While eating a balanced diet is essential, healthy eating habits are equally important for the immune system. Why? Because poor eating manners and/or habits cause poor digestion, which can result in poor nutrition by affecting nutrient breakdown, absorption and metabolism, and leave toxins accumulated in the body, thereby leading to an over-stressed immune system.

So, what are the habits harmful to your immune system? Follow this list to get rid of them.

1. Don’t eat too much for each meal. Control your food intake to 70-80% full, and fill the rest with 2-3 snacks throughout the day. .
2. Don’t over-eat at once. The worst is to bring an empty stomach to a party and eat a huge meal. Over-eating is one of the triggers for illnesses.
3. Don’t skip meal(s) for whatever purposes, esp. don’t skip your breakfast. Eating no food cannot make you slim.
4. Don’t intake too much sugar, e.g. by eating sugar-rich deserts.
5. Don’t eat too much salty food. High sodium contributes to cardiovascular diseases.
6. Don’t eat too much food high in fat, especially saturated and trans fats.
7. Don’t eat very hot food. Oriental folks are accustomed to having warm dishes, but some of them tend to eat a dish when it’s still quite hot. Hot food hurts the esophagus.
8. Don’t eat very spicy food. It hurts the stomach, resulting in poor digestion—weakening the immune system
9. Don’t eat a meat-oriented diet, esp. red meat.
10. Don’t eat too many animal organs. For instance, the liver is an abundant source for protein, vitamins and minerals, as well as the largest organ for detoxification. Because toxins are mostly processed and excreted through the liver, many toxins are also hidden there.
11. Don’t eat processed foods as your daily diet. Processed foods possibly contain known carcinogens, and lack the vital nutrients necessary to support immune functions.
12. Don’t dislike food. Eat a diversity of foods to get those nutrients that are not contained in one food, and to avoid nutrient imbalance. If you really “hate” a particular one, always substitute it with another from the same family with similar nutrients.
13. Don’t eat too many “Fast Foods”.
14. Don’t eat too fast. Enjoy your meal!
15. Don’t eat too much before going to bed. It’s amazing how many people eat a big dinner before bed time.
16. Don’t eat or take something “blindly”, in other words, don’t go with the “marketing flow”. For example, Ginseng’s effects on the body could be from good to excellent, but is not good for everyone.
17. Don’t go without water. Drink at least 6-8 glasses a day.
18. Don’t drink alcohol excessively. Excessive alcohol damages various organs and immune functions.
19. Don’t drink too many soft drinks or artificial juices.
20. Don’t forget to maintain food hygiene. Dirt on fruits/veggies, grease or traces of food in the microwave, and garbage provide nutrition to bacteria, and invite some illnesses. Poor food hygiene has a lot of to do with laziness.

In short, healthy eating habits promote a strong immune system and minimize your risks for illnesses including cancer. Healthy eating takes discipline too.

Do you have another unhealthy eating habit to add to this list?