When people want to boost their immune system, the first thing they will do is jump to 100 different vitamins and eat heaps of oranges! While these are valid things to do, there are many other components to boosting your immune system! Stay Active Moving your body and keeping it strong is a great way to stay healthy. By exercising at a moderate intensity a few times per week, plus moving at a low intensity each day (getting your steps in), you will be boosting your immune system and helping your body to fight off infection. So ensure that you are getting those steps in, and if you can’t get to the gym then do a home workout! I have plenty of home training options. Sleep Are you prioritizing getting a good night's sleep each night? Sleep can help to strengthen your immune response, as it supports the cells of your immune system. This helps the cells to fight off germs, as well as remember them to fight them off even faster in the future! Mental Health Long term stress can be detrimental to our health, which includes our immune system. If the body thinks that it is under stress for a long period of time, it will start to sacrifice other areas of health to use more energy on being in ‘fight or flight’ mode. Fight or flight is when our body is constantly on edge due to thinking that it needs to run away fast from danger! If you feel like you are constantly stressed or on edge, practice some techniques to help you feel calmer like meditation or yoga. My blog tips for dealing with anxiety delves deeper into this! Vitamins And Minerals – Vitamin C: Vitamin C stimulates the production of white blood cells, which are essential for a healthy immune system! Get Vit C from broccoli, brussels sprouts, peppers, spinach, potatoes, and tomatoes. Vitamin A: This vitamin is known to be a great anti-inflammatory, which in turn greatly benefits the immune system. Get Vit A from eggs, fortified cereals, fortified milks, orange and yellow plants. Vitamin D: Vitamin D is a hormone-like vitamin that is responsible for many functions in the body. Vitamin D assists with calcium absorption and is vital for bone health, it also is important for immune function, muscle strength, reducing the risk of heart disease, and some cancers. Get Vit D from fatty fish, fortified milk products and juices, cheese and egg yolks. Supplements A multi-vitamin is always a sure way to increase all of these vitamins and other essential minerals. If you feel as though you are not getting enough fruits and vegetables in your diet, then look into a multi. Practice Good Hygiene To avoid germs and catching a virus in the first place, ensure that you are always keeping up good hygiene standards. This includes washing your hands with soap regularly, coughing and sneezing into your elbow and avoiding touching your face as much as possible. There are many ways that you can keep a good immune system, and the main goal is to just live a healthy and active lifestyle to keep your body overall ready to fight anything that comes it's way!