Pump Up Your Immune System
Live well
It's true that you are what you eat, but your health is also a reflection of what you do.
That’s why making healthy lifestyle choices can drastically affect your ability to keep
illness at bay. So consider the following to optimize your immune-system strength:
- Exercise regularly
- Limit alcohol, caffeine, and sugar
- Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables
- Drink lots of bottled water
- Don’t miss meals
Take your vitamins
Even if you never eat junk food or miss meals, your body will still need a bit of help
getting all the nutrients it needs to stay strong. That is where supplements come in. A good
multivitamin is a must. In addition, boosting
your intake of the nutrients below can help prevent deficiencies that make you a target for
infections:
Chill out
Excessive stress essentially cripples the
immune system, making the body less able to
fend off everything from bacteria and viruses to serious diseases. Finding ways to relax is
essential for your good health. Give the following a try:
Whatever you choose, look for activities—or nonactivities—that give you a real
break from everyday work and home obligations.
Catch some Zs
Skimping on sleep can cut your immune defenses in half, so be sure to snooze a full eight
hours a night. If you can’t get a full night’s sleep because of time constraints,
try to squeeze in a 15- to 30-minute nap during the day. Although not as beneficial as
nighttime rest, a nap can help stave off illness. If you have trouble falling asleep or
staying that way, try some remedies for
insomnia.
Build good bacteria
Making sure the good bacteria in your body outnumber the bad is one way to help fend off
infection. Healthy probiotic bacteria
stimulate the intestine’s immune system and slow the growth of infectious organisms in
the digestive system. Good sources of healthy bacteria are yogurt and other foods containing live cultures, and
supplements containing 10 billion colony-forming units a day of acidophilus or
bifidobacteria.
Try taming tonics
Miraculously, tonics both energize your system when it’s low and protect it when
it’s over-stimulated. That is the beauty of adaptogens, also known as tonics.
Essentially, adaptogens help keep the immune system in balance and help spare vital tissues
from stress-induced damage. Examples include:
Linda Knittel, MA, is a nutritional counselor and health writer.
When feeling under the weather, she drinks an extra gallon of water and gets an extra hour of
sleep.
