Are you worried about your weak immunity? Are you fed up with the frequent illness of your kid and want to learn about immunity boosters? If yes, then you are in right place. Please go through the below article to learn about our immunity and ways to strengthen it.
Immunity is a defence system of a living body including many cells and many levels of security against disease-causing agents that enters our body. Although it is explained in a simple manner, it includes various types and mechanisms like innate immunity, acquired immunity, adapted immunity and many more.
The basic and natural immunity is usually the same for all but its strength varies for every individual and it depends upon different factors like your lifestyle, eating habits, genetic constitution, etc. That is the reason that even the two kids of the same family may have strong and weak immunity. But there are ways through which one can improve his or her immunity.
In the current scenario of global coronavirus infection, people have become more aware of their immunity and if you are one among them, below are the points to follow to boost up your immunity.
Fruits for strong immunity-There are various fruits dedicated to our immunity. Especially the fruits containing "Vitamin-C" or "Citrus fruits" are considered as immunity boosters. The specific action of these fruits in improving the immunity is to increase the "White Blood Cells (WBCs)" and these WBCs are the main soldiers of our immune system. The list of citrus fruits includes Oranges, lemons, grapes, limes, gooseberries, tangerines and clementines. Here you have to note that our body can neither produce Vitamin C on its own nor can store it. So, it is very important to include citrus fruits in your daily meal schedule.
Yogurt-Plain yogurts are considered as healthy food and a good source for immunity stimulator. Avoid buying flavored yogurts as they contain a good amount of sugar and artificial flavoring agents which is not good for our health. There are some brands offering yogurt fortified with Vitamin D that also helps in improving your immunity by regulating it.
Green vegetables-Some vegetables help us in many ways in improving our immunity. Like the Broccoli is one of the healthiest vegetables and is preferred to consume slightly cooked. It contains lots of Vitamin A, C and E that makes it a complete package for a healthy immune system. Then comes the Spinach- a Vitamin C rich leafy vegetable. It also contains beta carotene and many antioxidants that help us in improving infection-fighting capability. The slightly cooked spinach provides Vitamin A and Oxalic acid along with Vitamin C, a good combination for body.
Other Vegetables-Apart from green and leafy vegetables, there are other vegetables also which help us in boosting our immune system. The Red Bell pepper can be considered as the most efficient one as it contains double the amount of Vitamin C compared to the citrus fruits. It also contains beta carotene that helps in keeping our skin and eyes healthy. Ginger does not help our immune system directly but it helps in lowering the inflammation during infection. It has a warm effect on our body due to the availability of gingerol and that is the reason it is considered as the best ingredient for cold and cough and can even help in nausea. Garlic has a good amount of Sulphur containing compounds that make it suitable for improving our immunity. It also supports in maintaining healthy blood pressure in our body.
Almond-Along with Vitamin C, Vitamin E is also considered as an important key for healthy immune system and Almonds are a great source for the same with an excellent combination of Vitamin E and fat (Vitamin A is a Fat-soluble vitamin and needs fats to get absorbed by the body.)
Sunflower seeds-These seeds contain an extremely high amount of Vitamin E along with Vitamin B6, phosphorus and magnesium that helps in boosting our immune system.
Other fruits-Although citrus fruits are considered as a key for immunity, there are some other fruits also which helps us in maintaining a healthy immune system. For example, Papaya contains a high content of Vitamin C and papain (a digestive enzyme). Then another example is Kiwi that is containing folate, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and potassium that stimulate the WBCs of our immune system.
Turmeric-It has great anti-inflammatory properties and curcumin. Apart from boosting our immunity, it also helps in the treatment of arthritis and muscle damage. Many people are not aware of fresh turmeric which is also having excellent anti-inflammatory effects on our body after consumption. These fresh turmerics can be bought from vegetable vendors and can be stored for long in refrigerators in the form of pickle.
