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Immune System Boosting Fruit

The Top 5 Immune-Strengthening Tips that You’re Missing

Precision Orthopedics By Precision
September 3, 2020 | Sports-Related Injuries

The immune system is a wonderfully complex protection barrier built from individual cells and proteins that defend us from potentially harmful microorganisms. This invisible wall not only prevents us from getting sick (most of the time) but also keeps a record of all those nasty germs it has defeated in the past; so that should those germs ever return for round two, they’re quickly disarmed and defeated, quite possibly without you even noticing.

However, like any protection barrier; maintenance and fortification work is regularly needed to keep everything running smoothly inside the fortress that is your body.

There are, quite literally, hundreds of ways to strengthen your immune system. Though, we found it necessary to put together the following five simple tips to keep you in tip-top shape.

Get a Move On

We don’t mean having to dedicate hours per day to intense levels of cardiovascular and resistance training exercise. But, numerous studies have shown that simple, regular, moderate exercise can do wonders for the immune system. Wonders such as: reduce overall inflammation, increase blood circulation, reduce overall stress levels, increase the release of mood-improving endorphins, reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, and increase the regeneration of the exact cells that build your epic immune system.

Get out for a brisk walk with the dog, take the kids to the park, play a round of golf, or pump up your tires, dust off the saddle and take your trusty bicycle for a spin.

All you need is around 30 minutes per day. Your dog will be happy too!

Extinguish the Fire

Smoking is not cool. Though, you probably don’t need us to tell you that. What we can tell you is that cigarette smoke contains up to 7,000 chemicals and chemical compounds harmful to your health. Smoking has been shown to not only disrupt the balance of the immune system but also weaken it entirely. We could go on to list the other plentiful negative aspects of smoking, but we would like to keep this article shorter than a college textbook. Instead, if you are a smoker, talk to your doctor about advice on quitting. Or, check out one of the numerous free apps out there to help kick the habit.

Studies have shown that the first attempts can be a real challenge, hang in there, stay consistent; you’re much stronger than you think.

Catch Some Zs

You guessed it; sleep more. Yes, we’re giving you the excuse to hit snooze on your alarm (or to not set one entirely). More than a third of Americans are lacking regular, sufficient sleep. In one study of 164 adults between the ages of 18 and 55, those with less than 6 hours of sleep per night were more susceptible to the common cold than those who managed 6+ hours per night.

Not only do you allow your immune system to repair and regenerate when sleeping, but you also give it a longer opportunity to fight those silent battles against harmful infections when at rest.

Aim to reduce screen time an hour before sleep, or at least enable the ‘blue light filter’ on your device (blue light radiated from screens has been shown to affect the body’s release of the sleep hormone melatonin). Other tips that could aide your sleep include: sleeping in a darker room, maintaining a regular bed-time pattern, reading a book in bed, or asking your partner to tell you about that uneventful time they had to wait for a train to arrive for that thing in that place back in the day when blah, blah, blah…

Do your absolute best to reach 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep per night; easier said than done, we know. However, once you make sleep a priority, all other priorities can be taken care of with better concentration and less sick time off!

You’re Sweet Enough

At least we think so. Therefore, why do you need to get any sweeter? Added refined sugars are directly linked to increased chances of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes; and, as a result, reduced immune-system function. It is recommended that a maximum of only 5% or your daily Calories (5 tsp or 25gs) comes from refined sugar. For a point of reference, an average can of soda contains 39g of refined sugar. Gross.

Our pro tip: when grocery shopping, if added sugar finds its way into the first 5 ingredients on the label, it does not find its way into your shopping cart.

Taste the Rainbow

Multi-colored fruit and veg should be found in everyone’s diet. Why? Well, first of all, fresh fruit and vegetables are loaded with the filling, nutritious fiber that feeds the healthy bacteria located in your gut. This gut bacteria (microbiome) is responsible for fighting off harmful pathogens aiming to invade your body via the digestive tract.

Second, fruit and vegetables are packed with free-radical-fighting, cell-protecting antioxidants that fend off numerous health conditions such as Alzheimer’s, and certain cancers.

Third, by filling your plate with more fresh fruit and vegetables, one is less likely to snack on unhealthy alternatives that lead to the numerous health conditions listed above. Shoot for a minimum of 5 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables per day; though, the more the merrier!

Resources

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-boost-your-immune-system

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-boost-immune-health#2.-Eat-more-whole-plant-foods

https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-strengthen-immunity

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/50th-anniversary/pdfs/fs_smoking_overall_health_508.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0215-enough-sleep.html