6 Tips to Boost Your Immunity
Let’s discuss the elephant in the room. Coronavirus is everybody’s concern at the moment. Up till now, you might have seen a lot of videos and read articles on what is Coronavirus and how far Coronavirus has spread throughout the world.
Most of them focus on the problem and the increasing numbers every day, which honestly can be quite stressful since it’s all that is being discussed in the media at the moment. Watching too much of it can leave us feeling totally helpless as if we have no choice in this.
But that is not true. We always have some form of choice in any situation in life. There is always something we can do to make things a bit better and handle such stressful circumstances a bit more effectively.
Talking about “having a choice” and “doing our part to make things better”, sticking to the preventive measures such as wearing masks, washing hands, social distancing, staying at home, things of that sort can be highly effective on a societal level in terms of getting things under control.
However, what is not being discussed enough, is boosting your own immune system against coronavirus.
For now, your natural immune system is the only thing that is capable enough to fight against it.
So instead of just discussing the problem and stressing about it, let’s take a proactive approach and actually do something that will not only boost our immunity against corona but also many other diseases that are linked directly to our immune system (such as cancer).
Our immune system is one of the biggest blessings we have that we never truly appreciate. It’s working to keep us healthy and safe 24/7, constantly fighting and defeating intruders that enter our body throughout the day, as well as other important functions that keep us healthy.
If we take care of our overall health and develop some simple habits that will keep our immune system working efficiently, we can avoid a lot of health-related issues down the road, and possibly deal with coronavirus more effectively if one of us cross paths with it.
Before we jump into it, keep in mind that all these steps are researched and proven by studies done on the function and response of the immune system under certain scenarios.
There are a lot of myths surrounding the cure of coronavirus right now that people are spreading which is not backed up by proper research.
Remember that there is NO magic pill. Our immune system is complex and its performance depends upon several factors linked to our lifestyle. The following tips are to maximize the immune system naturally by fixing some important aspects of our overall lifestyle.
So here are 6 Tips to naturally keep your immune system working at it’s best.
1. Moderate Exercise
Studies have shown that regular exercise improves immune regulation, defense activity, and metabolic health. Also suggesting that people who have an energetic lifestyle and exercise regularly have better immunity and ability to cope with diseases.
Some of the theories regarding the effect of regular exercise on our immune system suggest that:
- Exercise can stimulate antibodies and White blood cell production, and also help circulate white blood cells throughout our body more efficiently, which can help in spotting and fighting the disease early on before it gets a chance to spread further.
- Exercise also helps boost our immune system by reducing stress hormones in our body. Stress hormones can suppress our immune system. (We’ll come to that in a moment.)
Keep in mind that exercise must be in moderation and not taken to a very high intensity, as too much exercising can have the opposite effect on our immune system.
Ideally, 20-30 minutes of low-intensity cardio exercises or lifting moderate weights 3-5 times a week should be enough to keep our immune system healthy and active.
Since at this very moment it’s a big NO-NO to go to parks or gyms for a workout, find a simple home-based workout on Youtube that suits you. There are plenty to choose from.
2) Having a Clean and Healthy Diet
Eating right and eating clean is very important at the moment. A diet that includes more fresh vegetables and fruits, and cutting off junk food entirely.
It’s a no-brainer that fresh vegetables and fruits are amazing for our health and well-being.
Not only do they nourish us with powerful nutrients, many of them also help detoxify our bodies, flushing out toxic stuff from our system, which helps keep our bodily systems (including our immune system) functioning at peak performance.
Focusing on eating healthy has not been more important than now. So include more fruits and veggies in your diet and cut off all sorts of junk and unhealthy foods.
3) Reduce Stress & Stay in a Positive State of Mind
Over 300 studies in the past 30 years have shown that too much stress can suppress the immune system. During stress, our body produces cortisol which decreases our white blood cells and Natural k iller cells (also known as NK cells).
Both of them are vital components of our immune system that fight against viruses, bacteria and tumor cells.
It’s crucial that we stay in a positive and healthy state of mind since whatever goes on in our head has a direct effect on our body.
It’s an old saying that “the body is the mind” suggesting that both are deeply interconnected. So what you choose to think and what you focus on will directly or indirectly reflect in your physical health.
To reduce stress and stay in a healthy state of mind, develop some helpful habits for a healthy, calm mind, like mindfulness meditation, and indulging in some relaxing or creative activities.
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Also include more prayer in your life. Don’t be shy to talk to God and share your worries with Him. Let Him handle what is not in your control.
You’ll find a lot of relief and feel a lot calmer when you do that.
We all have a lot of stuff going on in our lives, instead of stressing about it, let’s have a positive outlook on life and deal with things in a proactive manner.
Instead of focusing on the problems, let’s begin focusing on the solutions.
Instead of worrying about what is not going well, let’s be deeply grateful for all the blessings we currently have in our lives.
4) Getting Enough Sleep
Good quality sleep helps our body recover, heal, and get everything into balance both physically AND mentally.
Lack of proper sleep can also suppress the function of our immune system. So give priority to resting sufficiently.
6-8 hours of good quality sleep seems to be the sweet spot for most people.
Go to bed on time so that you’ll have enough sleep and make sure to reduce any disturbance that might affect the quality of your sleep,
e.g. avoid drinking too much water before bed so you don’t have to get up in the middle of your sleep to go to the bathroom.
Make your room as dark as you possibly can. Cover all the windows and turn off all the lights. And avoid any device at least 20-30 minutes before bedtime as that might reduce your sleep quality.
Also, wear loose and comfortable clothes when you sleep.
5) Get Your Daily Dose of Vitamins (Especially Vitamin C & D)
Vitamins help keep our bodily systems in balance and keep them performing well. Since vitamins get flushed out of our system very easily, it’s important to take them on a regular basis.
Use good quality vitamin supplements and incorporate fruits in your diet.
Vitamin C and D are the most highlighted when it comes to boosting our immune system. It’s a common practice to take natural orange juice during the common cold to fight off the flu virus. It would be a good practice to include more vitamin C during the corona pandemic as well.
As for vitamin D, make sure to get some exposure to sunlight regularly if you can do that by staying at home like spending some time on the balcony or near a window where there is direct sunlight.
It’s better to include Multi-vitamin supplements and natural sources of vitamins, both in your lifestyle.
6) Stop Smoking
Habitual smoking is calling for trouble from all directions. Not only does it damage the overall quality of your health, and increase the chances of cancer, Research has shown that it also badly affects the immune system.
Since Coronavirus is a respiratory disease, people who smoke are at a MAJOR RISK of catching such severe respiratory infections.
If you have a habit of smoking, make it a priority to get rid of it immediately. If you’re finding it difficult to leave smoking, seek professional help. Get therapy from someone who specializes in A D D I C T I O N or even a good reputable hypnotist might be able to help you reprogram your mind out of this A D D I C T I O N.
Apart from smoking, Alcohol also has a very detrimental effect on the immune system.
Conclusion
Staying healthy and keeping our immune system functioning well does not come from any magic pill kind of thing. It depends on our daily habits and our overall lifestyle.
Over a period of time, such small positive habits tremendously add on to the overall quality of your health and well being.
Our health is one of our greatest gifts. It’s an individual responsibility for every single one of us to take full care of this blessing and keep it in our top priorities.
So take care of yourself. Wishes and prayers for all to be safe and healthy.
Stay healthy, stay clean, stay safe.
Talk to you in the next one.