How a Little Effort on Hygiene and Health can help us Boost our Immunity
Looking for ways to increase your immunity and prepare your body to fight the ongoing pandemic effortlessly? According to the doctors, increasing one’s immunity is the best preventive measure against the Corona Virus pandemic. This World Health Day, let us all listen to the heroes of this world and try to boost our immune system through these simple tips.
How a Little Effort on Hygiene and Health can help us Boost our Immunity?
The world is going through a lot right now and building up one’s immunity is of prime importance these days. Immunity plays a vital role in protecting our bodies from harmful microbes that would otherwise prove fatal. A good immune system is one of the best gifts that you can have, and we, while celebrating World Health Day and increasing awareness, are trying to get this gift for you. Though the immune system cannot be controlled directly, we can all try to boost it through our diet and daily routine.
Immunity boosting foods:
We believe that nature has provided us with everything that is necessary to keep us healthy. Why not give it a try then? Wave your fries and processed food items goodbye and stock your refrigerator with fruits and vegetables that are high in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that help build up the immune system. Vitamin C is one of the most essential vitamins that have to be taken on a daily basis as it helps to increase the production of WBCs and cannot be stored inside the body. All citrus fruits like lemons, oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, and vegetables like broccoli and red bell pepper contain vitamin C. Apart from these, ginger, garlic, spinach, almonds, walnuts, other seasonal fruits, poultry, and green tea are also known to help increase immunity.
Get proper sleep:
This one is our favorite on the list! Who would’ve thought as a kid that adequate rest and sleep that was hyped for making our bodies and brains work properly, worked wonders for immunity too? It has been proved that sleep deprivation may decrease the production of cytokines and WBCs (and thereby, antibodies) that are absolutely important for the proper functioning of the immune system. Guess the beauty sleep that we are advised to take isn’t just for our beauty! (wink, wink)
Maintain proper Hygiene:
This trivial thing called hygiene that our moms have been focussing on (and fussing about) our entire lives is not that trivial. Maintaining personal hygiene is as important as having a good sleep routine and eating healthy. Hygiene is the first line of defense and it is by crossing this barrier that the bacteria or virus enters our body.
Our skin, the largest organ of our body, acts as a barrier between the microbes and our inner organs. Technically, if we take care of this part, the germs might not even enter our bodies. Thus, washing hands at regular intervals, especially before and after eating or cooking, touching your baby, or coming home from work, etc. and being “not just clean, Monica clean” becomes very important.
Hygiene is also maintained by keeping your surroundings clean and sanitized, washing fruits, vegetables, and meat before storing/cooking them and having access to clean drinking water.
Exercise:
Though there is no set theory why and how exercise helps in increasing one’s immunity, it definitely increases the circulation of blood in the body and makes it more regular; blood being the medium through which the antibodies travel inside our bodies. In addition to this, physical exercise and movement are known to affect one’s mental health positively as several hormones or chemical compounds are released in the body when one exercise. Isn’t a healthy mind the key to a healthy body?
Here we have an additional benefit too. Exercise helps improve one’s physical health and makes one feel happier and content. Isn’t this a win-win situation?
If you want more motivation before you start working out (oh, we know this is the most difficult one in the list), check out this blog.
Originally published at https://www.fuzia.com.