How to strengthen the immunity: tips to avoid getting sick

There are many supplements and products on supermarket shelves that show on bright labels that they help to strengthen your immune system. However, improvement of immunity is actually a much more difficult process than you might think. What can really be done to strengthen the immune system - read the material.

What is the immunity and how does it work?

Immunity is a whole system of organs, blood vessels and cells that are scattered throughout the body. The main organs of the immune system are the thymus (thymus gland) and the bone marrow. Important cells for the immune system are formed in the thymus - T-lymphocytes, and in the bone marrow - all other cells that protect us from viruses and bacteria - lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils.

Immunity is divided into two main types:

Type 1 - innate immunity and 2 - acquired immunity.

Innate immunity: This is when the baby is born, it has innate immunity and the mother's antibodies that the baby receives through the placenta. These antibodies can be present until the age of one and a half year old and partially protect the child in the first months after birth.

Acquired immunity: This is when the mother's antibodies are gradually destroyed, then the baby's immunity begins to learn to fight pathogens itself.

How does it work?

When any new virus or bacterium enters the body, the immune system learns to deal with it, then remembers it, and next time it has an effective strategy to fight external enemies. Acquired immunity is more complex and effective than innate, but copes only with "familiar" microorganisms. Therefore, it is important that the immune system of a child under 20 years old learned to fight with strangers, because after 20 years old the training will be difficult, because the central organ of the immune system - the thymus gradually becomes nonfunctional.

The first signs of low immunity

The first manifestations of disorders of the immune system are:

• frequent colds,
• prolonged increase in temperature,
• chronic fatigue syndrome,
• pain in the joints and muscles,
• enlarged lymph nodes,
• frequent recurrences of diseases, including otolaryngological, gynecological, etc.,
• sleep disorders,
• frequent headaches
• rash on the skin.

Your immune system is incredibly complex. Its main task is to protect the body from the invasion of viruses, bacteria, fungi, as well as to fight various diseases and infections.

While it is easier to think about boosting your immune system than to achieve it, a few dietary and lifestyle changes can boost your body's natural defenses and help you fight harmful pathogens or disease-causing organisms.

Keep to a healthy diet.

What food does the immune system need and what does it like?

It needs all the same nutrients as the whole body contains. Amino acids are especially important, which allow you to quickly increase the number of immune cells, if necessary, as well as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. If the situation with protein is clearer: eggs, meat, fish and other protein-rich foods, then the situation with vitamins and other micronutrients is more complicated, as modern food, unfortunately, it is poor in these substances. Full-fledged immune cell requires regulators of recovery processes, which are vitamins and minerals.

Get some sleep.

Sleep and immunity are closely related. In fact, inadequate sleep is associated with a higher susceptibility to disease. Quality rest can strengthen your natural immunity. Doctors also recommend getting more sleep during the illness so that the immune system can better fight the disease.

PubMed published a study including 164 healthy adults. The results show that those people who slept less than 6 hours a night were more likely to catch a cold than those who slept 6 hours or more each night.

According to the CDC, adults should sleep 7 hours or more every night, while adolescents need 8-10 hours, and younger children and infants up to 14 hours.

Exercise regularly.

Physical activity is not only to build muscles and to help relieve stress, but also an important part of health and maintaining a healthy immune system.

Numerous studies have shown that daily 30-minute workouts (from moderate to vigorous exercise) help to boost the immune system. This means that it is important to focus on supporting activity and regular exercise.

Drink adequate amount of water.

Water plays many important roles in your body, including supporting the immune system. Insufficient water intake slows down the movement of lymph, which sometimes leads to a disturbance of the immune system, and can also cause headaches and reduce effectiveness, concentration, mood, digestion and kidney function. These complications can increase your susceptibility to disease.

To prevent dehydration, drink plenty of fluids daily to make your urine pale yellow. Although tea and juice are also moisturizing, it is best to limit the consumption of fruit juice and sweetened tea due to its high sugar content.

It is important to note that older adults begin to lose the desire to drink because their body does not signal enough thirst. Older people need to drink regularly, even if they are not thirsty.

Minimize stress.

During periods of stress, especially chronic, which are frequent and prolonged, your body also responds by suppressing the immune system. This increases the probability of infection or disease.

Activities that can help you cope with stress include meditation, exercise, journaling, yoga and other mindfulness practices. Also, if a person finds it difficult to cope with stress, we recommend to consult a psychotherapist.

Take multinutrient complexes.

Deficiencies of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients should be eliminated by using multinutrient complexes, but preferably of natural origin. One such complex is Relive Balance Immunity - a multinutrient functional-peptide complex containing essential amino acids, peptides, vitamins, minerals, adaptogens, antioxidants, polyphenols obtained by fermentation and extraction (at a temperature of up to 40°C), it contains 54 natural products of herbal and animal origin. All components of Relive Balance Immunity are naturally interconnected, they act synergistically, not harming the body.

If you are looking for ways to strengthen the immune system, the most important thing is to think about improvement of the quality of life, namely to give up bad habits, eat a balanced diet, get enough sleep and have an active lifestyle.