Healthy habits for a healthy immune system
The covid-19 pandemic has proved the importance of a healthy immune system in the human body. A strong immune system is the ultimate key to healthy living. It helps our body to detect and immediately respond to outside invaders like pathogens, viruses, bacteria, etc to keep them at bay.
Most people are born with a strong immune system genetically, while some improve their immunity by following a healthy lifestyle and strictly adhering to it. Similarly, some people are unfortunately born weak due to weak genes.
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Easy signs to identify a weak immune system-
- Elevated stress level:
If you are a person with an elevated stress level or tend to get at the smallest inconvenience in your life, the chances are that your immune system is weak. Because long term stress contributes to a weak immune system by decreasing the body’s lymphocyte (an immune cell).
- Catching a cold too often:
Catching cold 2-3 times a year is quite common for adults, which can sometimes lead up to 7-10 times. A normal cold lasts about 3-4 days.
But if you catch a cold more regularly and it lasts for a good couple of days, that can be a warning sign.
- Frequent stomach problems:
A weak immune system leads to frequent stomach issues like diarrhea or constipation. A low amount of beneficial bacteria and microorganisms in your stomach can lead to these problems and risk you to viruses, chronic inflammation and autoimmune disorders, and more.
- Skin healing
If your skin breaks out after a burn, cut, or scratch; your body’s immune cells are weak and sluggish. If your skin fails to regenerate itself; it shows you have a weak immune system.
- Frequent infections:
If you are prone to repeated infections such as ear, respiratory, coughs, colds, and influenza and require more than two courses of antibiotics a year, that could be the result of a compromised immune system.
What are the signs of a strong immune system?
The signs of a strong immune system can be pretty subtle. The strongest sign, of course, is how successful your body is at fighting off pathogens, which are the viruses, bacteria, and foreign bodies that cause infection or disease.
One example of this is when you get a small red bump on your skin following a mosquito bite. That itchy bump is a sure sign of your immune system keeping unwanted pathogens at bay. Besides, a person with a strong immune system recovers fast and well from cold, flu, and other diseases.
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Ways to improve your immune system:
If you are a person with a weak immune system and willing to work on it, keep reading. Here are few ways, which will help improve your immune system:
Maintaining a healthy diet and proper food intake:
The first thing to focus on is a proper diet. A healthy diet includes proper intake of vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats and drinks to boost the immune system.
A proper diet will contribute the right amount of micronutrients to the body that is vital for a healthy immune system. The micronutrients a healthy diet includes are:
- Vitamin B6: It is found in chicken, salmon, tuna, bananas, green vegetables, and potatoes.
- Vitamin C: It is found in citrus fruits like oranges and strawberries along with tomatoes, broccoli, and spinach.
- Vitamin E: It is found in almonds, peanut butter, sunflower oil and seeds, safflower oil, and spinach.
Exercise:
We all know the importance of exercise but are usually too lazy to indulge ourselves in it. Besides growing muscles and releasing stress; daily exercise promotes a healthy and strong immune system.
Other benefits include the overall circulation of blood, and also helps the immune cells and other infection-fighting molecules to travel more efficiently throughout your body.
Many studies suggest that engaging in 30 minutes of mild to heavy exercise daily can stimulate the immune system and help you stay fit and healthy. You can start with brisk walking and engage in other physical activities as and when you get accustomed to it.
Staying hydrated
Water is the most important drink to boost the immune system.
Lymph, fluid in your circulatory system carries important infection-fighting immune cells around your body. It is mostly made up of water. If you are not hydrated properly, it slows down the movement of the lymph leading to an unhealthy or impaired immune system.
Our body loses water even if we are not exercising or sweating. Through our breath, urination, or bowel movements, our body constantly loses water, so it is important to replace the water our body is losing by drinking more water. It is advised to drink at least 9 glasses of water every day.
Sufficient sleep
There are a lot of important activities that take place in your body while you are asleep. The immune cells and the important-infection fighting molecules, which help our body against diseases, are generated while we are asleep.
According to research, people who do not get proper hours of sleep are more likely to get sick while being exposed to viruses like a common cold. Thus, for having a healthy immune system, it is important to know how many hours to sleep and not to compromise with it.
Minimize stress:
Stress causes a lot of damage to your immune system. Whether it is a fast reaction or it catches up over time, it is very essential to understand how stress is affecting your immune system. If you have chronic stress, that is if the stress is long-lasting, your body tries to warn you by showing a stress response. The stress response slowly damages your immune system making your body more prone to infection or illness.
It is very important to know what kind of stress you are having since it is different for everyone and thus the way of releasing stress is different too. You can meditate, exercise, engage in interesting hobbies, or take deep breaths to reduce your stress as per your requirement.
About let’s talk health
Let’s Talk Health can help in knowing your body and taking the right steps to boost your immune system. We have a variety of products in our immune support category that will help you regain your strength, keep you fit and give you a healthy and strong immune system. Check out our products and switch to a healthy lifestyle today.