3 Simple Ways to Boost Your Immune System Health Today

3 Simple Ways to Boost Your Immune System Health Today

Does it seem like you’re always sick? Do you seem to miss work more than any of your coworkers? It may be possible that your immune system is running at a weakened level. In order to boost your immune system back to full health, you’ll need to take a few steps to give it the boosts it needs.

1. Get Enough Sleep

This may come as a surprise to you, but one of the easiest ways to boost your immune system health is simply by ensuring you get sufficient sleep every night. According to the Mayo Clinic, while you sleep your body produces proteins that help fight infections as well as lower your cortisol or inflammation levels.

Which means if you skimp out on sleep, your body won’t make enough of these proteins to keep you healthy. In fact, some new research carried out by Hester de Melker PhD shows that long term sleep deprivation can even cause your body to react negatively to a vaccine.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research has found that for best immune system functionality, an adult between the ages of 18 and 60 should get at least seven full hours of sleep a night.

2. Eat a Balanced Diet

As a child, your mum probably encouraged you to eat all your vegetables so you would “grow big and strong” and she was right, a balanced and healthy diet is critical for boosting your immune system.

Some people don’t even realize that when you eat a diet high in processed, sugary foods, this has a direct effect on your level of immunity. Not just that, but when you reach for something sweet or salty, you’re probably skipping out on a food that would be packed full of the vitamins you need to stay healthy.

Harvard Nutrition Science has found the best diet for boosting immune function includes enough fruits and vegetables to get all the essential vitamins and minerals. And if there’s a vitamin you think you don’t naturally ingest in your diet; while it is possible to take a supplement, eating the actual food is always better.

So next time you find yourself with a sweet craving—reach for a piece of fruit filled with natural sugar—rather than a baked treat which will lower your immune function in the long run.

3. Exercise

When you live a mostly sedentary lifestyle and don’t get enough exercise this increases the level of the stress hormone in your blood and leads to feelings of chronic stress. Chronic stress is one of the main ways to damage your immune system long term and cause incurable side effects such as inflammation. The easiest way to battle these high levels of cortisol in the blood is by exercising frequently a few times a week.

The benefits of aerobic exercise and its ability to boost your overall immune system function go even deeper. In a study carried out by Science Direct in 2019, it was discovered that exercise had a number of positive effects on the immune system, by increasing the production of white blood cells and antibodies present, while also lowering the levels of the stress hormone found in the blood. (The Compelling Link between physical activity and the body’s defense system, David Nieman and Lauren Wentz).

So instead of spending your time on the couch, engage in aerobic exercise which can include everything from a walk around the block to biking, or even a dance session in the living room to your favourite music. For best results, you should engage in 30 minutes of aerobic activity at least three times per week.

In conclusion, boosting your immune system may seem like a complicated process, but really if you just start sleeping more, eating better, and exercising—you might find you’re much less likely to get sick than you were before.

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