The older we get, the more and more important it is to take care of our immune system. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how important it is to take care of our immune system. Luckily, there are immune-boosting techniques available to keep you healthy. Diets rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, and spermidine can help induce autophagy, which keeps the immune system healthy. Here are some crucial immune system information and tips and tricks to boost your immune system.
How Can I Tell if I have a Strong Immune System?
Your immune system will protect you and your body from viruses, diseases, and other illnesses. Outside of laboratory tests, there’s no real way to see how strong your immune system is.
However, there are some subtle signs of a strong immune system that you may notice. If you find yourself rarely sick or you fight off illnesses quicker than those around you, chances are you have a strong immune system. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be taking every step possible to ensure it remains healthy! The older you get, the more and more your immune system deteriorates. Even if your immune system is strong when you're younger, it can weaken as you get older.
What Are Signs of a Weak Immune System?
While it can be difficult to determine whether or not you have a strong immune system, it is much easier to determine if you have a weak immune system. There are weak immune system tests you can take to determine. However, signs that you have a weak immune system will be incredibly obvious. Here are some weak immune system symptoms:
- High-stress level - Long-term stress can weaken the response of your immune system
- Illness - The average American adult goes through two or three colds each year and recovers in seven to 10 days. However, if you are constantly catching colds, your immune system is having a hard time keeping up
- Stomach issues - 70% of your immune system is located in your digestive tract. Low amounts of gut bacteria can leave you at risk to viruses, inflammation, and disorders
- Wounds take a while to heal - Your body works hard to recover after a burn, cut, scrape, or injury. If you have a slow immune system your skin will have a difficult time healing
- Constant infections - Signs that you have a slow immune system include having more than four ear infections in a year, developing pneumonia twice in one year, or needing more than two courses of antibiotics a year
If you show off any of these signs, you may want to consult with your doctor. There are things you can do to boost your immune system and things you can do to prevent the weakening of your immune system.
What Weakens The Immune System?
The best way to protect your immune system is by avoiding anything that could potentially compromise it. Some of these things require a change in diet while others require you to make tweaks to your overall lifestyle. Here are some foods that weaken the immune system that you should avoid:
- Soda
- Processed foods
- Foods and drinks high in sugar
- Refined carbs
- Alcoholic beverages
It should be noted that it’s also possible to have a weakened immune system due to stress, a sediment lifestyle, and tobacco consumption. By avoiding these things, you can protect your overall well being. Now, that’s not to say you can never enjoy these things. Treat them as a luxury you consume only once a week or even once a month.
How to Boost Immune System Naturally?
The first line of defense in the battle to strengthen your immune system is to choose a healthy lifestyle. This means implementing a healthy diet as well as following a healthy lifestyle. Every part of your body, including your immune system, functions better when protected from environmental assaults. Here are some of the healthy-living strategies you should follow to boost your immune system:
- Avoid smoking
- Herbal tea
- Immune booster juice
- Superfoods for the immune system
- An adequate sleeping schedule
- A healthy weight
- Regular exercise
- Minimize stress
There are also supplements that you can take to bolster your immune system. For example, spermidine supplements can help strengthen your immune system. This is because spermidine helps induce autophagy. Autophagy is the body’s process of replacing old, potentially damaged cells with newer, healthier cells.
How to Boost the Immune System Quickly?
Unfortunately, there are no real quick-fix solutions to immediately bolster your immune system. If you want to bolster your immune system, you need to keep in mind that it’s a marathon and not a sprint. The best way to boost your immune system for the long-term is by establishing a healthy lifestyle that lasts.
The number one way to increase your immune system and your overall health is by improving your diet. Try to implement a long lasting diet focused on inducing autophagy instead of a crash diet. A diet full of immune-boosting foods will help you feel better, look better, and live longer. On top of that, these diets are easier to keep up with. Crash diets can lead to early burnout.
How to Increase Immunity in Adults
The older you get the more and more important it is to take care of your health and more specifically your immune system. One of the best ways to better understand this is by understanding how the immune system changes with age? The main way it changes is through the T-Cells, which kill infected host cells, activating other immune cells.
