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Are you worried about your health and questioning whether your body is ready to fight harmful diseases? Well, now more than ever, we all get worried about the strength of our immune system. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made most of us cautious and vigilant about our lifestyle. However, a strong immune system will boost your internal energy and the body's power to sustain and survive against all diseases. Immunity can be defined as " being able to resist a disease or medical condition or the freedom from punishment."
Boosting the immune system can help you in fighting against the corona virus and all diseases, but it certainly is not the protector against COVID-19. Saying this, it is extremely important to keep yourself physically and mentally fit thus preparing your body in dealing with any disease. Here, in this article, you will get to know some easy tips to improve your immune system. These tips are simple to follow and the addition of just a few of these in your daily routine can bring a huge positive change in your health.
So, without further ado let's check out natural and easy ways to boost the immunity of your body.
• Add Healthy Fats in Your Diet
Healthy fats or good fats include monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats. So, what makes these fats good? Well, surely we all are well aware of the fact that fats are not good for our health. But the prior mentioned fats are great for our health. Because these fats help to:
? decrease the LDL (Low-Density Liquid) cholesterol level while increasing the good HDL (High-Density Liquid)
? lower down the probability of heart diseases
? decrease blood pressure
? decrease chances of abnormal heartbeat rhythms
? prevent narrowing/ hardening of the arteries, a condition called atherosclerosis
Good natural and readily available sources of adding monosaturated fat in your diet are,
? olives
? peanut butter
? avocados
? canola, sesame seed, peanut, and olive oils
? all nuts including almonds, macadamia, pecans, cashew, peanuts, and hazelnuts
Good organic sources of fulfilling your body with polyunsaturated fat include:
? flaxseeds
? walnuts
? soymilk
? fatty fish including salmon, herring, trout, tuna, sardines, and mackerel
? fish oil
? safflower oil
? soybean
? pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower seeds
? Tofu
Healthy fats present in nuts, seed oils or fish strengthen our immune system due to their anti-inflammatory characteristics. This characteristic helps your body in reducing the chances of chronic heart diseases and diabetes (type 2). Moreover, these fats also protect you from disease causing harmful viruses and bacteria.
The addition of such healthy fats in your daily diet not only helps in boosting your immune system but also makes you feel full and satisfied after an average portion of the meal. Thus, increasing the chances of weight loss by reducing hunger or temptation.
• Daily Exercise
Being physically and mentally fit is another term for having strong immunity. Indulging in daily exercise is among the top easy tips to improve your immune system. However, it is highly recommended to gradually increase the time and intensity of the exercise. If you are not used to any sort of exercise then starting intense exercises right away can be harmful to your body instead of doing any good. Moderate level of exercise means steady bicycling (not in an inclined position), jogging, brisk walking, easy hiking, and swimming.
Moderate exercise is perfect to improve your immune system. Scientists suggest that daily exercise can assist in boosting the effectiveness of the vaccines as well, especially in people who have a compromised immune system.
In addition to that, moderate daily exercise also helps in the reduction of inflammation, thus helping the regeneration of immune cells on a regular basis.
A combination of a healthy diet and moderate daily exercise can bring enormous change within yourself. And in a matter of a few weeks, you will feel energized, strong, and livelier than ever.
• Regular Intake of Probiotic Supplements/ Foods
Probiotics are bacteria and yeast that populate in your digestive system and help in the normal digestion of food. Probiotics are considered as "helpful" or "good" as they are necessary for the maintenance of the human gut.
So, where you can get these probiotics? Fermented foods, mainly yogurt, are the best sources of getting hands-on probiotics. Other natural sources which are rich in probiotics include,
? pickles
? tempeh
? kombucha
? kefir
? miso
? kimchi
? sauerkraut
? sourdough bread
? a few kinds of cheese
The inclusion of these foods in your daily diet can have a massive impact on your health and in building a strong immune system against foreign harmful microbes. The population of probiotics in the gut helps your immune system to differentiate among the harmful invading organisms and healthy and normal body cells.
The addition of fermented milk in the daily diet of children reduces the chances of an attack of infectious diseases.
If somehow, you are not taking fermented food in your daily diet, then it is highly recommended to take probiotic supplements. Thus, easing your immune system is properly differentiating harmful pathogens.
• Adequate Hours of Quality Sleep
Taking uninterrupted long hours of quality sleep is one of the most essential and easy tips to improve your immune system. Quality sleep is interlinked with a strong immune system. It is most likely for people who do not get an adequate amount of sleep to get sick more often than people who take quality sleep.
If you get disturbed or wake up intermittently during sleep then you will get mentally ill. If you do not get undisturbed sleep for adequate hours it will hugely affect your mental health. A few of the major mental health issues related to the uninterrupted sleep are, loss of memory, being unable to concentrate or remain focussed, feeling lethargic during routine work and feeling tired just after starting any work.
