Learn some of the things that we don’t know could ruin our health. Check out the article we found over at The Science Of Eating.
Staying healthy isn’t just about using hand sanitizer and avoiding coughing co-workers, as many daily habits can impact how well your body fends off illness. Most people’s immune systems are quite effective most of the time, but unhealthy practices can decrease the body’s ability to fight off illness. Check out these foods & habits that aren’t doing your immune system any favors.
Foods That Sabotage The Immune System
Your immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together defending against germs and ‘foreign’ invaders like bacteria, microbes, viruses, toxins and parasites. Around 90% of your immune system is stored in the lining of your gut, so if your gut isn’t healthy, neither is your immune system.
Processed Foods
Junk food contains significant amounts of chemicals, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, rancid fats, and other substances that are far from being ‘real food’. While foods designed in a lab, and created in a factory may look, smell, and taste great, they are actually very harmful when eaten regularly. When these foods enter the body, they are identified by the body as foreign invaders. If ingested on a regular basis, your body is forced to produce an antibody response to the ‘invasion’ which not only weakens your immune system and increases inflammation, but over time can lead to serious autoimmune diseases.
Genetically Modified Foods
You may not be aware, but other countries are far ahead of the United States when it comes to research and regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s). GMO crops have been banned in over 30 countries, though they continue to expand here in the U.S. While our government and the FDA continue to support Monsanto and efforts to control the food supply, other countries are conducting research with startling findings. One decade-long such study in Norway, showed that rats, mice, pigs and salmon fed a diet of GM grain suffered negative alterations to their immune systems, as well as many other ailments.
Habits That Harm The Immune System
Lacking Sleep
Not getting enough sleep has a powerful effect on immunity. Poor sleep is associated with a lower immune system function and reduced numbers of killer cells that fight germs. The University of Chicago researchers found that men who only slept four hours a night for one week produced half the amount of flu-fighting antibodies in their blood compared with those who slept 7½ to 8½ hours. Most adults need between 7 and 9 hours of uninterrupted rest every night. If you’re tired when you wake up in the morning, you’re not getting enough sleep, or not enough quality sleep.
Chronic Stress
Daily stress takes a toll on many aspects of your health, including immunity, and there is compelling scientific evidence that this kind of stress (as opposed to once in awhile kind from a bad day) causes a measurable decline in the immune system’s ability to fight disease. Periods of extreme stress can result in a lower natural killer cell count, sluggish killer T cells, and diminished activity that can amplify the immune response. Find healthy stress relievers that can take the edge off, whether it’s a long run on the treadmill, a relaxing yoga class, meditation, reading, or baking for fun. The important thing is to unwind and recover.
Next article: Habits To Stop Now If You Want To Be Healthy
Read full article: WAYS YOU’RE RUINING YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
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