These were the food items that one can include in the diet to improve his or her immunity. Apart from this, there are some habits also work towards healthier immunity. The list is as mentioned below-
Exercise-Regular exercise of physical work out in one or another way always helps us in keeping our body fit. It helps in maintaining our body weight, blood pressure and also improves our immunity. The mechanism includes improved blood circulation in the body through which the WBCs also get circulated in the body in an easier way hence provide better immunity. But here we should note that excess of anything is not good and we should do moderate workouts as per our regular routine.
Stress-Although there is no accurate device to measure the stress a person is facing, doctors always advise living a happy and stress-free life to have strong immunity. Stress is a kind of internal emotional reaction and it varies on an individual basis. The same situation can be more stressful than another person. So here we should learn to have emotional balance in all types of circumstances.
Apart from these two major things, many other things affect your immunity like inadequate sleep, consumption of alcohol, smoking, etc. So, in general, it is advised to follow a disciplined healthy lifestyle that includes balanced diet plans, moderate exercise, no stress and proper sleep.
The author has provided several tips which could go a long way in strengthening our immunity. In fact, without enhancing our immunity system, we cannot protect our body from the infections and other lifestyle disorders such as Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Skin-disease etc.
The author has enlisted several herbs/green vegetables for the restoration of immunity but in the same line, there are a few herbs such as Ginger, Tulasi and Guduchi which are equally helpful in enhancing our immunity.
The entire information provided by the author is very informative.
The author has clearly specified the uneven lifestyle and haphazard eating habits leading to lower immunity levels. As you all know, on Ugadi, the new year in some parts of India, we eat the jaggery along with neem leaves after taking elder's blessings. The tender leaves of neem is very good for health. It's bitterness will fight against diseases. Eat 4-5 tender leaves of neem at least two days in a week to build your immunity enabling you to fight against disease-causing germs. It is a good source of anti-oxidant.
Immunity fights illness for the betterment of our body. I always take hot water with lemon + honey drops first thing in the morning. This will cleanse the body early in the morning. Honey and lemon increase your appetite.
This is a very relevant article in the current times of Covidpandemic. As virus infections do not have effective medicines generally the body has to fight and defeat the virus by its own immunity systems. A person with good immunity is able to recover easily without much damage and suffering.
Specific vaccines are effective to prevent infection from a specific virus. But there is any number of virus floating around for which there is no effective vaccine. The body fights by developing its own immunity systems. Hence there is an imperative need for developing good immunity for individuals.
In traditional India, healthy lifestyle food itself was medicine. Every item used for food preparation were having medicinal properties. The modern nutraceuticals are developed from this Indian concept.
The author has given a brief list of such common day to day items used at home as food but is good for developing immunity. Of course, that is not an exhaustive list. It has missed mentioning at least two very important items -ginger and lemon- for example. These two along with Cinnamon, Honey and Holy basil are often quoted in social media posts for developing immunity in the present circumstances.
Nice article, especially in this corona period when the entire world is fighting with a virus. Immunity power would be the best weapon to defeat this virus. The article explains the immune system and also gives many home remedies to improve immunity. There are many medicines that are available but the effect of these home remedies will be long term.
When a virus enters a human body our immune system will automatically activate and recognize the form of the virus and then start making antibodies to fight the virus. This automated process of making Antibodies is totally dependent on our immune system.
After reading articles I got to know much more food items which will help me to boost my immune power.
If you contact any person these days, they come with huge suggestions and tips as to how to maintain good immunity, what to eat, what to get rid of etc. During the Deepavali, our parents and relatives used to prepare Deepavali Lehiyam or Chawanprash type material in which 14 Ayurvedic herbs are added and that would keep our immunity system in good tandem for many months. Some of the items used to mix in the Lehiyem are Kanda Thippili, Arisi Thippili, val milugu, sittharathai, Kadukai, Elakai, lavangam, pattai and many more. All these are added to Til oil and made a paste.
The author has provided several tips which could go a long way in strengthening our immunity. In fact, without enhancing our immunity system, we cannot protect our body from the infections and other lifestyle disorders such as Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Skin-disease etc.
The author has enlisted several herbs/green vegetables for the restoration of immunity but in the same line, there are a few herbs such as Ginger, Tulasi and Guduchi which are equally helpful in enhancing our immunity.
The entire information provided by the author is very informative.