7 Ways to Strengthen your Immunity this Winter

To keep disease at bay, your body has an immune system. More so if you’re healthy. A healthy immune system helps you avoid becoming sick with the common cold or flu and can even prevent more severe conditions like diabetes and cancer from developing.

Here are some easy strategies to keep your immune system strong all year round, not just during cold and flu season:

1. Consume a Nutritious, Well-rounded Diet

Most of your vitamin and mineral intake should come from whole, unprocessed foods. Vitamin C and antioxidant-rich foods are particularly useful for boosting the immune system.

Vitamin C may be found in a wide variety of foods, but the best food sources include citrus fruits, dark green leafy vegetables, and cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli and cabbage). Antioxidant levels are highest in foods with deep colors, such as carrots, blueberries, and spinach.

2. Take Care of Yourself and Avoid Stress

Stress may temporarily strengthen your immune system in situations like public speaking, but it can do the opposite in situations like caring for a spouse with dementia. The immune system gradually weakens over months or even years due to stress.

Therefore, the elderly and the ill are the most vulnerable to the negative health effects of stress.

Every little bit helps when it comes to dealing with the stresses of daily life. Setting aside even a few minutes each day to practice relaxation techniques like guided meditation, prayer, journaling or even just sitting outdoors with a cup of herbal tea may do wonders for your mental health.

3. Learn to Sleep Well

By reducing the rate of breathing and muscle activity while you sleep, you make more resources available to your immune system. Regular, restorative sleep is ideal. Prioritize your sleep and practice excellent sleep hygiene by turning off electronics an hour before bed and maintaining a cool, dark bedroom.

Maintaining a regular bedtime and waking time also aids in quality sleep, so set your alarm and get to bed at the same time each day.

4. Use Supplements

To protect itself from infectious pathogens, your body needs certain vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin D. It might be challenging to receive enough vitamin D from sunlight in the winter in northern latitudes.

Talk to your doctor about whether or not you need to take a vitamin D pill and immunity drink all through the year.

5. Become Physically Active

Working out regularly helps you maintain a healthy weight, reduces your chance of developing heart disease, and strengthens your bones. Doctors think it improves immunity by either producing changes in antibodies and white blood cells or by helping to drain germs out of the lungs and airways.

Find an activity you like, whether it is walking, biking, yoga, or swimming, and do it many times a week. Physical activity has the added benefit of reducing stress.

6. Keep Your Weight Under Control

The immune system is the only system that might be affected by excess weight. Inflammation caused by obesity (defined as a body mass index of 30 or more in adults) may compromise immunological responses. Research has shown that obesity lowers resistance to COVID-19, H1N1, and infections at surgical sites.

7. Be sure to Regularly Wash Your Hands

There is no scientific evidence that hand washing helps the immune system. However, it can protect you from illness. About 30% of diarrhea-related illnesses and 20% of respiratory infections, such as colds, may be avoided if people only wash their hands more often.

Unwashed hands transfer germs to other surfaces, such as including food and drink, as well as common touch points like door handles and handrails. They are then distributed to others. Boosting your immunity is as simple as washing your hands more often.

To that end, it’s best to avoid touching your face. That’s how you become ill by touching your face after touching something contaminated.

Conclusion

If you want to know how to keep your immune system strong, talk to your doctor or pharmacist to take the best immunity booster in India. If you want to get started, follow these guidelines. A robust immune system is an indicator of your improved health.

Also, Read this: Super Healthy Probiotic Foods in India