While the number of T-Cells does not decrease as you get older, your T-Cell function will decrease. This leads to parts of your immune system weakening, increasing your chances of falling ill. Macrophages, which are white blood cells that ingest antigens, won’t work as quickly as they used to.
How Can I Strengthen My Immune System Against Viruses?
With the recent COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc throughout the country, immune health has grown more and more important. As we have seen, the virus seems to prey on those with a weakened system. Luckily, there are steps you can take to protect yourself against immune system diseases and immune system colds. Here are some of the strategies and lifestyle changes you can implement:
- Eat healthily - The gut and the immune system are symbiotically connected. When things are going well in the gut, they are going well in the immune system. Eating healthy food can help ensure gut health
- Exercise - Research has found that exercise improves the immune and metabolic systems. Regular exercise can also help increase your body’s production of antibodies and T-cells
- Sleep well - Sleep reboots your immune system. Not getting enough sleep will cause your body to increase its production of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Studies have found that getting at least seven hours of sleep per night can make you four times less likely to catch a cold compared to less than six hours per night
- Practice good hygiene - COVID-19 has shined a light on how important it is to regularly wash your hands and take care of your hygiene
- Spend time outside - Studies have found that people who spend at least two hours per week outdoors are more likely to be in good health both physically and psychologically
We’ve touched on several of these strategies several times but that’s because they are incredibly important. Not only will a healthy lifestyle help with your immune system, but it will also improve your overall health.
Which Foods Increase Immunity?
We’ve discussed how important immune-boosting foods are but what exactly are superfoods for the immune system. Thankfully, one of these diets shouldn’t be too hard to implement. Immune friendly foods are typically foods that you can find in almost any healthy diet. Here are some examples of immune system boosting foods:
- Mushrooms - high in B vitamins
- Elderberries - antiviral, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory properties
- Acai berries - high in anthocyanins
- Oysters - One 3-ounce serving of Pacific oysters provides 190% of the daily value of selenium, 45% of the daily value of iron, and 20% of the daily value of vitamin C
- Watermelon - One 2-cup serving of watermelon has 270 mg of potassium, 30% of the daily value of vitamin A, and 25% of the value of vitamin C
- Yogurt - Low-fat yogurt provides 11 grams of protein, 250 calories, and almost 400 mg of calcium per 8-ounce serving
- Foods high in spermidine - foods like potatoes, chicken, lentil soup, and soybeans contain spermidine which helps induce autophagy
You can help boost the effects of these foods by taking them with supplements. Supplements help ensure that you are getting your daily intake of nutrients.
How to Increase Immunity Home Remedies?
Juices and smoothies can work wonders for your overall well being. Some of these smoothies and juices can even be made in the comfy confines of your own home. Here are some drinks to boost the immune system using fruits and vegetables you already have in your refrigerator:
- Orange, grapefruit, other citrus
- Green apple, carrot, orange
- Beet, carrot, ginger, apple
- Tomato
- Kale, tomato, celery
- Strawberry and kiwi
- Strawberry and mango
- Watermelon mint
These drinks will not only help you boost your immune system, but they’re also incredibly tasty. All you need is a juicer. There’s no reason to spend hundreds of dollars a year on smoothies and juices from local stores.
What Supplements Boost Your Immune System?
As mentioned earlier, pairing a healthy diet with a regiment of supplements can help you get the most out of your diet. There are immune booster supplements that are designed to get your immune system the nutrients it needs. Here are some supplements to boost your immune system:
- Vitamin C - This is one of the biggest immune system boosters. The less vitamin C you have the more likely you are to fall ill. These supplements are important because your body doesn’t produce it or store it
- Vitamin B6 - This helps support biochemical reactions in the immune system
- Vitamin E - This is a powerful antioxidant that helps the body fight off infection
- Spermidine - As mentioned earlier, spermidine helps induce autophagy. This process helps cycle out old and potentially hazardous cells
It can be difficult to get all of these vitamins and nutrients through your diet. That’s why it’s important to implement supplements into your daily routine.
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