10 Ways to Boost Immune System, Important to Apply

Kapanlagi.com - The immune system plays an important role in maintaining your health. Therefore, you must be disciplined in applying several ways to boost your immune system to prevent easily getting sick. Especially in the current Covid-19 pandemic, you need to be more cautious in order to protect yourself from virus attacks.

There are many ways to boost your immune system that you can apply, such as maintaining a healthy diet, reducing stress, and having a regular sleep pattern. Implementing these things means you are already trying to improve your immune system so that it can work optimally in protecting your body from attacks by organisms or disease-causing germs.

Don't let your immunity weaken to the point where it can't fend off diseases. As an effort to maintain it, here are several ways to boost your immune system that are compiled from various sources for you to follow.

1. Maintaining a Healthy Diet

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1. Fiber-Rich and Antioxidant-Rich Foods

Consuming fiber-rich foods is necessary to maintain the digestive system, which is responsible for processing nutrients in the body. Additionally, it is important to consume foods that contain antioxidants to counteract free radicals.

Free radicals can occur from body metabolism and air pollution. Antioxidants play a role in neutralizing free radicals to protect the body from cell and tissue damage. To obtain enough antioxidants, you need to consume colorful fruits and vegetables regularly.

Some food ingredients you can consume include kiwi, oranges, grapes, green vegetables, and grains.

2. Ensuring Nutrient Intake

Another way to boost the immune system is by maintaining macro nutrients, fiber, and micro nutrients. The macro nutrients referred to are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Micro nutrients, namely vitamins and minerals.

The body needs these nutrients to function properly. If there is a deficiency in nutrients, the function of body cells will decrease, and as a result, it can lower the immune system.

3. Food Hygiene

After preparing nutrient-rich ingredients in a balanced way, you also need to pay attention to their cleanliness. During preparation, you need to pay attention to the cleanliness of cooking utensils, tools, dishes, and supplementary ingredients such as water, spices, and so on.

4. Consume Warm Food and Drink Plenty of Water

Warm food like soup is needed to boost immunity and the mucous membrane that lines the respiratory tract.

Cold drinks and food that you consume will stimulate mucus production, thus affecting the respiratory system and leading to a decrease in the immune system.

2. Implementing Healthy Habits

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5. Avoid Stress

Stress can be considered as one of the sources of illness. When it becomes uncontrollable, stress can increase the production of cortisol hormone. Long-term increase in cortisol can trigger a decrease in immune system function.

As one way to boost the immune system, you need to manage stress well.

6. Regular Exercise

The exercise referred to as a way to boost the immune system is regular exercise. By exercising for 30 minutes every day, your immune system will increase in fighting infections.

This can happen because exercise can increase the level of colorless blood cells called leukocytes, which function to kill bacteria, as well as increase antibody response and T cells.

7. Get Enough Sleep

If you lack sleep, the chances of getting sick will be higher. Meeting the sleep needs is important for your immune system.

Adults generally need about 7-8 hours of sleep and teenagers need about 9-10 hours of sleep.

8.Make Friends

Being frequently lonely is not good for your immune system. Your physical and mental health will be disrupted if you do it continuously.

Therefore, you need to make more friends to create good socialization. It doesn't have to be in person, communicating online can also make you relax. The positive effects can be felt when your immune system increases.

9.Sunbathing

Allowing yourself to be exposed to sunlight at the right time can be done as one way to increase your body's resistance. Sunlight at certain times, at 08.00-09.00 AM or 11.00-13.00 PM is the right moment for sunbathing because it can increase the production of vitamin D which is beneficial for the immune system.

The duration of sunbathing doesn't need to be long, just 10-15 minutes. The intensity does not need to be too frequent, just do it 2-3 times a week.

3. Taking Supplements

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10. Vitamins and Minerals

In addition to the aforementioned foods, you can also get nutrients through supplements. Before choosing them as a way to boost your immune system, you need to know the contents of the supplements. Some supplement contents that can help your immune system can be found in the following information.

- Echinacea

In addition to boosting the immune system, echinacea is believed to be an antivirus, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant. Therefore, this herbal plant is beneficial in fighting flu-causing viruses.

- Morinda Citrifolia (Noni)

Noni fruit contains various potassium substances that can increase stamina, immune system, and repair cell damage. However, those of you who have a history of kidney, heart, or liver disease should avoid supplements containing this fruit.

- Vitamin B6, C, and Echinacea

Supplements containing vitamin B6, C, lycopene, and E are highly recommended to enhance the immune system for optimal performance.

Those are some ways to boost your immune system that you need to implement in order to avoid easily getting diseases caused by bacteria and viruses.

(kpl/ans)