6 Tips to Boost Your Body's Immune System Naturally

There are many different elements that determine how strong a body’s immune system can be.

The cells in your skin, your blood, tissues, organs and even your bone marrow work in tandem to strengthen the body’s nature-given defence system.

Depending on the types of food you eat and the lifestyle you follow, your immune system may or may not be working in full capacity.

There are certain tips that you can follow in order to boost your immune system naturally and keep yourself protected against certain diseases and illnesses.

Read on to find out more.

Follow a Healthy Diet

You might have heard the saying, “we are what we eat”.

It is a clever way of saying that the nutritional content of what you eat determines the composition of the cells in your body.

So, it is incredibly important for you to be mindful of what you consume on a regular basis.

The more immunity boosting foods you include in your diet, the stronger your immune system would be.

Citrus fruits, turmeric, ginger, garlic, broccoli, red bell peppers, almonds, spinach, yogurt, green tea, shellfish (crab, oyster, lobster etc.), and papaya help in boosting your immune system naturally.

Healthy fats such as omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in salmon and chia seeds are known to fight inflammation.

This subsequently helps in boosting your body’s immune response to numerous pathogens.

Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Though it may look insignificant at first, the truth is that everything that your body does helps in keeping it strong and in working condition.

The biggest example of this is sleep. It is very important for you to get an adequate amount of sleep every night.

It may seem like your body is not really doing anything, just lying there, but it can’t be further from the truth.

While you close your eyes and dream about dragons and what not, your body gets busy with healing itself and regenerating certain cells.

This is an important factor when it comes to strengthening the immune system.

Also, getting an appropriate amount of sleep helps in regulating the cortisol levels in your body. This is a huge factor when it comes to fighting off diseases.

If you have trouble sleeping at night, it is best to have a fixed routine with specific timings for sleeping.

Stick to the routine and eventually, you’ll get the amount of sleep you require.

Keep Yourself Hydrated

Sometimes, dehydration can lead to headaches and can also negatively affect digestion, and heart and kidney function.

Consequently, such complications may increase your vulnerability towards certain illnesses.

So, it is important for you to keep yourself hydrated throughout the day, everyday.

Water is usually recommended as it is free of calories, sugars, and other potentially harmful additives.

Though teas and juices can be hydrating, it is advisable for you to keep your juice and tea intake in check due to the high sugar content in these drinks.

Instead of regular teas and juices, you can sip on some immunity booster drinks for extra-protection.

Green teas and herbal teas infused with turmeric are good options if you don’t want to sip on plain water all day.  

Exercise Regularly

Studies have shown that when moderate exercise is undertaken regularly, it helps in reducing inflammation.

And as a result, helps immune cells to regenerate on a regular basis as well.

It has further been seen that even with a single session of moderate exercise, there was a boost in the effectiveness of vaccines in people who have compromised immune systems.

Do keep in mind that adults need to get atleast two and a half hours of moderate exercise every week for their immune system to be working at its full capacity.

Engage in walking, jogging, cycling or swimming a few times a week to maintain an appropriate exercise routine.    

Cut Back on

Just like including certain foods in your diet makes your immune system stronger, so does excluding a few food items.

Limiting your intake of added sugar has many health benefits which directly or indirectly affects your immune system as well.

Decreasing the amount of added sugar you consume everyday, or completely removing it from your diet can decrease inflammation and aid in weight loss.  

Which means that you would also be reducing your risk of certain chronic health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart diseases.

Obesity, heart diseases, and type 2 diabetes are the things that can weaken your immune system.

Hence, when you’re trying to protect yourself from these diseases, you’re strengthening your immune system as well.

Also, it is important that you cut back on alcohol and try to quit smoking.

Regular consumption of both or one of these substances leads to a compromised immune system.  

Keep Stress Under Control

This may seem somewhat hard to do but still, it is one of the most important factors when it comes to keeping your immune system naturally strong.

Long-term stress causes cortisol levels to remain constantly high.    

And when cortisol levels stay high constantly, it prevents the immune system from doing its job of protecting your body against certain threats such as bacteria and viruses.

Regular exercise, meditation and certain herbal teas help in reducing stress. As the saying goes, “Prevention is better than cure”.

So, why not give yourself a fighting chance against all the diseases and illnesses out there by inculcating the above-mentioned habits into your daily-life.

It won’t take that much effort to follow these immunity boosting tips. Once you do that, you should be able to notice the positive results soon enough.