Five Tips For Boosting Your Immune System
Staying healthy is a topic that’s on everyone’s minds lately, and it’s no surprise. With the pandemic nearing the eight-month mark, people are looking for ways to keep their bodies safe and functioning at their full potential. One way to do this is to boost your immune system. The main role of the immune system is to protect our bodies from infectious organisms. When it’s functioning at its best, we can avoid getting sick — but when it’s not quite at its peak, it leaves us susceptible.
In today’s blog from Flex Chiropractic of Lexington, we want to discuss five easy ways that you can boost your immune system — and you might be surprised to learn that regular chiropractic care is on that list. Most people don’t think about chiropractic care and the immune system being correlated, but it’s true. In fact, there are many unexpected benefits of receiving chiropractic care. Keep reading to learn more about it and get plenty of valuable tips on other ways to keep yourself healthy.
Re-evaluate Your Diet
The world is starting to realize that food may offer many more benefits besides supplying energy to our bodies. In fact, many would now say that eating the right foods can have a significant impact on overall health. This statement sounds like a huge generality, but when taken to heart, you might find out how true it really is. Beyond the basic carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, food contains a plethora of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and health-promoting compounds that we are only just beginning to understand.
If you want to give your immune system a boost, you start by making a few simple diet changes. Focus on eating more whole, unprocessed foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. Enjoy a wide variety of these foods in as many different colors as possible. Incorporate more immune-boosting ingredients like garlic and onions into your diet, and read up on ways to enhance gut health through eating more pre- and probiotics.
Make Lifestyle Changes
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t exercise as much as you should and you probably don’t get enough quality sleep each night. Both of these habits are key for staying healthy and warrant being made a priority.
There never seems to be enough hours in a day to get everything done that you need to without trying to squeeze in time for exercise. However, your health depends on it. Not only do people who regularly exercise tend to get sick less often, but they also have a reduced incidence of other types of illness and disease.
Sometimes it seems like the only way to get everything done is to stay up late until everything is finished. Unfortunately, this isn’t a good plan. Your body requires a certain amount of quality sleep each night, and without it, it can become more prone to illness If you try to go to bed early but just can’t get to sleep because your mind is racing, try creating a bedtime ritual at least an hour before you go to bed to get your body ready for sleep. You can take a bath, drink a cup of tea, or listen to some calming music. Choose whatever relaxes you best.
Minimize Stress
Cortisol is what is known as the stress hormone. If you’re under prolonged periods of stress (and who isn’t?) your body will produce an excess amount of cortisol. Over time, elevated cortisol levels are thought to have a variety of negative consequences including raising blood sugar, contributing to weight gain, and reducing your body’s ability to fight off infection.
That’s why it’s so important to reduce stress if you want to boost your immune system. If you’re dealing with a particularly stressful situation at work or home, find ways that you can cope with the stress in a healthy way. Take a walk, stop to meditate, or confide in a friend. All of these simple things can help reduce stress and help you stay healthy.
Wash Your Hands
By now, everyone is probably tired of washing their hands and applying sanitizer, but it really is one of the best ways to prevent infection. When you don’t wash your hands, your body is constantly having to deal with the bacteria and viruses it picks up from everything you are handling throughout the day. Eventually, your body may lose the battle. Stay safe, prevent the spread of germs, and keep washing your hands.
Visit Your Chiropractor
While the above suggestions may not have been a surprise to most, chances are you probably didn’t think about chiropractic care as a factor in boosting your immune system. To understand how it works, we have to believe that all of the systems in our body are connected. A problem in one area may affect another. This is particularly true when it comes to your immune system and your nervous system. Both are interconnected. The brain can use nerve cells to communicate directly with the immune system and trigger an immune response.
Chiropractic care can boost your immune system by removing any interference in the nervous system that may prevent your body from functioning optimally. When your nervous system is functioning at its best, that means the rest of your body can follow suit.
Schedule an Appointment with Flex Chiropractic and Stay Healthy!
Considering how important our immune systems are, it makes sense that we would want to do everything we can to give them a boost. Fortunately, most immune-boosting recommendations are pretty easy to follow through with — eat a healthy and balanced diet, get plenty of exercise, and get regular chiropractic care.
If you’re looking for a chiropractor in the Lexington area, contact Flex Chiropractic to make an appointment. We not only offer chiropractic adjustments, but we provide a wide array of other holistic health services such as ultrasound, cold laser therapy, and electrical stimulation. Visit our services page or give us a call to schedule an appointment. Here’s to your health!
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