Stay Healthy Without Drugs This Winter
Are you plagued with the sniffles?
Are you tired all the time?
Did your “get up and go” get up and run out the door?
Your remedy could be as easy as starting an exercise program three or four times a week.
Not only does exercise strengthen your immune system to fight off viral and bacterial infection, the National Institute of Health says it can lower your risk for illnesses including cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis.
There are several theories on how exercise can supercharge your immune system, they are:
- Stress lowers your resistance to illness. Exercise releases endorphins, feel good hormones similar to morphine. The more strenuous the exercise, the more endorphins are released. Remember how good you felt after a long bike ride with your friends, tired and energized at the same time?
- Exercise makes your lungs work harder and faster, flushing impurities out of your system, reducing your chance of catching an airborne illness like a cold or the flu.
- Physical activity increases your heart rate, pushing your white blood cells and other antibodies through your circulatory system faster. The faster circulation lets your body detect disease sooner the normal, letting your antibodies destroy an infection before it can take root and make you sick.
- Exercise raises your body temperature, slowing the growth of bacteria , helping your body fight the illness more effectivly. Just like a fever can burn out an infection, but before you get sick.
Not only is exercise important to your heart and lungs, it can also keep you healthier this winter, not to mention in spring, summer an fall.
Just one more reason to exercise and eat right.
As always, check with your doctor before starting an exercise program.
Tip: Staying indoors through the winter keeps people in close proximity. This lets any illness spread rapidly. To help cut down your risk of infection change your furnace filter regularly.