How to Boost your Immune System

It’s something we don’t pay much attention to as a rule. Many people just accept the fact that they ‘catch colds’ or are ‘under the weather’ and many suffer this repeatedly and rather more than most. This can often play havoc with our personal and professional lives as we struggle to work or fall behind with commitments and eventually have to take time off work or maybe we couldn’t make that school play or school football match.

There is plenty that can be done to boost immunity and it starts by understanding how our bodies work to fight off infections, then make changes that can ultimately have a tremendous positive impact on our immune systems and subsequently our general health.

Our bodies have immune systems whose job it is rush to fight off ‘invaders’ like bacteria, viruses and toxins. However there may be times when it could be overwhelmed for example when we encounter new germs or we might not have been exposed to the particular germ before. Also, there are times when our immune systems may be not running as efficiently as usual due to certain conditions or general stress overload for example.

Prevention is better than cure and there are many ways to prevent microbes entering our first line defences and that’s regular handwashing and avoiding exposure to those we know are infectious. However, it may also be just as beneficial to consider ways we can boost our immunity and protect against infection.

General advice for boosting immunity centres on the usual suspects like building in exercise to your day, eating a healthy and balanced diet, ensuring adequate sleep, reducing stress, quitting smoking and moderating alcohol. However, if prevention is key in order to boost our immune system naturally then we might want to consider supplements that include vitamins with antioxidant benefits like B6, C and E. Vitamin D has been discussed in many research studies and has been shown to have a positive effect on the immune system. Look for Zinc and Selenium too and consider Probiotics to further boost your immune system’s potential.