During the early days of COVID-19’s rage, health experts have determined that individuals with weak immune systems were highly vulnerable to the deadly virus compared with healthy persons. These immunocompromised individuals are particularly at higher risks of the disease due to their weakened immune systems.
Then, as now, the consensus is that keeping oneself healthy is a critical safety net against COVID-19. This is especially the case since individuals with healthy immune systems who tested positive for the disease survived, while those with weak immunity had lower chances of survival.
But, how do you beef up your body’s immune defenses to give it a better fighting chance against the fatal disease? Some answers lie in living a healthy lifestyle.
Here are five healthy lifestyle techniques that could give you the protection you need versus COVID-19:
Eating healthy food
Pandemic or not, maintaining a healthy diet is just what the doctor ordered. They say that we partake daily, so it only makes sense to eat healthy food each day to strengthen our physical condition and our immune system.
Fortunately, there are plenty of healthy lifestyle food recipes and healthy food options available in the market. In case there’s a shortage of supply of your favorite vegan or vegetarian diet ingredients, you can grow them in your home through a backyard garden or even inside your house with a technique called hydroponics.
Besides vegetables, you should also have plenty of fruits, fish, whole grains, and lean meat. Be sure to also enjoy non-fat milk and poultry, as well as beans and nuts.
Sleep regularly and well
Sleep is a critical aspect of maintaining every person’s strong immune system. Those who have irregular sleeping patterns or who don’t sleep enough each day are known to have a weakened immune system, making them susceptible to common illnesses and deadly ones such as COVID-19.
You can easily fix this by sticking to a regular sleeping schedule, preferably continuous, for around seven to eight hours each day. Getting plenty of sleep regularly will help your body revitalize itself and make the immune system strong enough to ward off different illnesses.
Be physically active
There are many individuals these days who live a sedentary lifestyle, which means they spend most of their day sitting or lying. They also hardly do any physical activity, which makes their body weak and their immune system.
The best way to address this is by engaging in different physical activities and keeping a regular schedule. And before you think wrongly that you need to always go to the gym or buy expensive fitness equipment, you should pause right now.
Being physically fit includes doing activities that are as simple as jogging in place, lifting makeshift weights, and doing simple household chores or home improvement projects. In short, you only need to get up from your chair or couch and move.
The idea is to work out your muscles, limbs, and heart (through cardio exercises) for a few hours each day to maintain vigorous blood circulation and a strong physique.
Do meditation, de-stressing, and other mindfulness techniques
Stress can be a highly damaging element, particularly concerning your immune system. Too much stress with little or no relief could greatly cause your immune system to take a quick and deep dive, thus compromising your health and safety, specifically from the novel coronavirus disease.
You need to counter stress by having daily meditation inside your home. You should also do some de-stressing by watching your favorite movie or Netflix show, getting a relaxing massage from your loved one, lighting up scented candles, or putting some essential oils into a diffuser.
Finally, it would help to maintain a positive mindset, help other people, and do similar mindfulness methods to relieve your mind and emotion of stress and anxiety.
These techniques may not seem that much at face value, but they are actually proven effective in strengthening and maintaining a person’s immune system. Besides, they’re perfectly easy to do, so there shouldn’t be any big reason why you can’t do them.
Vitamins and health supplements are okay; alcohol, tobacco, and illegal substances are not
Healthy living means that you should likewise stay away from toxic substances that could wreak havoc on your immunity, such as alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs. Aside from a weakened immune system, they could also lead to other equally serious and damaging effects, so it’s best to stay away from them completely.
On the other hand, vitamins and health supplements are perfectly okay, especially if your doctor recommends them to you. These products are widely available, so getting your hands on them should be easy.
Just follow these tips, and you’ll be on your way to a strong immune system to help you defend against COVID-19’s deadly grip.
