IF EXERCISE WERE a Hollywood star, she would fire her press agent for all the bad publicity she keeps getting. Yet the popular image of physical activity as some kind of grueling, forbidding obstacle course that will leave you gasping for air and sore for days is as outdated as the idea that you can get all the nutritional sources you need from modern food systems. For some people, just starting an exercise routine is incredibly difficult. However, once they start, they immediately begin to reap some of the benefits, which motivates them to continue. According to the US Public Health Service, physical fitness and exercise is one of the fifteen areas of greatest importance for improving the health of the public.1
Realize that you don’t have to run marathons, spend hours in the gym, or lift backbreaking amounts of weight. Find a form of exercise that works well for you and stick with it. Bike riding, skating, jogging, dancing, or playing sports are just a few examples. For those who are elderly or have physical limitations, repeated forms of mild exercise—stretching or walking—can still help you tone up, feel good, and achieve a healthy body. When it comes to exercising in order to build your body’s immune system, the watchword is: keep moving!
The first step in incorporating an exercise plan into your life is to make the commitment. It must be something that you have decided to do because you need to and something that you plan to stick with. Success requires time, effort, and patience. If you are a beginner, do not try to do too much too soon. Also, be prepared for it to take some time before you see the results. If you are willing to make the commitment and practice patience, you will see that it is far worth the reward.
Don’t restrict yourself to a routine at home or in the gym either. Look for opportunities to move all day long. You can park farther from the store or other destination in order to give you a longer walk, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or toss a ball with your family in the backyard. Having fun is a key element to maintaining an exercise habit. Unless you prefer some solitude, try jogging or walking in the park with a friend. Think of recreational activities you can do with friends or family that don’t cost much.
POWERFUL BENEFITS
Exercise will do more than boost your immune system. When you sweat a little, you are releasing stress, along with toxins that are stored in your system. The cleaner your body, the clearer your skin becomes. Combining exercise with plenty of fresh water and changing your diet to one that emphasizes more fruit and vegetables will make you look and feel better. And exercise is considered the best “nutrient” of all time. It can prolong fitness at any age and help you shed a few pounds too.
Exercise also helps increase your stamina and circulation, lifts depression, and increases joint mobility. Exercise actually nourishes joints. Bearing down or exercising a joint “stirs up” nutrients in the cartilage; movements cause the fluid to flow back into cartilage. This process can both nourish and lubricate the joints. Brisk walking, water aerobics, and stationary cycling are all good exercises for those who are dealing with arthritis or other causes of stiffness.
Then there is the impact on diabetes. As Dr. Reginald Cherry relates in his book The Bible Cure, in one study of twenty-two thousand people, those who exercised five or more times weekly had only 42 percent of the incidence of diabetes, compared to those who exercised less than once weekly. Those exercising two to four times a week had 38 percent of the incidence of diabetes, compared to those who exercised less than once weekly. Even those who exercised only once weekly had only 23 percent as high an incidence of diabetes as those who exercised less than once weekly.
Even folks who have conditions (such as arthritis) and fear that starting exercise will only increase their pain can follow a modified program. It could include deep breathing and stretching exercises in the morning to help limber up the body before getting outdoors for a mild walk. Taking a walk after dinner or walking on a treadmill will help increase blood circulation. Weight lifting doesn’t have to be jerking a huge set of barbells in the air. Strengthen your arms and wrists by regularly curling a five-pound weight. Stretching before going to bed at night will help to relax you and promote more restful sleep. Work your way into this kind of regimen slowly. As you continue, you will see that you can walk faster and for longer periods of time with positive results. You will be surprised at how great it makes you feel.
A minimum of three times per week and a maximum of six times per week is a good schedule to follow; exercise for thirty to sixty minutes per session. Do the entire exercise at one time and keep your heart rate up, not allowing it to fall. One caution here: the nature of your body’s health condition is complex and unique. Therefore, you should consult a health professional before you begin any new exercise, nutrition, or supplementation program, or if you have questions about your health.
STIMULATING THE SYSTEM
One reason exercise is so helpful to strengthening your body is the ways it stimulates the circulatory and lymphatic system, raises metabolic efficiency, and enhances the body’s natural cleansing ability. Conversely, a lack of exercise is a prime culprit in all kinds of problems. Poor circulation—which refers to sluggish blood flow through the body—can lead to such problems as heart attack and stroke. In addition to such factors as genetics, obesity, smoking, high blood pressure, and a high-stress environment, physical inactivity is one of the risk factors for coronary heart disease.
A lack of exercise can also contribute to the common problem of constipation. Many Americans have only three bowel movements a week. Now, the causes are varied and include such things as stress, a low-fiber diet, prescription drugs, or a poor diet with too much sugar, fast foods, and processed foods. But, technically, if you are not having a bowel movement at least once a day, then you are constipated and your bowels are sluggish. Bowel transit time should be twelve hours.
Exercise is vital for both protecting and maintaining a powerful immune system. Aerobic exercise—the kind that uses oxygen and increases your respiration and heart rate—is an excellent way to stimulate the immune system and help to prevent infections. Regular exercise will help keep your immune system strong and healthy. Regular aerobic exercise helps to decrease stress hormones and drain the sinuses by supplying more blood flow to the nasal area. It also increases mucous secretions so that stagnant mucus can be expelled from the sinus cavities.
Another way aerobic exercise works to keep you well is by raising your body’s temperature. Heat actually activates the immune system. When you walk briskly or bike for about thirty minutes, your heightened temperature helps to stimulate the immune system. Exercise also oxygenates and strengthens tissues, making them more able to resist infection. As mentioned earlier, exercise helps eliminate toxins in the body. Your lymphatic system is vitally important in this elimination process, and it also helps to maintain your body’s immune defenses. This system includes the lymph nodes, which are filters placed strategically throughout your body. Each person reading these words has about six hundred of them that systematically cleanse the body from disease. Lymph nodes contain white blood cells that scan the lymphatic fluid for bacteria, viruses, organic debris, and other microbes. These white blood cells contain much of the immune system’s battalion of defense.
Macrophages, T-cells, B-cells, and lymphocytes attack enemy viruses, fungi, and bacteria.
When the lymphatic system becomes sluggish or blocked, the work of white blood cells slows down. This impedes their work of killing invading viruses, bacteria, and other microbes. As a result, infection and disease can more readily take root in the body. Nevertheless, regular aerobic exercise can supercharge this system, increasing its lymphatic flow threefold. That means three times as much cellular waste and foreign microbes are removed. This, in turn, greatly assists the immune system in its work.