4 Habits That Hinder Your Immune System

As everyone tries to continue their daily lives as best as possible, it is important to understand the fundamentals of the immune system to ensure proper care regarding your health and those around you. However, your body’s natural defense system has prerequisites to function at its best, and much of the modern-day routine involves patterns and customs that can harm one’s immune system.

Habits are hard to break, but the first step is to acknowledge the issue before correcting it, and this list has it made it easy for you to do so, compiling the four most common bad habits and explaining what their immunosuppressive impacts are:

1. Sleep deprivation

The recommended amount of sleep for an adult is between 7-9 hours a day, but to many, this seems impossible. However, lack of sleep is responsible for a variety of health issues, many of which originate due to a suppressed immune system, such as SLE (systemic lupus erythematosus). Additionally, sleep deprivation directly affects the efficiency of the body’s natural defenses against bacteria or viruses and is linked to a condition called metabolic syndrome, which results in damage to the cells in your immune system.

2. Poor eating habits

In today’s fast-paced world, diets often take a back seat to productivity. But poor nutrition can lead to a hindrance in the cells that protect you from viruses and cause damage to the gut, which is where your body is often in contact with novel materials and bacteria.

However, as much as a bad diet can hinder you, a consistently healthy one can assist in maintaining your body in optimal condition. For example, fruits such as oranges and grapefruits, and foods such as garlic and spinach are very helpful in keeping a healthy immune system.

3. Stress

Stress is a human evolutionary trait that can assist in quick decision-making by activating the “fight or flight” response, but high levels of stress can also negatively impact your immune system by reducing the number of white blood cells in your body, leaving it much more vulnerable to viral infections. Additionally, stress is linked with depressive and anxiety disorder, both of which could negatively impact your sleep and diet.

4. Dehydration

Medical professionals advise a healthy intake of water, but besides its benefits to skin and overall health, it plays a vital role in ensuring that the immune system’s responses perform normally. In addition, dehydration is directly linked to the development of autoimmune diseases such as type one diabetes and multiple sclerosis.