Overall, your immune system does a pretty good job keeping you healthy. Colds and flus are a part of life but there are some steps you can take to strengthen your immune system. We’ve put together a list of 6 ways to boost your immunity to help keep you fighting fit!
Immunity Boosting Food
- Yoghurt – Probiotic yoghurt contains helpful ‘germs’ for your gut, that help your body fight sickness. When shopping, look for yoghurt that says ‘contains live cultures’.
- Kefir – This milk drink also packs lots of healthy probiotics, it is full of antibacterial properties and can restore the balance of friendly bacteria in your gut. Kefir is a fermented drink, traditionally made using cow’s milk or goat’s milk.
- Walnuts – Walnuts have healthy omega-3 fatty acids that are believed to help your body fight illness. They are rich in Antioxidants and may help reduce inflammation, as well as blood pressure. They are known to be good for the brain too!
- Fruits and Vegetables – There’s no secret here that these are superheros for our health. Great for the immune system! Aim for ones that are high in Vitamin C, like citrus fruits, strawberries, capsicum, broccoli, tomatoes and sweet potatoes.
- Lean Meats – Protein helps keep up your strength and lean meats contain zinc which are great for our white blood cells to help fight infection.
Remember….
- Eat Whole Foods – Yes Orange Juice contains Vitamin C, but a whole orange will have more benefits. You should be able to get what you need from real food without reaching for too many supermarket shelf supplements and if you do decide to take supplements make sure to check the ingredients and the quality.
- Eat a Variety – We’ve all heard about eating the rainbow. Each colour provides various health benefits and one is not more superior to another. It is important to eat a balanced diet of various colours to ensure you are getting the best range of nutrients you can.
Exercise
Regular exercise can boost your immune system and help fight off infections. Exercise increases blood flow, reduces stress and inflammation, can strengthen antibodies and help your immune cells regenerate regularly. Physical activity may also help flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways.
Sleep
During sleep, your immune system releases proteins, some of which help promote sleep. Certain proteins need to increase when you have an infection or inflammation, so it’s important to get plenty of sleep to help fight off sickness. Inadequate or poor quality sleep is linked to a higher susceptibility to infection.
Hydrate
Hydration doesn’t protect you from germs, but preventing dehydration is important to your overall health. Dehydration can cause headaches and set back your physical performance, focus, mood, digestion, and heart and kidney function. This can increase your susceptibility to infections, so make sure you drink enough water!
Fighting Germs
Fighting germs doesn’t boost the immunity, but it does reduce the stress on your immune system. Make sure that your family are washing their hands regularly and carry some wipes when you’re out and about for quick clean-ups.
If you need some tips on teaching personal hygiene to your kids, have a look at our blog post 7 Fun Videos to Help Teach Kids about Personal Hygiene.
Another germ-fighting strategy is to throw out your toothbrush if you’ve been sick, because the germs can hang around! “If your child does get sick, throw out her toothbrush right away,” says Barbara Rich, D.D.S., a spokesperson for the Academy of General Dentistry. You could catch the same infection twice and reinfect yourself, so clear out that toothbrush!
Minimise Stress
Whether your stress comes on quick or builds slowly over time, your body will trigger a stress response which is meant you help you during your stressful event. This response however also suppresses your immune system making you more susceptible to colds and infection.
Find your own specific way of relieving the stress in your life through either exercise, meditation, prayer, deep breathing and practice it whenever you recognise stress creeping into your life.
Introduce the stress relieving affects of Yoga to your kids through some fun and entertaining videos. Head to the Cosmic Yoga channel on YouTube for a great variety of videos you can watch and practice alongside your little ones.
It’s important to know that even if you do all of the above, you can’t always prevent colds or the flu, but it can strengthen your immune system to fight it if you do get sick. Eat well, exercise well, sleep well, live well and you will give your body a good chance to recover quicker.
