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How To Identify a Weak Immune System and Fix It

weak immune systemThe immune system is a complex system of blood cells and organs and it protects the body from harmful germs that can cause illness. If a person is frequently getting infections, they might have a weak immune system. In some cases, people have a weak immune system which makes them prone to frequent infections. White blood cells, antibodies, and other components including organs and lymph nodes make up the body’s immune system. 

How to Identify a Weak Immune System?  

You can understand if you have low immunity when you come across the following symptoms:

  • Fatigue: Feeling extremely tired, like you do when you have the flu, could mean something’s going on with your body’s defences
  • Repeated Infections: These may include infections like chronic sinus infections, ear infections, pneumonia, etc.
  • Frequent cold, cough and flu
  • Digestion issues like frequent diarrhoea, gas or constipation

Other symptoms that might show up are:

  • Autoimmune disorders like type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus etc.
  • Inflammation of the internal organs
  • Blood disorders or abnormalities such as anaemia
  • Growth and developmental delays in infants and children
  • Skin problems like rashes, itchy, dry or red skin or even white patchy skin.

How Can You Fix It? 

People who have a weak immune system can take several steps to maximize their chances of staying healthy and avoiding infections.

1. Good hygiene
Good hygiene goes a long way in protecting you from several diseases and infections. This includes washing your hands: 

  • Before, during, and after preparing meals and snacks
  • Before eating
  • After blowing the nose, sneezing or coughing
  • Before and after treating a cut or another open skin wound
  • After having contact with someone who is unwell
  • After using or helping a child use the bathroom
  • After changing a diaper
  • After touching an animal or animal food or waste
  • After touching garbage

2. Avoid people who are sick
If you have a weak immune system, avoid being too close to someone who has a cold or any other infection. Viruses can spread from person to person through contact. They can also spread via water droplets that the person expels into the air while coughing or sneezing.

3. Disinfect household objects
Germs that have the potential to cause illnesses can live on some surfaces at home such as doorknobs and remote controls. A person can reduce the number of germs that inhabit these areas by disinfecting them regularly.

4. Manage Stress
Stress can weaken the immune system and make a person susceptible to illness. Manage your stress effectively by practicing yoga, meditation or pursuing hobbies and keep your mind healthy to stay away from illnesses. 

5. Get enough Sleep
Being deprived of sleep has a similar effect on the body as stress. Lack of sleep disrupts the normal production of white blood cells, a crucial component of the body’s immune system. Therefore, adults should aim for at least 7 hours of sleep per day,

6. Eat Healthy
Eating a healthy, balanced diet can improve a person’s overall well-being. If you have a weak immune system, go for a diet which is rich in vegetables and fruits as it will provide you with plenty of antioxidants and nutrients.

7. Exercise Regularly
Regular exercise keeps the body healthy. In addition to strengthening the body, exercise facilitates the release of endorphins which reduce stress levels. However, those with weak immune systems should be careful not to push themselves too hard as this can weaken the immune system further.

8. Consider Supplements
Some vitamins and minerals affect the immune system. For instance, a person with Vitamin C deficiency can have weakened immunity. Other vitamins and minerals that can affect immune function include vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, iron, folic acid and zinc. 

Amid this COVID-19 pandemic, you can take additional precautions and follow the guidelines set by WHO. So focus on building your immunity and stay indoors! 

For more topics on building immunity, home workouts and medical advice, tune in to GOQii Play.

To get more advice on building immunity and healthy living directly from a certified GOQii expert, subscribe to personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr 

#BeTheForce 

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Breathing Exercises To Strengthen Lungs

breathing exercisesHave you ever wondered how many breaths we all take in our lifetime? On average we take about 675 million breaths in 80 years of life. Breathing frequency and type are different in different stages of our life depending on age, altitude, pollution levels, smoking, weather and other factors. Our lungs are the main organs of respiration as they are responsible for an exchange of oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) to keep the heart, brain, and other functioning of the body normal. Lung function and lung capacity are determined through the efficiency of exchange of oxygen (O2) and CO2 in our lungs. Any ailments with lungs can affect the health of the entire body. Have you ever thought about keeping your lungs healthy too? We can enhance lung capacity, which means the quantity of air a lung can hold. Certain breathing exercises can help the body make use of all the oxygen inhaled by our lungs in a better way. Here are three simple breathing techniques to strengthen our lung capacity.

