Is it True Exercise and Diet Boost your Immune System?

We know exercise and a nutritious diet are mainstays of overall health – improving cardiovascular health, controlling body weight, and maintaining a healthy blood pressure. We see success stories every day in our gyms. But do exercise and diet help the immune system?

Exercise and the Immune System
Since the start of COVID-19 more research on immune health and exercise has been unearthed. According to 2020 research in Springer Nature Medical and Health Review, evidence from epidemiologists show that regular exercise reduces the occurrence of diseases such as viral infections and many chronic diseases as we age. Exercise supports the lymph system, a network of nodes, organs, tissues, and vessels that balances out fluids in body systems and produces white blood cells to fight infection. These hundreds of lymph nodules have tissue that removes metabolic garbage. However, nodes need the help of contracting muscles during exercise to put pressure on, helping them to remove waste from your systems. The increased circulation caused by exercise also is an important factor in white cell building.

Exercise has been traditionally thought of as preventive medicine for personal health. Simply put, you stay fit and active and you’re less likely to become ill. But with new knowledge that exercise is actually changing your biochemistry and healing instantly, you can think of going to the gym as like taking a natural medicine cure which helps fight viruses and disease.

Related to this, the American College of Sports Medicine reported in 2020 that exercise is a first line of immune defense against pandemics such as COVID-19.

Diet and the Immune System
Like any successful army of warriors, a healthy immune system needs steady and quality nourishment to fight. And health researchers have long known that people who are malnourished are more vulnerable to infectious diseases. According to a 2021 Harvard Health report, there is evidence of a connection between lower immune function and micronutrient deficiencies – such as, zinc, selenium, iron, copper, folic acid, and vitamins A, B6, C, and E. A diet rich in most plant-based foods such as, leafy greens, legumes, cruciferous vegetables, root vegetables and fruits, can help boost your immune system.

So, begin a regular workout routine at the gym and eat nutrient rich foods. It’s exactly what your immune system needs. Start a Free 30 Day Trial at AFC Fitness at any of our locations in Bala Cynwyd, Feasterville and our gym in Radnor, PA