How To Boost Immune System
Want to know how to boost immune system?
Tired of feeling sick, tired and low on energy?
There are a few basic things that you can do to boost immune system...
Nothing fancy or expensive – just some everyday changes to help you cope with stress...
A healthy immune system is key to maintaining general good health and keeping infections at bay.
Ten Easy Tips On How To Boost Your Immune System
Poor diet and stress have a negative effect on the immune system – leaving you vulnerable to colds, flu and disease. Any kind of nutritional deficiency may lead to more frequent and prolonged illnesses. If you starve yourself, your body will think it's under siege and pump out stress hormones. Best advice: Choose fats carefully (omega-3s are good), get enough protein, eat your fruits and vegetables and drink plenty of fluids.
While painful emotions like anger and grief can impair health, laughter does the opposite. A real belly laugh increases infection-fighting antibodies and boosts natural killer-cell activity. Laughter also increases circulation, stimulates digestion, lowers blood pressure and reduces muscle tension.
Certain kinds of thinking may boost immunity. University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientist Marian Diamond, found that playing bridge stimulated women's immune systems. Her research is the first to show a connection between the immune system and the part of the brain that handles planning, memory, initiative, judgment and abstract thinking. Says Diamond: "Any mental activity that uses one or a combination of these intellectual functions might benefit immune activity."
Listening to music can boost your immunity, but it has to be music you love. The trick is finding music that soothes your soul. Even better than listening to music is making it. It has been found that people who took part in an amateur group-drumming session had greatly enhanced natural killer-cell activity afterward. A great way to boost immune system!
Your immune system likes it when you spend time with friends. . In one study, researchers exposed people to a cold virus and then monitored how many contacts those people had with friends, family, co-workers and members of church and community groups. The more social contacts the people had -- and the more diverse the contacts -- the less likely they were to catch the cold. Touch is important too: Giving or getting hugs or other forms of touch can boost the activity of the natural killer cells that seek out and destroy cancer cells or cells that have been invaded by viruses.
Noise hurts more than your ears. Any unwanted and intrusive sound can trigger muscle tension, speed heartbeat, constrict blood vessels and cause digestive upsets -- the same response your body has to being startled or stressed. Chronic exposure to noise can lead to even longer-lasting changes in blood pressure, cholesterol levels and immune function. Cornell University research found that women who work in moderately noisy offices produce more of the stress hormone adrenaline and may be more vulnerable to heart disease than women who work in quiet offices. Even worse are unwelcome sounds you perceive as uncontrollable, such as car alarms, barking dogs and P.A. systems. Try to take control over the noise in your environment, even if it means wearing earplugs or asking the restaurant owner or gym manager to turn down the music.
Regular, moderate exercise can boost immune system. Many studies show that long-term training also elevates natural killer-cell activity. But don't push too hard: If you're already under emotional stress, you might want to avoid exercising beyond your usual level.
Everybody's different: your body may need anywhere from 6 to 10 hours of sleep each night. Whatever your personal sleep requirement is, get it! Sleep has been linked to balanced hormone levels (including human growth hormone and the stress hormone, cortisol), keeping weight down, clear thinking and reasoning, improved mood, and vibrant, healthy skin.
This is an important way to boost immune system. Make sure you take time to yourself, spend some time with friends, and indulge yourself in a massage, a hot bath. Your body respond to your emotions - if you are feeling harassed and anxious, it can manifest in a sore throat or a cold. Make a space within yourself and your living environment for harmony, self-love and joy. Create a home altar to remind you of the important things in your life. When you're happy, you're far less likely to get sick.
Stress jacks up your body's production of cortisol and adrenaline, hormones that lower immune response. No wonder you're more likely to come down with a cold or the flu when faced with stressful situations like final exams or relationship problems. Stress-induced anxiety also can inhibit natural killer-cell activity. If practiced regularly, any of the well-known relaxation techniques will boost immune system. From aerobic exercise and progressive muscle relaxation to meditation, prayer and chanting, all help to block release of stress hormones and build immune function. Take steps to boost immune system.
Is Your Immune System At Risk?
Do This Test
Everyone reacts to stress differently. What overwhelms one person may be a motivating challenge to another.
"It's not the situation itself that produces negative changes in your immune system; it's how you perceive it," says wellness expert Barry Bittman, M.D. "Some people don't recognize how strongly they're reacting."...
To learn if your reactions may compromise your immunity, answer these questions, yes or no.
You may need to boost immune system...
When stressed, do you:
* get tension headaches?
* breathe faster?
* notice that your heart beats faster?
* clench your jaw or grind your teeth?
* suffer gastrointestinal symptoms, such as stomach gurgling or diarrhea?
* experience muscle tension, such as hunched shoulders or a stiff neck?
* feel nervous and jittery?
* perspire? Get chills or clammy hands?
* become upset or angry, irritable, impatient?
Lots of "yes" answers may mean you react to stress in harmful ways.You need to learn coping skills and long-term relaxation techniques. For immediate stress relief, sit quietly, taking slow, deep breaths; relax your shoulders and jaw; visualize a peaceful place; or listen to calming music. Try to change your mind-set too: If you're bugged by a crying baby at the next table, consider how hard it is for infants to communicate their needs; if you're worried about an upcoming exam, remind yourself that you almost always do fine.
More Useful Information To Boost Immune System
- How To Use Massage To Relax
- Humor And Stress relief
- Stress And Diet
- Signs Of Sleep Deprivation
- Benefits Of Meditation
- Relaxation Techniques
- Benefits Of Exercise
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