Every day we face a new threat, and many hazards and problems come our way without us knowing. Our organism battles thousands of bacteria every single day and we are unaware of the extent of the battle because the majority of them are won, luckily. When they are not, and bacteria or viruses colonize a part of the body, we start feeling ill. But the reality is that health is relative because we never have a perfect health. The immune system constantly struggles with microorganisms and we don’t get sick when it does its job. But what if the threat becomes more pressing, or if your immune system does not work as it should? You would naturally start having symptoms of an infection.
We are living in a time when the immune system is put on a test every single day. We even have a new pandemic lurking around, and more people is becoming worried about whether or not their immune system is working as it should. What can we do to boost immunity in times like this?
You don’t really need drugs or an expensive treatment. The majority of recommendations we will give you in this article is easy to do in your own home by using three methods:
- Keeping an appropriate nutrition
- Staying active and exercising properly
- Using natural remedies and herbs
The relationship between immunity and nutrition
If you study the basics of immunity, you will learn about two different branches that make up the immune system. We have an innate immunity that protects the body against any possible threat. It is very fast, but very inaccurate. To improve accuracy, we also have something called adaptive immunity. This one takes very long to develop, but it is lethal and more accurate. Adaptive immunity is developed for each pathogen when your immune cells recognize it as a threat and builds a specialized defense against it. If you heard about antibodies, this is the best example of adaptive immunity. They are molecules specialized to detect and attack a very specific protein that is usually located in the outer shell of bacteria, parasites, fungi, or viruses.
Adaptive and innate immunity work together to achieve the same cause, and use thousands of metabolic processes and enzymes to work appropriately. We highlight nutrition as an important part of immunity because it provides what the body needs to keep these reactions going on. Moreover, being sick and fighting against disease takes a lot of extra energy, and you need to provide your body with sufficient calories to keep your body processes and fight infections, especially if you don’t feel right.
If you want to boost your immune system through nutrition, take in consideration the following advices:
• Be sure to get enough calories from your foods
Most people eat excessive calories every day, and that’s why obesity is prevalent in the modern world. But we should not go to extremes and cut calories excessively. Remember they are not harmful when consumed in moderation. You can have a weight-loss diet, but keeping in mind how much do you need to function properly. A licensed dietitian can help you achieving the balance between calorie deficit for weight loss and proper nutrition.