Exercise and Immune Function

Well, it’s flu season and it seems a fitting time to talk about the benefits of exercise as it relates to immune function. Did you know that recent research suggests that exercising right around the time of your flu shot has an amplification effect? It seems that even a single bout of exercise may help the circulating flu vaccine to make contact with more body cells more quickly, and possibly increases the number of available antibodies that may be present to help the body to fight off disease. This is interesting because most research simply tells us that fitter individuals generally have healthier immune systems. This recent research makes us realize that even a single bout of exercise may have a very powerful effect on the body’s response to the flu vaccine. Exercising for 30-90 minutes on the same day of your flu vaccine may increase it’s effectiveness. If you’ve already had your vaccine, rest easy. We also know that if you accumulate at least 150 minutes of exercise each week, you’ll be protected more than non-exercisers. Check out this article here in the New York Times Wellness Blog.  Don’t get sick. Get active.