The state of your immune system determines how effectively you will be able to fight infection whenever it arises. Nobody ever plans to be sick but hey your body and immune cells need to be ready especially in the face of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There are many factors that may affect immunity such as your age, nutrition, stress, among other factors. While some of these factors are non-modifiable, others are indeed modifiable, meaning you can truly do something about it.
AGE: this is a non-modifiable factor. You cannot freeze your age nor turn back the hands of time. As we grow older,we tend to lose our abilities to mount a full immune response to infection. This is the process called immunosenescence. So it is advised that older population be more careful on how they expose themselves to possible sources of infection.
NUTRITION: the kind of food that you eat most definitely will determine the readiness of your immune cell army. Balanced diet with appropriate portion of carbohydrates, proteins, healthy fat is essential. Eating fresh brightly colored fruits and vegetables filled with micronutrients, vitamins and antioxidants. Consult your nutritionist if you will like to know more about immune-boosting food, or perharps to develop a meal plan to put a system in place that ensures you have healthy food on your table at meal times.
SUPPLEMENTS: these may be necessary as a compliment to nutrition, especially considering how hard it may be to always cook and eat healthy.
However, I do not routinely recommend the use of multivitamins and supplements as a replacement for eating healthy nutrition. Remember, it is a supplement; only meant to supplement your dietary intake. If you decide to go ahead with immune-boosting supplements, an easy way to start is to take a daily multivitamin, depending on your age group and gender, we have specific multivitamins for children, for women, men, senior women, senior men.
Apart from a multivitamin, there are also specific vitamins and minerals that play important roles in normal immune function of the body. For example: vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc. Therefore adding a bit of these immune boosters to your daily multivitamin may provide an extra layer of protection. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin that is involved in the maintenance of normal immune functions. Vitamin C is commonly found in citrus fruits and some vegetables.
Vitamin C supplements
Preliminary studies showed that Vitamin C is highly taken up by immune cells and enhances their function in cases of infection. Vitamin C may also protect the normal tissues from reactive oxygen species, which are dangerous chemicals produced in the process of fighting infection. Till date, there is limited and controversial human clinical evidence to support the use of vitamin C in the prevention of cold or other respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19. Some expert recommend 200 mg of Vitamin C per day for general health. Please note that taking vitamin C in high doses more than 2g/day is not recommended due to other potential side effects.
STRESS: learning how to manage your stress level is very important to building your immunity. When the body is under stress, there is a higher level of stress hormone cortisol in the body. This makes the body more prone to succumbing to infections. Thus, stress management strategies such as meditation, exercise, adequate sleep, relaxation, recreation, building healthy close relationships, music therapy, become quite relevant. Find time to de-stress, unwind and regenerate your body.
To wrap up, ensure you eat healthy, supplement your diet with multivitamins if needed, avoid stress or better still find a way of managing your stress. Do these and make your immune cells pumped and ready to fight possible infections you may encounter. Above all, avoid all exposure to germs by following the public health orders in your jurisdictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 disease. Stay safe everyone.
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