Best Foods for Boosting your Immune System

A nutritious diet helps manage a healthy lifestyle. A balanced diet contains all nutrients in appropriate quantity and improves your immune system. Certain food items are known as immune system booster foods. 

Nutritious foods are the best way to overcome health issues. This blog will help you understand what to eat to immunize your body to fight illness. 

What Is Immune System?

Immune system is a complex network of organs, tissues and cells and together they help the body to fight diseases and infections.

When the body is invaded by viruses and germs, they attack and multiply. This is known as an infection. The infection causes the disease that in turn makes a person sick and the immune system defend the body from the disease by fighting of the viruses and germs [1].

Food and some natural practices make the immune system stronger and healthier.

The Best Foods For Boosting Your Immune System

If you have come to read this blog then you must be wondering what food boost your immune system. 

Some of the best foods for your body to boost immune system are mentioned below [2].

1. Blueberries

Blueberries contain a type of flavonoid called anthocyanin, which has antioxidant properties that help in boosting your immune system. A study in 2016 stated that flavonoids impact the respiratory tract’s immune defense system [3].

Upper respiratory tract infection or common cold can be prevented by eating flavanoid-rich food items. 

2. Citrus fruit and kiwi fruits

Citrus fruits are rich in Vitamine C. Vitamin C helps increase the production of white blood cells, which is the key to boosting your immunity.

Almost all citrus fruits are rich in Vitamin C. Some Vitamin C citrus fruits are:

• Orange

• Grapefruit

• Lemon

• Limes

• Tangerines

Kiwi fruits contain vitamins K, C, potassium, and folate. As you know, Vitamins has a great impact on boosting the immune system. Therefore, one can include  immune boosting vitamin  in their diet.

3. Dark chocolate

An antioxidant called theobromine in dark chocolates protects the body's cells from free radicals. It results in managing a strong immune system. Free radicals are harmful to the body’s cells and cause diseases. 

The body produces free radicals during the breakdown of food or when the body comes in contact with pollutants.

Dark chocolates are high in saturated fat and calories. It may cause you to put on weight. So, avoid overeating chocolate and eat it in a limited amount.

4. Chicken

Chicken is rich in Vitamin B-6. One-third of the daily recommended quantity of Vitamin B-6 is present in chicken meat. 

Vitamin B-6 is responsible for several chemical reactions in the body. It also helps to form new and healthy red blood cells. 

Chicken soup helps lower inflammation and improves symptoms of a cold when you fall sick.  

5. Turmeric

Turmeric is a common spice found in every house and is the key to any curries for its color and flavor. Turmeric contains curcumin, from which the yellow color comes. It has anti-inflammatory properties that help improve the symptoms of arthritis and depression.

Turmeric also helps lower the risk of heart and Alzheimer's diseases and can prevent cancer. 

6. Ginger

Ginger is another food item that is responsible for fighting various health issues. The anti-inflammatory property of ginger helps reduce sore throat and provides other health benefits. Ginger can reduce nauseous feelings too.

Ginger also helps treat chronic pain and lowers cholesterol. 

People use ginger in various dishes to make dishes tastier and healthier, desserts, and teas.

7. Garlic

Garlic provides a zing flavor to food, and almost every corner of the world uses it. One common home aid to prevent colds and other illnesses is garlic. A substance present in garlic called allicin reduces the chances of getting a cold.

8. Papaya

Another healthy fruit with a high amount of Vitamin C is papaya. Single medium-sized papaya has two times more amount of vitamin C than the required amount in one day. 

Papaya contains enzyme like papain that helps in inflammation. Other important compounds in papaya are potassium, magnesium, and folate, which are helpful for overall health.

9. Oily fish and shellfish

Oily fishes are high sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Some other oily fishes are salmon, tuna, pilchards, etc. Studies found that omega-3 fatty acids can reduce the chance of rheumatoid arthritis when one consumes a long time[4]. 

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune condition when the immune system attacks any healthy body part by mistake.

Shellfish contains zinc which is also important as other nutrients. Zinc containing shellfishes include: 

• Lobster

• Crab

• Oyster

• Mussels

The recommended amount for zinc for adult men is 11 mg and 8 mg for adult women. Intake of more than the recommended amount can hinder the immune system function.

