Winter season: we all want to keep our immune system strong and supplements are advertised everywhere but do they truly help to strengthen our immune system?
A lot has been said about boosting the immune system, especially in the COVID era, but unless we know how our immune system works, we will not understand whether supplements are useful to fight disease.
How does our immune system work?
The immune system has to be balanced to prevent bacteria, viruses, and parasites from causing infection, but at the same time, it shouldn’t become hyperactive because it could cause autoinflammatory and autoimmune disorders –such as allergies and diabetes.
How can vitamins help?
Products advertised as immunity boosters are usually either vitamins or probiotics. Vitamins help prevent disease only in case you are malnourished, if you are healthy they won’t do much. Probiotics, on the other hand, do help keep our gut system healthy, but research is still being conducted to discover up to what extent specific these organisms are involved in fighting off certain diseases and how to effectively use probiotics to improve health.
How to stay healthy
If pills cannot help our immune system, how do we stay healthy during the cold season? Here are some things you can actually do:
Wash your hands
You are more likely to catch germs by touching your face after touching a contaminated surface. Our best weapon against pathogens is to regularly wash our hands.
Maintain a healthy routine
A balanced diet, regular exercise, and sleeping well will help your immune system stay strong.
Vaccines
Getting vaccinated helps the immune system recognize pathogens and prepare a defense.
The fact is that apart from staying healthy, cleaning your hands, and getting vaccinated, we cannot do much to boost our immune system, and while vitamins and probiotics won’t harm you, they won’t do much either, then you are better off spending that money on something that you really enjoy!
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