Fight off Coronavirus by boosting your immunity: 7 ways to follow

As the deadly coronavirus situation intensifies across the world affecting lakhs of people in a span of fewer than two months, you might be wondering: how can I keep myself healthy? and will a pill protect me from getting sick? While doctors and scientists are yet to find any remedy or vaccination for the same, one line of thought that has always been going around is building your immunity to protect themselves against the virus. According to experts boosting your immune system may also give you an edge in staying healthy. While building immunity is not a one day process but we can surely keep ourselves healthy by following some smart steps and leading a healthy lifestyle, thereby strengthening our immunity in the process. Read below ways to Fight off Coronavirus by boosting your immunity.

1) Eating healthy balanced Diet

One of the best ways to stay healthy is to eat a nutritious diet, as the immune system relies on a steady supply of nutrients to function normally. Not a tough one right? The nutrients you get from food — in particular, plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices — are essential to keeping your immune system functioning properly. And we can get all that in our home-cooked Indian food.

Research shows that spices like clove, turmeric, garlic ginger, cinnamon, and cumin contain antiviral and antimicrobial properties that prevent the growth of common foodborne pathogens. Furthermore, the zinc, folate, iron, selenium, copper, and vitamins A, C, E, B6, and B12 you get from the food like lentils, spinach fruits, etc to support the normal functioning of your immune system.

2) Keep Stress Under Control

It is understandable that you might begin to feel increasing stress as the events surrounding the coronavirus outbreak unfold.

Stress is one of the main reasons for a negative impact on health as there is a strong link between your immune health and your mental health. When we are stressed out, the immune system's ability to fight off antigens is reduced and we become more susceptible to infections. The effectiveness of the immune system can be suppressed by the stress hormone corticosteroid. This is a time where we can really be creative and come up with positive coping skills.

• Few easy ways to keep stress under control are:

• Keep a positive attitude.

• Accepting that there are events that are beyond your control.

• Be assertive instead of aggressive. ...

• Practicing and learning relaxation techniques doing meditation, yoga, or tai-chi for stress management

• Exercise regularly.

• Eat healthy, well-balanced meals.

3) Get Plenty of Good Quality Sleep

Adequate sleep is critical for a healthy immune response as the body heals and regenerates itself.

Sleep is a time when your body produces and distributes key immune cells that helps to fight against diseases.

When you're sleep-deprived, your body produces stress hormones like cortisol to keep you awake and alert, which can suppress your immune system, making it unable to defend your body against harmful invaders and making you more prone to get sick.

4) Exercise Regularly

A workout is a powerful way to boost the immune system. In today’s tough times, while it might be not the best advice to go outside and exercise, but who stops you from doing some 15 minutes push-ups and some form of cardio in your living room. Studies show that at least 15 minutes of any heart-pumping exercise, in any form boosts not just immunity but also your mood and energy.

5 )When It Comes to Alcohol, Practice Moderation

Drinking high amounts of alcohol is associated with a range of negative health effects, including lowered immune function. Excessive alcohol consumption can affect the immune system as your body is too busy trying to detoxify your system. This can weaken your body’s ability to fight infection and slow down your recovery time. As a result, people who drink high amounts of alcohol face a greater likelihood of pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, alcoholic liver disease. So limit your alcohol intake and stay healthy.

6) Kick that Butt

Like alcohol, smoking can also affect immune health. In particular, the chemicals released by cigarette smoke — carbon monoxide, nicotine, nitrogen oxides, and cadmium — can interfere with the growth and function of immune cells. Smoking also worsens viral and bacterial infections- especially those of the lungs, like pneumonia, flu, and tuberculosis. Quitting smoking is important for your health and provides numerous benefits.

7) Keep Symptoms of Chronic Conditions Under Control

Chronic conditions like asthma, heart disease, and diabetes can affect the immune system and increase the risk of infections.

For example, when people with type 2 diabetes don’t manage their blood sugar properly, this can create a chronic, low-grade inflammatory response that weakens the body’s defense system.

From exercise to balanced nutrition, there are lots of natural ways to make sure you're fighting fit.

So here you go, keep these few steps in mind, build strong immunity.