How to Boost Your Immune System with Exercise

As you learned in How to Boost Your Immune System−Naturally, there are many ways to strengthen this vital system. One tactic involves your daily food choices, as you saw in How to Boost Your Immune System with a Plant-Based Diet.  Another effective way to boost your immune system naturally is through daily exercise.

Science has posed several theories as to how this works. For one, exercise causes changes in your white blood cells, or antibodies, within your immune system to fight disease, primarily by increasing blood and lymph flow, circulating antibodies more rapidly to better detect and combat  illnesses and infections.

Moving your body daily also reduces immune-suppressing inflammation, lowers immune damaging stress hormones like cortisol,  and releases cytokines and chemokines, signaling molecules that improve the immune system’s response speed and effectiveness.

Additionally, physical activity helps to clear bacteria from your lungs before they gain a foothold, which in turn makes you more resistant to colds, flu, or other illnesses. Also, the brief rise in body temperature during and after exercise may prevent the growth of bacteria while helping your body fight infection.

Happily, your fitness options abound, including yoga, biking, swimming, pickleball, hiking, tennis, rock climbing, Zumba, Pilates, or anything else you might enjoy. that appeals. Ideally you will engage 30–60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise daily, which has a myriad of immune system benefits.