Your immune system defends your body every minute of everyday against infection.
Did you know it actually keeps a record of every germ that it has defeated in your body ? Why ? So that if in the future that germ dares enter your body again, it recognises and destroys the germ/microbe quickly.
To know that your immune system is at all times working to protect you and keep you healthy is pretty amazing huh?
Most of us do not give it a second thought, but perhaps now is a good time to think about what you can do to boost your own immune system so its performance is optimal.
Your Top 5 Tips To Boost Your Immune From Food:
1) EAT REAL FOODS AT ALL TIMES:
Shop around the edge of the supermarket where all the fresh fruit, vegetables meats and dairy are. Fill your plate with an array of colourful veggies, healthy proteins and fats. The more variety the better. As each food provides a wide variety of vitamins and minerals.
Stay away from aisles 2- 10 in the supermarket (they’ve been raided anyway!) As that is where you will find the heavily processed foods laden with high sugar, salt, trans- fats, preservatives, additives and nasties that will deplete your body and your immune system. 🤢
(ps I know there are exceptions like legumes, canned veggies, pasta, rice etc but I know you know what I’m talking about!)
2) VITAMIN C – A crucial vitamin for fighting infections. So what are your best sources? There are many but think…
Citrus Fruits – to load up on your Vitamin C in turn helping increase the production of your white blood cells which fight infections on your behalf!
Remember Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin and not stored in your body, (you pee what you don’t need) so I highly recommended a daily dose at the moment.
Think oranges, lemons, limes, mandarins. 🍊🍋
Vegetables – like red capsicum (bell peppers) have even bigger doses of Vitamin C than citrus! Broccoli and spinach are also absolute winners. Just don’t over cook them as that bleaches out the nutrients.
Garlic, onion and ginger are all immune boosters so find ways to add them to your everyday meals. 🧄 🧅
3) VITAMIN D – due to a very successful ‘slip, slop, slap’ campaign many Australians, now find themselves Vitamin D deficient. This is a real concern as we can no longer rely on the vitamin D we source from foods. The changes in soil management sadly has resulted in much lower traces of Vitamin D in our foods.
Vitamin D facilitates normal immune system function. So if your levels are low then your immune system will be compromised.
I recommend 20 mins of sunlight a day, on your skin without suntan creams. Be smart do it early in the am or later in the afternoon when UV rays are lower. 🌞
Food sources are: –
- salmon, tuna and fatty fish (eat the little bones)
- sardines
- egg yolk (eat the whole egg)
- mushrooms
- prawns
- Cheese
- milk (fortified)
- yogurt (fortified- full fat natural or greek)
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, therefore it needs healthy fats in your everyday diet for you body to increase is bio-availablity. i.e. so your body can use it.
4) ZINC – is not a vitamin but a mineral that keeps your immune system strong. We know and it’s been proven to reduce the severity of a common cold and possibly shorten it’s duration.
What you absolutely need to know its that zinc is an essential nutrient, meaning your body can not produce or store it. Therefore you need to obtain zinc from your diet, constantly.
You will find zinc in every cell in your body and your body has countless uses for it, so it is not a mineral to be ignored. Be aware, a deficiency will lead to a weakened immune response. 🙅🏻
In terms of your body absorbing zinc, there are some things to be aware of.
A) Animal products contain high amounts of zinc that your body finds easy to absorb.
B) Plant based sources like legumes, cereals, whole grains, yes are sources of zinc but the absorption is less efficient. What happens is there are other compounds in these foods that interfere with the zinc being absorbed by your body.
Your foods sources are:-
- Shellfish
- Meat
- Poultry
- Fish
- Legumes
- Nuts and seeds
- Nut Butters
- Dairy products
- Eggs
- Whole grains
- Certain vegetables: Mushrooms, peas, asparagus, kale and beet greens.
- Certain”processed foods” like cereal, snack bars, baking flours have zinc added, but I’d prefer you to source yours from fresh foods!!
5) VITAMIN B6 is one of the 8 B group vitamins which is also often called Pyridoxine. It is vital to supporting biochemical reactions in the immune system and benefits your central nervous system. It also supports your white blood cell formation.
Not as well known as the likes of vitamin C and D but still vitally important. It is also a water soluble vitamin, so again is not stored in your body for more than a few days so you must continually include it in your diet. 🥗Your B6-rich foods are:
* beef and lamb liver
* chicken and turkey
* cold water fish such as salmon and tuna
* green vegetables
* chickpeas
* bananas
* potatoes
* pistachios
* sunflower seeds
Yes so much to take in, and I could share so much more but nourishing your body with immune boosting foods is a great place to start.