Friday, March 20, 2009

How Exercise Increases Fitness and Boosts the Immune System

By Kat Wendersen

Often, matters of health and wellness are issues that are oft-contested hardly ever get resolved. New research often makes headway, disproving much of what we previously held true almost immediately. However, if there's one subject matter that isn't under contention, it is the relationship between the immune system and physical exercise.

No reputable researcher will claim that exercise will repair a weakened or diseased immune system. Nonetheless, a broad spectrum of studies confirm that moderate exercise can help sustain and strengthen it, even when the effects are indirect.

The role of exercise in helping to lower stress - and the subsequent beneficial effects on health - has been widely studied. Here the studies are less clear, contradicting one another in some details. But overall the conclusion is the same: moderate, regular exercise helps the immune system by moderating the effects of stress.

Most studies carried out over the last 30 years agree: a continual high level of stress has a number harmful effects on overall health. People who experience high stress get more colds, suffer more digestive tract problems and have more frequent bouts of fatigue. Part of the latter is indirect, since it tends to lead to lowered amounts of restful sleep.

Regular exercise has the benefit of relieving stress directly because it provides and outlet for all the excessive, unsettled energy that is a byproduct of stress. Moreover, it indirectly shifts focus away from any specific stressors that may exacerbate a person's level of stress.

Exercise, needless to say, helps with cardiovascular health as it enhances blood circulation, which causes toxins to be flushed away from the body. It also keeps the kidneys and endocrine system working perfectly, as well as take out germs and keep antibodies moving.

All those promote a healthy immune system by lessening the body's susceptibility to disease, while increasing the robustness of the immune system itself.

The body temperature increases during exercise. This, in turn, acts to kill infectious organisms in the body, in the same manner that fever is an attempt of the body to kill off bacteria and other harmful organisms.

The University of Colorado in Boulder found out that exercise also helps ease and prevent colds, and can even help reduce the likelihood for frequently exercising individuals to contract sickness after a bout with stress. Those who did not exercise for as long did not reap these same benefits.

The study was carried out on rats, but one of the reasons those mammals are used is the similarity in some systems, and their responses, to humans.

Consistent observance of exercise routines on a daily basis can lead to many benefits like looking and feeling good. Such benefits can give anyone higher levels of self-confidence and composure during different situations through their lives. With this, it helps decrease stress levels as well as anxiety is replaced by a calm and confident demeanor.

As these many benefits add up, there is no denying the efficacy of exercise in one's life and health, especially the immune system.

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