How to maintain immunity after improving it

After the immunity is improved, if you want to maintain it for a long time, the key is never to rely on "deliberate maintenance" of taking supplements suddenly and increasing the amount of exercise, but to internalize the positive habits developed during short-term adjustments into life inertia that does not require deliberate persistence. On the contrary, the immune level can be stabilized in a healthy range for a long time.

A marathon enthusiast I met two years ago took a full three months of recuperation after recovery. The immunoglobulins and lymphocyte subgroups tested in the blood dropped back to the optimal range. He was afraid of falling back and took 3 multivitamins and 2 spoons of protein peptides every day, even if he had eaten enough meat that day. He didn't stop eating eggs and milk, and forced himself to run 5 kilometers even if he worked overtime until 10 o'clock. As a result, he caught two colds in less than two months. When he checked again, his indicators were much lower than just after the treatment. The doctor said that he was in a state of excessive anxiety and excessive intake of extra nutrients, which put unnecessary burden on the immune system.

Of course, this does not mean that you can completely let yourself go after your immunity is improved. Another friend of mine who used to suffer from urticaria during the change of seasons became much smarter after he took care of himself. He didn't deliberately add any "immune maintenance tasks" to himself. He just kept the requirements that the doctor asked during the conditioning period: "try to eat 12 different kinds of food every day", "move for 20 minutes three days a week" and "don't stay up after 12 o'clock for three days in a row". He usually eats hot pot and skewers with friends, and stays up late at night when working on projects. It's been almost two years since he got hives again. Last time, half of the people in the company got the flu, too.

The current opinions on immune maintenance are indeed two-sided. Some nutritionists recommend that people whose immunity has just recovered should supplement with nutrients for 6-12 months to consolidate. Some clinicians believe that as long as healthy adults have no obvious shortcomings in their daily diet and rest, additional supplementation will break the stability of immune regulation. In fact, both views are reasonable, and there is no need to stand on either side - if you often travel on business and rely on takeout every day, then there is nothing wrong with taking a multivitamin every day. If you can get enough of cereals, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, meat and eggs every time, there is really no need to spend a lot of money on various immune supplements and pay the IQ tax.

To put it bluntly, the immune system is actually very much like a pet you have kept for several years. If you overfeed it with various supplements every day, it will make it lazy and lazy, and it will respond slowly when viruses and bacteria invade. If you stay up late all the time, drink too much, and eat junk food high in oil and sugar, it is equivalent to not giving it a full meal, and it will not have the strength to help you with your tasks. The best condition is to give it regular supplies and appropriate exercise. It doesn't matter if it breaks the rules occasionally. It has already formed its own stable rhythm and will not collapse directly because of one or two "derailments". Oh, and there is another detail that is easily overlooked. Don’t take antibiotics randomly when you have a cold or fever. I had a friend who used to have a good immune system, but he took cephalosporin whenever he felt uncomfortable. After taking it for half a year, the intestinal flora was disrupted, and the immune level dropped a lot. Common minor illnesses can be dealt with by your own immunity. If you really need to take medication, you must follow the doctor’s advice and don’t harm the immune system.