effectively without your support. Below are some suggestions on how to give your immune system the best leg up in sustaining your health and wellness.
Get Vaccinated
Vaccines remain one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of contracting life-threatening illnesses. They contain inactive or weakened antigens of common viruses that ultimately help your immune system to identify and fight foreign substances.
Vaccines essentially expose your body to illnesses (in a safer form), so the immune system can familiarize itself with how the foreign invader works, making it easier for your body to prevent or attack these conditions should you be exposed in the future.
Visit your doctor to ensure that you’re up-to-date with your vaccinations. Some vaccines are administered once, while others require quarterly, bi-annual, and annual shots.
Eat A Well-Balanced Diet
What you eat significantly impacts your immune system’s health and effectiveness. Nutrition experts recommend consuming a diet of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and healthy fats. You should also avoid eating processed foods or items high in salt, fat, and sugar. Various nutrition programs and meal plans are available to help you improve your eating habits.
Although getting the vitamins, nutrients, and minerals from natural food sources is ideal, sometimes it’s impossible. That’s where dietary supplements come into the picture. They contain micronutrients and other essential additives for supporting a healthy immune system. Some supplements you may want to add to your diet include vitamin B6, E, and liposomal vitamin C.
Increase Your Water Intake
Water may not be at the top of your beverage list, but it’s essential to maintaining a healthy immune system. Your circulatory system contains a fluid known as lymph, which is primarily comprised of water. It carries infection-fighting immune cells throughout your body to help ward off illness. Dehydration reduces fluid function, weakening your immune system.
Increasing your water intake is essential to your well-being. Healthcare professionals recommend that you drink at least eight glasses or half your body weight in ounces of water daily. If you have difficulty consuming water, you can try adding fruit for flavor or eating water-based foods.
Get Stress Under Control
Stress isn’t something you can avoid, but it is something you can manage. When you’re under a significant amount of stress, it causes your body to jump into fight-or-flight mode. Unfortunately, when this happens, it suppresses your immune system, leaving you vulnerable to sickness.
Find ways to manage your stress. Identify the most emotionally impactful circumstances in your life. Eliminate unnecessary or insignificant things in your everyday life, like toxic friendships or people-pleasing. Other stressors should be reduced as much as possible. For example, if your work a stressful job, getting organized, streamlining processes, and talking to your employer can help ease your frustrations.
Lastly, when you’re feeling stressed, find healthy ways to cope. Suggestions might include taking a nap, requesting time off, getting a massage, spending time with loved ones, engaging in something you enjoy, meditating, or talking with a therapist.
The human body is a fantastic thing. It can fight off diseases, heal, and replenish itself to help you maintain optimal health and wellness. Your immune system plays a significant role in keeping you healthy. If you wish to reduce your risk of illness or speed up recovery, you must use practices like those listed above to support your immune system in doing its job effectively.
