Natural Health Journals

By Marc Courtiol

We have all been in situations where we were exposed to someone who had a cold, flu, or virus. If we came down with a similar illness a few days later, we knew who to blame (even if we did not know the sick individual on a personal level).

Have you ever been in a situation, however, where there were several of you who were exposed to a sick person, but you were the only one who wound up getting sick from the exposure? The reason that some people get sick while others do not is all about our immune system responses.

Keeping Illness at Bay

Many doctors believe that we can all do things to help boost the quality of our immune systems. The cells of our immune system can actually lose some of the protective effects that they naturally have when our bodies are constantly fighting off various illnesses. Poor health and dietary habits are believed to be direct contributors to the decline that so many people experience in their overall health.

To boost your immune system and optimize its function for the long term, you need to take charge of your lifestyle habits and find a healthy balance. At the top of your to-do list should be reducing the amount of stress in your life because it does the single most amount of harm to our immune systems.

The various chemicals that our bodies release when we are stressed do some serious damage to our overall health, both emotionally and physically. The physical ramifications, however, significantly impede the efforts of our immune system to fight off illness. Other lifestyle activities that directly impact your immune system include the following:

• Sleep – when we do not get a sufficient amount of sleep each night, the body simply is not able to repair cells the way it is supposed to. To make your immune system healthier, always get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.
• Alcohol – a little alcohol consumption is perfectly fine, but never drink to excess.
• Exercise – many people automatically think that more is better, but the majority of experts believe that moderate exercise (walking briskly for 30 minutes, three or four days per week) is the key to maintaining a healthy immune system.

Herbal Remedies

Green tea remains a popular choice of health care specialists for providing the body with a host of important nutritional benefits. To provide additional benefits for balancing your body internally, lemons or lemon juice are recommended. In addition, apple cider vinegar provides the body with the same type of benefits, and some natural health practitioners have been recommending it for years.

There are a variety of herbal remedies on the market that can be helpful for boosting the immune system of the body. When choosing these remedies, it is helpful to look for whole foods and fresh herbs, as these tend to provide the most powerful potency. Our bodies are also better able to absorb the nutritional value from these more wholesome foods, so your immune system will get a more beneficial boost.