A Strong Immunity is Much-Needed to Fight Against Diseases of this Era such as the Coronavirus: Guide on How to Improve Immunity Naturally By Inculcating Healthier Habits in Daily Life. (2020)

Even healthy people fall ill, but you can save yourself by enhancing the immune system. Various ways can act as boosters for your immune system and help you ward off harmful bacteria and viruses along with other pathogens. To ensure this, you must undertake various activities that will help you stay healthy.

You need to eat healthy foods to boost your immunity. Plant-based foods, like vegetables, fruits, spices, and herbs, are essential for your health. Most of these foods have antimicrobial properties that help to fight against diseases. Minerals like copper, iron, zinc, and selenium, along with vitamins, are essential for your immune system.

Deficiency of Vitamin C may lead to infections that are harmful to you. This vitamin is abundant in citrus fruits. Proteins are also necessary for your body. The amino acids present in the protein help to build your immunity, and a deficiency could lower your guard against diseases.

You should have lots of fruits and vegetables as part of your diet, and most of them are excellent sources of Vitamins A and C, while nuts provide Vitamin E, zinc, and protein.

Our body needs to sleep for a requisite amount of time to get energized for the next day. Moreover, while sleeping, your body secretes enzymes and chemicals that help to regulate the immune response of the body. A healthy person must have at least eight hours of sleep every day. Not having the required amount of sleep lowers your defence against diseases. Research has shown that respondents who had less than six hours of sleep were more prone to have respiratory infections.

For those who have trouble sleeping must not view the television and keep away their mobile phones at least an hour before going to sleep. Also, do not read books or quarrel before going to bed. It affects your quality of sleep. You must keep the room dark before sleeping and exercise in the morning after waking up from sleep. Having less sleep increases the cortisone levels, which lowers the immune capability.

You need to have a fixed exercise routine to stay healthy. Before selecting the routine, you must talk to your doctor and the gym instructor. Apart from keeping you healthy against microbial and viral infections, regular exercises also help to ward off critical illnesses. However, do not overdo your routine as it could suppress the immune system. Instead, having a moderate routine helps.

Regular exercises ensure that your immune cells get rejuvenated very often. Adults must have at least two and a half hours of moderate aerobic exercise along with strength training twice every week. It is also suggested to do your routine amid nature as it boosts your immunity too.

The modern work environment and commute to and from work increase our stress levels. It is our increased stress levels that is the root cause of serious illnesses. It also suppresses our immune system. It is necessary to keep your stress levels under control. Your body releases cortisol also when your stress levels are high. When you have continuously high levels of stress, your immunity gets reduced too.

Having prolonged stress levels affect the level of immunity to a great extent. Doctors prescribe several ways to reduce stress. Some of the are meditation and indulging in a variety of hobbies like drawing, playing sports, fishing, etc. Exercise and yoga can also reduce your stress levels.

You must maintain proper hygiene to ward off diseases. Healthcare professionals recommend washing our hands for twenty seconds using soap and warm water before having any food. You must also wash your hands with soap or an alcohol-based sanitizer after touching public spaces or using the bathroom. It helps in preventing the spreading of microbes and viruses.

You must also take a bath regularly and trim your nails to prevent the spread of germs. Having a proper hygiene sense also makes you feel good internally. It is also helpful for your mental health.

It is known that the food we have can help to prevent diseases. Herbs can also help in improving our immunity. Various herbs like Elderberry, Astragalus, Andrographis, Echinacea, etc. are effective against cold. Numerous medical journals mention that you can take Vitamin D supplements if you are not in the sun too often.

You can undertake a blood test to know if you are deficient in Vitamin D. However, before taking supplements, you must consult with your doctor. As an alternative, you can use herbs while cooking. Other items like garlic, oregano, ginger, and turmeric also have anti-inflammatory properties and boost immunity.

Guzzling too much alcohol and smoking cigarettes damage your immune system. On drinking alcohol, the body is busy in detoxifying and cannot pay much attention to the immune system. Drinking too much alcohol increases the risk of respiratory distress and other chronic diseases. It is suggested to limit the quantity of alcohol taken to one to two pegs at a sitting, occasionally.

