To be honest, there's no debating that healthy habits like getting enough sleep, eating healthily, and maintaining a regulated lifestyle will help you avoid viruses and germs. What you may not know is that numerous factors in our daily lives impair our bodies' ability to fight ourselves. But what exactly are they? By reading the article below, you can avoid these bad practices. #ThinkWithNiche
Keeping our immune systems robust is now a top priority for everyone. As the epidemic spreads, it's more critical than ever to look after one's health. However, while there is no treatment for the virus, you can use the vaccination in conjunction with immunity-building to stay healthy. No one can deny the fact that smoking and excessive alcohol use harm the immune system. In addition to this, we have several everyday behaviors that are causing our immunity to erode.
Following our discussion on how to boost immunity, it's time to turn our attention to poor behaviors that are doing quite the opposite.
1. Sedentary Lifestyle
The covid pandemic has forced many of us to work from home, where we spend most of our time sitting, which harms our metabolism and general health. Sedentary behavior can significantly reduce the number of calories you burn each day because of the inactivity it causes. Sitting all day and not getting any exercise might reduce your body's capacity to fight against illness and injury. Inactivity can harm your immune system, promote inflammation, and put you at risk for a variety of ailments. Regardless of age, gender, or other unhealthy habits like smoking or drinking, an inactive lifestyle is associated with an increased risk of early mortality.
Adding 30 minutes of daily exercise can make a difference. But overtraining syndrome, which occurs when a person engages in a too-hard activity, may be detrimental to the body and increase infection risk.
2. Eating Too Little For Strict Diet
While diet is highly important to one's health, a strict diet can also be harmful. Diet is sometimes misunderstood to mean taking less calories and nutrients; however, this is not the case. High-calorie diets are not only unhealthy, but they can also affect your immune system. Many people believe that decreasing calories will help them lose weight. Interestingly, severely reducing your caloric intake may actually slow down your metabolism. which has a negative impact on your immune system. To lose weight, one must establish a calorie deficit, yet consuming too few calories might have the opposite effect. As a result, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy when you're hungry.
3. Less Protein Intake
Make sure you're receiving enough protein in your diet to lose weight in a healthy way. Protein keeps you fuller for longer while also speeding up how quickly your body burns calories. Thermic impact of food refers to the rise in metabolism that occurs after digestion, which improves the performance of your immune system. Protein, as a result, has a much larger thermogenic effect than fat or carbohydrates. Protein alone boosts your metabolism by 20-30%, whilst carbohydrates and fat only improve it by 3% or less. And the better your metabolism works, the stronger your immune system becomes.
4. Not Getting Enough Sleep
Getting adequate sleep is critical to general well-being and productivity. Less sleep can reduce your metabolic rate and make you more likely to acquire weight, which is not good for your immune system at all. The metabolic syndrome is a collection of diseases that raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and depression and damages the immune system cells when sleep deprivation becomes chronically prevalent. Adequate sleep aids the body's recuperation and preparation for the battle against pathogens, germs, viruses, and other stressors. Without adequate sleep, your body is unable to fight disease as effectively. So, aim for 7-8 hours of sleep each night to maintain your immune system functioning at its best.
5. Eating Too Many Refined Carbs
Carbohydrates that have been refined differ greatly from those that are complex carbs. Taking too many refined carbs, result in your blood sugar rising, and your body expends less energy breaking them down. Eating a lot of refined carbohydrates, on the other hand, reduces your immune system since whole grains make your body work harder and assist you in fighting diseases. Complex carbs are mostly found in vegetables, so, try to intake more complex carbs rather than refined sugary carbs.
6. High Sugar Intake
Consumption of some sweet goods in excess as a result of the sugar rush may lead to food addiction and cravings. However, studies show that those who eat sugary meals on a regular basis have higher levels of an inflammatory marker. Sugary drinks and snacks weaken our immune system's ability to fight infection. Blood cells require vitamin C to fight viruses, and because glucose and vitamin C have similar molecular structures, glucose competes with vitamin C in our immune cells when we consume too much sugar. These are foods with a high glycemic index. Sugary drinks and snacks, as well as white flour products like bread and pasta, are included on this list. The immune response can be harmed by brief spurts of elevated blood sugar.
7. Too Much Salt Intake
Like sugar, salt has another impact to weaken our immune system. Many of us have the habit to grab the saltshaker and seasoning everything as though it is an automatic reaction. Taking too much salt, on the other hand, raises blood pressure, increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, and weakens the immune system. Several studies have shown that reducing salt in your diet can extend a year to your life.
8. Not Drinking Enough Water
Every bodily function, as well as a healthy immune system, needs water. Our immune system can't function properly unless we're properly hydrated. Our immune system and renal function may be harmed if we drink less water. By flushing harmful poisons from the system, water helps our bodies battle illness. It also affects our ability to focus as well as our ability to sleep well. It is recommended that you take 3 to 4 liters of water per day to stay healthy and hydrated.
9. Frequent Use Of Supplements
We get all of the nutrients we need from a well-balanced diet. Supplementation should only be done if all other options have failed once a severe deficit has been identified. Many people, however, take dietary supplements on a regular basis. Excessive use of supplements may result in negative side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps, intestinal problems, tiredness, and maybe slight nerve damage. So, why use artificial supplements when natural foods already provide enough nutrition?