Pursed lip breathing

Pursed lip breathing is a simple breathing exercise which helps in slowing down breathing and emptying the Lungs completely.

Method:

  • Sit in a comfortable position, relax the shoulders, neck, rest the tongue on the floor of the mouth and close your eyes gently
  • Inhale through the nose for 2-3 seconds
  • Purse your lips as when you blow the candlea
  • Breath out all the air slowly for 4-6 seconds
  • Repeat this for about 5 minutes

This type of breathing can also be done when someone feels shortness of breath during or after exercise or any heavy work which lets plenty of air in and out of the lungs that helps in restoring the normal breathing pattern.

Diaphragmatic or Belly breathing

How often in a day do we pay attention to our breathing pattern? Do you do shallow breathing or deep breathing? The diaphragm is the main sheet of muscle in between the chest and the abdomen that helps in respiration. But, usually, we develop the habit of breathing through chest, neck and shoulder muscles which limits the amount of air filling in and out of our lungs. Belly breathing strengthens the diaphragm and enhances the pulmonary efficiency. Here is the best way to train yourself for diaphragmatic breathing.

Method:

  • Lie down on your back on a flat surface with the knees bent or sit comfortably on a chair with neck, shoulder and head relaxed
  • Place your one hand lightly on your abdomen and the other hand on the chest
  • Inhale deeply through the nose for 2-3 seconds as you fill all the air towards your abdomen
  • Pay attention to the hand on the abdomen moving up while making sure hand on the chest is not moving up
  • Now exhale all the air through the mouth (Pursed lips) while tightening the abdomen inwards. Make sure the hand on your abdomen is moving down
  • Repeat this breathing for 5-10 minutes to get the maximum benefits

Alternate Nostril breathing

This is a type of deep and slow breathing in Yoga in which inhaling, and exhaling happens through alternate nostrils.  Long term practice of this breathing improves the total capacity of the lungs while boosting the pulmonary function markers. It is also meant to purify the lungs and the circulatory system throughout the body.

Method:

  • Sit straight on a flat surface with relaxed shoulders and neck
  • Start with deep inhalation and slow exhalation couple of times or for a minute
  • While folding the index and middle fingers of the right hand, make Vishnu mudra to close the right nostril with right thumb and left nostril with ring finger
  • At first, close the right nostril and slowly exhale through left nostril
  • Keep the right nostril closed and slowly inhale through the left nostril and feel all the air going upwards while filling all the air deep down till the abdomen
  • Once you inhale all the air possible, pause briefly for 2 seconds
  • Now close the left nostril with the ring finger and release thumb to open the right nostril
  • Exhale out all the air through the right nostril with a pause of 2 second at the end
  • As your still closing the left nostril, inhale slowly through the right nostril letting all the air into right side of the body with a short pause of 2 seconds at the end
  • Again, close the right nostril and open the left nostril to exhale all the air out

This is considered as one round of alternate nostril breathing. Continue this pattern for 5-10 minutes to get the maximum benefits.

Practising one or more of these breathing exercises under good guidance is proven to strengthen our lungs. Be sure to do these breathing exercises on an empty stomach as a safety measure. These are short yet very effective ways to strengthen our lungs and boost our immunity as well – a much needed thing for today’s times! 

For more breathing exercises, meditation techniques and yoga, tune in to experts on GOQii Play or get these tips directly from your GOQii Coach by subscribing to personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr 

#BeTheForce

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9 Steps For Building and Mainting Immunity

build immunity

In the wake of the ongoing pandemic, maintaining one’s immunity has become a must. However, even if not for any random virus flying off, one’s immunity is the biggest strength against any onslaught of a virus and bacteria. Taking care of one’s self is a lifestyle. It must be down as a means to protect one’s body. I’m writing this article touching on a few aspects of maintaining one’s immunity. Since these worked for me, I believe it might work for you all as well. Being healthy has to be imbibed in one’s lifestyle just so no virus or bacteria can affect you. 

How Do You Build Immunity?

If only maintaining immunity was as easy as popping a pill, life would have been a bed of roses.  But it’s not! You have to work for it to earn it. One’s immunity depends on the way one is born, to one’s genes! But, we are talking about factors which are in one’s hands. The thumb rule is to listen to your body, it never lies. And, most of what your grandmother said was right in terms of health… keeping all that aside, here are a few quick tips to build up your immunity.