Smoking can also reduce your immunity because the chemicals released during smoking can deplete the growth of immune cells. If you are having any viral infection, it will get worse by smoking. To stay healthy and to ensure an excellent immune system, you must quit smoking. There are various ways to quit smoking, including nicotine replacement products and therapy.

Another way to increase immunity is by taking fermented food. These foods are rich in bacteria that are beneficial for health – the probiotics. You may have plenty of yoghurt along with kimchi and natto. It has also been proven through research that subjects who had taken probiotic food over time had lesser chances of falling ill. Moreover, the beneficial bacteria can help your immune cells to distinguish between the harmful pathogens and the healthy cells. In this way, it can prevent diseases.

Your immune system must ward off the pathogens and keep you healthy. When your immune response is triggered, your body releases antigens to kill them. This activity is enhanced by taking specific food that improves your immunity. We will discuss some of them now.

We know that Vitamin C is present in most fruits. However, it contains natural sugars in plenty also. As a result, some of us cannot have these. An alternative is to have red bell pepper, which also has Vitamin C in abundance. For starters, we must mention that red bell pepper has double the amount of vitamin C than most citrus fruits.

Moreover, they are also a source of beta carotene. A precursor of Vitamin A, it is needed for our immune system and keeps our skin healthy. It also leads to good eye health and vision.

The omnipresent ginger helps us by providing the necessary antioxidants that boost our immunity—the antioxidants fight with the free radicals, released by infections, and safeguards against various disorders. Ginger has been proven by research to contain antimicrobial properties.

Ginger also helps to reduce the levels of cholesterol in us. Many people even use ginger when they have a sore throat. It also helps to reduce the effects of nausea and chronic pain.

Vitamin C is a critical ingredient to improve the immune system. Most of us already know this and increase our intake of citrous fruits when we catch a cold. It increases the production of white blood cells, which fights against the pathogens. Most citrus fruits have a high content of vitamin C.

Citrous fruits are also known to contain copper, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamin B. Vitamin C helps us by increasing the immune cells – B- and T- cells. Moreover, flavonoids that are also found in citrus fruits, also have antioxidant properties. They help in quick recovery once you fall ill.

The other sources of vitamin C are strawberries, broccoli, and kiwi fruit.

We have been using turmeric in many of our food for a better taste. Little do we know that it also helps in boosting our immunity. It is due to a chemical – curcumin that is an antioxidant. You can even take turmeric raw in small doses. Curcumin attacks the free radicals in the body and fights diseases. Various studies have shown that turmeric has the level of antioxidants and increases oxidation. It leads to intervention and even eradication of diseases.

Yoghurt has always been known to us as a favourite taste enhancer for most of our foods. It is rich in probiotics and helps to reduce the severity of a cold. The helpful bacteria help in increasing our immune system. It also helps by detoxification of our body and digestion. Low-fat yoghurt also provides us with the necessary protein and calcium. Always have the plain yoghurt without sugar. It also contains vitamin D that can regulate our immune system.

Indian cuisine has dishes like curd rice and raita, which add yogurt to our meals, but you can also have them in different forms such as spiced dips for veggies, mixed in with oats and buttermilk.

We generally take green tea due to its low concentration of caffeine that does not make it toxic. Green tea comes with flavonoids, which reduces your chances of catching a cold. It also contains an antioxidant - epigallocatechin gallate and increases our immunity. As it is not fermented, the nutrients are preserved. The amino acid – L-theanine, present in green tea, enhances the production of germ-fighting cells in the body. Moreover, green tea also helps to improve the levels of lipids in the blood.

There are different forms of green tea, including flavoured ones that you can try out and add to your daily routine.

The immune system in elderly people is on the decline. They need to be very careful to prevent any diseases. They must be on a fixed diet with a lot of nutrients. Even mild flu and cold can lead to complications. If you are over 65, here are few tips to keep in mind.