The immune system. Everyone has heard of it and most people know that a good immune system can offer great added value to your general health, especially during the harsh winter days. But why is that so important and how does the immune system work?

Our ally in good times and bad

The immune system protects our body against invaders such as microbes, viruses and bacteria. Is the immune system located in 1 place in our body? No! The immune system includes different kinds of mechanisms such as your skin, intestines, airways, blood and lymphatic system. Their job is to make sure our bodies can tell the good stuff from the bad.

The physical barrier or rather the skin forms a protective harness between your body and the environment that exposes you to harmful substances. Your immune system works 24/7 to protect your body against bad invaders such as germs and other harmful substances. You would constantly get sick if you don't have a good immune system and let that be exactly what we want to avoid.

Our protector against external danger

There is also a difference between the general and specific immune system. As the name itself suggests, the general immune system protects you against all pathogens that try to enter your body. The white blood cells are the soldiers of our general immune system, because they destroy all bad invaders.

The specific or acquired immune system you develop throughout your life and always try to fight a certain disease, because your general immune system is then unable to destroy those pathogens. What is the main difference with the general immune system? Our specific immune system contains memory cells. As a result, our specific immune system recognizes earlier pathogens and your body can fight the infection more quickly if infected. That way you become immune to that pathogen and you can't get sick afterwards.

A dynamic factor

Your general immune system starts working from birth, while the specific immune system only develops later. Therefore, a child is more susceptible to specific viruses because the immune system is not yet strong in the first years of life.

The effectiveness of your immune system decreases over time. This makes it more difficult to distinguish the bad invaders from the good ones and that is also the reason why autoimmune diseases are more common later in life.

The golden key(s) to a better immune system

How do you ensure that you have a well-developed immune system? There is no magic panacea that can give you a top immune system in 1,2,3. There are factors that can have a good influence on your immune system.

1. Healthy and varied eating

We can't say it enough, but a healthy diet remains essential throughout your life. You can stimulate a good intestinal flora by eating food with dairy products, such as yoghurt and cheese. Do you especially want to boost your natural resistance? Then it is good to consider citrus fruits, because they are a source of vitamin C and antioxidants.

2. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

It is not for nothing that specialists recommend drinking at least 1.5 l water per day. Water keeps the skin healthy and the skin stops bad invaders from entering your body. Besides water, green tea is also a good remedy. Green tea contains many antioxidants, is full of good substances and strengthens the natural resistance.

3. A good sleep rhythm

We all know how difficult it is sometimes to get to bed early when there's an exciting movie on TV or you're out with friends. Still, you should try to go to sleep at the same time every night and ring your alarm clock 7 to 8 hours later. If you don't do this, you are more likely to get viral infections. Research shows that you are almost three times more likely to catch a cold if you sleep less than 7 hours at night.

Perhaps you think you wash your hands enough because you do it after every visit to the toilet. Nevertheless, it is important to do this in the meantime to reduce the spread of bacteria. In addition to hand hygiene, we also recommend that you change your towels regularly, change your bed more often and ventilate your home sufficiently to avoid a breeding ground for bacteria.

Doing nothing all day can be so wonderful, but try to move for half an hour on such rest days. That half hour can do wonders. As a result, you can better handle stress, you will stay in a deeper sleep and you are less likely to get viral infections such as a cold.

Stress and gloomy thoughts often go hand in hand during difficult periods in our lives. However, this has a negative influence on our immune system and we go through life better with the motto 'keep on smiling'.

It's not for nothing that our intestines are considered our second brain. Billions of bacteria and microorganisms live in your intestines. It is crucial to have a healthy intestinal flora because it leads to a good resistance. If your gut flora is in balance, it protects us better against bad invaders.

Make your body happy

It is now clear that a good immune system promotes your general health. Do you feel like you've been experiencing more and more stress and fatigue lately? Then be sure to try Svenssons immunomix.