Superfoods that Naturally Boost Immunity
5 Superfoods That Can Help You to Boost Your Immunity Naturally
Never has there been a moment in our lifetimes where the need to focus on immune-boosting foods and food supplements has been so important. It’s time to take a very close look at your diet, not for your health tomorrow, but for right now!
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The Importance Of Immune-System Boosting Foods
Right now, more than ever, you should be taking a close look at your diet and ensure that it’s full to the max with healthy immune-boosting food. Not just to stave off regular colds and flu’s, but because now we have a new contagious virus to deal with and it attacks the immune system, just like the regular flu.
This is not to say that adding these super foods to your diet is a full-prevention or a cure, but they can go some way to ensuring you are less susceptible. This is not medical advice, so please consult a professional doctor for your food intake.
What Makes A Food A Superfood?
A proud meat-eater will probably describe their superfood list as anything that used to have feet and can be cooked on grill during the summertime!
Meanwhile, a vegetarian might hold their garden salad dish as the royalty of all superfoods.
Well…the thing is, a superfood is not defined as ‘’super’’ by how much you like the taste of it.
Superfoods are judged on different parameters like; ‘’a food that is rich in compounds (such as antioxidants, fiber, or fatty acids) and considered beneficial to a person’s health.”
Now that is all cleared up, let’s get into it and start listing the five superfoods that can help you boost your immunity naturally.
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Super Food: 1 Broccoli
Broccoli is tied for 1st place as the ultimate green super food. It’s absolutely jam-packed with vitamins and minerals to help keep an immune system in top shape.
Vitamins A, C, and E are in plentiful supply in this titan of super foods, as well as many other antioxidants and fibrous compounds.
Now here’s the kicker, as with most vegetables, the less you cook it, the healthier it is. If you can bare to eat raw, then it will provide its full punch of healthy vitamins and minerals.
Super Food 2: Spinach
Tied for 1st place with broccoli, spinach is a green super food of Goliath proportions when it comes to keeping an immune system nicely boosted!
Absolutely smashed full of vitamin C and numerous other antioxidants and beta carotene compounds, this powerful little leaf deserves a spot on dinner plates everywhere.
Spinach is tasty, cooked or raw and is extremely versatile for many healthy food recipes.
Like broccoli, spinach is very healthy when it’s devoured in raw form. Very light cooking can enhance vitamin A and oxalic acid release, which in turn increases the absorption of the minerals contained within this superfood.
RELATED: Low carb Chocolate and Greens Smoothie with Spinach and Avocado
Super Food 3: Shellfish
Hmmm, I know you weren’t expecting this one, right?
But yes, shellfish can actually be a very important food to increase immunity, if it’s ethically sourced.
Farm-grown fish of any kind are notoriously unhealthy because they are pumped full of all sorts of chemical and growth hormones.
But naturally sourced and line-caught shellfish foods like crab, clams, mussels, and lobster is packed full of zinc, a powerful immune-boosting food.
Zinc is off the radar of most people but our bodies require it to perform at optimum performance.
Super Food 4: Almonds
A great everyday super food, almonds can be found pretty much everywhere.
There’s really no excuse not to be carrying a nice pack of almonds with you at all times, they can even be purchased from the gas station in most places.
Almonds are oozing in vitamin E and, although not as famous as vitamin C for healthy immune system necessity, it’s just as important.
46 whole almonds can provide nearly 100% of the daily amount of vitamin E recommended for the average adult. So, it’s super easy to get this healthy food into your diet, no excuses.
Super Food 5: Citrus Fruits
We’ve saved the easiest and tastiest till last.
Look, even if you’re not a big fan of healthy eating, everybody likes a nice cold glass of orange juice in the morning made with an orange juice machine or a piece of lemon in their sparkling water. Citrus fruits are the first-port-of-call for most people searching for a big portion of vitamin C, and rightly so. Vitamin C helps with increased production of white blood cells – vital in the fight against viruses and infections.
Unfortunately, our creator didn’t design our bodies with the ability to produce or even store vitamin C. So we need to be sure that we get our daily dose in some form or another. Vitamin C is present in foods such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, limes, pineapples, clementines, and melons.
So, What Is A Super Food? What Should My Diet Look Like?
An immunity-boosting food, or an ‘’everyday super food’’ is one that’s going to be packed with the vital vitamins and minerals our bodies need to fight off antibodies and bacteria.
As mentioned in our 5 super foods above, vitamin C and vitamin E are the main powerhouses of immunity-boosting foods but vitamins A, B, and D are just as important. An honorable mention also needs to go to Zinc.
The most important thing, overall, is to maintain a balanced diet and eat a varied selection of different foods.
If you’re at all worried that you might not be getting a sufficient amount of items from our super foods list, then be sure to take food supplements also.
It really isn’t so hard to get a balanced daily intake. Just be sure to stick to a rule of one green super food for lunch and dinner. Then sporadically dot in the other items throughout the day. Again, this is not medical advice, and a doctor should be consulted for a medical opinion.
What do you think? What’s the super food list that can help all of us protect ourselves from cold and flu viruses? What are the best immunity boosting foods that are easily found in all supermarkets?
Author Bio:
Catherine Wiley is a healthy food enthusiast and fitness instructor from Dorking, UK. She’s been a lifelong student of health and enjoys staying active with her husband, 2 young children, and dog ‘Bentley’ in the beautiful Surrey Hills countryside.
