Food & Drink

The Best Foods To Boost Your Immunity

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H aving a balanced and well-rounded diet is essential to ensure that your body can do its best to make you healthier and safer and nothing was a better reminder of this than the latest pandemic.

While foods can not eliminate the risk of the disease altogether, there are foods to boost your immunity, equip your body to deal with them better and with much fewer repercussions than someone with a weaker immune system.

To avoid diseases like the common cold, flu, or other infections, it is necessary you have the right minerals and vitamins to build up your immune system. Here are some foods that can help you do that.

1. Citrus Fruits

Fruit, and especially citrus fruit, juices are often found on the bedsides of those down with the cold or flu. This is because they are high in vitamin C which increases the white blood cell production in your body, boosting your immune system and making you less susceptible to common diseases. With a wide variety to choose from, including but not limited to oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruit, tangerines, and clementine, it is easy to add in a dash of citrus juice in your day to make sure you are healthier in the long run.

2. Broccoli

It wouldn’t be wrong to consider broccoli a superfood with the number of vitamins and minerals packed into it. Rich in vitamin A, C, E, fiber, and other antioxidants, broccoli is the best vegetable you can choose to add to your diet.

While cooking is an excellent way to add it to a variety of dishes, steaming or eating it raw is a lot more beneficial as it ensures that none of the nutritional content is lost. If cooking is necessary, make sure to do that as little as possible to preserve all the goodness it offers. An excellent way to eat broccoli would be to add it to salads. Not only does that enhance the flavor, but also takes it to the next level when it comes to its benefits.

3. Garlic and Ginger

These two are often found in the home remedies that house elders swear up and down by -and they aren’t wrong. With garlic slowing down the hardening of arteries and offering sulfur concentrated compounds like allicin to boost immunity and ginger being anti-inflammatory, helping with nausea, chronic pain, and reducing cholesterol levels, these two are brilliant when it comes to keeping your body in top shape.

In many cuisines, these two go hand in hand and add a delicious touch to meals. Not only is this duo absolutely delicious and capable of adding immense flavor, but also incredibly healthy. If adding to foods isn’t your thing, you can also opt for ginger tea or adding shredded garlic on top of rice or salads for an extra kick.

4. Red Bell Peppers

Red bell peppers have the highest vitamin C content out of any fruit or vegetable. Single bell pepper contains almost three times as much vitamin C (127 mg) as the average orange (45 mg) and is the best food to improve your immune system. Moreover, vitamin C is also amazing for healthier skin, teeth, hair, and nails making them stronger and shinier.

Red bell peppers are also a great source of beta carotene that the body converts to vitamin A which helps keep your eyes sharp and healthy as well as your skin brighter and clearer. Aside from the nutritional benefits, it's also a great vegetable for a number of dishes that packs just the right amount of spice to make an excellent addition to pasta, traditional dishes, salads, and side dishes for steaks.

5. Yogurt

Yogurt is loaded with vitamin D which is thought to boost the body’s natural defenses against diseases as well as regulate the immune system. However, try to select brands that add as little as possible to yogurt or if possible, go down to the farmers market and get plain yogurt yourself.

This way, it is a lot healthier without refined sugars and other additives. Moreover, you can make it sweeter with fruits and honey which also adds more flavor to it than sugar as well as make it healthier, both in general and in terms of boosting immunity.

Despite eating foods to boost your immunity, remember that they are not a cure against them, they simply equip your body to deal with them with lesser repercussions and make you less susceptible to them. To be adequately protected against diseases, it is important to incorporate the best foods to boost your immunity.