(Newswire.net — April 19, 2019) — Immunity isn’t something we think about daily. However, your immune system is one of the major forces keeping you safe and healthy in a dangerous world full of germs, bacteria, disease, and sickness. Are you caring for it properly?
Understanding the Immune System
Despite its importance, most people are fairly unfamiliar with what the immune system actually does.
According to Kim Ann Zimmermann of Live Science, “The role of the immune system — a collection of structures and processes within the body — is to protect against disease or other potentially damaging foreign bodies. When functioning properly, the immune system identifies a variety of threats, including viruses, bacteria and parasites, and distinguishes them from the body’s own healthy tissue.”
Broadly speaking, the immune system can be broken down into two categories: innate immunity and adaptive immunity.
Innate immunity refers to the immune system that’s built into you at birth. It consists of various barriers and defense mechanisms that keep threats away. Components of innate immunity include stomach acid, skin, mucus, and the cough reflex.
Adaptive immunity, also known as acquired immunity, targets very specific threats to the body and can become strengthened or weakened over time. It’s the portion of the immune system that makes you less receptive to certain germs and bacteria after you’ve encountered them once.
How to Keep Your Immune System in Optimal Shape
While there are biological factors and diseases that can impact each person’s immune system, most people can boost their immunity by practicing healthy habits. Here’s are some ways you can do the same:
1. Improve Your Diet
The proper diet with the right vitamins and nutrients will strengthen your body’s immune system and prepare you to fight off illness and disease. Citrus fruits – like oranges – are particularly good for you. So are peppers – which contain twice as much vitamin C as citrus fruits.
“[Red bell peppers] are also a rich source of beta carotene, the red-orange pigment found in plants and fruits that is converted in Vitamin A in the body,” InVite Health points out. “Beta carotene is both an antioxidant and a carotenoid, which means that it can protect the body from free radicals (boosting immunity) and keeps your eyes and skin healthy.”
2. Eliminate Stress
Stress is a fairly normal part of life. However, it’s not something that you should deal with on a chronic or severe basis. Too much stress exposes the body to hormones that suppress the immune system and make you more susceptible to sickness and disease.
You can lower your stress – and subsequently boost your immune system – by exercising, meditating, removing unnecessary responsibilities from your daily schedule, disconnecting from technology, and spending more time with people who build you up.
3. Care for Your Gut
Your gut health impacts your overall health in more ways than you’ll ever know. If the gut is compromised, the rest of your immunity will suffer as a result.
Boosting your gut and balancing intestinal bacteria is critically important. In addition to eating more fermented foods – like pickles, kimchi, sauerkraut, and raw, grass-fed yogurt, you can also take a daily probiotic.
4. Get 20 Minutes of Daily Exercise
According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of California-San Diego of Medicine, just 20 minutes of exercise per day is all you need to boost immunity and reduce inflammation in the body.
“Exercise activates the sympathetic nervous system, a pathway that increases heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate,” Reader’s Digest explains. “When this happens, the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine are released into the bloodstream and activate a cellular reaction that suppresses cytokines.”
The research also shows that too little or too much exercise can have adverse effects. It seems that 20 minutes – give or take – is the sweet spot.
5. Get More Sleep
There are mountains and mountains of research attesting to the importance of sleep on health, wellness, and vitality. During sleep, the body restores depleted energy, repairs cells, and prepares for the following day. By getting more sleep – ideally seven to nine hours – you can strengthen your immune system and live a healthier life.
Stay Healthy, Live Happy
Healthy living requires a commitment to healthy habits. You can do your body a favor and strengthen your immune system to fight off sickness and disease. Take the time to care for your body, and it will care for you.