Now than ever before we are realizing the vitality of a strong immune system. Well, we have been hearing this from like ages that if we want to fight off the naughty viruses, strong immunity is what will help us. And now, this Covid has reiterated all these age-old sayings and suddenly we are scrambling to get our immunity up and running! Most like me are now often spotted at Whole Foods scouting for organic veggies, turmeric root, health supplements or just stocking up on vitamin, protein, and zinc laden foods.
Today, I am listing what we can possibly do to boost our immunity dividing it by lifestyle and diet and subsequently listing food by supplement and nutrition. All for my tribe!! But you have got to promise me that taking this whole thing of boosting immunity is not a momentary thing only making the rounds due to Covid, ok! You and I, both will be taking steps to boost our immunity over a period of time, because you know this, immunity can’t be built in a day rather it’s a process. It’s like that proverb, Rome was not built in a day, same goes for immunity!
Making Lifestyle changes goes a long long way in the immunity building game
Cutting down on alcohol and nicotine because both of these have an adverse effect on your immune system. Prolonged smoking badly affects the lungs and alcohol makes the body more susceptible to conditions like pneumonia, respiratory issues, and liver adversities. Chuck it now, it may be a bit hard but it’s good riddance!
Stress less sleep a bit more because sleep will act as a rejuvenation time for all your tired muscles, your eyes will get the much-needed rest, and your back will get to lay flat after a long hectic day of work. We do not even realize how important a regulated sleep-wake cycle is and how far it goes in developing a healthy immune system. And stress, of course, I understand sometimes it just goes out of hand but try doing yoga or just sit with a book and coffee or just look outside, these little things help so much in e
Exercise, we already know this, yet many of us give it a skip for a series on Hulu! Doing a quick cardio or a 10-minute HIIT or a round of Pilates not only builds out the body core but also releases the toxins of stress, opens up the lungs, pumps the heart, kick starts better blood circulation, and makes the glutes stronger.
Having a hearty laugh, talking to real people, the companionship of a fur ball all hold your hand towards cultivating a strong inside. Get off that phone, log out of social media, and call your group of friends, chat your heart out, be a little bit silly, laugh at not-so-funny jokes. A happy mind builds a strong heart and hence stronger immunity. And what can I say about those furry friends of ours, they are such a joy, no wonder they’re our best friends! Did you know having a pet around reduces stress, lowers the damn cholesterol and blood pressure levels? See, time for immunity building revelations!
Dietary changes go along with all that I just mentioned and are just as important
Water, water baby, yes staying hydrated throughout the day is the key to good health. It flushes out toxins, and it works hard to make oxygen reach the body cells subsequently making an overall happily functioning system.
Less sugar, more happiness. Sugar adds the risk of weight gain and obesity which in turn will send out an open invitation to diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, and whatnot! I am resolving to steer clear of any added sugar in my diet this year, are you with me on this? C’mon, it’s for our own good, you’re here to build a stone wall immunity, right?
Add more folic acid and iron-rich items to your menu. Deficiency in folate damages immunity and iron acts as a carrier for the oxygen and helps it reach the body cells. So, we clearly cannot undermine the criticality of these two supplements in augmenting our immunity. Furthermore, it’s easily found in foods like leafy veggies, broccoli, beans, lentils, spinach, legumes, red meat {not too much of this please!}, quinoa. So, for opening the door for folic acid and iron into our precious body we don’t have to look further than our pantry!
And fermented products go a long way too. Find the much-needed probiotics in kefir, low-fat yogurt, kimchi, kombucha. These all help to develop our gut health for sure! And the bonus, these also help improve the digestive tract as well. So that’s even more reason to start stocking up on the probiotics or if not the foodstuff at least the probiotic supplements will also do.
Did I talk about immunity superfoods like citrus, spinach, almonds, broccoli, ginger, garlic, peppers, oyster, carrots, salmon, turkey, sardines? These are the essential source of all the nutrients and antioxidants that are so necessary for fortifying our immunity.
If you can cut back on processed foods as well. These do not help grow immunity in any way, in fact, open up the entryway for unwanted bacteria in our body and not to mention the hidden sugars, unhealthy fats, and refined flours. Not-good things at all are the least I can say about these!
Listing by the nutrition,
Vitamin A wears a lot of hats by strengthening the lungs, heart, kidney, the reproductive system, and helping win our immunity game. Look for it in cantaloupes, carrots, broccoli, liver, eggs, fortified breakfast cereals, sweet potato, winter squash, turnips, kale, and many more.
Vitamin C is that warrior that prepares our body to fight those ugly viruses and infections and even if some manage to crawl in, vitamin c helps to shoo them away earlier. Where to look for it? It’s right there in your refrigerator, in the strawberry, brussels sprouts, kiwi, mango, papaya, pineapple, bell peppers.
Vitamin D is the superpower that helps our body to fight the cold and flu viruses so we absolutely need a healthy dose of it. And the options are aplenty, there are fatty fishes, tuna, salmon, mackerel, beef liver, egg yolk, cheeses, milk.
The Vitamin family also includes B6 and E which usually tags along with other vitamins laden items like spinach, broccoli, strawberries, tuna, salmon, or nuts.
Protein, that’s the nutrient that helps to create antibodies and immune cells in our body which fights bad viruses and infections. Scout for it in poultry, fish, seafood, lean meats, dairy items like cheeses, milk and yogurt, pork loin, and the list is really huge.
Zinc is the propellant that helps the immune cells to grow. Though oysters are one of the best ways to get zinc into your body, there are other options like tofu, seeds, chickpea, lentils, chicken, oatmeal, crab eat, beans, nuts.
Iron & Folic Acid plays the role of an important supporting character, an important supplement in upping our ante in the immunity game! When at the grocer, look for produce like avocado, leafy ‘greenies’, fortified foods, turkey, canned sardines, tuna, chicken, mussels, and kale.
It’s important to always have it at the back of your mind that boosting immunity is a continuous process and we can’t just get up one fine morning and say, I’m immune enough or that’s it, I have had enough! Start today if you haven’t already and keep going. It may call for some changes in the way you have been leading life, but remember, it’s all for our own self and will take us a long long way. We are in this together and we have got this!!