9 Tips to Be More Resistant and Resilient against Illnesses

Stronger immunity to seasonal illnesses is the best natural defense you have for your body. It is characterized by your physical capability to resist any effect of any virus or bacteria that intends harm to one or more parts or functions of your body. The better the immunity, the healthier you are.

One good thing about your body’s natural defense system is that it doesn’t give up at once when you overload it with toxins. It starts giving out signals telling that it is tired and can blow up any time. Over a period of time and with constant negligence, it may be severely weakened- often with drastic results.

The converse is also true. The more you work on your fitness, the stronger it becomes and the more resilient it makes you against seasonal sickness. We recommend you follow a fitness-centric lifestyle, observe appropriate dietary practices, and stay away from stress to make yourself stronger and resilient to environmental changes. Built into a habit, it can offer multifold benefits for improved health.

Part 1: Ayurveda to the Rescue: The Healthiest Spices to Eat

Ayurveda offers you a safe and secure way to address several health issues. While there is no confirmed cure for the Coronavirus so far, it should be noted that this ages-old Indian medication system adopts a three-step process to treat a malady. This helps in a holistic and more comprehensive treatment so that the cause of the malady is eliminated along with its cause.

Ayurveda begins with an internal purification and by following a natural diet (away from non-veg and alcohol), herbal medicines, and proper assimilation of natural forces. It relies on a balance among vaat (movement of energy), pitta (metabolism), and kapha (body structure) - because we only fall ill when there is a misbalance among these three attributes.

With increasing age, these three elements have greater variance. One may thus check for the Ayurvedic herbs that one can use as everyday spices to have better health standards.

For example, those suffering from an excessive cold have an issue with the movement of energy (vaat) in their bodies. They should go for having ginger, pepper, and cloves in their food, especially in their breakfast. Regularly drinking a cup of tea made of these ingredients would help just as much.

Free guide: Please read this article to know how household spices can help you be stronger in the wake of seasonal illnesses.

Part 2: Boosting Immunity Naturally through a Healthier Lifestyle

Your body has a certain level of natural defense at all times. You may fall ill when they are lowered- and it would require you some work to bring them up to a certain level again. Besides, a healthy body and a healthy immune system go hand-in-hand. By strengthening your inner defenses, you may also stop several toxins and harmful elements from harming you.

Here are some easy ways to boost immunity naturally faster:

Get enough sleep

Taking proper rest and enough sleep helps the body manage stress. Sleep deprivation and stress can increase the cortisol hormone and prolonged elevation can drastically suppress immune function. If you are under stress, your sleep patterns are invariably affected and this lowers your resistance to illness.

Tip: SleepFoundation.Org categorically states that adults should have seven to nine hours of sleep every night. They have also put up a graph here stating the requisite number of hours people of different age groups should sleep every day.

Staying up all night adversely affects our immune system and reduces our capacity to fight the pathogens in our bodies. This can make you more susceptible to catching a virus. We recommend about 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night to help the body do some critical recovery and perform essential functions, including your immune system.

Include garlic and turmeric in your diet

Eating garlic regularly can do wonders for your health because it boosts the body's immune system and prevents heart disease. It is an antimicrobial agent and helps remove toxins from our bodies. It also gives a unique flavor to your food.

It is a good source of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) and C, besides selenium and manganese. These nutrients boost our body’s natural defenses by strengthening the nervous system and metabolism. They also power up the cell-building function to resist infections.

Turmeric gives curries a distinct flavor and has anti-inflammatory properties. Its extracts are known to play a role in preventing cancer, slowing Alzheimer’s, and alleviating arthritis pain. This indicates that turmeric can strengthen the immune system.

One tablespoon of turmeric contains 29 calories and .91 gm of protein. This is a crucial amount of energy to derive from just a tablespoon of spice, especially when you consider that the protein has gone entirely into cell building and regenerative process.

Green tea

Having a cup of tea in the morning or right before bed is relaxing. It is also not just a pleasant habit but also has a fruitful impact on the body. The best option for you is to have two cups of green tea every day to strengthen your body against potential viruses, infections, and sickness.

Did you know? Chamomile green tea is known to boost the immune system of the body and it also helps you de-stress yourself.

The best thing about Green tea is its variety in taste and nutritional benefits. That’s why it is considered one of the best drinks to boost the immune system naturally. Green and oolong teas are rich in antioxidants and can enhance your natural defenses against viruses and bacteria.

Physical activity for fitness

To boost your immune system, you need not turn into a full-on fitness fanatic. You can take a yoga class a few times a week and it can help your immune system stay in top shape. The world is switching to a contactless mode of meditation with more benefits and you might want to give it a try. All it would require is a smartphone, internet connectivity, and willingness to try the new normal.

