With the pandemic, you would have often heard of washing hands frequently, observing utmost hygiene, and maintaining social distance. However, most people don’t talk about strengthening the immune system to fight infections and keep them at bay.

You may be travelling to your office daily for work. Or you may be a work-from-home parent looking after young kids. Whether or not you are a healthcare front-liner, enhancing the immune system, particularly in times like these, is very crucial!

While there is no magic pill that “can give you wings,” there is good news, you can adopt natural ways to take your immunity to the next level. Here are some evidence-based tips that can help reinforce your immune response to overpower majority of infections and diseases.

Maintain A Healthy Diet

Your diet has a crucial role in upholding a healthy immune system for you. Good, regular nourishment is needed to stay on top of the fighting force. Studies have shown that nutrition has a huge impact on the immune system of an individual. It is often observed that malnourished people, particularly those who live in poverty, are more susceptible to infectious diseases. Frequent exposure to microbes, combined with an inadequate dietary intake, makes the matter worse. So, maintaining a balanced and healthy diet is of paramount importance if you are to sustain your immune system.

Preventive medicine and wellness expert Dr. Sandr Darlin believes in food’s power to boost the immune system and recommends whole, unprocessed foods to enhance overall health. According to Dr. Darling, you should add these immunity boosters to your diet plan.

Garlic: The active compound in garlic known as Allicin is renowned for its immunity-boosting properties. You can eat raw or roasted garlic and can also add it to your meals.

Prebiotics: Tough gut bacteria found in probiotics can protect us against infections.

Vitamin C-rich foods: Vitamin C is shown to boost immunity. A study found that adults who consumed kiwi regularly over a month saw a decrease in upper respiratory infection symptoms. You can find vitamin C in oranges, broccoli, and cantaloupe too.

Antioxidants: Fruits and vegetables, including carrots, berries, and spinach, rich in antioxidants, shield you from oxidative stress, translating into a robust immune system.

Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep is closely related to good immunity. Inadequate sleep is associated with a greater vulnerability to illness. A study found that 164 healthy individuals who slept less than six hours every night were more susceptible to acquire cold than those who slept six or more hours. It has been established that adults should sleep for at least seven or more hours every night, and teens should get eight to ten hours of sleep while toddlers and infants up to 14 hours.

Mostly, disturbed sleep results due to excessive screen as blue light from screens is found to upset your circadian rhythm, as well as your natural sleep cycle. You should limit screen time for at least an hour before bedtime. Other measures to induce sleep include creating a dark environment at night, utilizing a sleep mask, waking up early, and exercising regularly.

Use Nutritional Supplements Wisely

People most often quickly turn to supplements that claim to prevent or treat COVID-19. However, factually there are no such assertions proven by evidence. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that there’s no scientific data supporting the use of a supplement that does that.

Nonetheless, some studies report the following supplements are known to enhance your body’s immune response.

· Vitamin C – Taking vitamin C has been found to reduce the severity of colds.

· Vitamin D – If you are Vitamin D deficient, you may be more vulnerable to getting sick, so supplementing may help. But it wouldn’t add extra benefit if you have adequate vitamin D in your body.

· Zinc – it has been found that taking 75 mg of zinc by people with common cold every day leads to early eradication of cold.

Other supplements of elderberry, echinacea, and garlic help your immune system fight infections better.

While these supplements can help curb infections, they would not directly treat them. Also, not all supplements are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Hence, you should make sure to use only the third-party tested and authorized supplements.

Manage Stress

Stress and anxiety have an essential role in your immune health. Chronic stress is associated with uprising problems in your health, including promoting inflammation and imbalances in immune function.

A study has shown that this is particularly true in children, in whom long-term mental stress can overpower the immune response. Thereby, while anxiety is inevitable in life, it is essential to manage it efficiently. If you pay attention to the positive things in life, it will pave the way for gratefulness and minimize the negative impact of stress on your overall immune health.

You can also exercise certain practices to mitigate stress. These include yoga, meditation, regular exercise, and other mindfulness practices. If you think your anxiety is overpowering you, seek professional help online or in-person from a licensed counselor or therapist.

Adopt A Healthy Lifestyle

Following healthy lifestyle habits is fundamental to a healthy body and mind. Over time, wisely chosen day to day practices can help bring significant unanticipated impact in your life. It can add to your productivity and inculcate a sense of fulfillment in life.

While meditating, practicing yoga, and exercising can help alleviate stress, the key is consistency. Regularly following these practices eventually make them your lifestyle, and you can witness the benefits of these by yourself.

Although all the measures mentioned above are fruitful and can help you enhance your immune system, what’s best is to talk to a doctor about which of these measures would most suit your needs and health condition.