Feeding your body certain foods may help in keeping your immune system stronger. If you are looking for the Foods That Boost the Immune System, then you are in the right place. In this article, we talked about several foods that can boost your immunity power.
If you’re looking for ways to prevent colds, the flu, and other infections, you should definitely need to include some natural immune system boosters in your daily meal to keep your immune system strong. As we all know that our immune system plays a vital role in fighting any disease.
An Important Information
As coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted several parts of the world, many people have wondered whether there are some steps they can take to stay healthy. It is especially important to understand that no supplement and diet other than physical distancing, also known as social distancing, and proper hygiene practices can protect you from COVID-19.
Presently, no research supports the use of any of the supplements to protect against COVID-19 specifically.
Which Foods That Boost the Immune System?
A healthy and balanced diet plays a vital role in keeping your immune system healthy. The following foods may help you to boost the immune system:
1. Citrus Fruits
Vitamin C is one of the essential vitamins which our body needs.
Citrus fruits are an excellent source of Vitamin C, this vitamin is needed to form and maintain healthy skin, blood vessels, bones, and connective tissues. Vitamin C plays a vital role in supporting the immune system and also acts as an antioxidant that might help protect your cells against the effects of free radicals and fight inflammation.
List of all citrus fruits that are high in vitamin C and can boost the immune system
- Orange
- Lemon
- Grapefruit
- Clementine
- Lime
Because your body doesn’t produce or store it, you need a daily intake of vitamin C for your good health. The recommended daily amount for most adults are:
- 90 mg for men
- 75 mg for women
2. Dates
Dates are one of the most preferred fruits around the world and have many health benefits as well.
They are rich in carbohydrates and fiber and can benefit your digestive health by preventing constipation. Both ripe and dried dates are very good sources of vitamin C, one of the most important nutrients for the body’s immune system. Vitamin C and the antioxidants help in preventing the problems related to respiratory diseases.
100 grams of Dates contains 75 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein as well.
They are also rich in other vitamins such as vitamin A1, B1, B2, B3, and B5. All these nutrients and antioxidants help in keeping the body healthy, so it is a great food that boosts the immune system.
3. Ginger
The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of ginger can improve the immunity of the body. Ginger tea is one of the most popular categories of tea in India. It may help you by decrease inflammation, which can help you in reducing sore throat and inflammatory illnesses.
It may also help in decreasing chronic pain and might even possess cholesterol-lowering properties too.
4. Garlic
Garlic is found in almost every dish in the world and has many health benefits too. It has been used for centuries as both a medicine and a food ingredient. Eating garlic can boost the number of virus-fighting [T-cells] in the bloodstream of your body. It is important because colds and the flu are caused by viruses.
Garlic’s immune-boosting properties seem to come from a heavy concentration of sulfur-containing compounds, such as allicin.
Here are some ways to maximize the health benefits of garlic:
- Crush or slice all your garlic before you eat it or use it in any of your dishes. This increases the allicin content.
- Before you starting cook with your crushed garlic, let it waits for 10 minutes.
- Use a lot of garlic while cooking — more than one clove per meal, if you can.
5. Yogurt
Always look for the yogurt’s that have the phrase “live and active cultures” printed on the label, like Greek yogurt. These cultures may activate your immune system to help fight several diseases.
Greek yogurt naturally contains lots of probiotic cultures that help in strengthening the digestive tract. Probiotics are healthy bacteria that can help in boosting your immune system and decrease stomach issues, such as diarrhea and pain.
It can be a great source of Vitamin D and Calcium. Vitamin D helps regulate the immune system and is thought to boost your body’s natural defenses against diseases.
The power of protein
Yogurt contains a much higher amount of protein than milk. Your body uses protein to build:
- bones
- cartilage
- muscles
- skin
- hair
- blood
Protein is one of the three nutrients that provide energy to the body. It also helps in transferring the substances, such as oxygen, across the cell membranes. Getting the right amount of protein for your body is important for your immune system, nerves, and fluid balance.
6. Almonds
When we talk about almonds, the first thing that comes to our mind is its health benefits. They lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and reduces your risks of developing Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and heart disease. They contain Vitamin E, magnesium, and potassium, which helps oxygen and nutrients flow more freely through the blood.
Vitamin E is also a powerful antioxidant that is key to a healthy immune system.
If you love your heart so much, you should definitely need to start eating almonds. Make sure that your intake of vitamin E is moderate because excessive intake of vitamin E can lead to prostate cancer.
7. Turmeric (Haldi)
Turmeric contains many Bioactive Compounds with some Powerful Medicinal Properties.
Curcumin is the main active compound of turmeric which is responsible for its bright orange-yellow color. Curcumin is a natural antioxidant that comes with anti-inflammatory benefits.
Its incredible list of healing properties covers antioxidant, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, and many more. These are enough benefits that will make you rethink its usage in your food. It is a commonly used spice in every Indian household. Take a teaspoon of the turmeric powder in a glass of warm milk daily because it is an effective way to keep your immune system healthy.
You should definitely consider including this in your daily spice usage because it can boost the immune system.
8. Papaya
papaya is a nutrient-enriched fruit that comes with amazing health benefits.
It is loaded with iron, folate, B6, calcium, magnesium, and vitamins C, A, B1, B3, B5, E, K, and potassium. Papaya is also rich in antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, and anti-cancerous properties.
It is a fiber-rich fruit as well that helps to make your digestion easy and provide you a healthy gut. The presence of an enzyme called papain in papaya helps in easing your bowel movements in the body, which directly helps in better absorption of nutrients and promotes digestion. It also helps in improving metabolism. Because most of the immune cells are found in the gut, by keeping it healthy, you are naturally boosting your immunity. If you want to study more benefits of papaya on health you can read out here.
9. Green Tea
Both green and black tea’s come with flavonoids, a type of antioxidant. Green tea contains a catechin called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), another powerful antioxidant. The beneficial compounds found in green tea has a powerful ability to increase the number of “regulatory T cells”, as we have already discussed above T-Cells in the garlic section too.
That plays a vital role in immune function and suppression of the autoimmune disease. The secret to green tea’s ability to fight off diseases lies in its antioxidant properties. While we make black tea it goes through the fermentation process so it destroys a lot of the EGCG. But on the other hand, Green tea is steamed and not fermented, so the EGCG is preserved.
If you want to lose weight, green tea will be a good option for you.
10. Broccoli
Broccoli is enriched in vitamins and minerals. Preloaded with vitamins C, A, and E, as well as fiber and many other antioxidants, broccoli is one of the healthiest vegetables you can definitely put on your plate.
The key to keeping its power intact is to cook it as little as possible — or you can eat this in raw form (without cooked). Broccoli is also rich in fiber, this can help you get rid of toxins through the digestive tract.
Research has shown that steaming is the best way to keep more nutrients in any of the food.
11. Kiwi
Kiwis are naturally preloaded with essential nutrients, including folate, potassium, vitamin K, and vitamin C.
Vitamin C boosts the white blood cells to fight infection, while kiwi’s other nutrients help in keeping the rest of your body functioning properly.
Conclusion:
The above information tells us about the several benefits of using some foods that boost the immune system naturally. So, what you are waiting for, go and visit your local grocery store and buy these food items to make your immune system strong. Eating just one of the food regularly doesn’t mean that you are making your immune system strong. But you also need to pay attention to the serving sizes and the recommended daily intake so that you don’t get too much of a single vitamin and too little of others.
“No doctor has ever healed anyone of anything in the history of the world; the human immune system heals and that is the only thing that heals.”
