Blogs

Top 10 Ways to Boost Your Immune System

It’s one of the wonders of our body, isn’t it? The immune system does a fantastic job of defending our bodies from disease-causing microorganisms, but sometimes, and especially as we age, it begins to fail.

It’s precisely for this reason that so many people are looking for the best immune system boost, although it’s not that simple.

The immune system is a system, so it relies on a balance between it and other parts of your body. But it’s also because of this that, through scientific research of these interconnected systems and through reviews of studies of separate vitamins and nutrients, we can slowly begin to determine how to build a healthy immune system.

While there may be no fast fix for how to boost immune system when sick or for answering the question, ‘How can I boost my immune system in 24 hours,’ by using these tips, you can go a long way in building a strong immune system.

How Does Our Immune System Work?

Your immune system is like a team of superheroes, made up of cells, molecules, tissues and organs. They work together to keep your body safe from harmful invaders, with each type of cell having a special job: they find, mark and destroy harmful germs that try to get in.

If your immune system comes across something bad (we call it an antigen), it springs into action. Antigens can be things like viruses, bacteria, toxins or other substances from outside your body. The first time your body meets an antigen, it remembers it and stores information about how to fight it off.

If the same antigen shows up again, special cells called B-cells recognize it (either because you had the sickness before or got a vaccine for it). These cells make something called antibodies.

Antibodies are like keys that fit specific locks on antigens. They tell the rest of the immune team to attack and destroy the harmful germs. After an antibody is made, a copy stays in your body. So, if that same antigen tries to come in again, your body knows how to handle it much faster. That's how your body builds immunity.

When you start feeling sick, it's a sign that your body is fighting against the infection or virus. This is your immune system at work.

How Can I Build Up My Immune System?

Diet

For the elderly, there seems to be a connection between nutrition and immunity. This is often because our bodies begin to produce and absorb less essential vitamins and minerals that are needed to keep ourselves healthy and everything working as it should.

If you’re looking to boost immunity at home, here’s one suggestion: build a healthy gut. Our immune system relies on a healthy stomach, as 80 per cent of it is here. If our gut isn’t healthy, then our immune system and hormones won’t work as they should, making us get sick. This is how autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s Disease and Type 2 Diabetes often begin.

Does vitamin C boost immune system? Vitamin C is an antioxidant and studies have found antioxidants enhance our immune system’s response to fighting infection. Try eating a breakfast high in antioxidants to strengthen your immune system for the day.

Foods that boost immune system include probiotic foods like yoghurt, fermented vegetables and miso, prebiotic foods like garlic, onions and bananas, and other immune system booster foods like berries, fatty fish, leafy greens and citrus fruits.

If you’re not eating the required amounts of nutrients each day, consider taking a daily multivitamin to fill in any missing gaps, which may also benefit your immune system.

What vitamins help immune system? See below.

Don’t Smoke

The chemicals in cigarettes can kill antibodies our bodies need to fight off infection, as well as reduce our body’s production of them. Smoking also compromises the balance in our immune system, increasing the risk of autoimmune disorders. Cigarette smoking has been found to have effects on chronic inflammation and autoimmunity, such as with arthritis, psoriasis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Smoking also interferes with treatments for these conditions.

Drink Alcohol in Moderation

Alcohol can also weaken our body’s ability to fight infection, as well as lead to dehydration as it can cause the body to remove fluids from the blood through the renal system faster than other liquids. Instead, try to stay hydrated to help our body remove toxins and bacteria that can cause illness.

Exercise

Try to exercise for 30 minutes per day to increase blood flow, reduce stress and inflammation and strengthen the antibodies our immune system needs to fight off infections.

Find out how exercise benefits us in the long run and some examples of exercises for longevity here (ANTI AGING ROUTINE: EXERCISE).

Maintain a Healthy Weight for Your Body

Obesity has been linked with our immune function not working as it should, as well as may lower vaccine effectiveness for various diseases. Aim to eat a healthy diet, get enough sleep, exercise regularly and reduce stress to help maintain a healthy weight.

Read our post about spermidine and its effects on mimicking intermittent fasting.

Stay Clean and Hygienic

Make sure to wash your hands regularly to remove the germs from your hands before you touch your face, mouth or other items in your home. Wash your sheets regularly, shower daily and even when cooking, be sure to cook your poultry enough to prevent salmonella poisoning and wash your chicken.

Minimize Stress

Our stress levels and mind also have an effect on our body’s immune response. Stress raises cortisol (stress hormone) levels, which can weaken the immune system if they stay high for too long. It can also damage our cells and increase inflammation, increasing the risk of viruses and infections. Try incorporating meditation, yoga, reading or heading out into nature to de-stress into your daily routine.

Take Supplements to Boost Immune System Health

As mentioned above, antioxidants are great for the immune system, but clinical trials have found that taking supplements of antioxidants, like vitamins C, E, A or beta-carotene, can significantly improve certain immune responses, like the activation of cells involved in tumor immunity in the elderly.

Some of the best immune system supplements include:

• Vitamin C: helps clear out dead cells and replace them with new ones.
• Vitamin E: regulates immune function and protects against oxidation.
• Vitamin D: decreases inflammation and enhances the effects of white blood cells.
• Vitamin B6: a deficiency can affect how our immune system works.
• Magnesium: required for immune function and regulating inflammation and apoptosis. Try out Xandro Lab’s Magnesium Glycinate to experience its multitude of longevity benefits.
• Zinc: needed for the production of new immune system cells and prevents foreign pathogens from entering our body.
• Curcumin: can block cytokines that cause autoimmune diseases and improve gut bacteria. Experience curcumin’s longevity benefits with Xandro Lab’s patented Turmeric Curcumin.
• Probiotics: provide good bacteria to balance out the bad in our guts, boosting immunity.
• Prebiotics: food that our gut bacteria feed on.

Frequently Asked Question: Do antibiotics wreck the immune system? Antibiotics have their place for killing bacteria in our bodies that are causing infection and pain. They don’t, however, work against viruses like the cold and flu. The thing about antibiotics is that while killing the bad bacteria in our bodies, they also kill off some of the good bacteria that play important roles in our gut and immune system, bacteria that may also help to fight off infections and other problems. The overuse of antibiotics can cause antibiotic resistance because they can become immune to the antibiotics, so make sure to only take them when you have bacterial infections.

Read more about how to build immune system response with supplements here.

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep strengthens the immune system, so make it a priority to get enough quality sleep each night. During sleep, our bodies continue to digest and absorb our food, so it helps us receive the vitamins we need to protect ourselves. Not getting enough sleep can also increase our stress hormones, causing more inflammation in our bodies, which can affect our immune response.

Keep Up to Date with Vaccines

Science and technology have developed monumentally over the past 100 years. No longer is it common to catch and die from diseases like polio, tetanus, hepatitis A and B, rubella and measles, and smallpox and rinderpest have been eradicated altogether.

Vaccinates help our immune system recognize and fight off diseases as our body is able to learn the disease through vaccination rather than infection. Some vaccinations, like whooping cough, begin to wear off after 10 years, so make sure to stay up to date.

Frequently Asked Question: Does the cold weaken your immune system? Not exactly. In the colder months, people are inside more, surrounded by other people, so we have a higher exposure to other people who are sick. When the influenza virus stays airborne longer when the air is cold and less humid, this also doesn’t help. There have been some studies trying to determine whether the cold weakens your immune system, and there have been mixed results due to other potential factors possibly being the reason for sickness.

Want to improve your health in other areas? Read our posts on anti-aging health routines for nutrition, supplements and skincare!