Here are six things you might be doing that is hurting your body, and you should avoid, to strengthen your immune system.

Sedentary Lifestyle

A sedentary lifestyle will likely increase the cholesterol in your body. It is also connected with higher blood pressure. Since the heart and the immune system work together as a strong team against disease, it is crucial to keep the heart healthy. Daily exercise is very important.

Alcohol

Alcohol is a toxin that can cause a lot of inflammation in the body. To prevent that defense mechanism from being activated, you should avoid drinking alcohol. When you drink, you decrease your immune system’s ability to fight off the harmful bacteria and put yourself at more risk of getting sick.

Smoking

Smoking puts you at higher susceptibility to lung infections like pneumonia. To increase the efficiency of your immune system, you should avoid smoking at all costs.

Stress

One person out of three reports feeling very stressed in their daily life, which tends to put them at risk of activating harmful viruses that may be in their system. When we experience stress, we harm our body’s ability to fight antigens with antibodies. Daily stress and stressful situations can be very detrimental to our immune system. People with a healthy immune system have learned to tame the stress in their life.

Processed Foods

Anything that comes in a box, in the freezer section of the store or a can, should be avoided; unless you are 100% sure that no sugar or salt is added to the food. You can change your diet to be mostly whole food. By cutting the processed food, reduce the chances of inflammation in the body. You should also avoid sugar as much as you can, since it hurts your metabolism, and can cause chronic diseases like diabetes or heart problems. Chronic diseases increase your risk of getting sick from a virus.

Sleep Deprivation

People who don’t get enough sleep (7 to 9 hours per night) tend to get sicker. To ensure that your immune system is functioning optimally, you need to make sure that you get adequate sleep.

Although daily stress, sedentary lifestyle, and lack of sleep are things that you can change, your best defense remains good hygiene. Limit, as much as you can, your exposure to the virus or bacteria.