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Boost Your Immune System: Tips to Maintain a High Immune System

Your immune system is the thing that protects you from illness and disease. It also helps your body heal itself when it does get sick. A healthy immune system can help prevent infections, allergies, and cancer. This article will provide tips for boosting your immune system as well as tell you what you can do to maintain a high immunity level!

How can I boost my immune system fast?

This is one of the most common questions I get asked. It's essential that we take care of our bodies and maintain healthy lifestyles, but it seems like some days are harder than others. If you're feeling like this today, don't worry because there are lots of things to do to help improve your immune system.

Essential Nutrients

One essential thing to include in your daily life is essential nutrients. Essential nutrients are those that our bodies naturally produce, but we can't survive without them because they're so important for a healthy body and mind. Some key essential nutrients it is recommend you take every day to improve your immunity are zinc, selenium and magnesium.

A healthy diet is essential for a strong immune system as well, so try to eat more organic foods and free range meats because they're far healthier than their processed counterparts. Include lots of fruits and vegetables in your daily life as well since those are some of the healthiest options you can choose from when it comes to essential nutrients and vitamins.

Having a healthy diet will help you get powerful antioxidants into your body. Antioxidants help your body fight off free radicals, which damage cells in the body so you'll maintain a strong immune system that works effectively.

                    Antioxidants 

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Which vitamin is good for immune system?

Gaining vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin E through healthy foods is the best way to make sure that it has a positive effect on your body. Vitamin E is essential to getting rid of free radicals, which are harmful particles that damage your cells.

Gaining vitamin C is also essential because it helps with cell growth and making sure our immune system works properly. Vitamin C combines with zinc to help our immunity system fight off infections. Great sources of Vitamin C from African foods are Baobab Powder and Moringa Powder. Baobab Powder has Baobab Powder has 6 times more vitamin C than an orange! Just one tablespoon of Baobab Powder provides 24% of your recommended daily requirements.

                                        Baobab Fruit

Image from @freshf2freshfoods.com

Moringa Powder has 12 times the vitamin C of an orange, 2 times more vitamin A than carrots and 3 times the vitamin E of Almonds! Adding Baobab Powder to your diet can improve your immune system and help you fight against infections more effectively. For example, vitamin C has been shown to reduce the risk of catching colds by 23%. It also strengthens cells in our body that are under attack from pathogens. Making sure you're getting enough Vitamin C to keep your immune system fighting fit!

                                                 Baobab and Moringa Powder                

Vitamin D is also important because it helps to strengthen your immune system and fight infections. By making sure you have adequate levels of Vitamin D, you can fight off the common cold so you'll be less likely to get sick in the winter months. It is important to note though that the more melanin you have in your skin, the less vitamin D you will be able to absorb. So keep an eye on your vitamin D levels if you have dark skin.

                                                  Vitamin D and people of colour

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Other humble foods like sweet potatoes, peanut butter and green vegetables all contain important nutrients that can help improve your immune system. Sweet potatoes are high in antioxidants that can protect your immune cells from damage and prevent them from dying. Peanut butter is another food with great antioxidant properties, as well as vitamin E which has been shown to keep white blood cell levels up. Lastly, green vegetables provide a healthy dose of zinc – an essential nutrient for the white blood cells that destroy pathogens.

                                              Sweet Potato                           

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Also avoid anything processed or sweetened with artificial sweeteners. Processed foods and added sugars can have a negative impact on your health and should be avoided all together if you want to enhance your immunity fast.

What can I do to keep my immune system strong during the Covid 19 pandemic?

However, if improving your diet seems like something difficult for you now - don't worry because there's more that you can do to keep your immune system strong. We will go through the options below:

Get plenty of sleep

Research shows that those who don't get the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep a night have lower immune system health. This is because sleeping provides time for your body's natural defense mechanisms, such as lymphocytes and macrophages, to recuperate enabling it fight off infections better.

                                              Sleep improves your immunity

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Sleep is also important to help you fight inflammation. One health condition that can weaken your immune system is chronic inflammation. Inflammation in the body is a sign that there's damage or an infection somewhere. Chronic exposure to conditions like infections can cause cancer.

