Being physically active is one of the best things you can do for your body. Exercise not only helps your body’s bones, muscles, heart, and lungs, but when you exercise, it also releases endorphins into the brain which are chemicals that interact with receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Those endorphins also trigger a feel good response in the body similar to morphine. That’s where the expression “Runner’s High” comes from. Who know that exercise is also great for your immune system, it turns out!
Any type of physical activity is good for you. A gym is not even necessary to get your exercise! Walking, hiking, biking, dancing, or swimming are all great for your immune system.
But how does physical activity boost the defense mechanisms in your body? A comprehensive review of the available scientific data published in 2019 answers this. *1
Moderate-to-vigorous regular exercise sessions are beneficial to immune function according to this article.
The bottom line is that your immune system benefits with less than 60 minutes of exercise on most days. One study shows it takes as little as 20-30 minutes of regular exercise to benefit your immune system.*2 You’ll see the best benefits when you work out on a consistent basis.
With exercise, your white blood cells circulate faster throughout your entire body. This distributes the immune fighting cells throughout all your body tissues. Along with these white cell disease-fighters, immunoglobulin circulation increases. Immunoglobulins are proteins that help tag and identify disease organisms in your body. The white cells then come along and destroy this tagged complex and remove it from your body.
Exercise helps your microbiome in your gastrointestinal tract, too. Regular exercise helps increase the biodiversity in your gut. Data shows the more biodiversity in the GI tract, the better it is for your immune system. Beneficial strains of bacteria ferment indigestible food into components used by your body. These components help your immune system inside the gut itself as a first defense. They also help the immune system systemically throughout the body. Add this benefit to the reasons to don your sneakers daily.
There’s an important consideration to keep yourself healthy IF you get your exercise in a public gym. Not everyone will clean off the exercise equipment after they handle it. So, you need to be aware to clean everything BEFORE you handle it. This includes free weights, handles on weight machines, mats, and anything you touch. Also, keep a towel to wipe the sweat away from your face—don’t use your hands!
Exercise improves your immune function as well as many other systems in your body. Your heart, lungs, and brain are happier when you’re active.
You’re also better able to maintain ideal weight when you’re staying active. Maintaining an ideal weight reduces your risk of obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. It makes excellent sense to do whatever it takes to schedule physical activity into your day. Especially when there are so many benefits when you do!
Exercise—it does a body good in many ways!!
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By the end of this session we’ll know if we’re a good fit. You can decide if I’m the right person to guide and support you to a better, healthier gluten-free version of you.
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095254618301005
- https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/exercise_it_does_a_body_good_20_minutes_can_act_as_anti_inflammatory
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