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Regularly exposed to various elements, your body is always at risk of catching infections and developing life-threatening conditions. What helps keep the body safe and protected is its natural defenses called the Immune System. What is it and how does it operate? More importantly, what are the ways you can help it function like a well-oiled machine? Read on to get to know more about the body’s natural defense system.
Getting to Know Your Immune System
In recent times, the immune system has become one of the buzzwords you would encounter from news, social media content and online articles. This is largely due to the fact that it’s one of the ways you can avoid catching infections such as the dreaded COVID-19. But how exactly does the body’s immune system keep you safe?
Simply put: the immune system is a vast and complex network of cells and proteins that perform the following tasks:
- To spot and identify potential threats or foreign elements that have entered the body
- To fight and eliminate disease-causing germs such as bacteria, viruses and parasites
- To prevent disease-causing changes in the body such as cancer cells
Immune Response: How it Works
Your immune system is always on the lookout for elements that the body does not recognize as its own. These elements are called antigens (or antibody generators). Once antigens have been spotted, the immune system sets off a series of processes. In a nutshell, the B cells (or B lymphocytes) of the immune system produce antibodies that mark the invading elements. Once marked, phagocytes and lymphocytes spring into action and kill these disease-causing antigens.
Wonder why adults are quicker to recover from infections and illnesses compared to kids? It’s because the immune system learns and adapts over time. If the immune system encounters a disease-causing germ for the first time, it studies the germ first and stores information about it before elimination. If it comes in contact with the same germ later on, the immune system would now have information on it, and would be able to eliminate faster.
Boosting Your Immune Health with Proper Nutrition
As previously mentioned, your immune system works hard to keep you protected every day. To keep its processes and its response to threat optimized, support through healthy habits such as getting enough rest and sleep, and exercising or staying active every day can help. But one of the best ways you can give your immune health a boost is through proper nutrition.
Make sure to include whole plant foods such as brown rice, almonds, fruits like oranges and strawberries, and vegetables like broccoli in your daily diet as these are rich in antioxidants that can help with fighting cell-damaging free radicals. Found in a variety of plant and animal foods, nutrients that are studied to be significant to the growth and performance of immune cells include vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, selenium, iron, and protein.
Aside from eating right, proper nutrition includes eating enough. This means regularly meeting the recommended daily amount of immune-boosting nutrients. While a daily balanced diet is the best source of nutrition, supplements can help make sure you reach the ideal nutritional quota.
An Extra Step to Protect Your Immune System
With proper diet and exercise, supplements such as Sodium Ascorbate + Zinc (ImmunPro®) can help with keeping your immune system healthy. With vitamin C and zinc, Sodium Ascorbate + Zinc (ImmunPro®) helps increase resistance against infections and illnesses. It also has a ZincPlus Tablet Technology that ensures a stabilized combination and absorption of vitamin C and zinc. You may also click here to purchase ImmunPro® online.
Read more health features and tips on how to boost the immune system and more.
IF SYMPTOMS PERSIST, CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR.
ASC Reference No. U167P110521IS
