The importance of a healthy immune system can not be understated. You probably know that your immune system is your body’s main tool for keeping you healthy and free from disease. But consider for a moment what your life would be like if you could keep your immune system healthy of all the time.
Maybe you’re an allergy sufferer. You’ve dealt with swollen, itchy eyes, sneezing, or worse. But now everything’s changed! No symptoms. No problems. You can eat whatever foods you like, wear whatever perfume you like, and pet the neighbor’s cat — without any adverse reaction! You can walk through a meadow, smell the wildflowers, and feel totally healthy and at peace.
According to a recent publication in Warts, keeping your immune system boosted with proper rest, healthy food and a low-stress environment, everything from illness to pesky skin issues like warts can be avoided.
Imagine the annual flu season arrives, when you usually spend a week in bed feeling miserable. This year it’s different. You just sail through, without losing even one day of work!
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Or perhaps you’re on vacation when you accidentally eat a meal that is contaminated. You have a few mild stomach pains, but no other symptoms. It doesn’t even slow you down. Your traveling companions meanwhile spend the next few days confined to their hotel rooms.
How does one boost their immune system? Here are some tips according to Harvard Health:
- Don’t smoke. This one is kind of obvious, but let’s face it, what’s the point of anything else healthy you do if you’re going to smash your immune system with tobacco products?
- Along with the no-no’s like smoking above, don’t drink too much. Keep in moderation. Red wine has been linked to lower heart disease rates so perhaps substitute some of the hard stuff for a nice glass of red.
- Get enough rest. The Mayo Clinic recommends 7 to 8 hours nightly of uninterrupted sleep. If you struggle with insomnia, look into melatonin as a natural aid.
- Be sure to keep current on all of the recommended immunizations. The CDC website regularly keeps these updated. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html
- Exercise regularly and keep your weight down. Try to get in at least two and a half hours of moderate activity per week.
- This one is big. You have read that eating super fruits like blueberries and acai are great for immunity. Eat a diet high in vegetables, whole grains and fruits. Minimize consumption of red and processed meats and keep saturated fats and sugars to 10% of total calories or less.
Img source: healthcareinamerica.us
There is still a lot of research being done to figure out more and more about the immune system and because so much remains unknown, you should be wary of all of the businesses out there spreading myths and trying to sell you stuff.
Above is a lot of the most basic day to day tips to keep your immune health at best it can be. After all, this is the monitor in your body that stays on the job 24-7 to try and keep you safe from virus, bacteria’s, parasites and fungi that we always come into contact with in our daily lives.
Walking across the shower room in your local gym without slippers can be enough to give you HPV (and then plantar warts) if your immune system is low (and if you don’t wear shower slippers!).
Let’s at least do the very minimum to help our systems out and stay at their very best.