People who get less than six hours of sleep in a day are more vulnerable to get sick than people who sleep for at least six hours a day.
To boost your immunity, it is highly recommended to sleep in a place that will give your mind and body much needed relaxation and peace. This may include sleeping in a dark room, or wearing a sleep mask, preparing a comfortable bed, and most importantly scheduling the time of your sleep. Going to bed every night at a particular time will set your body's alarm system, and right at that time, your body will start pushing you to go to bed and take rest.
Thus adequate rest and proper sleep will help to boost your immune system.
• Fulfill Your Body's Nutritional Demands with Supplements
The addition of nutritional supplements in your daily routine can fulfill your body's demand to remain healthy and ready to fight against invasive microbes. Though daily intake of doctor's recommended supplements can massively improve your immune system, still it is not any sort of guarantee in treating the COVID-19. Surely, you must take effective supplements to remain healthy or comprehensively complete your body's nutritional demands, but do not consider it as a medicine or cure of any disease.
Here is a list of some of the major supplements along with their prospective role in improving the immune system,
? Vitamin D: Vitamin D is one of the major and most important vitamins of all. The deficiency of vitamin D in your body can become an invitation to several diseases related to the weakness of the bones. That is why it is extremely important to keep vitamin D in full capacity in your body. On the other hand, when you are getting enough Vitamin D from other sources then taking extra supplements would neither do any good nor any bad. So, it would be more beneficial to take these supplements as per your doctor's recommendations.
? Vitamin C: Vitamin C supplements can pose enormous benefits to your body. It may reduce your chances of getting sick in extreme weather conditions. In addition to taking supplements, citrus fruits are the best natural sources of mounting up the vitamin C level in your body. Fruits which are packed with vitamin C include,
? grapefruit
? Clementine
? oranges
? limes
? lemon
? tangerine
Our body does not make vitamin itself, so the addition of vitamin C rich foods and vitamin C supplements in your daily routine is extremely necessary. On average, the recommended daily dosage of vitamin C for an adult woman is 75mg and for the adult man, it is 90mg.
? Zinc: Zinc has the property of fighting against infections, in addition to healing wounds. Taking zinc supplements has proved to be beneficial for people in reducing common cold. Moreover, zinc is proved to be highly effective in treating skin irritations and diaper rashes on children.
Zinc is not required in great quantities in your body. The average daily recommended quantity of zinc for females is 8-9 mg and for males, it is 11 mg. Although, you require zinc in such small quantities but still it is extremely important to strengthen your body's immunity against infections.
Natural sources of zinc include
? poultry
? oysters
? red meat
? whole-grain
? fortified cereals
? beans
? nuts
• Increase Whole Plant Foods in Daily Diet
The inclusion of whole plant foods is a must-have in your daily routine and it is one of the most important and easy tips to improve your immune system. These food items are loaded with an enormous amount of essential nutrients and antioxidants which not only keep a great nutritional balance in your body but also strengthen your immune system.
The presence of antioxidants in plant-based food helps in reducing the inflammation by fighting against unstable free radicals. Increased levels of free radicals can cause severe health problems including cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory diseases, cancer, and cataract. Therefore, enhancing the number of foods that are enriched with antioxidants can greatly help your body in decreasing the number of free radicals.
In addition to improving the number of antioxidants in the body, plant-based foods are also a great source of natural fibers. These natural fibers act as a feed for the good bacteria present in your gut. Thus energizing the gut bacteria and simultaneously improving the body's immunity in fight against foreign pathogens.
Not only fibers, but plant-based foods are also rich sources of vitamin C which is extremely beneficial in protecting your body against common cold, and flu.
Here is the shopping list of whole plant foods,
? Fruits: Pineapple, peaches, pears, Berries, bananas, citrus fruits, etc
? Vegetables: Peppers, kale, tomatoes, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, and many more.
? Whole grains: Brown rice, brown rice pasta, farro, rolled oats, quinoa, barley, and all grains alike.
? Legumes: Peas, black beans, lentils, chickpeas, peanuts, etc.
? Healthy Fats or Oils: Olive oil, avocados, unsweetened coconut, coconut oil, etc.
? Spices/ Herbs: Basil, thyme, turmeric, black pepper, salt, rosemary, salt, etc.
? Nuts/ Butters/ Seeds: Cashews, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, tahini, natural peanut butter, almonds, etc.
? Plant-based kinds of milk (Unsweetened): Almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, and other unsweetened milk extracted from plant-based sources.
? Condiments: These include salsa, nutritional yeast, vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce, etc.
? Starchy Vegetables: Butternut squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and other starch enriched vegetables.
Keep these things noted and the next time you go for grocery shopping do remember to pick a few things up.
And while you are adding more plant-based foods in your diet, do remember to avoid following foods from your diet to maximize the positive effect of these natural resources. Here are the foods to avoid,
? Extra sugar and sweetened foods: These include soda, pastries, artificial juices, candies, table sugar, sweet tea, sweetened cereals, and other sweet stuff.
