Vitamin N: Nature Immunity Tips For Your Thriving Immune System
With spring arriving, it’s the perfect time to explore all the immune system-boosting benefits of Mother Nature. Whether you live in a rural town or a bustling urban center, we all have access to a bit of peaceful nature. And spending time in nature can spark some serious benefits for your natural immunity, as the following nature immunity tips reveal.
Climb through a forest to reach new heights of immune strength.
There are numerous natural supplements that you can take to boost your immune system, such as BioPro-Plus 500. But one of the most plentiful supplements available is literally all around you: Nature itself.
Numerous clinical studies, such as a 2011 report in the International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology, and a 2018 study in the Oncotarget journal, found that being outdoors in a forest increases your body's human natural killer (NK) cells and NK cell activity. The researchers found that it boosted everything from cell response to even anti-cancer activity.
One team of researchers found improvements if people went to a forest just once a month, but in the case of this nature immunity tip, more is always better! Whether it’s a gentle walk or a sweaty sprint, explore a forest and strengthen your immune system.
Outdoor air is on average 500% cleaner than indoor air.
You are what you breathe, in a sense. Fresh air provides your lungs and body with more oxygen, which your immune system needs for proper functioning. Meanwhile, toxic or dirty air can provoke negative immune responses and stress your overall body, which does your immunity no favors.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that while the average adult spends 90 percent of his or her time indoors, the average quality of indoor air is five times more dirty and polluted than the average air outdoors.
Freshen the air to freshen your immune system, whether that’s by opening a window or running a HEPA-rated air filter. However, your best bet is to head outdoors and opening your lungs to everything nature has to offer.
Putting it all together: If you want a powerhouse immune system, the above three strategies work in sync for people of all age and all physical abilities. If you’re young and physically active, a weekend hike in a sunny forest can be just what the doctor ordered.
If you’re older, or have mobility issues, doing gentle tai chi outdoors, sitting in meditation in a sunny nook, or going for a walk through a forested park can enhance your immune system.
And no matter where you are, and no matter what you’re doing, you can also support your immune system from the inside out with thymic proteins, such as the ones found in BioPro-Plus 500.
These proteins help stimulate the production of your immune system’s cells. When you were younger, your thymus gland did this for you, but unfortunately this gland begins to shrink and cease working optimally as you get older. A supplement containing bio-identical versions of your thymus gland’s natural proteins may help restart a slow immune system.
1: Head outdoors to activate your killer cells
Climb through a forest to reach new heights of immune strength.2: Enjoy some sunshine
We all need sunshine and vitamin D at every age, but this is especially critical for older adults and seniors. That’s because as we age, our ability to synthesize vitamin D begins to drop, leading to low levels of the “sunshine vitamin” as we get older. This is important for numerous reasons, including the obvious: We need vitamin D for strong bones, which is important for aging populations. But there’s new research that offers surprising benefits for your immunity. Georgetown University Medical Center recently discovered that healthy sunlight exposure energizes the T cells in our immune system. Gerard Ahern, PhD, a lead researcher in the study, explains that your T cells need to move quickly to get to the site of a virus or bacteria infection so it can handle it effectively.“This study shows that sunlight directly activates key immune cells by increasing their movement,” Ahern told the university. Read about the study here.Even more, sunlight helped the T cells create hydrogen peroxide, which your immune system uses when sending T cells to deal with cellular damage. Whether you’re planting a flower bed, enjoying a stroll through the neighborhood, or having coffee with a friend, find simple ways to use this nature immunity tip and enjoy a few minutes of sunshine each day.
3: Freshen the air
Outdoor air is on average 500% cleaner than indoor air.