Health & Wellness

Ways to boost your immune system for the new season

Photo by Li Sun from Pexels

Staying healthy is at the top of most of our agendas ensuring we’re getting the right nutrients, supplements for our diet. With the world currently navigating itself through coronavirus it’s now important than ever. Consuming all the right nutrients to ensure our bodies at prepared and protected against the worst viruses. However, away from the global virus, just ensuring we have our immune system where we want it in health as we enter a new season is extremely important. As we head towards winter, it gets colder and more viruses tend to occur so ensuring your immune system is in tip top condition is important. Here are tips to ensure you’re best looking after yourself:

Adequate Sleep

Sleep and your immune system are closely linked. It’s been proven that a lack of sleep leaves you to being susceptible to getting sick. Adults should be aiming for at least 7 hours or more hours a night, teens needing 8-10 hours and children and younger needing up to 14 hours. Sleep is extremely important for your health and wellbeing. When it’s time to sleep we recommend reducing your time with any screens an hour before bed let your body naturally take you in to your sleep cycle.

Exercising

Working out is one of the simplest yet sometimes forgotten tips of keeping a healthy immune system. Exercise not only keeps you healthy, it’s a great stress releaser throughout the day. In order to exercise you don’t need hours on hours, simply setting out 15 mins a day can be hugely beneficial to your immune system and also your wellbeing. For example, a routine I see a lot is individuals carrying out 15 mins of at home exercise at home before they start their day. It helps to wake them up, get your blood moving, boost your endorphins and get your energy ready for the day ahead.

Nutrition

Extremely important to keeping a healthy immune system. It’s important your diet includes and excludes various items such as:

*Healthy natural snacks – such as biltong meat, it is a natural source of protein and an extremely healthy snack, cutting out any unnecessary ingredients.

*Whole plant foods – Whole plant foods are items such as fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts. They are high in antioxidants which support your body decrease inflammation by fighting against compounds called free radicals that build up.

*Healthy Fats – Is another food type that helps decrease inflammation.

*Sugars – Reduce sugars and refined carbs to avoid consistent weight gain which can increase your risk of getting sick. Reducing your sugar intake has so many benefits.

Stay Stress Free

Ensure you tweak your lifestyle to your needs to reduce daily stress. Daily stress isn’t ideal and can increase anxiety and your stress exposures, which isn’t healthy for you or your immune system. Tweaking your lifestyle to ensure you have less stress-free moments, is not the easiest task, however, find ways to accomplish them can be hugely beneficial in the long run. And while taking care of your stress levels, you can also opt for crystals for the immune system. By wearing those, your body will get the daily boost that it requires.

Drink Plenty of Water

Consuming water is often forgotten as we all live some type of busy life however it is important, we stay hydrated. It doesn’t protect us against viruses however more so ensures we’re keeping our body in tip top condition, so it doesn’t get dehydrated affecting overall health. It’s recommended we drink whenever we are thirsty and continue topping up throughout the day. When exercising you’ll need to consume more. However, we need to listen to our bodies and ensure it gets the hydration it needs when required.

Supplements

Some supplements have been proven to improve and strengthen the immune system such as vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, Elderberry, Echinacea and more. They all have different health solutions so it’s important you read into each one before consuming. 

*Vitamin C – has been proven to reduce the duration of colds

*Vitamin D – reduces your chances of getting sick

*Zinc – Also reduces the possibility of a cold’s duration

*Elderberry – Can reduce symptoms of viral respiratory infections.

Overall, looking after yourself as the season changes will be extremely important especially as the temperatures drop further and further. Ensure you have worked out your regime to stay as healthy as possible, so you’ve got your immune system in the best possible place to be protected. Before, you know it the summer will be back around again for you to enjoy.