The duty to guard your body from harmful bacteria viruses among other other common pathogens is a lot for a normal person immune system to perform. How does it manage to get that done? Strong immunity requires the concept of the how all the body’s systems contribute to a balance that helps in boosting one’s immunity without the use of immune enhancing medicines.
In this article, we are going to cover what immunology is all about and tips to keep your immune system healthy.
How Does the Human Immune System Work?
The human immune system refers to a highly coordinated and structured machinery of cells, tissues, and organs working in conjunction to protect the body. So, this active system does not merely sit and wait for infections to come. The aim is to locate the intruder and try to minimize it if not eradicate it. This structure is made of two basic responses: the innate and adaptive immune responses.
Innate Immune Response: This is the first attempt your body makes to stop an invader. It features physical barriers including the skin, mucosa as well as cells that react against foreign substances the moment they enter the body.
Adaptive Immune Response: The second line of defense is called the adaptive immune system. This defense is pretty much targeted and uses T-cells, B-cells and other cells to remember specific invaders so as to fight them in the future.
It is important to maintain a balance between these two sides for a sound defense system.
Core Nutrients for Health Protection Against Infectious Diseases
Other than boosting the immune system, nutrition is also an important aspect in overall immunity. Certain types of vitamins and minerals have a positive effect on the enhancement of the body’s infecting fighting mechanisms. Here are examples of such strategies:
Vitamin C: This nutrient prevents from-anti-oxidant damage to cells and produces some white cells to help protect against bacter-soline infections, sources include fruits such as oranges, fruits such as lemons, and also bell peppers and strawberries.
Vitamin D: Although famous for enhancing bone health, vitamin D also plays an immunological role. It enhances the production of T-cells which are important in fighting infections. The sun can help you make vitamin D and it is in vitamin d fortified foods such as milk.
Zinc: This is one of the vitamins which is responsible for good immune function by enabling immune related cells to work well. This is abundantly present in nuts, seeds, legumes etc.
Probiotics: One’s gut is known as the second “brain” in the sense that it communicates with the immune system. The probiotics help in healthy bacteria presence in the stomach hence strengthening immune system response.
A moderate diet with supplementation of the said nutrients will then also help the immune system to keep diseases at bay.
The Importance of Sleep and Stress Management
Adequate sleep and appropriate ways to manage stress are key to having a strong immune system, which most times remains unspoken of. The absence of sleep or being in a stressed environment will invariably result to weakening of the body’s immune system.
Sleep: how much sleep should your body get and why it is important? The recommended hours to get is between seven to nine hours of sleep and this sleep should be of good quality so that your body can repair and regenerate the lost/used up tissues that came with activity of the day. During sleep, the immune system releases cytotoxicity T cell’s cytokines—proteins that help fight off infections and inflammation. If you are deprived of sleep, you are not able to make these proteins and hence your immune system becomes compromised.
Stress: When a person gets stressed over and over, the body secretes a hormone by the name cortisol, which has the ability to lower immune functions up high. Methods of stress management such as relaxation techniques like meditation, yoga or deep breathing can be employed to reduce stress levels and high cortisol levels with it.
Exercise and how It Affects Immunity Levels
Constant physical activity enhances the immune system fabulously. The light exercises would allow an easy flow of circulation making the immune cells cover more parts of your body efficiently.
Moderate Exercise: Such gentle math department as a daily half-an-hour walk, swim or bicycle your immune system will be encouraged. That is because with regular physical activity, there is a decrease in the inflammation of antibodies and of the white blood cells.
Over-Exercise: Over-exercising, however, can be counterproductive as well as it increases activities without sufficient rest periods may be detrimental to immune functions. It is important to understand however that even for the regular fitness training there is a need for rest otherwise it would be as good as no exercise at all.
Keeping the Immune System Healthy – Hydration
In most cases, the significance of hydration is underestimated in enhancing immunity. Water contributes to moving the oxygen to the target cells as well as clearing out any unwanted materials from the host and thus contributes to the efficient working of the immune system. Dehydration breaks the physical barriers in the body like the skin and mucous membranes making it easy for the pathogens to enter.
Try to remember and get into the practice of drinking the required amount of water in a day, that will be enough for a regular person. When undertaking more physical activities, one tends to consume more water in order to maintain equally hydration and the energy lost due to both extreme heat or vigorous activity
Conclusion: Immune System Enhancement
Developing a healthy immune system is a process that calls for adopting a healthy lifestyle as well as eating well, exercising well, sleeping well, and learning stress reduction techniques. Ingesting the necessary nutrients and developing the discipline of reinforcing good lifestyle habits will provide a milieu which facilitates optimal functioning of the immune system.
Through the knowledge of how immunity works, one is also equipped to keep diseases at bay and improve overall well-being. People should appreciate that strengthening the immune system every day, even in a small way, can result to great changes and has to be practiced all season long.