? Processed food: Processed vegan-friendly food is often available on the isles which include plant-based meat such as tofurkey, vegan kinds of butter, faux cheeses, and stuff like that. It is highly recommended to avoid this food.
? Refined grains: White bread, white pasta, white rice, bagels, etc.
? Processed animal-based packaged products: Sausages, lunch meats, bacon, beef jerky, etc.
? Convenience foods: Frozen dinners, chips, cereal bars, crackers, etc.
? Fat food: Last but surely not least, junk food or fast food is a silent killer that has invaded our societies in the past few decades. Regular intake of fast foods is the major cause of several diseases in young adults. One of the major diseases this food cause is obesity and a huge number of the American population is suffering from these diseases. Fast food includes cheeseburgers, french fries, chicken nuggets, patties, hot dogs, etc.
It is highly recommended to reduce the intake of
? pork
? beef
? poultry
? dairy
? eggs
? seafood
? sheep
And doing so will increase the positive impact of plant-based food in your body. These were some of the easy tips to improve your immune system by including plant-based foods in your daily diet.
• Keep Yourself Hydrated
Drinking loads of water is one of the most commonly advised easy tips to improve your immune system. Surely, keeping yourself hydrated is not a direct shield against the invading pathogens, but it does improve your overall health and immune system. Lack of water or dehydration of your body can create an imbalance of almost all the necessary tasks occurring inside your body. Water is needed to keep your body's temperature balanced, for the flow of blood and nutrition from one part to another, and also it is needed to send a message from one place to another.
Problems that may occur in case of dehydration include hindrance in physical performance, headache, lack of focus and concentration, mood swings, digestive tract problems, and in severe cases heart and kidney malfunction. All or a few of these illnesses make your body vulnerable to more harmful diseases.
You can keep yourself hydrated by below given easy tips,
? In addition to drinking water, you must include fresh juices and natural herbal tea in your diet. Intake of fresh fruits will freshen up your body. And herbal tea will help in cleaning up.
? It is important to keep a reusable water bottle with you, wherever you go. And refill it after a while.
? Drink water before starting physical fitness session, during exercise, and after completion of daily workout. Intense exercises cause loads of water loss, so it is important to refill your body with water.
? Adding any flavors such as squeezing a lemon or lime can make drinking water interesting and fun. Some people do not like the taste of plain water, and if you are one of them then adding a few drops of lemon will do the trick.
? Dirking water is also beneficial in reducing the temptation of eating. When you feel hungry, drink water. It will lower down your desire of eating loads of food and having it right away.
? Add drinking water in your daily schedule. After regularly following this schedule, your body will itself desire for water. Make a habit of drinking water after waking up, before starting breakfast, during lunch, at dinner, and keep a bottle on your bedside table.
In a short while, you will experience a huge difference in your body's energy. Drinking loads of water is definitely one of the easy tips to improve your immune system in no time. Plus, it does not require a strenuous workout or change of daily schedule; thus it is easy to add in the daily routine.
• Control Your Stress and Anxiety Level
Our own body can be our greatest enemy, and this happens when we are mentally distressed and in sheer pain. Stress and anxiety dreadfully affect our body's natural ability to fight against pathogens, environmental stress, and diseases.
Long periods of stress cause a heightened level of free radicals thus causing inflammation and simultaneously decreasing the number of immune cells. This process affects the immune system and its ability to protect your body.
This decrease in the power of the immune system is most evident in children. If children experience increased and prolonged psychological distress the there are pretty strong chances that they fell ill.
There you have it. We hope that you must have learned a lot from all the above mentioned easy tips to improve your immune system. And most importantly, you must be eager to add these tips to your lifestyle. If you think that we have missed any important point, then feel free to comment down below and add to the list.
Therefore, for strengthening your immune system, it is important to relieve yourself from anxiety, stress, and depression. To do that you can indulge in following routines,
? meditation
? yoga
? journaling
? exercise
? mindful exercises
• Quit Smoking
Smoking is the silent destroyer of your lungs that slowly but surely take control of your whole body and leave you completely lethargic and its prey. Cigarette loaded with nicotine and tar blackened your lungs and crush its ability to perform its function in a proper way. Thus affecting your breathing enormously. This is such a horrible addiction that loads of people find it extremely hard to quit it. And in the worst case scenario, doctors recommend addicts to join any good rehabilitation centers to quit smoking and start living a healthy life.
Surely, all these tips and tricks are extremely efficient, tried, and tested, but to get the best results, it is extremely important to follow them on a regular basis. Make a schedule, and plan your diet according to these tips, follow a sleep schedule, and also make a habit of doing exercise on a daily basis. If you keep track of all these points then in no time, you will feel energized, fresh, and healthy. We wish you a happy and healthy life.
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