Achieving a healthy immune system is essential to keeping off diseases and infections. For achieve this, you must put in place some key healthy lifestyle habits. The immune system has the task of defending our body from ailment. When it functions as it should, it protects our body against bacteria and viruses and limits damage from non-infectious agents. If you want to know some ways to achieve a healthy immune system, read on! Here we will tell you everything you need to know.
6 ways to achieve a healthy immune system
To protect better our boy of any damage, all the immune system components must function correctly. The better way to make sure it happens is by practicing good habits to ensure you have a healthy immune system. Let’s look at six ways you can achieve this.
1. Follow a healthy diet
The nutrients that we get from food, in particular, foods of plant origin such as fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices, are essentials to keep a healthy immune system and functioning correctly. So many foods of plant origin also have antiviral and antimicrobial properties, which help us fight infections.
Moreover, the zinc , folic acid, iron, selenium, copper and vitamins A, C, E, B6 and B12 you get from the foods you eat are the nutrients your immune system needs to do its job. Each plays a unique role in supporting immune function.
Research suggests, for example, that vitamin C deficiency can increase the likelihood of infection. Our body does not produce this essential water-soluble vitamin on its own, so we need to obtain it through food. such as citrus fruits, kiwis and various cruciferous vegetables.
Protein is also critical for immune health. Amino acids in protein help build and maintain immune cells, and skimping on this macronutrient can reduce your body’s ability to fight infection.
When it comes to a diet that supports good immune health, we should focus on incorporating more plant and plant-based foods. Carrots, broccoli, spinach, red peppers, apricots, citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruit, mandarins) and strawberries are excellent sources of vitamins A and C.
While seeds and nuts provide protein, vitamin E and zinc. Additional sources of protein and zinc include seafood, lean meats and poultry, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
2. Keeping stress under control
Long term stress leads to chronically elevated levels of the steroid hormone cortisol. The body relies on hormones such as cortisol during short-term stress episodes.
Cortisol has the beneficial effect of preventing the immune system from responding before the stressful event is over, so that our body can react to the immediate stressor. But when cortisol levels are consistently high, it essentially blocks the immune system from kicking into gear and doing its job to protect the body against potential threats from germs such as viruses and bacteria.
There are many effective techniques to reduce stress, the key is to find what works for you. Meditation can help, keeping a journal and doing any activity you enjoy, such as fishing, golfing or drawing. Try to do at least one stress-reducing activity every day. If we don’t have a lot of time, just set aside five minutes at some point each day for fun and relaxation.
3. Sleepping enough
Our body heals and regenerates itself while we sleep, so that a adequate sleep is fundamental for a healthy immune system. The sleeps is a moment when your body produces and distributes key immune cells such as cytokines, cells, and interleukin 12.
When we do not sleep enough, it is possible that our immune system, does not do these things so well, making it less capable to defend our body against damaging invaders and makes you more prone to becoming sick.
Insufficient sleep also increases cortisol levels, which of course is not good for immune function either. Our immune system wears down as a result of stress, and we tend to have fewer reserves to fight or recover from sickness.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends that all the adults sleep at least seven hours a night to optimize your health. To ensure that we get quality sleep, we should prioritize good sleep hygiene. Turning off electronic devices at least two to three hours before bedtime and avoiding violent or stressful books or conversations.
4. Regular exercise
Regular exercise reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, as well as viral and bacterial infections.
Excercises also increases the release of endorphins, El ejercicio también aumenta la liberación de endorfinas, making it an excellent way to manage stress. Since stress negatively affects our immune system, this is another way exercise can improve the immune response.
At a minimum, try to meet the physical activity guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Adults should get at least two and a half hours of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise such as walking, jogging or bicycling or one hour and 15 minutes of high-intensity aerobic exercise such as running on a weekly basis. We should also do strength training at least twice a week.
To get even more benefits for the immune system, it is recommended to exercise outside. It has been shown that spending time in nature supports mood, lowers blood pressure, reduces inflammation and is conducive to a healthy immune system.
Solar light also increases the Vitamin D in the body, also increases vitamin D in the body, which also plays a key role in the body with immunological health.
5. Reducing the intake of alcoholic drinks
Drinking high quantities of alcohol is associated with a variety of negative health effects, including diminished immunological function. When we drink a lot of alcoholic drinks, our body is too busy trying to detoxify the system to worry about the normal functioning of the immune system, experts explain.
High levels of alcohol consumption can weaken the body capacity to combat infections and slow down our recovery time. As a result, people that drink high quantities of alcohol, face an increased probability of pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, alcoholic liver disease, and certain cancers, according to the same review, according to a review published in the journal Alcohol Research in 2015.
6. No cigarette smoking for a healthy immune system
Like alcohol, cigarette smoking can also affect immunological health. Chemicals released by cigarette smoke can interfere with the growth and function of immune cells, such as cytokines, T cells and B cells.
Smoking also worsens viral and bacterial infections, especially such as pneumonia, influenza and tuberculosis, post-surgical infections and rheumatoid arthritis, according to the CDC.
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