How Being Active Boosts Your Immune System

Previously on the blog, we talked about diets and how weight loss has been boiled down to 80 percent diet and 20 percent exercise. By boiling down weight loss to mostly diet, you lose other aspects of a healthy lifestyle by implying that a good diet means you will be healthy. That’s not the case. The 20 percent allocated for exercise is just as important as diet.

Aaron E. Carroll, a professor at Indiana University School of Medicine, wrote in The New York Times that “Exercise has a big upside for health beyond potential weight loss. Many studies and reviews detail how physical activity can improve outcomes in musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, pulmonary diseases, neurological diseases and depression. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges declared it a ‘miracle cure‘ recently, and while I’m usually loath to use that term for anything in medicine, a fairly large evidence base corroborates that exercise improves outcomes in many domains.”

Carroll hits on areas that are almost shocking to find that exercise can make a substantial difference in health, especially for disorders like diabetes and depression. However, one he skips is a very critical one–that exercise can provide heightened immune support.

When you exercise regularly, you’re providing your body with the tools it needs to strengthen the immune system. You are increasing your heart rate and pumping more blood and oxygen through your body. You’re helping your body learn to use oxygen more effectively and strengthening your whole body. All these things allow your body to better respond to any infections it may encounter. Studies have shown that people who exercise moderately overcome infections more effectively than people who do not exercise at all.

The correlation between exercise and the immune system is a double-edged sword. In several research studies, scientists have found that mice who are forced to exercise to exhaustion are more susceptible to infections than those who do nothing at all. Extreme exercise can cause an immunosuppressive response in the body after working out. The more extreme the workout, the longer the period of immunosuppression.

This isn’t a reason to not exercise. You can easily provide your body with some immune system support by exercising a couple times a week. Try walking or biking. Perhaps go to the pool and swim laps for 45 minutes. Find an activity that you enjoy that also provides you with some level of immune support without going overboard.

In addition to exercise, shop the all-natural immune support products available online with the Harmony Company. Shop today!