Do you end up falling sick frequently? Chances are that your immune system is not working properly and your immune system is not getting enough immune-boosting foods. Healthy uptake helps repulse malady by boosting your body’s natural germ fighters. As a doctor, many times, our patients raise the question, such as what kind of foods can facilitate to keep the immune system healthy or what the ways are effective to stop falling sick frequently. If you too have these questions in your mind, get answers to your queries by reading this post below.
If you fall sick typically or often suffer from contagious disease, inflammatory disease, and skin infections, it indicates that your body needs vitamins and other healthy immune-boosting foods to keep it healthy. The simple thing to increase your intake of vitamins is by having a healthy diet. However, sometimes, our bodies would need an additional boost. Most often, the system will do its job to stay keep us healthy, but, if the system fails to defend us, it may end up causing health problems, catching an infection, or getting affected by diseases. So, the body wants reinforcements in the form of immune-boosting nutrients. In this blog, we will learn regarding the foods which can boost our immunity system and a few lifestyle changes that can keep you free from diseases.
Signs That Indicate You’ve Got a Weakened Immune System:
Here are some symptoms that indicate that you have poor immunity.
- Feel tired all the time, fatigue, and weakness
- Frequent allergies (catches a cold easily, recurrent sore throat episodes)
- Frequent infections
- Wounds heal slowly
- Headache
- Chest discomfort/cough
- Fever
- Extreme exhaustion, low energy levels, and sluggishness
- Food sensitivities
- Chronic skin conditions
- Would like naps or caffeine
- Mind feels foggy
We treat patients from the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, UAE & 180 more countries. Get an expert opinion on your ailment,
Click here to ask Dr. Shah’s team directly.
Simple Yet Helpful Tips to Boost Your Immune System:
1) Everyday foods to improve your immune system: Comfort foods have their place during the crisis. But, remember to stick to a healthy diet, which includes fresh fruits, vegetables, and plenty of water to drink. Try mixing up various sources of nutrients; eat different foods in a different meal.
- Green leafy vegetables: These include kale, broccoli, and spinach that improve blood count, fight anemia, help wound healing, fight bacteria, and regenerate antioxidants. It also contains folate, another immune booster.
- Turmeric: It is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and helps to relieve pain. Also, it is one of the powerful antioxidants.
- Orange vegetables: They contribute to the optimal functioning of the immune system and helps shorten healing processes. Carrots are a good source of beta-carotene, which helps to fight against respiratory infections.
- Garlic: Garlic offers antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral effects. Also, it is rich in antioxidants.
- Oats: It has a balancing effect on the nervous system that helps to relieve stress and fatigue.
- Cinnamon: It is antiviral, antifungal, and immune system booster. It helps to fight pathogens that cause illness.
2) Vitamins to boost your immune system and fight off infections:
- Vitamin A:
Vitamin A helps to produce white blood cells in the bone marrow and helps to fight various types of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens.
Vitamin A Sources: Vitamin A can be found in vegetables, such as carrots, green leafy vegetables like broccoli and cabbage. Also, it is found in dairy products, such as milk and butter, and fruits, such as apricots, melons, and mangoes.
- Vitamin B complex:
Vitamin B strengthens the immune system. Vitamin B is not just a single vitamin rather it’s a complex of 8 vitamins that are having numerous roles in maintaining our immune system.
Vitamin B Sources: Fruits, such as avocadoes, strawberry, and banana, are abundant in vitamin B. Other foods like dairy products, such as yogurt or milk, also have it in sufficient quantities. Eat meat and fish to get enough Vitamin B.
- Vitamin C:
Vitamin C is a vitamin you are most familiar with because it has been used for ages to boost the immune system and decrease the duration of colds and flu. It is an essential micronutrient for humans and one of the most widely consumed dietary supplements in the world. Vitamin C increases the production of interferon-a protein which helps the immune cells to fight viral infections. It boosts our immune system in many other ways. It protects the cells from oxidative stress, a product of infection, or chronic inflammation.
Vitamin C Sources: Vitamin C is found in citrus fruits, such as oranges, lemons as wells other fruits like blackberries, guava, kiwi, and strawberries. Nevertheless, vitamin C can also be found in huge quantities in other vegetables, such as red bell peppers.
- Vitamin E:
Vitamin E helps to safeguard your cells from harmful oxidative stress.
Vitamin E Sources: Sources of vitamin E are nuts, seeds, green leafy vegetables, and avocadoes.
So, these are a few vitamins you need to include in your diet to boost your immune system and fight against infections.
3) Get Enough Sleep:
Inadequate sleep might increase your risk of falling sick often. Sleep and immunity are closely related. Inadequate or poor-quality sleep is related to falling ill frequently. Getting adequate rest might strengthen your innate immunity. Also, when you take adequate rest when you are sick, it helps to boost your immunity to fight the sickness. It is important to get 6-7 hours of sound sleep daily.
If you’re facing difficulty falling asleep then limit screen time before retiring to the bed. Shut off devices at least two hours before you go to bed because the blue light-weight emitted from your phone, TV, and desktop might disrupt your biological time or your body’s natural wake-sleep cycle.
Other sleep hygiene tips embody sleeping in a very fully dark area or employing a sleep mask, attending to bed at the same time daily, and exercise frequently.
4) Exercise and Enhance Immunity:
Just 30 minutes of exercise can boost your immune response. Exercise protects the immune system by flushing bacteria out from the lungs and airways, improving circulation, fighting infection, and releasing stress-reducing endorphins.
Moderate intensity exercise improves your immune function. Exercise reduces the risk and severity of respiratory viral infections. Being moderately active reduces the likelihood of upper respiratory tract infections. Working out longer and harder helps to release more feel-good hormones, such as increased dopamine and serotonin, and more endorphins. Exercise at least 150 minutes every week and maintain a healthy weight.
5) Minimize and Manage Your Stress and Detox Your Body:
Long-term stress will damage your health. When you are stressed, the body is holding onto harmful toxins and thus is bogged down. Stress is natural; however, it is up to us how we take it. High stress and, even, low stress can your health. Managing stress makes one productive.
Ways to scale back stress:
- Settle for what we cannot change, change your perspective on stressors
- Choose friends carefully
- Exercise, and do yoga and meditation
- Maintain a way of humor
- Organize well
- Do not say yes to everything
When you learn to manage stress properly, you’re taking an honest adequate measure to cleanse your body naturally.
So, to sum up, if you want to continue to build your immune system then eat well, take enough rest and sleep, exercise moderately, and learn to manage your stress.