The key here is not only avoiding inflammatory foods but also making sure you're fighting inflammation on a regular basis. Long-term exposure to these kinds of conditions - such as infections, autoimmune diseases and environmental factors like stress - can lead to problems with cellular regeneration. Your body heals itself when you are sleeping. This gives your cells the time needed to rejuvenate, replace damaged cells and fight off pathogens. If you don't get adequate sleep, your body's ability to regenerate healthily is hindered and leaves you vulnerable.

Makoni tea contains magnesium which is a natural muscle relaxer. It helps anxiety and insomnia. Magnesium is a mineral that assists with feelings of fear and stabilizes the mood. It promotes feelings of calm and well-being. If you struggle with insomnia, Makoni tea may help.

 

Stay hydrated by drinking lots of water 

Most people are not drinking enough daily water intake, which is why they're getting sick more often than others who drink the daily recommended amount of 64 ounces or about eight glasses per day. One way to tell that you may be dehydrated is by checking your urine color; if it's dark yellow instead of clear like normal, then you need to start drinking more water.

You can support your immune function with water. There is a strong correlation between hydration and health benefits overall. It's important to get enough liquid each day, especially if you want to maintain optimal health and function of your body systems. Not only will drinking more H20 help keep illnesses at bay, but it can also reduce your chances for developing health conditions.

                             Water Improves Immunity

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Exercise regularly 

Get plenty of exercise . Physical activity plays an important role in keeping your immune system healthy. Exercise helps you maintain a regular weight, which is important because obesity can lower the number of cells that help fight infections. Some research suggests regular exercise  can reduce symptoms and delay flare-ups for people with autoimmune diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. Exercise regularly to keep your heart rate up . Researchers have found that when you maintain a good cardiovascular activity level it improves your immune system functions

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Include weight loss as a regular part of your exercise plan. Shedding pounds can help reduce inflammation, which is linked to autoimmune diseases and other chronic conditions such as asthma and allergies. Some research suggests that if you want a healthy heart, you should exercise. Your immune system functions improve if you exercise regularly to maintain a regular heart rate.

                                                 Exercise Boosts Immunity

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it is important to remember that being a healthy weight is as unique as a fingerprint. What's healthy for one person might not be the case for someone else, so it is important to talk with your doctor about what you can do to maintain a healthier weight and improve your overall health.

Practice stress management techniques like meditation or yoga 

                                               Mindfulness

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Chronic stress can lower immune system functions. You can manage stress through Mindfulness Meditation. The practice of mindfulness meditation can reduce your overall experience of stress on a daily basis. A 2015 study found that people who practiced mindful meditation for just 30 minutes per day had better immune response than those not practicing the technique. Yoga helps manage chronic pain, which is often associated with reduced immune system function. Minimize stress to promote your overall health and happiness.

Drink herbal tea to boost your immune system

Drinking a herbal tea is often overlooked when it comes to improving your immune response. It's not just what you eat, but what you drink. Some herbal teas can help you stay healthy and resist infections like the flu or cold.

African teas such as Hibiscus tea and Zumbani tea can lower blood pressure, reduce insulin resistance and fuel you with powerful antioxidant. As mentioned previously increasing your daily intake of antioxidants can help you fight off other illnesses. Zumbani tea has a high antioxidant content which will be discussed below.

Antioxidants

The antioxidants found in Zumbani tea are called flavanoids, phenolic acids. Natural phenolic compounds found in the herbal tea play an important role as they have medicinal properties such as antibiotic, anti inflammation, anticancer and anti-allergic responses. The higher the phenolic content, the higher the antioxidant activity. This offers you superior health benefits. In a study carried out to compare the antioxidant activites of African herbal teas including Rooibos tea, Zumbani was found to have more antioxidants than Rooibos tea! Zumbani has analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic properties. It is used in traditional medicine to treat coughs and colds. The flu often causes fever in the body and Zumbani tea is excellent for bringing down fevers naturally.

The antioxidant theory is that as antioxidants can prevent oxidative damages, increasing your intake through your diet would therefore reduce the risks of chronic diseases and strengthen the immune system. So adding Zumbani tea to your diet would help your immune system. In addition to antoxidants, it contains zinc which has been shown above to be important for your health.

                                                    

Trying to live healthy can be a challenge even if you are not sick. If your health is compromised, it becomes even more important that you do all you can to maintain good health and keep illness at bay. One way to keep illnesses away is by maintaining a strong immune system. Yes occasionally our immune systems need an aid but the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that it is more important to maintain a strong immune system than to give it an occasional boost.

Which of these tips are you going to adopt?


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