9 Foods that boost your Immune System

     To look good and stay healthy you need an immune system that's working at top gear. 

In this article, I will examine nine immune boosting foods that are readily available from your local store or garden.

In addition to changing your lifestyle to eliminate stress and integration of exercise into your daily routine, good nutrition is the key to the immune system’s efficient function. 

Without good food that will provide proper nutrition that the body needs to fight off foreign invaders, all other measures aimed at restoring and strengthening the immune system have limitations.

Remember that you are what you eat. So shop wisely and remember to include these superfoods in your list.

1. Butternut squash

This nutrient dense gourd contains high levels of vitamin A, an essential nutrient that supports and regulates the healthy development of immune cells. Consequently, a deficiency in Vitamin A results in impaired immunity and higher risks for infections.

Vitamin A is also vital for the maintenance of goblet cells, particularly those that line the intestinal tract and help in the absorption of nutrients into the body. A healthy digestive system makes for an efficient absorption of nutrients that the immune system needs to fight off diseases.

2. Oatmeal

Oatmeal, like other cereal grains, is an excellent source of Beta-glucan, a special type of fiber that helps regulate the immune system by triggering a cascade of events that makes it more efficient. 

In particular, beta-glucans stimulates the activity of macrophages, a type of white blood cell that engulfs and digests harmful pathogens like germs and bacteria. Macrophages also release cytokines, a group of small proteins that allows immune cells to communicate with one another.

Beta-glucans also stimulates lymphocytes, the body’s killer cells, to bind around tumors and viruses and release powerful enzymes that induce the death of pathogens or diseased cells.

3. Mushrooms

Just like oatmeal, most edible wild mushroom varieties especially shitake mushrooms are also an excellent source of beta-glucans, a special kind of fiber that provides immune system support. Shitake mushrooms are not only noted for the variety of its polysaccharide glucans, but for its anti-cancer immunity as well.

A research published in the Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology in 2009 showed that polysaccharide extracts of Shiitake mushrooms are capable of stimulating the function and activation of macrophages. 

Among its many important activities, macrophages are responsible for identifying and clearing of cancerous cells from the body.

Their high fibre content also support the growrh of immune boosting gut bacteria.

But that’s not all the support it brings to the immune system. Scientific evidence shows that extracts of this mushroom also have antibacterial, antiviral and blood clot inhibiting properties.

4. Shrimp

Shrimps may be small in size, but they are huge in terms of strengthening the body’s immune response. These crustaceans are an excellent source of the trace mineral selenium, which research shows to help increase the body’s production of cytokines. 

These proteins allow immune cells to communicate with each other and stimulate immune cells to move towards sites of inflammation, infection and trauma.

5. Lean grass-fed Beef

Zinc deficiency can be crippling to your immune system, putting you at a greater risk for infection. This is because zinc is needed by the body to produce interleukin-2, a type of cytokine that fights off bacteria and viruses.

Red meats like beef are rich in this immune-boosting mineral. Grass-fed beef contains 1 mg of zinc in every ounce. Thus, a 4-ounce serving provides 4.0 mg or 37% of your daily recommended intake of zinc.

6. Chicken and Turkey breasts

Of the many functions of protein in the body, one of its most critical is supporting the immune system. The amino acids that make up proteins are the building blocks of every cell in the body, including immune cells. 

Amino acids also act as catalysts for most of the activities in living cells and regulate immune response. Some of the proteins involved in the body’s defense against infections and diseases lie in wait until they are needed, while others are produced on site as the need arises.

One such excellent source of protein is chicken breasts. A 4-ounce serving of chicken breast contains 35.18 mg of protein for 187 calories, according to the George Mateljan Foundation website, The World’s Healthiest Foods.

7. Unsweetened unpasteurised Yogurt

Probiotics, the live beneficial bacteria found in fermented foods like yogurt, don’t just help improve your digestive health, but the overall function of your immune system as well. The digestive tract is actually an active immune center where a large number of pathogens and toxins come from. Therefore, a solid foundation on health begins in the gut.

Probiotics can both support and boost the immune system through a number of ways. Probiotics out-populate harmful bacteria and pathogens by stealing their food sources, effectively preventing them from multiplying and propagation.

Probiotics also help keep pathogens and their toxins from sticking to the digestive tract by adhering to the intestinal epithelial walls. 

And lastly, probiotics can directly inhibit the growth of pathogens by producing antibacterial substances and acids, such as acetic and propionic acids.

8. Salmon, Mackreal and oily fish

Aside from being a good source of quality protein, salmon is also an excellent source of the essential nutrient vitamin D and Omega 3 fatty acids. It is one of the many hormones vital in the development of white blood cells, our body’s first line of defense against infections. 

Vitamin D is also crucial in activating the immune system’s killer cells, or T cells, so it can react and fight off serious infections in the body.

9. Citrus fruits and Berries

These fruits are very high in Vitamin C and other antioxidants. The antioxidants help repair your skin and may even keep your brain young.

Anthocyanin, the antioxidant that give many berries their eye-catching colors, protects your skin from UV rays. 

Strawberries are also a good source of silica, a vital trace mineral for healthy skin and connective tissue.

This is quite interesting. Researchers at Tufts University and University of Maryland Baltimore County, found that after feeding rats a blueberry and strawberry diet over two months, and then using irradiation to accelerate aging, the berry fed rats’ brains aged much slower!

Thanks for being here and goodluck on your journey to optimal health and wellness. I hope you enjoyed reading this piece. 

I invite you to check out more of my over a hundred health and beauty articles that may interest. Please use the search button at the top of the page. See you in the next one. Ciao. God-isLove.

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