The Power of a Balanced Immune System – How to Strengthen it
A well functioning immune system protects us from illness and makes us feel good and healthy. So what can we do to support it and what can affect it negatively?
What is the immune system and why is it important?
If you feel good today, then you should thank your immune system! And of course yourself for taking care of it. The system consists of microscopic warriors that protect us from infections, toxins, injuries, junk food, and so on. The system recognizes the difference between your body’s cells and alien cells, allowing it to destroy anything that could be potentially harmful. This usually works well but can cause problems if your immune system wrongly classifies some of your own cells and attacks them instead.
What can negatively affect my immune system?
Every day the immune system works to protects us from certain foods (sugar for example), toxins, stress, depression, latent infections, malnutrition, chronic inflammation, bad gut health, inactivity, and sleep deprivation. Your immune system protects you every day from foods that you are allergic to (like gluten for some), after a while, this can lead to lowered activity of the immune cells which makes your immune system less effective at defending your body against infections.
How to support and boost my immune system?
70-80% of our immune cells live in our guts. The development of a healthy immune system is therefore reliant on the establishment of healthy gut microbiota in early life, which is directly linked to nutrition. But as important as the two asses: stress and sleep. We tend to look for quick fixes, especially right now, when we want to boost our immune system to protect ourselves from Covid-19 or any other diseases. And in fact – we found five quick fixes! They may not sound like quickies, but if you start today they will serve you tomorrow.
Here’s five ways to strengthen your immune system
- Sun-kiss your skin for 15-20 minutes (use sunscreen!). Or you take your capsules of vitamin D.
- Eat lots of berries and vegetables (Yes please!)
- De-stress management activities (especially in the evening!). Some of our favs are meditation (try our body scanning meditation for relaxation and sleep), yoga, reading, writing in our journal and of course laughing with friends.
- Get your ZZZ (7-8 hours of sleep should do the trick!). This is when we balance our cortisol and hormone curve, when we recover, get stronger and rebuild. Why not read our article on Why We Sleep for some sleep hacks? We like to add a few drops of CBD for extra balance.
- Exercise daily (but not too intense!) especially in the morning. Our go to is HIIT, a moderate to light run or a power walk in nature. Too intense training like Crossfit and marathon running can be inflammatory.
Let us know how you get on and if you have some tips! We would love to hear from you! Email us info@hellomantle.com
