HOW TO INCREASE YOUR BODY'S DEFENSES: 7 HABITS - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

Learning how to increase the defenses of your body is essential to lead a good quality of life, be productive and have a long life. Poor nutrition, infections, injuries, lack of water or stress can be threats that activate the immune system and this will produce a cost for which you will feel weakened and you will age more quickly.

Ideally, your defensive system reacts in a way that does not cause long-term damage and that can be achieved, although you will have to change certain habits with which you will learn to control the immune response (if you do not already have them).

This will mean that you will no longer be passive, but that you will have an active attitude that will allow you to raise your body's defenses and avoid excessive activation of your immune system.

What is the immune system for?

The immune / immune system is responsible for fighting disease-causing microorganisms and leading the recovery process. It can be said that he is the defender of your body.

It is not a question of a concrete structure, but of complex interactions that involve different organs, substances and structures; bone marrow, lymphatic organs, white blood cells, specialized cells…

There are many signs that indicate that the immune system is not working properly: lack of energy, allergic reactions, fatigue, slow wound healing, constant colds…

What influences the immune system?

There are several factors that can influence the defenses of our body:

-The endogenous (internal, of the body) include genetics, age (as comprising less defenses age), coping capacity (while a thing is fun for you, another can be stressful).

- Exogenous (external): environment (pollution), poor diet, social problems (family, loneliness, unemployment), habits, stressful events (loss of someone close, accident, loss of work).

Poor diet, social, environmental or habit factors are what you can learn to control so that they have the greatest benefit for your defenses.

Important habits to increase the body's defenses

I am going to name you the habits that I have investigated and that influence the improvement of your immune system, thus improving your defenses:

1-Breathing

3D illustration of Larynx Trachea Bronchi Part of Respiratory System.

Rapid, shallow bad breathing makes it more difficult to access the oxygen carried in the blood and causes anxiety and excess stress.

It can be said that there are three types of breathing:

1- Clavicular: it occurs with the elevation of the shoulders and clavicles and makes breathing difficult. It usually occurs in stressful situations or when there is respiratory deficiency.

2- Chest or thoracic respiration: it is the most normal and is produced by stress, although not extreme stress (as in the previous one). The thorax rises and not enough air enters the lungs, giving rise to too rapid breathing. To learn how to manage stress you can read this article.

The main problem with this breathing is that it is unconscious and you must be attentive to it in order to correct it.

Meditation or mindfulness can help you develop that awareness; they are all about psychological skills and, just like playing tennis, the more you practice the more you improve.

3- Abdominal breathing: when you breathe from the abdomen you will be more relaxed and your breathing will be deeper, which indicates to your immune system that there is no stress or anxiety.

In this breathing, the abdomen is almost completely in charge, although the thorax also rises a little. It is abdominal breathing that you have to learn to do.

Learn relaxation techniques here.

2-Nutrition

Although this seems like the simplest or most common sense habit, it is not that simple to put into practice.

Regarding nutrition, not only the type of food you eat is important, but the way you eat, the company, the schedules or the eating pattern. All of this has an effect on your immune system.

Quantity

The more food you eat in a single meal, the more effort your immune system has to do. The immune system of people who eat less but more times during the day has to do less effort.

Sometimes you may eat without hunger, for emotional reasons, or eat unhealthy foods.

Avoid eating too much, overeating can make you gain weight and damage the immune system. Obesity prevents the body's defenses from working properly and increases vulnerability to infection.

Feeding type

Some foods and vitamins have been shown to improve defenses:

• Garlic.
• Legumes, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
• Vitamin C (citrus and broccoli).
• Vitamin E.
• Vitamin A.
• Foods rich in Zinc.
• Foods rich in Selenium.
• Foods rich in carotenes.
• Omega-3 fatty acids.
• Plums: contain almost all the B complex vitamins.
• Prebiotics: garlic, onion, beet, kefir.

There are also some natural herbs, mushrooms and vegetables that improve the immune system: Echinacea, Ginseng, Ginger, Gingko Biloba, Turmeric, Ganoderma or Astragalus.

To prevent infections, it is advisable to reduce the consumption of flour, refined sugars, dairy products and meats as much as possible.

Other foods to complete a healthy diet: leek, raspberries, blueberries, pears, grapes, apples, tomato, eggplant, salmon, sardines, walnuts, almonds, orange, lemon, hazelnuts, broccoli, cabbage, watermelon, melon, carrot, olives.

Other tips:

• Chew until the bolus is almost liquid.
• Eat calmly, being aware of your sensations and enjoying the food.
• Eat only when you are hungry. Are you hungry to eat an apple?
• Try to eat at least once a day together.

3-Dream

Deep sleep stimulates the immune system, contrary to its deprivation. Read this article for some tips to learn how to sleep better.

The average adult needs between 7 and 8 hours of sleep, although there are people who may need 5 and 10 others.

To sleep better, exercise 2 hours before going to bed, avoid caffeine 5 hours before, and eliminate tobacco and alcohol from your diet.

4-Physical exercise (aerobic)

Data from many studies show that exercise reduces the chance of getting sick, with moderate exercise being better.

According to the research, to improve your defenses, endurance sports that involve moderate physical activity, such as swimming, cycling, skiing, jogging, hiking… These increase the number of antibodies if the exercise is adapted to your needs and is practiced frequently.

For example, an hour of cycling increases the ability of neutrophils (a component of white blood cells) to destroy bacteria, and jogging produces an increase in antibodies.

5-Stress

Negative stress produces an over-activation of the organism and in the long term it has very negative consequences for our body.

The stress hormone cortisol can increase the risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and in the long term it weakens the immune system.

It can turn off white blood cells or it can over-activate the immune system, increasing the chances of getting autoimmune diseases.

6-Relaxation / meditation

Some of the benefits of meditation are reducing stress and anxiety, decreasing the probability of heart attacks, improving blood pressure levels, reducing blood lactate, reducing muscle tension… Read more about the benefits of meditation here.

As for mindfulness, after just eight weeks of training, it strengthens the immune system. It also helps to cope with stress, obesity and improve self-esteem. Read more about mindfulness here.

7-Have a positive mindset

Studies have shown that people who undergo heart surgery are more likely to survive if they have a positive mental disposition.