There is an opinion that physical activity has a positive effect on the immune system, but there is also an assumption that playing sports completely destroys the immune system. So what effect does physical exercise actually have on the immune system – we will find out right now.
The impact of sports on immunity, confirmed by research
There is a phrase: “Movement is life”! That’s right, during exercise, a number of stimulating processes occur that affect the production of some very useful cells.
Neutrophil cells.
It is these cells that are the first to begin to be synthesized after exercise. Neutrophils are the components of the immune system. They are an integral part of innate immunity. However, only under a moderate load, these cells enter the bloodstream with increased expression, that is, they are able to fight viruses and bacteria, but excessive loads, on the contrary, create a huge number of these cells with reduced expression.
In other words, they are not able to effectively resist pathogens. The activity of leukocytes also decreases at high loads.
A moderate load releases peritonal macrophages, which positively affect antitumor activity, but high loads reduce the activity of microphages.
Another advantage of moderate exercise is the production of white blood cells.
With intensive training, a decrease in NK cells was noticed, which detect new viruses and identify pathogens.
Physical activity negatively affects the efficiency of white blood cells in the first hours after exercise, in other words, after training, the chance of contracting the virus increases. During the day, leukocytes fully restore their function.
Also, a prolonged, even moderate, load negatively affects the immune system. For example, in marathon runners, after a race, the work of the immune system decreases to 50%, namely: the number of T-cells decreases, the activity of phagocytes and leukocytes decreases. It is safe to say that the immune system after a long and intense load is completely exhausted and cannot normally act on viruses and dangerous microorganisms.
Water-salt balance
Water-salt balance is the correct ratio of fluid and salts in the body. Water and salts, electrolytes, are very interconnected and their harmony is responsible for many processes in the body, ranging from metabolism to various diseases caused by dehydration or fluid retention.
Why is it important
Water is the source of life and the transport of nutrients to every cell. In addition, water is a component of blood and lymph, without a sufficient amount of which these substances thicken, respectively, blood clots and a violation of the inflow and outflow of lymph can form. Also, a violation of the balance of water and salts affects not only the state of skeletal muscles, but also smooth muscles, including blood vessels and organs.
Salts, namely: potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, potassium, chlorine, are necessary in the body to retain that same fluid outside and inside the cell. We get these elements from table salt and some vegetables and fruits.
Of course, excess salt is also a violation, since a large amount of salt retains more fluid, which means that they form edema, which has the same negative effect on the body as dehydration.
In turn, dehydration can form not only due to a lack of fluid intake, but also in the absence of salts in the diet. Thus, a salt-free and low-carbohydrate diet can lead to dehydration even with sufficient fluid intake.
If there is a lot of salt, then water, even in meager consumption, will linger in the form of edema. If the level of salt in the diet is adjusted, then water will not linger in the body even when drinking large amounts of water.
The norm of substances
In order to maintain the balance of substances in the body, it is important to observe the daily intake of water and salt. Precisely daily, because one day without enough water or, on the contrary, eating a lot of salty foods and fast food is enough to upset the balance.
Therefore, the rate of pure water should be 30 ml per kilogram of weight. In this case, the amount of pure table salt should be approximately 2 g per day.
By adjusting this daily rate, you can achieve the correct level of water and salt in the body.