  1. No Stress & Yes to Happiness: Stress can wreck any organ in your body. Let go and be happy. Remember, if you are stressed over Corona, you are at risk. A happy and positive person is less likely to fall sick usually.
  2. Maintain Personal Hygiene: Wash your hands with soap before and after eating, bathe, wear breathable clothing and follow all the instructions in basic science textbooks of a 2-3 class child. It will help to prevent a lot of infections!
  3. Seasonal Vegetables and Fruits: Every area is known for its own vegetables and fruits as per the season. For instance, the Saag in North India is awesome during winters. It’s a must have. And yet you get it during summers in some regions. That’s a big no! Watermelon is a fruit of the summer. It is best to have it at that time.
  4. Home cooked food is the best because there is no adulteration. It should be cooked by a healthy person who has no infectious disease, be it your maid, or a house member. I strongly believe that basic hygiene like washing hands before touching food, washing the vegetables before cutting, etc. must be followed. In fact, these are taught in our curriculum in primary sections!
  5. Back to Basics: Consume natural food, have good nutrition and avoid unnecessary medication. By natural food I mean raw vegetables and fruits. Refer to your doctor/nutritionist for your diet plan if you are unable to do so.
  6. Daadi maa ke nuskhe (Grandmother’s Secret Recipes) might just work better than medications for basic ailments like cough and cold. See what works best for your body. As a child, I remember my mother giving me ginger juice mixed with honey every day in the morning during winters. I hardly had a runny nose during childhood. When I grew up, teenage took over and the orthodox medicine said that medicine is the best cure, but it didn’t work for me. Even at this age, ginger juice and honey is my prevention from cough and cold and I’ve no idea why it works for me! Try and find what your remedy is!
  7. With respect to air borne  infections, we need to protect our body, especially the orifices from where we breathe. So for the nose, take very little cow ghee/castor oil/any kachhi ghanni (cold pressed) oil and rub it inside your nostrils. The thick ghee captures the dirt and germs in the nostrils itself. For your skin, apply virgin pressed coconut oil.
  8. Sun is a Friend: Basking in the morning sun is good. Don’t overdo it but remember that the sun is the best and the strongest natural disinfectant. So if you do not have a medical condition, and if the doctor has not advised otherwise, make the sun your friend. I do not deny the ugliness of buildings since people dry their clothes outside, but remember one’s clothes are best disinfected in the sun.
  9. Exercise: Are you a yoga person, jogger, swimmer or gymmer? See what suits your body and get into shape. Pranayam though must be followed by all.

We hope this helps you build and maintain your immunity against the coronavirus. For more articles on immunity, nutrition and the coronavirus, check out Healthy Reads. To get these tips directly from your GOQii Coach, sign up for personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr 

Stay safe, stay healthy and #BeTheForce 

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7 Foods To Build Immunity Against the Coronavirus

immunityWith the ongoing second-wave of the pandemic and the expected third-wave, it has become increasingly important to protect ourselves against it. Apart from all of the other safety measures which we can take, including wearing a mask while traveling to crowded places, avoiding crowded places or washing our hands with soap at regular intervals, one should also focus on building their immunity. A good immune system can help you fight off any virus or infection. One of the best ways to build your immunity is nutrition but before we get into that, let’s understand what Immunity is.

What Is Immunity?

As the old adage goes, ‘Prevention is better than Cure’. Build a good immune system to prevent disease. The Immune system is an amazing protection mechanism situated inside every human body. It is designed to defend you against millions of bacteria, microbes, viruses, toxins and parasites that love to invade the body. To understand the power of the immune system, all that one needs to do is to look at what happens to a living being when it dies. This might sound gross but it does tell us all something very important about our immune system.

When something dies, its immune system (along with everything else) shuts down. In a matter of hours, the body is invaded by all sorts of bacteria, microbes, and parasites. None of these things are able to get in when the immune system is strong, but the moment the immune system stops, the door is wide open for diseases to breed. Once you die, it only takes a few weeks for these organisms to completely dismantle your body and carry it away, until all that’s left is a skeleton. So safely, one can conclude that a strong immune system keeps all of that dismantling from happening when one is alive.

