Amplify Your Immune System
Good immune health starts with a healthy body. Are you taking the best possible care of yourself? Let’s find out! We’re taking a look at the top methods of boosting your immune health.
1. SLEEP
Sleep is an essential restorative process that your body needs in order to function. While you sleep your body is hard at work restoring cells, healing, and filing away your memories for the day. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body does not have enough time to rebuild overnight and immune function suffers. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep!
2. STAY HYDRATED
The fluids you drink provide the lubrication needed for your whole system to keep running smoothly. It’s incredibly important to drink plenty of water to keep your immune system up to snuff! Plus, sipping water throughout the day helps in other ways -- like preventing your skin and the mucous membranes in your mouth from drying out and developing cracks that let infections in.
3. EAT A BALANCED DIET
Did you know that over 70% of your immune system lives in your gut? It’s true -- and the lining of your digestive tract can secrete antibodies to battle bad bacteria and viruses keeping harmful cells from invading! You can support your gut health by consuming probiotics -- like yogurt, kefir, and fermented foods full of the good bacteria that help protect against the bad guys -- and prebiotics -- like garlic, oats, and apples that will act as food for the good bacteria. This will help boost your barrier immunity.
There are lots of other foods you can incorporate into your diet to help bolster your immune system. Both eggs and fatty fish like salmon and sardines are excellent sources of Vitamin D which helps your body identify bad bacteria and viruses. Bright vegetables like sweet potatoes, bell peppers, carrots, kale, and squash are full of carotenoids that boost production of killer immune cells that fight infection. The zinc in foods like spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, and red meat works to strengthen immune cell function. Remember -- while you can purchase these vitamins and minerals in supplement form, you should always consult a doctor before taking dietary supplements so you don’t overdo it.
We hope this list has inspired you to incorporate some simple ways to support your immune health into your social distancing routine. If you’re looking for more ways to be good to yourself, check out the antioxidant-packed organic matcha green tea from Skinny.com. Just one cup has 60x the amount of antioxidants as a serving of spinach! Stay healthy and safe out there!
