Originally published on meticpress.com
Having an imbalanced immune system can make simple activities feel like enormous challenges. As captain Jako Hall explains, your immune system’s health is crucial in preventing and fighting illness and infection.
If you find that you get sick often or that things in your life are a struggle, it could be that your immune system is off-balance.
Luckily, you can correct this and get things right again. Here are three easy and practical ways to balance your immune system and maintain an active immune response.
Way #1. Eat Well
Your immune system runs on fuel just like the rest of your body, and that fuel comes from the food you eat. If you want a healthy immune system, you need to regularly provide it with quality nourishment.
A well-balanced diet should include plenty of micronutrients such as zinc, folic acid, copper, iron and selenium, as well as vitamins B6, C, E and A. These can be found abundantly in fruits and vegetables, which should be a staple of your diet.
If you find that your body is short on some of these micronutrients — either because you don’t like the foods that contain them or for other reasons — you can take daily supplements to help your body.
The old saying goes, “you get out of something that you put in.” That’s especially true with your immune system.
Way #2. Sleep Well
Sleep seems like a very inactive process, but it’s actually quite the opposite. While you close your eyes and rest for the night, parts of your body are hard at work.
Your body creates crucial molecules for fighting infection, for example, when you sleep. Since this is an essential process in balancing your immune system, it’s clear that getting a good night’s rest is crucial.
Plenty of studies have proven that people who don’t sleep enough or get quality sleep get sick more often. This is because their immune system is not as equipped to fight off things such as viruses when they come in contact with them.
A great step to improving your immune system is to ensure you’re getting enough quality sleep every night. If you’re not, figure out the issue and fix it. This could be everything from a poor sleeping environment to not unwinding before hopping into bed.
Way #3. Be Peaceful
Jako Hall says one of the most straightforward yet most challenging ways to balance your immune system is to reduce stress. All people experience stress in some fashion. The key is minimising chronic stress, which is long-lasting and happens frequently.
Your body amazingly responds to chronic stress through what’s known as a stress response. The process helps you deal with situations in your life. At the same time, though, it’s been proven to suppress the immune system.
In other words, if you minimise your stress, you will be ensuring your immune system is operating at total capacity. This isn’t so easy for everyone, though.
Figure out what helps you relax, whether exercising, praying, meditation, deep breathing, or any other activity. Then, be purposeful about integrating that activity into your daily routine to help reduce chronic stress.
About Jako Hall
Jako Hall is an experienced mariner and a former naval officer known for his strong work ethic and ability to lead and motivate crews. He pursued Maritime Studies at the University of Technology in Cape Town and has received the highest level of training in Navigation and Seamanship during his years in the Navy. After 13 distinguished years in the Navy, Jako joined the superyacht industry, following his passion for creating unique and exclusive experiences for high-net-worth clients. He’s managed multi-million euro projects that required attention to detail and efficiency and has a proven track record of operating at sea in remote and unsupported areas.