5 Foods to Boost Your Immune System
Healthy habits are essential at any age to maintain a good physical and emotional state. Frequent exercise and a balanced diet without processed foods are key to preventing diseases. In this article, we’ll show you 5 foods to boost your immune system.
The immune system represents the body’s own defense against infections, viruses or bacteria that cause problems. When it operates normally, it reacts immediately to infectious agents that could attack it.
As a preventative measure, knowing the foods that boost your immune system is key if you want to keep your body ready. Today we’ll show you 5 foods that will boost your immune system and strengthen your health.
5 foods to boost your immune system
1. Fruits and vegetables
The fruits that are most helpful are citrus fruits. Oranges, lemons and grapefruits have vitamin C, which helps you absorb iron. In addition, they provide antioxidants and folic acid. That’s why they’re great at keeping your body healthy, especially in the winter.
When considering foods that boost your immune system, you can also choose multi-colored vegetable dishes. This means that the more different your vegetables are, the better they are for your body.
Veggies have a large amount of micronutrients, such as zinc, iron, selenium, copper, and essential elements like beta-carotene. In addition, they have vitamins A, B6, E and C.
2. Probiotics or fermented foods
Another factor to consider to boost your immune system are foods with “live assets.” Probiotics are those that increase the functioning of bacterial flora, thus helping regulate your digestive system.
Yogurt, kefir, and certain kinds of cheeses have supplemental doses of probiotics in good amounts to regulate your intestinal flora. Your stomach will be prepared for bacterial attacks. In addition, it can fight against excessive use of medications, which usually attack healthy bacteria.
3. Green tea
Something as simple as replacing coffee with green tea, or Camellia sinensis, can renew and strengthen your immune system. This is all thanks to EGCG, the powerful component that this herb provides.
In addition, green tea has catechins, which is a great antioxidant that helps prevent certain immune system diseases.
The best green tea for medicinal purposes is the kind sold as loose leaves. The daily amount may vary, although it’s also not good to drink in excess. In fact, you should only drink a max of 3 cups.
EGCG renews cells and protects them from damage ranging from smog to stress, through different diseases caused by bacteria and viruses.
4. Turmeric
Indian food uses this very nutritious spice in almost all its dishes. It has amazing benefits that are as abundant as the flavor it adds to dishes. Mainly, it’s known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
When tasting Indian food, you’ll notice that it’s light and digests easily. This is, among other things, thanks to turmeric.
Therefore, it also serves as a natural medicine for digestive problems. In addition, it’s an excellent liver detoxifier and a great energizer for your heart.
5. Almonds
We highly recommend eating this nut when you want to boost your immune system. One of its greatest contributions are vitamin E and calcium. These properties make your skin and bones stronger, as well as your hair and nails.
In addition, you only need about 10 almonds per day to benefit your red blood cells.
We recommend almonds for all ages and physical states. In addition, almonds prevent anemia and help you lose weight. By adding almonds to your diet, you’ll benefit your overall health.
Finally, we’ll remind you that in addition to these 5 foods, healthy bodies need to exercise, rest and relax. Art, music and yoga are also important to benefit your mind, body and spirit.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- How to boost your inmune system. (2014). Harvard Health Publishing. Harvard Medical School. [Online] Avaiable at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-boost-your-immune-system
- Howard, J. Why colorful foods boost inmunity? (2019). Health. CNN. [Online] Avaiable at: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/05/health/immune-system-diet-food-as-fuel-explainer/index.html
- Calder, Philip & Kew, Samantha. (2002). The Immune System: A Target for Functional Foods? The British journal of nutrition. 88 Suppl 2. S165-77. 10.1079/BJN2002682.