Best method to increase or maintain your immunity is to follow a healthy lifestyle.
Immunity doesn’t get better in a single day it’s a process, which needs to be built everyday by making healthy choices every day. Healthy immune system need regular and continuous good nourishment (healthy food).
First basic step to improve immune system naturally and keeping you strong and healthy is to follow general good-health guidelines. Every part of your body, including your immune system, will work better when we follow a few simple steps.
- Make your diet healthy by including fruits and vegetables.
- Smoking doesn’t help to build immune system
- Make Fitness / Exercise part of daily routine.
- Have a balanced diet
- Everything in moderation is allowed including alcohol.
- Sleep is important part of healthy immune system.
A variety of nutrients affect immunity, including vitamins A, C, E, D, and zinc.
Vitamin A is found in foods such as sweet potatoes, carrots, eggs, mangoes, and apricots, palak (spinach)
Vitamin C is found in foods including oranges, strawberries, broccoli, and cabbage, lemon, red capsicum, papaya, kiwi, amla
Vitamin E can be found in many vegetable oils such as sunflower seeds and safflower, nuts, and green veggies like broccoli and spinach, almonds
Zinc is abundant in lean meats, poultry, seafood, milk, whole-grain products, beans, seeds, and nuts
Vitamin D, found in egg yolks, is helpful to increase immunity. Yet another great source of vitamin D is sunshine. Even just 5 to 30 minutes per day at least 2 times per week, can give you the vitamin D you need. Curd or yoghurt is also great source of Vit D
Turmeric: It is very commonly found in every household
Garlic: Garlic’s immune-boosting properties come from a heavy concentration of sulphur-containing compounds, such as allicin.
Green Tea: Both green and black teas have good concentration of flavonoids, a type of antioxidant. Where green tea really excels is in its levels of epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, another powerful antioxidant. EGCG has been shown to enhance immune function.
Green tea, which is commonly consumed by people it is a good source of the amino acid L-theanine, which may aid in the production of germ-fighting compounds in your T-cells.
Few points which affect your immunity system negatively:
Stress weakens your immunity system, exercise helps in relieving your stress, keep yourself stress free.
Lack of sleep, or sleep deprivations weakens your immunity system
Loneliness: Loneliness causes you stress which increases your cortisol levels that weakens your immunity system , so pick up that phone stay in touch with friends family and well-wishers.
Refined carbohydrates: According to few studies, refined carbs “create excessive production of bad compounds known as pro-inflammatory cytokines, a type of signalling molecule secreted from immune cells,” placing the immune system under stress and ultimately predisposing people and increasing their vulnerability to infections.
Salt: According to research from University of Bonn, high-salt content food weakens your body’s antibacterial immune defence.
Studies showed that the activity of bacteria fighting neutrophils was affected when extra sodium intake was noted still studies are still carried on to analyse effects on salt on immunity levels, nevertheless there is no doubt that hidden salt no good for our health in many ways that are well established (blood pressure, risk of cardiovascular disease and so on).
Ms. Laxmi Pandrala
CEO Founder Lami.fit
Sports and Exercise Nutritionist
