When it comes to staying healthy, there are so many different contributing factors. It’s not as simple as just changing one or two things. In fact, if you want to boost your health and immune system, there are quite a few different things you can do to help. After all, we are not static beings and everything works together to create a larger, healthier system. Therefore, if you are looking for ways to boost your health during this pandemic, we have 7 awesome ways to help. And each one of these things won’t cost you any more money than you are already spending.

1. Hydrate

Lack of proper hydration is one of the most common afflictions in our day and age. And it’s not for lack of available water sources. It is more prevalent because most of us choose to drink things other than water to quench our thirst. But by doing so, in most cases, you are actually dehydrating yourself. And when you dehydrate the body, you directly create oxidative stress in the body.

Since oxidative stress can cause inflammation within the body, and for the immune system to become taxed, it is one of the last things we should be doing during a time like this. Therefore, if something as simple as increasing our hydration can also boost our health naturally, why wouldn’t we do it?

The average amount of water a person should be drinking per day will vary. There are quite a few factors involved, including:

Activity Level

Age

Gender

Medical Conditions

Weight

But, the general rule of thumb is to take your weight and divide it by 2. That is how many ounces you should be aiming for at a minimum per day. Therefore, if a person weighed 200 lbs, they would need a minimum of 100 ounces of water per day.

I, personally, aim for at least a gallon of water per day, not including coffee or tea. And, consistently drinking this much water has not only kept my energy level through the roof, but I sleep fantastically well and all of my blood work comes back as excellent for hydration levels. So, even if you can’t do everything on this list to boost your health, this is one thing you should easily be able to incorporate into your daily routine.

2. Sleep

Getting adequate sleep is another thing that is well within our reach, that doesn’t cost a penny to implement. Not only is getting more sleep free, but most of us should be doing it to increase our overall health. These days, a lot of us are getting well under the recommended 8 hours of sleep per night.

And some studies have shown that those of us who get less than 6 hours of sleep per night are much more susceptible to illnesses. I can tell you that there was certainly a time in my life where I consistently got less than 6 hours of sleep per night. Now, I still didn’t get any illnesses, but I had much less energy than I am used to. I am typically a high energy person, and always have been, so this was an issue for me.

While it might not have had the illness side effect for me, it did directly impact my life. Although, I knew the lack of adequate sleep was only going to be temporary because of work, graduate school and parenting, I was happy when it finally ended. Now I am back on a more normal 7-8 hour sleep schedule and have all of my regular energy back for living life to the fullest.

So, if you aren’t getting closer to 8 hours of sleep per night regularly, this is an area you can focus on changing. Even if you only increase your sleep time by 15 minutes or so per night.

3. Reduce Stress

Stress is a huge factor in overall health and your immune system. In fact, when you are stressed you produce more corticosteroids. This hormone directly affects the immune system’s ability to fight off antigens. The more stressed you are, the more corticosteriods you produce. By doing so, the more you tax your immune system so that it is not in top fighting shape.

And in today’s society, most of us are walking around in a stressed-out state the majority of the time. So, finding ways to naturally reduce your stress level can only help to boost your health and keep your immune system strong.

Some great ways to reduce stress are:

Get off social media

Breathe

Take a walk

Unplug from all devices

Read

Exercise

Play with your pets

Catch up with old friends

Embark on your favorite hobbies

4. Breathe

The majority of us don’t think about breathing properly when we think about overall health. But, getting enough regular breath to oxygenate our red blood cells adequately is extremely important. In fact, if you aren’t getting enough oxygen into your cells, you can be creating a multitude of negative side effects to your overall health. Some of the most common include:

Sleep Apnea

Lethargy

Dizziness

Irritability

Shortness of Breath

Wheezing

Discolored Skin

I know that I have no desire to inflict any of these potential side effects on myself. So, some great ways to naturally increase your breathe and oxygenation include:

Adding in more oxygen rich foods

Drink more water (since it is full of oxygen!)

Deep breathing

Walk out in nature with older growth trees, when possible

Increasing your breath can create more oxygenation and, as a direct result, boost your health. So why not stop to smell the roses a bit more often. Your health will thank you!

5. Exercise

Even if you don’t embark upon a regular exercise routine, adding in some moderate exercise can help boost your immune system. Exercising too much can potentially depress your immune system, which is the opposite of what we are going for. But, if you can add in a few lighter activities and create a more regular exercise schedule, you may be well on your way to boost your health naturally.

Some of the best ways to do this, while costing little to no money, are:

Brisk Walk

Jump Rope

Gardening

Hiking

Biking

Skating

Swimming

No matter which activity you choose to add in, try to aim for about 30 minutes per day. This can be broken up into different time blocks also, if your schedule just isn’t allowing for a full 30 minutes at a time. This way you can still achieve your exercise goals and stick within your budget at the same time.

6. Eat More Plants

Eating more plant-based foods is a really easy way to reduce your food costs and help boost your immune system. This is especially true if you continually diversify your plant-based food choices. The more diversity you create with your plant-based foods, the more you will be getting of the following:

Antioxidants

Minerals

Nutrients

Vitamins

And by creating a more diverse palate to pull from, you are only increasing the arsenal that your immune system has to pull from. Aiming for at least 5-7 servings per day of varied fruits and vegetables can help boost your health naturally. Whenever possible, fresh and in season are better than frozen. And either of those is always better than canned, due to potentially added sugar.

No matter which fruits and vegetables you choose to add, try to keep the color palette varied. The more colors you get in your diet, the more robust your gut microbiome can be.

7. Less Sugar

Since most foods today in America contain some sort of sugar in them, we actually get more sugar than we think we do. Even if you aren’t directly adding sweeteners to your food or beverages. It’s amazing how many foods have hidden sugars in the ingredient list. And these can include some foods we wouldn’t even think of to have sugar in them. Some of the most common culprits are:

Pasta Sauce

Bread

Nut Butters

And when you are getting too much sugar in your diet, you are directly affecting your immune system’s ability to function properly. In fact, too much sugar can affect not only your weight but also your hormone levels. And since stress can also be directly tied to hormone levels, by increasing the amount of sugar you regularly intake, you are effectively creating a whole system issue. Which ultimately weakens your immune system and its ability to fight off invaders.

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like something I care to do in this day and age. Therefore, one of the best ways to prevent this is to eat more whole foods and read every processed food label with a magnifying glass. Cut out any excess sugar that you can in order to help boost your health.

Boost Your Health Summary

Overall, there are so many great ways to boost your health naturally. And most of them you can do completely for free! Just to recap, some of the best ways to improve your immune system and help prevent future illnesses are:

Increase your hydration Add in more regular sleep Reduce your stress levels Breathe more Add in regular moderate exercise Eat more plants Reduce your sugar consumption

Even if you can’t do all of these at once, just working on one or two categories, to begin with can significantly help you boost your health. And what’s not to love about that?

What are some of the best ways you have found to boost your health and immune system naturally?