A properly working immune system protects your body against disease-causing germs and infections. Although you can’t build a strong immune system overnight, you can make some lifestyle changes and start seeing differences quickly.
If you're wondering "how can I boost my immune system quickly", you're in the right place. In this blog, we're going to share some tried-and-true ways that can help improve your immune system.
Here are some helpful tips:
1. Start Your Day With Lemon Water
Elderly people or those with preexisting conditions are at higher risk of suffering from COVID and other viruses because of their weaker immunity compared to young adults. So, how do you improve your immune system when you age 60 or above? One proven way is to stay hydrated. Try drinking lemon water every morning. Make it a hobby for your health.
Lemon water strengthens your immunity and revitalizes and hydrates your body. Lemons are rich source of vitamin C, making them a natural antioxidant and immunity booster. Drinking warm lemon water on an empty stomach allows its nutrients to get absorbed in tissues and cells. In addition, its alkaline jump-starts the digestive system and flushes out toxins from the body.Â
2. Drink Plenty of Water Throughout the Day
Water is another natural immune booster. It helps maintain the right temperature of our body. It helps flush toxins out of your body and aids in digestion. Most importantly, water transports vital nutrients for the functioning of cells in our body.Â
Minerals in water are critical for human health. Without water, tissues and cells in our immune system will not receive the necessary nutrients.Â
Ensure you drink plenty of water daily, ideally 3.7 liters daily.Â
3. Eat Immune-Booster Foods
First things first! Limit your intake of junk food. Having a diet that consists of overly processed foods can affect your health. Consider adding immune-booster foods to your meals.Â
Here are 10 immune-boosting foods to try incorporating into your diet:
- Citrus fruit (oranges, tangerines, lemons, and limes)
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Natural Yogurt
- Turmeric (one of the best anti-inflammatory, immunity-boosters)
- Papaya
- Almonds
- Pomegranate
- Sweet potatoes
- Green tea
4. Avoid Artificial Sugars
Poor-quality, unnatural, or artificial sugar feeds bad intestinal bacteria. In addition, the proliferation of these bacteria can weaken your immunity. To strengthen your gut health and boost your immune system, it’s important to avoid artificial sugars.Â
Luckily, there’re many natural sweeteners you can consume:
- Stevia
- Organic honey
- Maple syrup
- Agave syrup
- Xylitol
5. Workout Every Day
Daily low-intensity exercise and meditation for 30-60 minutes is optimal for immune boosting. Here’s how it helps:
- Physical exercise helps flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways. Thus, it reduces your chances of getting sick with a cold, flu, or other illnesses.
- A slight rise in body temperature during exercise may prevent bacteria growth.
- Exercise makes antibodies and white blood cells in the body circulate more rapidly. So, it becomes easy to detect the risk of any illness before it occurs.Â
- Exercise minimizes the production of stress hormones, and lowers stress hormones, which may protect against illness.
6. Get Enough Restful Sleep
Sleep has powerful effects on our immunity. Sleep loss can badly affect different parts of our immune system, resulting in various disorders.
When we’re asleep, our immune system releases cytokines and proteins that help promote sleep. Cytokine levels have to rise when you get an infection or inflammation or are stressed. Sleep deprivation decreases the release of protective cytokines and infection-fighting antibodies.
So, get to bed early and get enough sleep. This will refresh you the following morning while helping boost your immunity over time.
Bonus Tips
Learn to manage your stress level. Stress can be very harmful to our bodies. Meditate, exercise, and socialize as much as possible. See a doctor asap if you feel any abnormal changes in your daily health.
