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When you want to strengthen your immune system, you will find numerous products and supplements. However, keeping the immune system strong is more than taking minerals and vitamins that are available in the form of powder or pills. According to the country’s best and most well-known immunologist – Dr. Kanury Rao, our immune system’s operations are quite delicate. Hence, you should make it strong and healthy enough to deal with the number of infections, illnesses, and diseases. However, it should not be excessively strong as it will start overreacting unnecessarily. To achieve a ‘rightly healthy’ immune system, you should do several things.
For details regarding the same, keep on reading this post.
How to strengthen the immune system?
Be it fighting off the flu and common cold to dealing with other harmful substances, a well-functioning immune system can keep you healthy. The thing is all of the factors do not involve any supplement or product.
Below, we have highlighted some of the ways that are backed by science and suggested by leading immunologists such as Kanury Rao:
- Take every recommended vaccine
A strong and healthy immune system keeps you prevented and safe from various illnesses and infections. And vaccines have a great role to play. Yes, our immune system is ‘smart’ enough but vaccines are designed to train it to become even better. In simple terms, vaccines help the immune system to recognize and attack the cells/substances causing an illness.
Vaccines make this training an easy task. When you take every vaccine that is recommended by the doctors, you can provide your immune system the training that will help it fight off harmful germs. For instance, everyone should take the COVID-19 vaccinations along with the booster dose to keep the effects of coronavirus at bay.
- Opt for a healthy and balanced diet
A healthy diet is one of the things that you cannot ignore when it comes to the immune system. This simply means you must add and consume plenty of seasonal fruits and veggies along with lean proteins, whole grains, legumes, healthy fats, and more. According to Dr. Kanury Rao, when a body has enough micronutrients that are needed to maintain the homeostasis of the immune system.
Some of the critical nutrients include the following:
- Vitamin C (tomatoes, strawberries, oranges, spinach, and broccoli)
- Vitamin B6 (green veggies, potatoes, bananas, tuna, salmon, and chicken)
- Vitamin E (almonds, spinach, peanut butter, and safflower and sunflower oils and seeds)
- Magnesium (seeds, nuts, and whole wheat products)
- Zinc (dairy products, beans, red meat, oysters, and poultry)
According to immunology experts, the human body can absorb vitamins and minerals better from dietary sources instead of supplements, one must eat well to keep their immune system healthy.
- Stay physically active
Keeping your body healthy is not all about building muscles or de-stressing yourself. In fact, being physically active also means supporting the immune system to keep it in the right state. Immunologists usually suggest people opt for light to moderate exercises. This will keep the immune cells in the movable condition in your bloodstream.
This is one of the most effective ways to improve immune surveillance – a method to monitor the immune system. When your body’s immune cells are moving, they will better detect and react to infections. So, exercise regularly and stay active.
- Drink lots of water
To support the immune system, you want to make water your best friend. In the opinion of top immunologists such as Kanury Rao, water is essential as our lymph and blood contain immune cells and to flow and circulate well, they need water.
If you think that you only lose water through sweating or exercising, you are wrong. This is because you lose some water even through bowel movements, urine, and breath. Hence, you should drink plenty of water. One more thing, everyone has different water intake. So, contact your doctor to know how much water is sufficient for you.
- Sleep well
Well! Sleeping certainly does not look like an active or direct process. You believe it or not but countless yet important things take place within your body when are sleeping. Experts say that sleeping is one of the most critical factors for your immune system and its homeostasis.
Now, you must be thinking that sleeping 8-9 hours daily is not possible. Well! This is just a myth. We are saying this because adults need 7-8 hours of sleep (maximum) to stay fit and active. In case you doubt how much sleep is needed, you can contact your immunologist or general physician.
In conclusion
In addition to the tips discussed above, Dr. Kanury Rao also suggests keeping the stress level as low as possible as it is mandatory for the immune system. Since chronic stress can affect sleeping patterns, eating habits, and physical activities, it will adversely impact the immune system. So, follow all the tips mentioned in this post to stay fit and active.
