Your immune system is a powerful defense mechanism, working tirelessly to protect you from illness and keep you feeling your best. But despite its remarkable abilities, modern life can often throw obstacles in its way. From daily habits to hidden stressors, certain lifestyle factors may be undermining your immunity without you even realizing it. Now let's uncover four common culprits that could be weakening your immune response, and then look at the steps you can take today to support your body’s natural defenses.

Chronic stress — we make stress out to be a normal part of modern life, when in fact it can be a detrimental factor to your health. Chronic stress leads to elevated cortisol levels, and when this hormone is elevated for a prolonged time, it can inhibit your immune system. At its simplest, your body is so concerned with being stressed that it does not have enough resources left over to effectively fight off germs.

What You Can Do: We cannot permanently eliminate stress from our lives, but we can change our relationship with it. Mindful exercises such as meditation, deep breathing activities or small bits of movement like a short walk to the park can help ease your nerves and reduce cortisol. Focus on stress-relieving practices that you can engage in regularly to help reduce the body's immune response.

When life gets busy, the first thing to go is sleep, but skipping out on a full night of snoozing even once can leave your immune system much more susceptible. It is a scientific fact that people who lack sleep are more likely to succumb to infections, such as the cold and flu virus due to inadequate time for their bodies to heal and restore energy.

What You Can Do: Shoot for 7–9 hours of high-quality sleep each night. Starting a regular sleep routine- going to bed and waking up at the same time every day — can help. Establish a relaxing wind down before you turn in for the night— avoid screens before bed, and try relaxation practices such as reading or having a warm bath. Sleep is absolutely crucial for a healthy immune response so it behooves you to get to bed on time.

Your immune system needs a continuous flow of nutrients to work as it should, and due to many people having gaps in their diet, they leave their bodies vunerable. Processed food, sugar, and unhealthy fats contribute to inflammation and rob your body of inflammation-fighting vitamins and minerals.

What You Can Do:Eating a well-rounded, balanced diet full of fruits, vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats has been shown to help improve how efficient your immune system is. Find foods that are high in vitamin C, D and Zinc which are all critical to help build your immune system. A plant-based multivitamin can meet these needs so that your immune system stays healthy.

Exercise is an essential part of your immune system defense. Exercise-induced circulation helps immune cells to travel through your body more effectively, and better protect you against illness. On the other hand, adopting a sedentary lifestyle with poor body posture can result in weak immunity and makes you more susceptible to illness.

What You Can Do:Gently exercising a few days per week–like taking a half-hour brisk walk or doing restorative yoga can help boost your immune system. For best results, shoot for 30-minute sessions on most days of the week. While exercise is a huge part of staying healthy, too many high-intensity workouts without the right amount of rest can actually lower your immune function. So the key here is finding the balance between movement and doing nothing.

Everyone is upping their game right now on personal hygiene. We are focused on hand washing, wiping things down, coughing and sneezing responsibly (into our arm or handkerchief) and not touching our faces, but there are some sneaky ways germs can infiltrate our habitat:

• • YOUR PHONE: Researchers at the University of Arizona found that the average phone had 10X more bacteria than a toilet seat. Since most of us check our phone upwards of 50 times per day, it can be a constant reservoir of microorganisms.
  • YOUR KEYBOARD: If you think your phone is bad, your keyboard can be 2000X dirtier than your phone.
  • YOUR ID BADGE: Your ID badge for school or work is another frequently used item that we touch multiple times per day. Maybe it hangs around your neck on a dingy lanyard or is tethered at your belt by a retractable cord. Either way it might be time to clean it or replace it.
  • YOUR REFRIGERATOR & MICROWAVE: Refrigerator handle, microwave handle and keypad are some of the dirtiest places in your kitchen, and because of their high use during food prep, they are the perfect way to pass germs around your entire family.
  • YOUR STEERING WHEEL: After what we’ve told you so far, you won’t be surprised that the steering wheel in your vehicle is also a repository of microorganisms. For that matter, you can now identify several things high use or high traffic areas that might need a good wipe down: TV remote, light switches, doorknobs, faucet handles, etc.

START TODAY:  Wipe down high use items on a regular basis.

Your immune system works hard to protect you, but it needs support from your daily habits. By addressing these common saboteurs—stress, sleep, diet, and exercise—you can seriously enhance your immune system's ability to keep you healthy. And the best part is you don’t need to overhaul your life overnight. Small, consistent changescan make a big difference in the long run, helping you build resilience and stay well.