How to Boost Your Immune System Naturally

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A healthy immune system will help you miss fewer days of work, better fight illness, and generally feel healthier and happier. Getting a strong immune system can be done naturally by simply avoiding a few bad habits and starting a few good ones.

Food and Beverages That Can Negatively Effect Your Immune System
One of the biggest impacts on your immune system is your diet. Many Americans eat plenty of fast food, simple sugars, and drink alcohol on a regular basis. While a glass of red wine every night can actually improve your health, drinking excessively or drinking fruity alcoholic drinks can actually lower your immune system. The same goes for fast foods, processed foods and simple sugars like corn syrup.

Avoid these unhealthy foods and beverages and your immune system will be ready to grow.

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Healthy Foods Known to Boost the Immune System
On the flip side, there are plenty of delicious, healthy foods that have been shown to have a positive impact on the immune system. Fresh fruits and vegetables are a great source of nutrients and antioxidants and have been shown to impact the immune system. Don't really on produce entirely though – your immune system also needs plenty of protein, which can come either from lean meats or vegetarian options like beans and soy.

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Kick the Stress Habit
Your immune system can be heavily affected by stress. Of course it's normal to have stressful situations in your life, but look for healthy ways to reduce that stress. Whether it's exercising, meditating, taking a long bath, or simply taking a walk around the block. When your stress is reduced than your chances of a reduced immune system go down too.

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Get to Bed Earlier
It's a sad fact that most people simply don't get enough sleep. Getting fewer than 8 hours of sleep per night can reek havoc on your immune system. Of course there will be days when it's simply not possible, but do try to get as much sleep as you can.

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Foods That Do the Trick – Boost Your Immune System Through Healthy Eating
We covered foods that can have a negative impact on your immune system, but there are plenty that can have a positive effect.

Superfoods
First up we have superfoods, which are foods that are incredibly high in many different antioxidants and nutrients. Ideally we'd incorporate several of these foods into our daily diets. They are:

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• Prunes.
• Apples.
• Raisins.
• Every type of berry.
• Plums.
• Red and black grapes.
• Alfalfa sprouts.
• Onions.
• Eggplans.
• Beans.

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Foods With Specific Antioxidant Vitamins
There are three types of antioxidant vitamins: beta- carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E. A general rule of thumb is that the brighter a fruit or vegetable is, the more vitamins it's likely to have.

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Foods rich in Beta-Carotene:

• Apricots
• Asparagus
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Cantaloupe
• Carrots
• Corn
• Green peppers
• Kale
• Mangoes
• Greens (like turnip or collard greens)
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Grapefruit
• Squash
• Spinach
• Yam (also known as sweet potato)
• Tangerines
• Tomatoes
• Watermelon

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Foods rich in Vitamin C:

• All types of berries
• Broccoli
• Brussel sprouts
• Cantaloupe
• Cauliflower
• Grapefruit
• Honeydew
• Kale
• Kiwi
• Mangoes
• Nectarines
• Oranges
• Papayas
• All types of bell peppers
• Snow peas
• Yams
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes

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Foods rich in Vitamin E

• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Chard
• Greens
• Mangoes
• Nuts
• Papaya
• Pumpkin
• Red peppers
• Spinach
• Sunflower seeds

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As you can see, there are simple changes you can make, including a few food additions, that will could have a significant impact on the strength of your immune system. The best diets for weight loss and robus health include these powerhouse foods listed above.

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