Boosting Immunity: Health Tips for the Flu Season

As flu season approaches, it’s crucial to prioritize your health and strengthen your immune system. NMPC is committed to supporting your well-being by sharing practical tips and resources to help you stay strong and resilient during this time. Let’s work together to stay healthy and prepared! 

What can you do to boost your immune system? 

The idea of boosting your immunity is enticing, but the ability to do so has proved elusive for several reasons. The immune system is precisely that — a system, not a single entity. To function well, it requires balance and harmony. There is still much that researchers don’t know about the intricacies and interconnectedness of the immune response. For now, there are no scientifically proven direct links between lifestyle and enhanced immune function. 

But that doesn’t mean the effects of lifestyle on the immune system aren’t intriguing and shouldn’t be studied. Researchers are exploring the effects of diet, exercise, age, psychological stress, and other factors on the immune response, both in animals and in humans. In the meantime, general healthy-living strategies make sense since they likely help immune function and they come with other proven health benefits. 

Healthy ways to strengthen your immune system. 

Your first line of defense is to choose a healthy lifestyle. Following general good-health guidelines is the single best step you can take toward naturally keeping your immune system working properly. Every part of your body, including your immune system, functions better when protected from environmental assaults and bolstered by healthy-living strategies such as these: 

• Don’t smoke. 

• Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables. 

• Exercise regularly. 

• Maintain a healthy weight. 

• If you drink alcohol, drink only in moderation. 

• Get adequate sleep. 

• Take steps to avoid infection, such as washing your hands frequently and cooking meats thoroughly. 

• Try to minimize stress. 

• Keep current with all recommended vaccines. Vaccines prime your immune system to fight off infections before they take hold in your body.