A strong immune system is a secret to staying healthy. It helps you keep cold, flu, and other infections at bay. And feeding your body the right foods is how to boost immunity.
Here is a list of all the food you need to give your immune system a boost:
source: cookinglight.com
- Citrus Fruits: Almost all citrus fruits are rich in Vitamin C, which increases the production of the infection-fighting white blood cells, thus boosting the immune system. There is a variety of these fruits to choose from, the popular ones being oranges, grapefruits, limes, tangerines, and lemons
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- Red Bell Peppers: Red Bell Peppers are a rich source of Vitamins C and beta carotene. While Vitamin C boosts the immune system, your body converts the beta carotenes into Vitamin A, which ensures healthy skin and eyes.
source: thespruceeats.com
- Broccoli: Broccoli is not only a rich source of Vitamins A, C, and E but also contains many other antioxidants and fiber. To get the most out of it, cook it as little as possible. Steaming is a better option to retain the nutrients in the food.
source: medicalnewstoday.com
- Garlic: Another must-have immunity booster food item is garlic. It is a great immunity booster, due to the high amount of sulfur-containing compounds like allicin. Furthermore, it also slows down the hardening of arteries.
source: medicalnewstoday.com
- Ginger: Ginger is an ingredient that not only helps in building immunity but also has other health benefits. It helps in decreasing inflammation, reducing soreness of throat and inflammatory illness, decreasing chronic pain, as well as reducing cholesterol.
source: medicalnewstoday.com
- Spinach: Spinach also comes as an immunity boost food, not because of the high amount of Vitamin C, but because of being packed with a high amount of beta carotene and numerous antioxidants. Just like broccoli, it’s better to cook spinach as less as possible.
source: seriouseats.com
- Yogurt: Yogurts helps in maintaining the immune system, and increases the body’s natural defense against diseases as they are rich in Vitamin D. It is better to have plain unflavoured and sugar-free ones. For sweetening them, you can use healthy fruits and/or honey.
source: npr.org
- Almonds: Almonds are mostly considered as brain food. However, they are also supercharged with healthy fats, powerful antioxidants, and Vitamin E. Vitamin E comes right after Vitamin C according to their immunity-boosting abilities, and hence almonds help in fighting off colds.
source: pinterest.com
- Sunflower Seed: Sunflower seeds are packed with a high amount of various nutrients, which include selenium, magnesium, Vitamins B-6, Vitamin E, and phosphorus. Hence, sunflowers seed not only regulates your immunity but also helps to combat viral infections.
source: medicalnewstoday.com
- Turmeric: Turmeric is widely known for its medicinal benefits, starting from treating rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis as an anti-inflammatory, decreasing exercise-induced muscle damage to building and regulating immunity. Moreover, it also is an anti-viral.
source: cloudfront.net
- Green Tea: Teas, be it green or black, have a type of antioxidant known as flavonoid. Green Tea also contains a high level of another powerful antioxidant known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is known to be an immunity enhancer, and the amino acid L-theanine.
source: brookstropicals.com
- Papaya: Papaya is another fruit to add to the pile of healthy food. It contains a digestive enzyme known as Papain, which also has anti-inflammatory effects, and is loaded with decent amounts of folate, magnesium, and potassium and double the daily amount of Vitamin C recommended.
source: recipematic.com
- Kiwi: Kiwis are full of a lot of necessary nutrients, which include Vitamin C, potassium, and Vitamin K. While Vitamin C is responsible for the production of the infection-fighting white blood cells, the other nutrients help to maintain the proper functioning of the body.
source: sunaq.org
- Shellfish: Just like poultry, shellfish is another non-veg immunity booster food, which is loaded with zinc. Zinc is an important ingredient needed by the immune cells to function properly. However, too much of it can inhibit the immune functions.
Proper nutrition comes from variety. We hope this list at Live Enhanced helps you find the right variety for yourself. Eat right, stay healthy.
