Being laid-back with regards to your health can cost you a great fortune. A prominent connective tissue for good health is having a good immune system. The immune system is a warrior that prevents the intruders from getting into your body and it keeps your health in check. However, this does not mean that your warrior doesn’t take the beating. And that is precisely why you must learn how to increase your immunity.
While there are a lot of strings that can pull your immunity down, one of the major contributors to the process today is ‘stress.’ Stress is basically a response of your body. When stressed, the body releases several hormones and chemicals to protect itself from an imagined attack. More often than not, stress proves to be detrimental to your overall health.
So when you think about how to increase your immunity, you also need to understand the impact of stress on your immune system.
What stress does to the immune system?
Limiting the body’s capacity to fight the invaders
The reason why stress and infections are linked is that when the body undergoes stress, its ability to prepare your warrior, the immune system fails. It is capable of affecting the cells necessary to combat the viruses. The stress hormones cause inflammation and lower the number of white blood cells. This makes the body susceptible to infections.
Affecting the digestive system
Stress can slowly eat you up. Trying to hold the stress and carrying out digestion smoothly can be quite a task for the body. If the stress trigger occurs to save the body from a threat it can even shut down the digestion. This could result in constipation, nutrients not being absorbed fully, heartburn, and even wiping out the good bacteria. The immune system suffers and even the energy levels in the body get hampered.
Can lead to hypertension
If you are someone who has a demanding lifestyle or work-life, stress is unfortunately an inevitable part of your everyday journey. However, you should be aware of the likeliness of stress being associated with elevation of blood pressure. Blood pressure makes your heart beat faster and your muscles tense. If such stress prolongs, it can lead to hypertension.
Disharmony in relations could cause depression
Relations today, whether offline or online, dominate a major space in your daily flow of life. Not being able to keep up with requirements or adjustments that may come along with it leads to stress levels shooting up and in certain scenarios even leading to depression.
Weight gain
Ever observed yourself going on a binge spree when your mind is overworked? Stress can attack your metabolic system via the production of cortisol and insulin. This is a result of your craving for sugary, fatty foods. Your body starts producing more insulin and less cortisol when you consume excessive sugar. They are the messengers of body fat and not muscle. Gaining weight unhealthily surely doesn’t boost your immune system.
Ill coping methods
When you resort to substances like alcohol, caffeine, and smoking, thinking that it will help you curb the stress, you are wrong. Such malefic practices bring more harm to you.
Understanding how to increase your immunity
Have a healthy attitude
Your attitude can set the tone of your day. Strengthen your mindset through your attitude. A bad attitude attracts bad mood and can slow down the immune system as well.
Sleep well
Sleep is the time when your body functions are restored and your mind prepares itself to sail through the next day. Lack of sleep eventually impairs immunity as the body is not getting the rest it requires.
Make exercise a daily routine
Besides helping you being in shape, maintaining the daily discipline of exercising can help you strengthen your bones, muscles, and mind. Exercising also helps in the production of endorphins which cuts down stress.
Stay hydrated
Hydration is extremely important for your body. When there is lack of fluids, your body gets dehydrated and this could impact your health in a terrible way.
Maintain a proper diet
Food is a crucial component of good health and can really be a winner when you want to increase your immunity. A diet plan that provides you with all the necessary nutrients is a good thought. Also, probiotics can prove to be useful. Avoiding too much sugar will help you starve the bad bacteria in your gut.
Reduce the use of technology
The devices rule your day. In the run to make it work, your attention not only gets divided but reduced too. And an overworked mind is incapable of performing up to the mark. Keeping the use of technology at bay leaves you with more time for other activities.
A good health today is a topmost priority. But one has to work to make sure their life is aligned to a fine state of health. Exploring how to increase your immunity is merely a fancy key if you don’t use it to unlock the door to good health.
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