10. Broccoli

Broccoli is a green vegetable that contains vitamin C and potent antioxidants, such as sulforaphane. It helps to build the immune system stronger day by day with its regular intake. 

11. Yogurt

Yogurt is full of vitamin D. It helps regulate our immune system and immunize our body's natural defense. 

12. Sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are great sources of antioxidant beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is full of vitamin A, which keeps the skin healthy. Vitamin A can also protect the skin from harmful ultraviolet rays.

13. Spinach

Green leafy vegetable spinach contains many essential nutrients and antioxidants to boost the immune system. Flavonoids, carotenoids, vitamin C, and E are some nutrients and antioxidants in spinach.

14. Green tea and black tea

Green and black teas contain an antioxidant called flavonoids that help boost immunity. In green tea, a powerful antioxidant, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), improves immune functions. 

Green tea also contains nearly zero amount of caffeine and can be an alternate option for black tea or coffee. It may also enhance the immune system. 

15. Red bell pepper

Vitamin C is not only found in citrus fruits but is also present in red bell pepper. These are high sources of vitamin C and beta-carotene.  

Vitamin C and beta-carotene help healthifying your skin and eyes.

16. Sunflower seeds

Sunflower seeds have very nutritious values. It contains vitamins E and B-6, phosphorus, and magnesium. To maintain and regulate immune system function, vitamin E helps the most. 

17. Almonds

Almonds contain fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin E. They also contain manganese, magnesium, and fiber. The antioxidants present in almonds keep the immune system stronger. 

Ways To Boost Immune System Naturally

Some of the ways through which one can boost their immune system naturally are mentioned below [5].

1. Avoid smoking

Smoking is not a healthy element in living, It may give you short-term relaxation, but in the long-term, it is harmful. It can adversely affect the immune system and make you prone to health issues.

It lowers the ability to fight back health issues and causes serious illnesses. It can increase the risk of several immune and autoimmune disorders. So, boost immunity by quitting smoking.

2. Exercise regularly

One of the best ways to stay healthy is regular exercise. It can regulate blood flow in our body and thus keeps us mentally and physically fit. Doing physical activity can work as a modulator for boosting your immune system. 

So doing exercise can be very effective in improving our immune system.

3. Maintain a healthy weight

To stay healthy, maintaining body weight is also essential. Excess fat around your abs is responsible for turning the body’s defense system against you, which can lead you to suffer from heart and other diseases. 

So to strengthen the immune system, you should try to maintain a healthy weight.

4. Avoid alcohol or try to drink less

Drinking alcohol is not a healthy habit that can create a negative impact on our overall health. Drinking alcohol can make it difficult for the immune system to gear up, and it becomes unable to defend against harmful germs as alcohol attacks the immune system and increases the risk of serious infections.

5. Get enough sleep

For a healthy life, having enough sleep is also very important. Not getting enough sleep can make us suffer from various issues and harm our immunity. Some habits we should follow include following a routine, maintaining sleep hygiene, sleeping in a calm environment, etc.

Lack of sleep at night can make us sleepy during working hours, reducing our activity. To boost our active energy, we can take the help of nootropics like Modalert, which you can easily find on the market. However, if you buy Modalert ensure to take it in the morning to avoid insomnia.  

7. Minimize stress

In the modern era, people have to deal with various mental health issues like stress, anxiety, depression, etc. These issues also can hit our immune system. Stress can reduce the ability of the immune system to fight antigens. 

Thus it makes us more exposed to infection. So to enhance the immune system, we should try to manage stress. Nootropics for mood enhancement are also effective in treating mental health conditions. 

So to minimize stress, we can also take help from nootropics, thus improving our immune system.

8. Practice correct hand-washing and oral hygiene

Practicing correct hand-washing and oral hygiene is essential if you want to stay healthy as you eat by hand and through the mouth, and most of the germs go into your body through the oral route. 

Keeping your hand and mouth clean ensures no germ enters your body; thus, your immune system gets stronger.

Final Words

The immune system is a very complex process. Eating healthy immunity builders food and some healthy habits can help improve the immune system. But these are not the only ways that help boost immunity.

The overall lifestyle and living environment also impact health conditions. This informative blog will help to choose the right food items to build a great immune system.

However, in case of frequent sickness, one should have a one-to-one conversation with a doctor.