How to Boost Your Immune System Naturally: Follow These Steps to Fight Off Illness All Year Long

Closer shares some simple ways to help you naturally boost your immune system.

Eat Right: According to the folks at NYC’s Columbia University Irving Medical Center, eating a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables every day is a great way to strengthen your immunity. “The micronutrients they provide ensure you aren’t missing key nutritional components, like zinc and vitamin A, that your immune system needs to fight off invading microbes.”

Drink Up: “Water is important because our blood and lymph, which have immune cells in them, need water in order to circulate throughout our bodies,” says Dr. Chen Lin, an allergy and immunology specialist at Houston Methodist Hospital. So, it’s important to hydrate. Even if you’re not sweating, you’re constantly losing water through your breath or while expending waste, such as urine.

Get Moving: “Getting regular physical activity is a good way to strengthen your immune system and help fight off illnesses,” stresses UCLA Health. “Exercise can help boost immunity in several ways. Most important, it increases the circulation of immune cells. Those cells are your body’s first line of defense for fighting off invading germs and bacteria. The more you have circulating, the better able you are to evade infection.”

Sleep Tight: “Lack of sleep can affect your immune system,” explains the Mayo Clinic. “Studies show that people who don’t get quality sleep or enough sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus, such as a common cold virus. Lack of sleep can also affect how fast you recover if you do get sick.” So try to aim for six to eight hours of shut-eye a night.

Reduce Stress: “Stress, whether psychological or physiological, compromises the immune system,” say the experts at Stamford Health. “There are many ways to reduce stress throughout the day, including meditation, drinking herbal tea instead of coffee or other caffeinated beverages, walking, massage and warm baths.”