Tips for a Strong Defense

• Sleep well and relax
• Eat a balanced diet
• Exercise
• Apply cold
• Don't forget to wash your hands
• Don't smoke or drink alcohol
• Laugh a lot

Apply cold

Your grandmother's tips are still powerful allies for your immune system. The alternation between cold and hot through cold showers provides powerful stimuli for the immune system. For example, if you've had a hot shower beforehand, a brief cold shower is good for the body.

Wash your hands

One of the most effective tips for preventing the common cold is to protect yourself from infection with good hygiene. Most pathogens are transmitted through the hands. By washing your hands thoroughly with soap, you reduce the viral and bacterial load, and thus the risk of infection. Keeping your hands away from your face is also important. In particular, you should avoid touching your eyes, mouth, and nose with unclean hands.

Quit smoking and alcohol

Smoking and alcohol weaken the immune system and leave a person defenseless against illness.

Protect yourself against cancer with tomatoes

Scientists have reported that tomatoes are protective against cancer. Some studies have shown their strongest effects to be particularly on prostate cancer, pancreatic tumors, ovarian cancer, and stomach cancer.

It is thought that lycopene, found in high concentrations in tomatoes, is responsible for this effect. Lycopene acts as a free radical scavenger, meaning it neutralizes substances that have damaging effects on cells.

Stop diarrhea with yogurt

Probiotic foods strengthen the immune system. A large-scale study found that probiotics reduce the risk of diarrhea.

The effect of probiotics has been proven for:

-Diarrhea caused by pathogens

-Diarrhea caused by travel

-Diarrhea caused by medications (antibiotics)

However, yogurt is not a miracle cure; probiotics can prevent diarrhea caused by antibiotics. But they may not show the same effectiveness in everyone. Every yogurt contains different bacterial cultures, so not every product is equally effective for everyone. How many probiotics a person needs to achieve an anti-diarrheal effect also depends on the bacterial subspecies consumed. This is usually not indicated on packaging.

Breast milk protects against infections

Researchers have long reported that breast milk is healthy. For this reason, breastfeeding infants for the first 4 to 6 months is strongly recommended. Breast milk contains enzymes and antibodies that protect the baby from inflammation and infection. Experts also predict that there are many bioactive substances in breast milk that are not yet known.

Oily fish strengthen the immune system

Fish oil is healthy for the immune system of both children and adults. According to studies, omega-3 fatty acids can prevent allergies by preventing the immune system from overreacting to foreign substances such as pollen or animal hair. At the same time, omega-3 fatty acids can help reduce autoimmune diseases or chronic inflammation. Oily fish such as salmon and tuna contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.

Excess weight increases the burden on the immune system

Being overweight is a burden on the body's defense system. This is because adipose tissue triggers inflammatory events. The immune system must always attend to this inflammation and remains constantly in alarm mode. Overweight people heal more slowly after operations, because the body's own defense system is forced to neglect the surgical wound.

Dr. Hüseyin NAZLIKUL, M.D., PhD.
President of IFMANT = International Federation of Medical Associations for Neural Therapy
President of the Scientific Neural Therapy and Regulation Medicine Association