Dealing with traffic every day? Struggling with work-life balance? Looking for some me time? There are plenty of sources of stress in our everyday lives. However, being stressed out affects your body in different ways, not just mentally. This is especially true in the case of chronic stress, which can weaken the body’s immune response.
Together with lifestyle factors like poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and insufficient sleep, chronic stress weakens your immune system. This may leave you prone to illness and disease. Read on to learn more about the factors that affect your immunity, and how lifestyle changes and taking vitamin/mineral supplements such as (Sodium Ascorbate + Zinc) ImmunPro can help.
Stress
Stress is something people deal with daily. Work-related stress, relationship stress, stress at home, and financial stress are just some types of stress that everyone struggles with.
Studies have found that being constantly stressed out creates similar health outcomes to people dealing with chronic inflammation1. This happens because stress causes your body to release cortisol, a hormone that helps boost immunity in the short term. But, if you’re chronically stressed, the body gets used to having higher cortisol levels, which can weaken the immune system2.
Chronic stress also decreases the number of white blood cells or leukocytes found in the body. White blood cells fight off bacteria and other pathogens that may make you sick. Having fewer white blood cells can have a detrimental effect on your immune response.
Inadequate Sleep
Aside from being stressed out, inadequate sleep is another factor that affects your immune system.
When you sleep, your body produces proteins called cytokines, which can help fight off infection. However, with less sleep, your body might not be able to produce enough cytokines. This may leave you more prone to infections3.
Chronic sleep deprivation also increases a person’s stress levels. This may further weaken one’s immune system.
Eating Habits
Your eating habits are important to maintaining a strong immune system. Primarily, you need to consume enough calories that provide energy to your body and immune system.
To function properly, you also need the right minerals and vitamins for your immune system. This includes vitamins A, D, E, and selenium. Vitamin C, also known as sodium ascorbate, and zinc also play important roles in immune response. You can get these nutrients by eating healthy foods, or by taking vitamin/mineral supplements, such as (Sodium Ascorbate + Zinc) ImmunPro.
If both of these needs are not met, your immune system will be unable to function at its best.This can leave you more vulnerable to illness or disease.
Lack of Exercise
If you’re not getting enough exercise, or have what’s called a sedentary lifestyle, your immune system can suffer.
Exercise promotes the circulation of immune cells throughout the body which help protect it from infection4. Exercise also helps flush out bacteria from your lungs and airways, raises your body temperature, which helps the body fight off infection, and slows down the release of stress hormones5.
Giving your immune system a boost
Now that we’ve talked about the things that can weaken your immune system, let’s talk about how to boost your immune system.
By making some changes to your lifestyle, you can improve not just your immunity but also your overall health. Here are some of the changes6 that you can do:
- Exercise regularly. Thirty minutes to one hour of daily exercise not only strengthens your immune system, it also helps reduce the risk of heart-related diseases, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
- Get enough sleep. Sleep is an important part of the body’s health. We need sleep to recover from the previous day’s activities, and to provide us with energy for the following day. It is important to get at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.
- Reduce stress. As much as possible, try to reduce the amount of stress you experience to a minimum. Some ways to reduce stress include deep breathing, meditation, yoga and exercise. Talking to a mental health professional can also help with chronic stress.
- Eat healthy. The food that you eat has a direct impact on your overall health, including your immune system. By eating food that are rich in nutrients, you’re supporting and strengthening your immune function.
Vitamin C + Zinc through ZincPlus® Technology
While eating healthy provides you with the nutrients that your body needs, taking supplements can help ensure that you’re filling in all the gaps in your nutrition. When it comes to minerals and vitamins for your immune system, the two important ones to consider are vitamin C and zinc.
Vitamin C or sodium ascorbate, and zinc have been found to improve immune function. They can help reduce the risk for serious diseases such as pneumonia, malaria, and even diarrheal diseases7. It is best to get these nutrients from the food you eat. But since eating healthily is sometimes difficult, vitamin/mineral supplements such as (Sodium Ascorbate + Zinc) ImmunPro, can help fill the gaps.
Not all vitamin C and zinc vitamin/mineral supplements are created equal. Vitamin C and zinc are usually difficult to combine in a single vitamin/mineral supplement. To ensure efficient and stable combination, (Sodium Ascorbate + Zinc) ImmunPro is manufactured using ZincPlus® Technology, which ensures a stable combination of vitamin C and zinc to help you get the full dose and benefit of these nutrients with proper diet and exercise.
Key Takeaways
Taking a vitamin C and zinc supplement can also help fill in the gaps in your nutrition and give you boosted and dual defense for your immune system.
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