In times such as this, it has never been so important to keep your immune system in check. You will want to do as much as you can to help boost your immune system against seasonal illnesses like colds and the flu. There are many ways you can do this to help protect you and your family against falling ill. Here are seven top ways to strengthen your immune system.
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Try not to smoke
Smoking can harm your immune system and cause your body to be weaker when getting ill. Whether you smoke a lot or are an occasional smoker, both will cause damage to your body. If you are smoking a lot, try to reduce the amount you smoke until you can give up altogether, or if you smoke occasionally, try and stop altogether. Quitting smoking also has other benefits from helping your long-term health to feeling better overall.
Exercise regularly
Overall, exercising regularly has many benefits, from helping your mental health and physical health to boosting your immune system. No matter your age, or fitness level, there are many ways you can get active. If you want to meet new people, why not join a sports team, or if you prefer exercising on your own go to the gym. Even by increasing your step count by 100 steps an hour, you may see a big improvement in your health and help your immune system.
Make sure you get enough sleep
Depending on your age, it will depend on how much sleep you should be getting daily. If you are achieving less, you may feel fatigued, not able to concentrate as much and find yourself feeling unwell more often. Try and aim for at least 8 hours a day at a similar time to help improve your quality of sleep. Your immune system can get disrupted a lot if you consistently don’t get enough sleep.
Reduce Stress
When you are feeling stressed, you can feel rundown and get ill more often than normal. It is important you try and look after your stress levels and know when you are starting to feel stressed. Exercise can help reduce stress, as well as yoga and general mindfulness practices to help improve your mental health. When stressed your body isn’t able to defend itself against bugs which is why you can get ill, so it is best to prevent this in order to help your body fight off any illness that comes your way.
Supplement wisely
Depending on your diet, you may not realize but you could be deficient with certain nutrients. If you are deficient, this could lead to a weaker immune system, so you feel under the weather. If you don’t eat fish, you may find you need more omega-3 fatty acids. Are you getting enough protein in your diet? Or during the winter months do you take vitamin d tablets? By using an app, you can track what you eat and that will let you know what things are missing within your diet. The human body requires certain nutrients to be able to function at maximum performance and function effectively, so ensure, your diet includes the nutrients you get from meats, fish, nuts, eggs, that are great for the body.
Reduce your alcohol consumption
We are not saying to stop drinking altogether (after all a glass of wine on a Friday is sometimes needed) but if you feel you drink alcohol on a regular occurrence, this could be causing damage to your immune system as well as other parts of your body like your liver and brain. Try and reduce your consumption and when you do, drink less instead of going overboard.
Eat vegetables and fruits
By eating healthy foods and looking after your body, you can not only make your immune system stronger but also help feel better. Citrus fruits are high in vitamin c as well as peppers and carrots. Garlic is known to help your immune system as well as ginger and seeds. It is recommended you aim to eat five pieces of fruit or vegetables a day, the best way to do this is to incorporate it into your evening meals. If you enjoy having a snack during the day, why not try and replace this for a piece of fruit.
These are seven ways that you can strengthen your immune system to give you the best chance of fighting off any illness that might come your way. Be sure to follow these tips and pass them on to your family and friends to ensure that you are all protected as much as possible.
