How To Boost Your Immune System During Cold Season
Despite all of the advances in original medicine, we remain fundamentally vulnerable to the “common cold” since it mutates so rapidly—the cold you caught last month or last year is genetically different from the cold you may catch in the future.
Especially if you live in a city or use crowded public transportation from time to time, you should limit your chances of getting a cold. The best strategy is prevention: if someone coughs in your direction, move to another area of the subway car or bus. More importantly, keep your immune system operating at its peak level of performance. Here’s how:
Regular vitamin C consumption – Take 500mg to 1000mg of vitamin C per day, unless your physician says otherwise. Vitamin C caplets are extremely cheap and can be purchased at any pharmacy, convenience store, or supermarket. Vitamin C will preserve your immune system humming along and supports a variety of immune system functions.
Helpful hydration – Dehydration can increase your susceptibility to colds and other illnesses. Create sure you are drinking enough water each day and limit your consumption of coffee, alcohol, and other beverages which may act as diuretics (booze and coffee cause you to urinate more often, eventually leading to dehydration if you are not careful.)
Echinacea – The herbal supplement Echinacea has a long and storied heritage of use by Native Americans and other indigenous populations around the world. Echinacea herb is believed to support strong immune system functioning. You can catch the herbal supplement in standardized extract, caplet form at “vitamin stores” such as GNC and Vitamin Shoppe. Do look for the standardized version so you know exactly how much active ingredient you are taking.
Favorable sleep – You need 6 to 8 hours of sleep per night. A consistent sleep deficit may wear down your immune system defenses and leave you more vulnerable to catching the cold.
Limiting stress levels – If you are constantly stressed, your body will excrete cortisol and other “stress hormones” which can impact your health. Also, constant stress or anxiety can wear down your immune system response. Make active efforts to limit the amount of stress you encounter at work, while commuting, and when interacting with friends and family. Also take time out each day, or at least every week, to meditate, listen to quiet music, take a hot bath, or engage in another peaceful activity that will lower your stress level.
If you do catch a wintry for some reason, vitamin C consumption and Echinacea may decrease the duration of cold symptoms. Be sure to get enough sleep when you have a chilly because your body needs “time” to ratchet up the immune system response. Here’s to your health!
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Filed under gnc by on Feb 4th, 2012. 