SECRETS TO STRENGTHENING YOUR IMMUNITY-min

SECRETS TO STRENGTHENING YOUR IMMUNITY

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Immunity is the mechanism that your body uses from time to time to ward off infections and diseases. It can be weakened for some reasons, and you can strengthen it.

Boosting your immunity simply means increasing your ability to remain at the top level of keeping yourself healthy. A compromised or weak immunity can increase your risk of contracting diseases. This is because microorganisms use that opportunity to multiply or attack your body.Fortunately, there are several ways you can employ to boost your immunity, with lifestyle and dietary modifications being the most important. This way, you will easily fight microbes.

This article will explore some of the natural ways you can use to boost and strengthen your immunity.

1.      Increase Your Intake of Whole Plant Foods

Eating highly refined foods not only leaves you hungry as soon as you finish eating them but also increases the likelihood of being obese. Eating whole plant foods has been shown to have several health benefits, including boosting your immunity.Whole plant foods are loaded with a variety of nutrients and antioxidants, which are good at protecting you against microbes that cause disease. For instance, antioxidants in whole plant foods are active against inflammation. Antioxidants reduce inflammation by inhibiting the action of free radicals, the unstable compounds associated with oxidative stress.

Numerous health problems can arise due to inflammation, including certain types of cancer, heart diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease.Additionally, eating whole plant foods offers fiber. The friendly gut bacteria or microbiota are fed by fiber which leads to their multiplication. According to published studies, an increased number of gut-friendly bacteria significantly improve your immunity and fight microbes that enter your body through the digestive tract.What’s more, vegetables and fruits like oranges are highly rich in vitamin C, which may help shorten the duration of respiratory tract infections.

2.      Increase Your Sleeping Time

The status of your immunity depends largely on the amount of sleep you get. In fact, several diseases can set in if youhave a night of poor sleep. One study carried out by the National Center for Biotechnology Information examined 164 healthy adults. Individuals who sleep for less than 6 hours every night are more predisposed to the common cold than those who sleep for more than 6 hours every night.You can boost your natural immunity by resting adequately.

If you are sick, it is recommended that you sleep more so that your immune system can effectively fight the illness.The recommended duration of sleep for adults each night is 7 or more hours, 8-10 hours for teens, and up to 14 hours for infants and young children. To help yourself sleep better, try sleeping in a darker room, exercise regularly, limit screen light before bed, and sleep at the same time daily.

3.      Reduce Your Intake of Added Sugars

Added sugars may be quite addictive. Studies have linked consumption of added sugar to obesity and other health problems. For instance, being obese may predispose you to diseases.

Several successful and published studies have indicated that cutting back on the consumption of added sugars can significantly reduce inflammation, promote weight loss, and reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases.

Your immunity can be weakened by heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Therefore, it is important to reduce the intake of added sugars to boost your immunity. Aim at taking only 2 tbs (25 g) of sugar per day.

4.      Keep Yourself Always Hydrated

Being dehydrated is one way of weakening your immunity as it allows viruses and germs to multiply. According to a National Center for Biotechnology Information study, dehydration can disrupt mood, physical performance, focus, headaches, impaired digestion, heart, and kidney health. All of these complications simply call for more complications.

Try to drink water as it has no additives, is free of calories and sugar. Alternatively, you can use juice or tea to rehydrate yourself and limit the intake of sweetened tea or fruit juice. This is because both of them have high amounts of sugar.

Given that dehydration can weaken your immunity, you should drink water or quench yourself when you feel thirsty. If you are on an intense workout, reside in a hot area, or hustle outside to feel thirst.

5.      Cut Back On Unhealthy Fats

Consuming unhealthy fats can predispose you to illnesses and weaken your immunity. Rather, bank more on healthy fats, which can be found in salmon and olive oil. This way, your immunity is boosted and can fight pathogens and reduce inflammation.Inflammation, specifically low-level one, is part of your body’s immune response. However, long-term inflammation can interfere with your immune response. Including healthy fats in your diet may help prevent type 2 diabetes, heart disease and ward off viruses and bacteria that cause disease.

6.      Exercise Moderately and Regularly

When you exercise moderately, your immune system and health are boosted. Intense and prolonged workouts can suppress the immune system. This is because exercises reduce inflammation and help immune cells multiply regularly. Moderate exercises you can try include swimming, steady bicycling, light hiking, and jogging.

7.      Reduce Stress Levels

Stress and immunity are closely tied. You can boost your immunity by relieving anxiety and stress. You are likely to develop inflammation and imbalanced cell function if you retain stress for long.As a way of boosting your immunity, you can exercise, meditate, and read some journals to relieve stress.

Conclusion

A healthy and strong immune system means a healthy life. Infections and illnesses cannot set in if your immune system is perfectly strong. Some ways of boosting your immunity include exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, limiting the intake of added sugar and unhealthy fats.

Nataly Komova

Nutritionist. Bluffton University, MS

In today's world, people's eating and exercise patterns have changed, and it is often lifestyle that is the cause of many diet-related illnesses. I believe that each of us is unique – what works for one does not help another. What is more, it can even be harmful. I am interested in food psychology, which studies a person's relationship with their body and food, explains our choices and desires for specific products, the difficulty of maintaining optimal body weight, as well as the influence of various internal and external factors on appetite. I'm also an avid vintage car collector, and currently, I'm working on my 1993 W124 Mercedes. You may have stumbled upon articles I have been featured in, for example, in Cosmopolitan, Elle, Grazia, Women's Health, The Guardian, and others.

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