When it comes to your family, today the biggest concern is protecting their immunity. There are some simple shifts in your family’s daily routine that can help you protect your family and keep them healthy and ready to live life to the fullest. Here are five simple ways to boost the immunity of the family members.
- Eating a healthy diet: To develop an excellent immune system, a healthy and well-balanced diet is essential. Choose a wide variety of foods and include all types of fruits and vegetables. The simple way to look at it is to eat a rainbow of colours and textures from crunchy and juicy to starchy and wholesome. Antioxidants rich foods are excellent for the immune system. Kids should consume at least 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables in a day. Moreover, a healthy and nutritious diet is only beneficial if it is absorbed well. So, a healthy gut is of prime importance. Include probiotics such as curd daily in your diet to get the maximum benefit from the food you eat.
- Keep moving: Regular exercise or movement contributes to health in several ways. Exercise helps the immune system naturally, improving our circulation our metabolism and boosting our ability heal. Ensure that you and your family make physical activity a part of your daily lives. Add an element of fun and bonding by going for a nature walk, a jog or cycle ride together. Swimming, and playing outdoor games or any activity that gets the heart pumping are a great choice. As a parent, you can plan for exercise or a small weekly trek because kids learn what they see. Some indoor activities when going out is not possible are an on-the-spot jogging, yoga, stretching, and an evening of dancing it out to your favourite tunes.
- Sleep: Sleep is crucial to immune system function. Many people do not give importance to sleep not realising that it has a far-ranging impact on all our systems. However, for both children and adults, sleep and rest are among the most significant factors in strengthening the immune system. Not getting enough sleep can also disrupt hormonal function and reduce the body’s ability to fight off infections. As to the question how much sleep is anough? It depends upon the age and need. For example, newborn babies need more than 18 hours of sleep per night, and as we get older, the sleep time decreases.
- Manage Stress: There is a link between stress and the immune system. Individual stress or stress in the family has been shown to lower the number and effectiveness of natural infection-fighting cells. Stress is a part of life, and it is inevitable. What matters is the management of stress in kids as well as in adults. One way is to communicate, and encourage kids to share their stress at school and discuss how to tackle particular stresses within the family.
- Developing healthy habits: Avoid habits that suppress the immune system. The formation of healthy habits is crucial at an early age in life. Do you spend the weekend with family eating burgers, pizzas with some sugary beverages? Do you and your kids prefer to sit around the house rather than being active? Do you drink or smoke? You are the model for your child developing an unhealthy or healthy habits. All these little transgression add up to a weak immune system. Ensure that healthy habits are a part of your way of life, right from eating healthy, sleeping on time, exercising, and finding time to talk and laugh together as a family.
