Last Updated on January 14, 2020
Your immune system does an amazing job of protecting you against disease. However, sometimes it can become overloaded and fail to do its job properly, and you become sick. Is there a way to strengthen your immune system? Will your diet or other lifestyle changes really make a difference in how strong your immune system is? In short, yes. There are different things that you can start doing right now to boost your immune system.
1. Choose A Healthy Lifestyle
We all know that smoking, excessive drinking, and doing other drugs is bad for our health, but it may actually weaken our immune system too. Your immune system naturally functions better when you adopt healthy living strategies.
It is a simple rule: If you know that it is bad for you, then don’t do it.
Quit being compulsively bad to your body if you want it to be good to you.
2. Eat Protein
Do not disclude protein from your diet. Foods high in protein often contain immune-boosting nutrients like zinc that helps the body produce white blood cells that fight off infection. In addition, antibodies are made of protein, and since antibodies are what help fight off disease, we need to nourish them with the proper nutrients.
3. Eat Your Vegetables and Fruits
Besides protein, you need to nourish yourself with nutrients that nourish your body and help it function properly. Vegetables and fruits offer all kinds of nutrients for your body. In addition, certain nutrients found in fruits and vegetables help to combat flu and upper respiratory infections. For example, Vitamin A found in carrots and dark leafy greens, helps white blood cells function better. Vitamin C, found in citrus fruits, helps the immune system protect against disease and improves the absorption of other helpful minerals such as iron.
4. Exercise Daily
If we are going to be honest then we need to admit that technology has made us lazy. We used to get up and move around daily, but now we spend much of our time in front of a computer or TV. Our immune system has not changed, only the way we interact with it. Exercise is essential to maintain a healthy immune system and it can even help us strengthen it.
Exercise causes white blood cells and antibodies to start moving around in the body, which helps them to do their job better. In addition, exercise can help our body’s circulation increase, which can trigger the release of certain hormones in our body that work with our immune cells to detect pathogens.
The good news is that you don’t have to run a marathon to boost your immune system through exercise because high-intensity exercise can actually decrease the number of white blood cells that are circulating into the body and increase your chance of illness! Therefore, keep your exercise moderate for about 20 to 30 minutes a day.
Note: The Longevity Blueprint by Ben Greenfield offers you a great routine for daily, weekly, and monthly exercise that can help you live longer as well as lose weight and tone up.
5. Reduce Stress
Stress has a negative effect on your immune system. In a study of 176 people, the cold virus was dripped into their nose and then scientists later checked to see if they had caught the germ. People who were not under stress were half as likely to catch the cold. In addition, tests discovered that the people who were stressed had become sensitive to cortisol, which is a hormone that has a negative effect on the immune system.
More studies like this have been conducted and they all show the same thing, stress lowers your immune system without a doubt.
You can start to reduce stress through common relaxation methods such as deep breathing, visualization, or meditation. In addition, removing as many stress causes from your life as possible will greatly reduce the amount of stress you experience. This may mean you need to remove stressful people from your life, or it may mean that you need to change careers or move to another location.
6. Get Vitamin D
Most of us do not get an appropriate amount of vitamin D, and research has shown that the vitamin can boost our immune system. People who are vitamin D deficient are shown to have more colds.
Because sun exposure can be hard for many people to get, taking a vitamin D supplement may be necessary or eating vitamin D rich foods may be in order.
7. Cook With Healthy Oils
Oils such as olive oil contain healthy fat which has both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. This helps to lubricate cells and improve their ability to function. When cells are able to function properly, then the immune system is able to work properly.
Just like exercise, you need to be careful that you don’t go overboard with oils. Research has shown that high amounts of omega-6 in the body can cause a person to be at a higher risk for immune system issues.
8. Lose Weight
Research has shown that having extra weight on your body puts you at risk for all sorts of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. The reason may be explained in how an excess of fat cells interacts with your immune system.
For example, when there are a high number of fat cells in the body, this causes chemicals to be released which cause inflammation. With a high level of inflammation, healthy tissues can be damaged.
9. Maintain Healthy Relationships
When you become isolated in your life, your immune system suffers. Research has shown that people who have a network of friends and family have stronger immune systems than people who are isolated and feel alone.
This doesn’t mean that you need an intimate partner in your life. Friends and family can give you just as many benefits as an intimate partner can.
10. Be Optimistic
Have a positive outlook on life and see the glass half full. When you have a negative outlook towards life, you cause your mind and your body stress, and we now know that stress is not good for the immune system.
Being optimistic allows you to have a better relationship with yourself and the world around you, which helps you to make better choices for your body and your health. In short, having a positive outlook can benefit you in all areas of your life that influence your immune system.
11. Avoid Sugar
Sugar is in many foods that we eat, and then we commonly add more sugar to our cereals, coffee, and desserts. Consumption of as little as two 12-ounce sodas has been shown to suppress the cells that are responsible for attacking bacteria, which in turn lowers our immune system.
In the end, you can boost your immune system by adopting a number of healthy practices in life, or rather losing a number of unhealthy practices in life. A strong immune system will help you fight off major and minor diseases and live a healthier and happier life