It's Lower Body Day

How To Support Your Immune System

Whether the timing is cold and flu season, you’re feeling a little under the weather, or you’re planning on taking preventive measures to stay healthy, we are sharing our favorite suggestions to help your immune system.

Your immune system is your body’s first defense against illness. The immune system consists of cells, tissues, and organs that collaborate to battle infections instigated by bacteria, viruses, and toxins. Although every individual gets sick periodically, there are steps we can do frequently to help keep our immune system healthy.

Good Nutrition

Many of us realize that the food we consume every day plays a part in our health. Ever since we were little, we’re told to eat our vegetables. But what are ideas of the best foods to eat to promote ensure our immune systems remain healthy?

Foods strong in Vitamin C are great for sustaining your body and increasing white blood cells, which help challenge diseases. These include oranges, grapefruits, lemons, kiwi, and papaya. But Vitamin C isn’t solely available from fruits! Vegetables, for example red bell peppers, broccoli, and spinach, have Vitamin C.

Vitamin B-6 is a vital essential that helps with the creation of more red blood cells. Basically Vitamin C helps support white blood cells, Vitamin B-6 supports red blood cells. A large source of Vitamin B-6 comes from proteins like chicken, turkey, fish, and eggs.

While you’re searching for a delicious, nourishing salad, kick it off with a portion of spinach and leafy greens (Vitamin C), include your favorite fruit or vegetable (let’s get some Vitamin C!), and top with a healthy protein like chicken (Vitamin B-6) and a number of almonds or seeds to provide a healthy fat.

And don’t forget to hydrate! The adult human body has 60% water. To get ideal hydration, drink half your body weight in ounces. So, if your weight is 160 pounds, you want to drink 80 ounces of water on a daily basis.

Work Your Body

Did you realize that your lymphatic system, which is the system for getting rid of waste and pollutants in your body, is the one system that doesn’t work without movement? To aide in your lymphatic system working, you have to move as well. When you’re active, your body circulates white blood cells and antibodies quicker, this can help the cells find and combat infections faster than if you keep sitting.

Not only is staying active an important part of a fit body, activity is also essential to your happiness! Stress plays a role in your health. Research shows that those who experience ongoing stress are more probable to have compromised immune systems, which can bring about more recurrent illness. Ongoing exercise assists to steady stress hormones, such as cortisol, resulting in you content and healthy!

Don’t feel great? It’s okay to enjoy a day off! There is no reason to push yourself to move around too much if you are feeling unwell or injured. Listening to your body and allowing it the downtime it wants is similarily important.

Get Your Zzzs

Now that you’ve thought about your healthy food for the week and moved your body with some exercise, it’s time to rest! Sleep is how your body reestablishes homeostasis, otherwise referred to as chemical balance within the body. During sleep, your body can control your immune system, make healthy cells, and remove damaged cells. Sleep is key to your body’s potential to stay healthy.

Even though sleep needs differ by person, experts urge adults allow 7-9 hours of sleep each night. If you have difficulty falling asleep or remaining asleep, try sticking to a sleep schedule – all week long. Just like diet and exercise, a sleep routine is beneficial to keeping your body happy and healthy.

Eating nourishing, nutrient-dense snacks and meal items, getting physical movement in, and listening to your body and allowing it appropriate rest are all ways to help and improve your immune system.

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