A healthy lifestyle offers many benefits, including helping to prevent heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other chronic diseases. Another important benefit is that healthy routines enhance your immunity. The immune system is the body’s way of protecting itself from infection and disease; it fights everything from cold and flu viruses to serious conditions such as cancer.
Our immune systems are complex and influenced by many factors. Vaccines build immunity against specific diseases. Some additional ways you can strengthen your immune system are eating well, being physically active, maintaining a healthy weight, getting enough sleep, not smoking, and avoiding excessive alcohol use.
1. Eat Well
Eating well provides nutrients that support immunity. Eating well means eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, and fat–free or low–fat milk and dairy products. It also means limiting saturated fats, cholesterol, salt, and added sugars.
An eating plan that helps manage your weight includes a variety of healthy foods. Add an array of colors to your plate and think of it as eating the rainbow.
Dark, leafy greens, oranges, and tomatoes—even fresh herbs—are loaded with vitamins, fiber, and minerals. Adding frozen peppers, broccoli, or onions to stews and omelets gives them a quick and convenient boost of color and nutrients.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025, a healthy eating plan:
- Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products
- Includes a variety of protein foods such as seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), soy products, nuts, and seeds.
- Is low in added sugars, sodium, saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol.
- Stays within your daily calorie needs
- Get free nutrition resources and recipes for healthy dinners on a budget at thewellnesscoalition.org/nutrition
2. Get Active
Regular physical activity is one of the most important things people can do to improve their health. Moving more and sitting less have tremendous benefits for everyone, regardless of age, sex, race, ethnicity, or current fitness level.
Regular physical activity can help you feel better, sleep better, and reduce stress, all of which have an effect on immunity. Along with eating well, it can also help you maintain a healthy weight.
Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a day for immediate and long-term benefits. A single bout of moderate to vigorous physical activity provides immediate benefits for your health, including:
- Improved sleep quality
- Reduced feelings of anxiety
- Reduced blood pressure
Regular physical activity provides important health benefits for chronic disease prevention. Long-term benefits include:
- Reduced risks of developing dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease) and reduced risk of depression
- Lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2diabetes
- Lower risk of eight cancers: bladder, breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, lung, and stomach
- Reduced risk of weight gain
- Improved bone health
- Reduced risks of falls
3. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more in adults, is linked to poor immunity. Obesity may also lower vaccine effectiveness for COVID-19, flu, hepatitis B, and tetanus.
Safe ways to maintain a healthy weight include eating healthy foods, getting good sleep, and regular physical activity.
We can help you create healthy habits to lose 5-7% of your weight — that’s only 10 to 14 pounds for a person weighing 200 pounds.
Take a short quiz to see if this program is a good fit for you at bit.ly/CYL2TWC.
4. Get Enough Good Sleep
Sleep loss can also harm your immune system and lead to a variety of issues. Both the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society recommend that adults ages 18–60 years sleep at least 7 hours each night to promote health.
Good sleep habits (sometimes referred to as “sleep hygiene”) can help you get a good night’s sleep. Some habits that can improve your sleep health include:
- Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning, including on weekends
- Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, relaxing, and at a comfortable temperature
- Remove electronic devices, such as TVs, computers, and smartphones, from the bedroom
- Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bed
- Get exercise. Being physically active during the day can help you fall asleep more easily at night.
5. Quit Smoking
Smoking can make it harder to fight diseases like COVID-19 and flu. Smoking increases the risk for immune system problems, including arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis.
Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to develop heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. Estimates show smoking increases the risk:
- For coronary heart disease by 2 to 4 times
- For stroke by 2 to 4 times
- Of men developing lung cancer by 25 times
- Of women developing lung cancer by 25.7 times
- Smoking causes diminished overall health, increased absenteeism from work, and increased healthcare utilization and cost.
Get free resources to quit tobacco for good and live a healthier life at thewellnesscoalition.org/tobacco.
6. Avoid Too Much Alcohol
Alcohol use can weaken the immune system and increase your risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and more. There are some people who should not drink any alcohol, including those who are:
- Younger than age 21
- Pregnant or may be pregnant
- Driving, planning to drive, or participating in other activities requiring skill, coordination, and alertness
- Taking certain prescription or over-the-counter medications that can interact with alcohol
- Suffering from certain medical condition
- Recovering from alcoholism or are unable to control the amount they drink
The Wellness Coalition works tirelessly to improve the health of River Region residents. Please help us increase our reach by sharing this information. You can find FREE resources for a healthy lifestyle at thewellnesscoalition.org.