Immune System
From WikiBody - The Owner's Manual For Your Body
Your immune system stands between you and a barrage of pathogens constantly invading your body. This complex network of structures and processes is crucial to your health, and there are a number of ways to keep your immune system operating at optimum capacity.
[edit] Keeping Your Immune System in Shape
Get Enough Sleep
The average adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep every day. But when you fail to get an adequate amount of rest, even for a single night, your body decreases the number of infection-fighting cells that it produces.
Not only does sleep deprivation hamper your immune system's ability to defend against external threats, but lack of sleep also lessens your immune system's ability to kill rapidly dividing cells that may become cancerous.
Eat Right
Nutrient rich, anti-oxidant laden, minimally processed foods are what your immune system needs to remain at full strength. In particular, high protein foods, and foods with vitamins A, C, and E are associated with proper immune system functioning.
On the other hand, highly refined foods and foods high in trans-fats, have been shown to suppress immunity. This is likely because processed foods cause inflammation, which the immune system expends resources quelling. If your body is wasting time fighting off dietary-related inflammation, it has fewer available resources for defending against infectious invaders.
Exercise-- But Not Too Much
Add increased immunity to the list of reasons to workout more often. That's because research has illustrated a link between regular physical activity and decreased illness.
The reason appears to be that, during exercise, microbe hunting cells circulate through te body more frequently, and therefore have more opportunities to seek and destroy hostile invaders. One study found that participants who exercised at 75 percent of their maximum ability for 40 minutes everyday cut their chance of infection by half.
But be careful not to overdo it. Another study found that individuals who exercised intensely for more than 90 minutes were at greater risk of infection for up to 72 hours following the workout.
Have Sex
Ever since researchers discovered antibody immunoglobin A, staying healthy has never been so enjoyable. That's because your body produces more of this key infection-fighting substance when you engage in sexual activity at least once a week. If you don't have a partner to help give your antibodies a boost, don't worry; your immune system can't tell the difference between a duet and a solo.
De-Stress
If you're overwhelmed by stress, so is your immune system.
Stress triggers your body's flight-or-fight response, which pushes your immune system into overdrive. In the short-term, this causes a boost to your immunity, which is great if the stressful event is immediate, like a bite wound or scraped knee.
But chronic stress is often the result of less tangible threats like grief or financial difficulty. Unfortunately, your body doesn't know the difference between physical danger and mental anguish. As a result, your immune system stays revved for long periods of time.
After a while, your immune system depletes its resources and is less able to fight infection. Worse still, it continues to respond to the stress, which leaves it no time to recover.
In other words, you need to relax. If you need some help sloughing off your anxiety, check out the Relaxation Exercises page for ways to calm down.
Stop Smoking
If you need another reason to kick the habit, here's one: Smoking depletes your body's infection-fighting resources. While your immune system is busy repairing the damage caused by nicotine and tobacco, it is too distracted to marshal adequate forces to fight against bacteria and viruses.
Watch What You Drink
Alcohol is a well-known immunity depressant. So if you want to stay healthy without being a teetotaler, make red wine your drink of choice.
Researchers found that, while red wine does not help your immunity, it does not hurt it either. This is quite different from the effects of other alcoholic beverages, which have been shown to lower white blood cell count, a key indicator of how healthy one's immune system is.
