How to boost your immune system
On the whole, your immune system does a remarkable job of defending you against disease-causing microorganisms. Is it possible to fight the disease off? What if you improve your diet? Take certain vitamins or herbal preparations? Or make other lifestyle changes?
Now, researchers are exploring several factors, hoping to help you strengthen your immune system.
●Lifestyle
Following general good-health guidelines is the single best step you can take toward naturally keeping your immune system working properly. Every part of your body, including your immune system, functions better when protected from environmental assaults and boosted by healthy-living strategies.
●Diet
Like any fighting force, the immune system army marches on its stomach. Scientists have long recognized that people who live in poverty and are malnourished are more vulnerable to infectious diseases.
●Stress
Modern medicine has come to appreciate the closely linked relationship of mind and body. A wide variety of sicknesses, including stomach upset, and even heart disease, are linked to the effects of emotional stress.
●Exercise
Regular exercise is one of the pillars of healthy living. But does it help to boost your immune system naturally and keep it healthy? Just like a healthy diet, exercise can contribute to general good health and therefore to a healthy immune system.
A. Your first line of defense is to choose a healthy lifestyle.
B. But sometimes it fails: A virus then invades and makes you sick.
C. Healthy immune system warriors need good, regular nourishment.
D. Scientists are actively studying the relationship between stress and immune function.
E. That doesn't mean the effects of lifestyle on the immune system shouldn't be studied.
F. It lowers blood pressure, helps control body weight, and protects against a variety of diseases.
G. Despite the difficulties in measuring the relationship of vitamins to immunity, scientists are making progress.