The immune system is complex, intricate and interesting. And there are at least two good reasons for every individual to know more about it. First, it is just plain fascinating to understand where things like fever, hives, inflammation, etc. come from when they happen inside your own body. You also hear a lot about the immune system in the news as new parts of it are understood and new drugs come in the market — knowing about the immune system makes these news stories understandable.

Now that we have understood what the Immune System is, I would like to take you through how the immune system works and how the immune system can be boosted with a proper diet.

Foods That Can Help You Build Your Immune System

It takes at least more than an apple a day to keep the doctor away. One should ensure that your body and the immune system function smoothly by rounding out your food plate with plenty of colorful servings of fruits and veggies, plus 8 to 10 glasses of water a day, at the very least. The following ingredients can add that extra virus-fighting punch to your meal plan.

1. Yogurt
Probiotics, or the “live active cultures” found in Yogurts are the healthy bacteria that keep the gut and intestinal tract free of disease-causing germs, although they’re available in supplement form. A study from the University of Vienna in Austria found that a daily 7 ounce dose of yogurt was just as effective in boosting immunity as popping pills.

Your optimal dose: 2 servings of 150gm each in a day. 

2. Oats and Barley
These grains contain beta-glucan, a type of fiber with antimicrobial and antioxidant capabilities more potent than Echinacea, reports a Norwegian study. When animals eat this compound, they’re less likely to contract influenza, herpes, even anthrax; in humans, it boosts immunity, speeds wound healing, and may help antibiotics work better.

Your optimal dose: At least one in your three daily servings of whole grains.

3. Garlic
This potent onion relative contains the active ingredient Allicin, which fights infection and bacteria. British researchers gave 146 people either a placebo or a garlic extract for 12 weeks; the garlic takers were two-thirds less likely to catch a cold. Other studies suggest that garlic lovers who chew more than six cloves a week have a 30 per cent lower rate of colorectal cancer and a 50 per cent lower rate of stomach cancer.

Your optimal dose: Two raw garlic cloves a day and add crushed garlic to your cooking several times a week.

4. Tea
People who drank 5 cups a day of black tea for 2 weeks had 10 times more virus-fighting interferon in their blood than others who drank a placebo hot drink, according to a Harvard study. The amino acid that’s responsible for this immune boost, L-theanine, is abundant in both black and green tea—decaf versions have it too.

Your optimal dose: Drink in moderation. Recommended 2 cups a day. To get more antioxidants from your tea bags, bob them up and down while you brew.

5. Fish
Selenium, plentiful in shellfish such as oysters, lobsters, crabs, and clams, helps white blood cells produce cytokines—proteins that help clear flu viruses out of the body. Salmon, mackerel, and herring are rich in omega-3 fats, which reduce inflammation, increasing airflow and protecting lungs from colds and respiratory infections.

Your optimal dose: Two servings a week (unless you’re pregnant or planning to be).

6. Mushrooms
For centuries, people around the world have turned to mushrooms for a healthy immune system. According to experts and several studies, mushrooms increase the production and activity of white blood cells, making them more aggressive. This is a good thing when you have an infection.

Your optimal dose: Shiitake, Maitake, and Reishi mushrooms appear to pack the biggest immunity punch; experts recommend at least ¼ ounce to an ounce a few times a day for maximum immune benefits. Add a handful to pasta sauce, or sauté with a little oil and add to eggs

7. Citrus Fruits :

When you catch a cold, it is recommended that we should have Vitamin C. as it helps build up your immune system. Vitamin C increases the production of white blood cells and these are key to fighting infections. Some popular citrus fruits include oranges, grapefruit, Kiwi and lemons. Because your body doesn’t produce or store it, you need daily vitamin C for continued health. Almost all citrus fruits are high in vitamin C. With such a variety to choose from, it’s easy to add a squeeze of this vitamin to any meal. Doctors have been recommending Vitamin C during this time of widespread infections

Your Optional Dose: Vitamin C supplement is recommended. But, before taking any supplement consult your doctor. 

The above foods have proven to have boosted individuals’ immune system and produce more white cells in the body. Eat healthy and build your immune system. It will help you fight against all illnesses including the Coronavirus (COVID-19). So what are you waiting for? Get on the path of healthy eating and keep your immune system active and more energetic than ever.

For more tips and preventive measures against COVID-19, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to classes by experts on GOQii Play. To get these tips directly from a GOQii Coach, subscribe to personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr  

#BeTheForce 

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