How to Boost Your Immune System

You immune system has the unenviable task of defending your body against disease causing micro organisms called pathogens. Unfortunately this means that the immune system is fighting a constant and never ending battle against pathogens. To avoid falling ill you need to boost your immune system to give your body a fighting chance against external infections. You can work on different aspects of your health to improve your immune system.How to Boost Your Immune System

Healthy lifestyle

By choosing healthy living strategies like not smoking, not consuming too much alcohol, getting enough exercise and eating the right kind of diet it is very much possible to boost your immune system. It may be common lecture that you have heard before, but the very reason that it is repeated so often should give you a clue that it is true. It is better to look after yourself with preventive measures rather than taking medication to cure yourself at a later date when infections strike.

Bad habits like smoking and excessive drinking affect your lungs and liver respectively. This lowers the strength of your immunity system by giving them more things to fight against to keep the body healthy.

So when an external pathogen strikes they do not have the strength to provide anything but the most basic defence to the body.

Skip the artificial supplements

There are all kinds of products available over the counter at pharmacies, from health drinks to special extract tablets that promise to boost your immune system.The truth is that while the aloe vera, spirulina, probiotic, ginseng, or tulsi based supplements may have an active ingredient which helps in boosting the immune system, it is usually better to consume them in their natural form rather than in the form of pills.

All the different vitamins and mineral supplements that you swallow do not get absorbed as well in the body as the vitamins and minerals that are derived from the food that we eat. The best thing to do is eat a well balanced diet to ensure that you get all the health benefits that swallowing a multivitamin pill or a mineral supplement would bring you. So eat fresh fruit rather than grabbing a candy bar when you reach for a snack next time and you will also be helping your immune system to stay strong.

Release the stress to boost your immune system

The high levels of stress that we live with can actually put our immune system under considerable strain. Just because the stress is mental and emotional does not make it any less zapping than physical hard labor. This constant battle with stress weakens the immune system. So stop killing it with string coffee and actually get that eight hours of recommended sleep.

The duration of sleep is needed to balance out the levels of the hormone cortisol which is associated with stress. The body tends to manage stress much better when it is rested and fresh. So to boost your immune system you may want to ensure that your emotional well being is looked after just as much as your physical well being.