If you’re like many folks all around the world right now, you are probably trying to discover new ways to keep your immune system healthy and strong in this time. Luckily, there are a ton of amazing ways that you can boost your body’s natural defenses and stay healthy and disease free.
How to Boost Immune System Naturally: Ways to Strengthen Immune System Response
In order to properly boost and strengthen the immune system, it’s important that you understand how the immune system functions. There are actually two parts of the immune system, the innate immune response and the acquired immune system response.
The innate immune response begins to function as soon as you are born. As a child, immune system cells patrol the body through the lymphatic system. Cells called phagocytes attack invaders into the body and attempt to kill them. After prolonged exposure to an invader, the acquired system kicks into gear. At that point, antibodies called B lymphocytes are produced that are geared toward the specific invader that triggered the immune response.
Many illnesses and diseases, including many viruses, are best treated not by pharmaceutical drugs but through support of the immune system, so that the body can heal itself. There are a variety of organs that play an essential role in our immune system, including the lymph nodes, the spleen, the thymus, bone marrow, and lymphoid tissue in the small intestines. Understanding how to support the lymphatic system is an important key to maintaining a high functioning immune system.
Lymph flows through the body through these organs and channels to detoxify your system, but unlike the blood in your body, there is no pump that keeps the lymph circulating. That’s why simple physical practices like calisthenic exercises, yoga, inversion tables, and massage can be so helpful to the immune system--it keeps the lymph in your body flowing! When you have a well-functioning lymph flow, your immune system will be stronger and better equipped to prevent disease.
Healthy Ways to Get an Immune Boost: Foods, Wellness, and Healthy Living
Beyond physical activities, there are many other ways that you can help boost your immune system. It’s important to remember that the immune system is always functioning to detoxify your organs and reduce inflammation in the body. One of the central reasons that adults end up with a weakened immune system is because of their diet. Anytime we eat foods that are highly processed and contain various chemicals puts toxins into our bodies. This forces our immune system to work harder to detoxify our systems, weakening its ability to fight off illness like flu or infections. On the other hand, when we eat healthy foods, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and healthy proteins, we give our immune system and body the fuel it needs to function at a high level. We free up the system to focus on invaders instead of having to work so hard to filter out unwanted things from the body.
Drinking water is also an essential part of keeping the immune system healthy and well balanced. Lymph is primarily composed of water, so when the body is dehydrated, the lymph is not able to circulate and do its job as effectively. To give your hydration a little boost, consider adding lemon juice, which helps to mineralize the body and increases its ability to absorb the water you’re consuming.
A well known way that our immune systems can become depleted is through prolonged stress and anxiety. When we are under stress, our endocrine system produces cortisol, which in the short term reduces our inflammation. But in the long term, high cortisol levels eventually end up depleting the immune system, because it comes to rely on the cortisol instead of functioning the way it is meant to. It’s important to actively reduce your stress levels through practices like breathwork, meditation, exercise, or massage.
Another critical habit to a high functioning immune system is being well rested. When we sleep, our body can work harder to produce and distribute important immune cells like cytokines, T cells, and interleukin 12. Focusing on developing positive sleeping habits is an important part of keeping your system healthy.
Immune Boost with Supplements, Vitamins, and Healthy Alternative Ways
Beyond these basic approaches to maintain your health, there are alternative ways that you can boost your immune system, especially when you are concerned that you may have been exposed to illness and you are trying to prevent symptoms from taking hold.
Here atHana Tonic, we’ve created a powerful immune booster through our unique formula that was designed to ward off nausea and maintain your health. One of our core ingredients is ginger, which is a well known immune booster and detoxifying agent. Lemon, as mentioned above, aids the immune system by helping to keep you hydrated and increasing vitamin C in the body. Pineapple is another excellent anti-inflammatory ingredient. Taken all together, along with B-vitamins, Hana Tonic is an excellent immune system booster that you can easily take with you on the go!
Another great way to boost your immune system is through probiotics. A lot of your immune functioning happens in the gut, and when you have a deficiency of positive bacteria in your stomach, your immune system has to work overtime to keep you well. By adding probiotics to your diet through things like sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir, or kimchi, you can help boost your system.
Herbal supplements are another great way that you can help boost your immune system. There are a variety of herbs that are known to assist with the functioning of the system in different ways. Elderberry is known for being antifungal, antibacterial, and antimicrobial, and there has even been evidence that it’s effective at treating the flu. Echinacea is also known to boost the immune system through stimulating it to produce more lymphocytes. Garlic is another popular immune booster by assisting white blood cells. There are a variety of ways that you can increase your intake of these herbs, and many others that can assist. The best way to discover what will work best for you is through a consultation with an herbalist.
Another great way to boost your immune system is through nutritional supplements. Making sure you are getting all of the essential vitamins and minerals, especially Vitamin C and zinc, will help you maintain a strong immune response. Other important vitamins include Vitamin A, B6, C, D, and E. Make sure you’re using a supplement that is well sourced and thoughtfully produced so that you’ll receive the best results.
Living Wellness: Coming Back to Healthy Immune Function
In these unprecedented times, people all around the world are recognizing the importance of maintaining a high level of immune function. It has now become a collective responsibility to maintain your health. There are so many ways that you can naturally boost your immune response at home. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all of the health habits you’d like to change, focusing on one area at a time can help. Remember that stress is one of the biggest ways that your immune system can become depleted.
Here at Hana Tonic, we hope you and yours are safe, healthy, and feeling well. All of our products are available for online ordering and we would love to help you keep your immune function high. What are some of your favorite ways to give your system a boost? We love to hear your comments and feedback!