How can I boost my immune system?

Expose yourself to nature and its various normal germs. Get vaccinated to train your immune system. Living in a sterile environment all the time is the worst thing you can do for your immune system.

Sanitizer and anti-bacterial soaps are counterproductive (see @ragingloli‘s comment).

“Superfoods” & natural remedies are hokum, your normal varied diet IS superfood. You are doing a good job there. I would see a doctor.

Like the others have mentioned, being to clean can be a bad thing. When you wash your hands too much, you wash away the normal flora that helps protect you. You also risk drying your hands out which can lead to cracks in your skin.

Also, what do you consider getting “sick”? Could it be allergies and not an actual cold? If it’s primarily in your sinuses, you may want to talk to your doctor about allergies. Also, you could be getting to much sleep (which could be why you feel tired even after 9 hours of sleep). Vitamin C helps with your immune system, but you should talk to a doctor before starting anything.

Live outside the bubble, get out, get dirty, get into life. don’t rely on the sanitizer. being exposed to a “healthy” amount of germs will increase your immunity and you will be healthier overall.

The B vitamins give you energy naturally, I take them as a supplement each day and sure notice if I don’t. Threw away the hand sanitizer. It’s important to wash your hands before preparing food but not every time you touch anything!

Zinc, Echinacea and Garlic!! Fabulous for the immune system… oh and lots of hugs – they work wonders too!!xxx

I apreciate all of your answers but i just want to make it clear that im not a germaphobe and i dont live in a bubble. I dont overuse hand sanitizer nor do i rely on it. I didn’t wan’t to write a whole novel and make you guys bored but part of the reason i try to stay so clean is because i work as a receptionist at a gym. I fold towels, file paperwork, computer stuff, which isn’t so bad. Yet I also deal with taking out the dirty, sweaty, damp towels, people throw in the hamper, several times a day, i pick up dirty sweaty towels from everywhere peole leave behind. i clean/wipe off spin bikes after every class (they get nasty) all kinds of cardio equipment, weights etc. I take out the trash, replace toilet paper. SO i have to be very clean while i work and right after leaving. If not then thats just super gross

What type of sick do you get, mostly?

Sorry…. not Echinacea. (myth)

If you really are getting that sick all the time, I’d suggest having your immune system looked at. See what your blood cells are doing. Iron is important. Are you vegetarian? Prune juice has loads of iron in it. Spirulina is a good overall food, but I just found out that it contains amounts of B12 that aren’t absorbed and can give a false test of healthy levels of this when your system really might not have enough, so don’t take spirulina if you’re having your blood checked for vitamin levels.

Are your lymph glands swollen all the time? Have you had trouble with your spleen? Get your system checked out. It’s not normal to be sick that often.

Getting good nutrition, plenty of exercise and adequate sleep can help you fight off infections.

sorry i forgot to answer that part. When I mean sick it’s usually like I start with a soar throat, then coughing, anc chest congestion, a lot of mucus, body aches, drained of energy. Then the soar throat will go away and the body aches, yet i will stay congested for up to 10 days after. so just like a cold that never really goes away. So im not SO sick with fever and things liket hat. But then about 4 months ago I went 10 days with a low grade fever and body aches. My Dr. thought it was the swine flu (which i already got last summer while backpacking through europe) and gave me tamiflu which only made me feel worse, he then decided why not run some more test instead of jumping to conclusions and figured out it was a uti. then about 6 weeks ago i had a sinus infection.. I sound like a crazy person.
Anyways i had mono 4 years ago. LIke i mentioned before i got the swine flu in europe while i was traveling with 3 other friends, we shared rooms, we shared food drinks, we stayed in crappy places, went on nasty crowded day and overnight trains, public transportation, crowded places(so in times like that you need some hand sanitizer) i was the only one of the 4 of us who took vitamins at the time and was the only one who took on the trip. and i was the only one who got sick.

Have you ever been tested for allergies? Post-nasal drip will cause a sore throat and allergies can cause congestion as well.

since a few years back my dr. told me i wasn’t allergic to anything in particular, just seasonal, so he prescribed a once a day allergy pill that i take

@nimarka1 Does it seem like the allergy pill still helps? I took Claritin for about 4 years when it was prescription only and ended up building a tolerance to it and had to switch medications.

There really is no way to “boost your immune system”. All of the illnesses you described (colds, flu, UTI) are common enough that it sounds more like you are a young, active person who is in contact with a lot of viruses (and bacteria, in the case of your UTI). Probably the best thing you can do is to change jobs, as you clearly identified. People that work in day cares, gyms, hospitals, etc., tend to be exposed to more viruses (and secretions containing said viruses), and thus are more prone to getting sick.

Look into the side effects of that once a day allergy pill. Antihistamines can have effects on ureters (your UTI infection) and of course it effects the sinuses…. excessive dryness/changes to mucus lining can encourage bacterial and fungal growth. Some antihistamines have a close relationship to drugs like ‘E’ and other types of ‘speed’ in that they cause a strange retention of urine/fluids that can adversely affect the urinary tract.

A friend of mine recently had an almost unknown side effect to his ‘very commonly prescribed’ diabetes pill and it was so serious they nearly had to remove his spleen. Side effects happen.

Echinacea

Check out Carbon monoxide poisoning. Just to be sure.

Regular exercise.

Singing in a choir.