5 practical ways to improve immunity

Eat enough high-nutrient-dense foods, maintain a stable sleep rhythm, control chronic low-level inflammation, do light exercise without consumption, and stop emotional internal consumption in a timely manner.

Don’t believe it. When I was rotating in the nutrition department, I would meet more than a dozen people a week who came for consultation with a large bag of imported vitamins and lactoferrin. Most of them got colds and allergies when the seasons changed, and they wanted to "buff" with supplements. The results showed that the serum immune indicators did not increase at all. When asked about daily diet, I could not eat green leafy vegetables three times a week, and every meal was takeout with high oil and sugar. The supplements could not even make up for the daily gap, so how could I have the spare energy to improve immunity? There has been controversy in the industry about how to eat: vegetarian groups emphasize that plant-based diets have better anti-inflammatory effects, while fitness groups insist on sufficient animal protein to support the synthesis of immune cells. In fact, for ordinary people, there is no need to take sides. As long as you eat enough high-quality protein (whether it is eggs, tofu, fish, shrimp, beef), two handfuls of dark green or red and yellow vegetables every day, eat shellfish and nuts two or three times a week to supplement zinc and selenium, and avoid one cup of high-sugar milk tea and trans-fatty acid processed snacks every day, it will be much more effective than eating hundreds of yuan in supplements.

Many people have no problem eating, but they are still the first to get infected when the flu season comes. The problem mostly comes from sleeping. I used to have a friend who was an Internet operator. He deliberately limited his sleep time to 8 hours in order to maintain his health. However, he went to bed at 3 a.m. and went to bed at 11 noon every day. After two months, he still felt tired at every turn. When he checked his cortisol level, it was completely out of order. His immunity was so low that he had recurring hives. There are now two schools of thought regarding work and rest: the health-preserving party insists that "early to bed and early to rise are good for good health", while office workers who have reversed day and night say that "as long as you sleep for 8 hours, you will be fine." In fact, both statements are correct - the core is not what time you go to bed, but whether your sleep rhythm is stable and unstable, and whether the duration of deep sleep is enough. If you work the night shift for a long time and maintain the routine of going to bed at 5 a.m. and waking up at 1 p.m. every day, and the duration of deep sleep can account for more than 20% of the total sleep, your immunity will not be worse than that of people who go to bed early and get up early. On the contrary, forcing yourself to change your work schedule, lying in bed for two or three hours and being unable to sleep, will hinder your immunity.

There is also an invisible immunity killer that most people have not noticed, which is low-level chronic inflammation. It sounds quite academic, but to put it bluntly, it means that your body has been "smoldering": chronic rhinitis and pharyngitis that have not been cured for a long time, metabolic inflammation caused by eating high-oil and high-sugar foods every day, and even intestinal inflammation caused by long-term constipation all fall into this category. Immune cells are busy extinguishing these small fires every day. When they encounter foreign enemies such as influenza viruses and herpes viruses, they have no energy to fight them. I had chronic pharyngitis for more than half a year, and I always thought it was a minor problem and I didn’t need to worry about it. As a result, I would catch a cold once every half month on average during that period. Later, I replaced the iced milk tea I drank every day with warm snow pear water, and rinsed my mouth with light salt water after meals. After the pharyngitis was cured, I didn’t catch a cold for most of the year. It really worked better than anything else.

When it comes to improving immunity, many people’s first reaction is to exercise. However, if you choose the wrong exercise, it will backfire on your immunity. I once had a colleague who ran 10 kilometers around the park every day after get off work to prevent the flu. After running for half a month, his fever reached 39 degrees. The doctor said that it was the "immune window period" caused by excessive exercise. In the few hours to three days after high-intensity exercise, immune cells will be in a temporary low-activity state, making it easier for viruses to take advantage of the situation. There are even more controversies about exercise: some people say that high-intensity iron training can build muscle and improve immunity, while others say that light exercise such as Baduanjin and walking can maintain health. In fact, for ordinary people, the judgment standard is very simple: are you refreshed after exercise, or are you so tired that you can’t get up the next day? As long as it is the former, whether it is 30 minutes of jogging or aerobics three times a week, or 20 minutes of walking after meals every day, or playing 10 minutes of Baduanjin, it will all be useful. There is no need to force yourself to keep up with other people's exercise intensity, and there is no need to torment yourself.

The last method sounds the most "virtuous", but almost all the immunologists I have contacted will repeatedly emphasize to the patients: they must stop the emotional exhaustion in time. When you are anxious, sulky, or suppressing your emotions every day, your body's cortisol level will continue to rise, directly inhibiting the activity of immune cells. It is no wonder that your immunity does not collapse over time. An aunt came to us for consultation before. Her husband was sick and hospitalized. She was anxious for three months and had herpes zoster twice in a row. It was a typical emotion that broke down her immunity. In fact, you really don’t have to force yourself to be an “emotionally stable adult”. When something bad happens, you allow yourself to curse a few words and squat on the side of the road to cry for half an hour. It is much more effective than holding back and telling yourself “I want to be optimistic.” When your emotions are gone, internal friction is reduced, and your immunity will naturally increase.

All in all, improving immunity is really not something that requires you to spend a lot of money or put in a lot of effort. Essentially, it just follows your body, don't mess with it, and it is more effective than any sky-high-priced supplements or home remedies. After all, your body is much smarter than you think. If you treat it well, it will naturally tell you the truth.