Did you know? : Meditating or doing yoga every day can also reduce your chance of picking up an infection. Be sure to pick up a qualified yoga or Zen trainer for yourself.

You can use Activity Trackers or Fitness Bands to monitor your workout routine and contribute to your overall health in numerous ways. A fitter body has a smoothly functioning immune system and more strength against harmful pathogens, and this runs into a cycle to create motivation for working out.

Benefits of doing physical exercise every day

Here are some of the most obvious benefits of exercising every day, especially under a qualified trainer:

1. More agility and faster reflexes

2. Better immune system

3. Weight management

4. Proper blood sugar and blood pressure levels

5. Reduced risk of heart-related diseases

6. Stronger bones and muscles

7. Lesser risk of cholesterol

8. More confidence and better body language

Healthy breakfast

If you are wondering how you can strengthen your immune system with breakfast, you should know that eating just a single thing cannot make you magically insusceptible to any infection. You would need to consistently make vegetables, fruits and yogurt, nuts, and seeds a part of your daily diet.

These foods are loaded with proteins and vitamins to keep our immune system in top health. Vegetables such as cabbage, kale, and broccoli help support liver function and play a key role in the detoxification process of our bodies. Once our cells are cleaned up, their efficiency goes up.

More sunlight

Going out to have some sunlight is great because it provides you with vitamin D, the ultimate supercharger for the immune system. This vitamin is also responsible for setting up your body clock (and sleep patterns) and also helps your skin develop a natural shine.

Vitamin D also helps in the normal growth and development of our teeth and bones, besides improving our resistance against certain diseases. We can get sun-charged in just a few minutes in the summer season though it may take a few hours to get the same done in the winter season.

Say no to Smoking and Tobacco

Smoking weakens your respiratory system and undermines your body’s basic immune defenses, thus increasing the risk of bronchitis and pneumonia. It also leads to a build-up of tar in the lungs which is sticky and is difficult to get out.

A smoker's immune system constantly battles harmful chemicals and carcinogens. This causes it to collapse someday because it has already been trying its best to recover from infections without much success. Indulging in eating excess food and consuming alcohol too would lead you to the same road.

Eat seasonal fruits and vegetables

This must not come to you as a surprise that fruits and vegetables provide your body with the nutrients your immune system needs. They are the easiest to use sources of vitamins and proteins. They come across as an easy alternative to snacks and binge eating.

Consuming fresh fruit and vegetables improves your antibody response and helps your body protect its functions from harmful pathogens and infections. These foods also detoxify your colon and thus help in improving blood flow.

Good hygiene

Experts consistently agree that maintaining good hygiene always keeps your health on the sunny side. Even something as simple as washing hands too can prevent the spread of infection. You can wash with soap for 15-20 seconds or use a good-quality hand sanitizer.

BONUS: Immunity Boosting Foods for COVID-19

There are several easy immunity boosters for COVID-19 or coronavirus, though they are not the end-all solutions. You can include vegetables like spinach, sweet potatoes, carrot, leafy greens, tomato, asparagus, and broccoli to boost your body’s resistance. You can also go ahead with fruits that have more Vitamin C like oranges and lemon, besides mango and strawberries.

Then there are seeds like chia and quinoa that you can eat in snacks and breakfast. They are rich in antioxidants and can help you have a better health quotient. We recommend checking with a qualified dietitian to get a more insightful approach to develop better health and fitness standards.

What is herd immunity?

Herd immunity refers to a phase in which the majority of the population is immune to a certain disease or epidemic. It can be ascertained when the threshold of vaccination is reached. It should be noted that vaccines boost our immune systems to create safeguarding measures that resist and possibly neutralize infections. These defenses are made of proteins and are called antibodies.

Preparing for it requires a lot of time and volunteers, and is often not considered ethical for the same reasons. With regards to the pandemic called COVID-19, the situation is grim and patients are reported to have different levels of natural defenses developed against the epidemic in a few days or weeks.

Can we reach herd immunity against COVID-19 through natural infections?

It is not possible to reach herd immunity against the epidemic through infections. However, with an increase in the number of vaccines being offered to people worldwide, there is a high chance that we may soon be able to get rid of the coronavirus in a few years.

Healthcare experts advise that you work on strengthening your inner strength (both physical and mental) to stay resilient against stress and its aftereffects. It may not be easy to fight infections and stay safe if you are not convinced yourself.

The key is to follow the directives of your local government and maintain social distancing. Even more important is to start working on your dietary and fitness practices, and live a healthier life- and to inculcate these good habits in your friends and family too.