How to Build a Diet to Strengthen Your Immune System
A diet full of key micronutrients and natural supplements is key to a strong and healthy immune system.
We now know that there are key foods that, when consumed, support a healthy immune system. The compounds, vitamins, and minerals in these foods are utilized to both build and repair the immune system (and body) from the inside out.
Immune System Diet
With any immune boosting diet it's important to consume a good variety of all the vitamins and minerals you need for optimal immune system health.
Be sure to pay attention to serving sizes and aim to eat foods in season. This will ensure your body gets a diverse variety of vitamins and minerals from different sources year-round.
Key Ingredients of a Strong Immune System Diet
Here is a great starter list of immune-boosting foods to increase immunity and overall health.
Vitamin C-rich Foods (Citrus and Bell Peppers)
Most of us reach for citrus when we feel our immune system lagging, or sometimes when we already feel a cold coming on.
However, the truth is that citrus fruits, and the natural Vitamin C they’re so rich in, is great for increasing the production of white blood cells - one key component of a healthy immune system.
To boost your immune system in this way, it's important to understand that your body does not naturally produce Vitamin C. It also doesn't store it from day to day. This means you need a regular and daily supply of Vitamin C for optimal immune system health.
Popular citrus fruits include: grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, clementines, lemons, and limes.
Additionally, you might think that, of all the fruits and vegetables, citrus has the most Vitamin C. However, you'd be surprisingly wrong!
When we compare ounce to ounce, bell peppers come out on top for Vitamin C clocking almost twice as much as citrus. Bell peppers are also rich in beta-carotene which is a key micronutrient for eye and skin health.
While garlic is known best for adding flavor to our foods, crushed raw garlic is also a potent antiseptic and immune boosting food. Additionally, it’s also known to be helpful in fighting infections and shows promising anticancer potential as well.
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health notes that it may also help lower blood pressure as well as slow the hardening of the arteries, lessening the risk of a heart attack.
In Ayurvedic medicine, ginger is known for its immune system boosting properties. It’s warming effect is also believed to assist in breaking down toxins that have accumulated in your body and in cleansing your lymphatic system.
The immunonutrition, antimicrobial, antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory effects of ginger root can be used to treat many infectious diseases.
Yogurt and Probiotics
Yogurt is a food rich in beneficial gut bacteria, also known as probiotics. It’s helpful for healing leaky gut syndrome, stabilizing gut microbial communities, and making the gut inhospitable to more hostile bacteria.
Yogurt, as well as other probiotic foods like kombucha tea, kimchi, kefir, fermented foods, and other supplements, are great immune system boosters. Additionally, (and for women especially) researchers proved that consuming probiotics (esp. Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus reuteri) can prevent and fight painful yeast infections (fungal infections) and bacterial vaginal infections.
The leaves, stems, and roots of the Panax ginseng plant can all help you fight infections, boost your immune system, and enhance your body’s resistance to infection and illness. Ginseng improves your immune system’s performance and also has antimicrobial compounds that work as a defense mechanism against bacterial and viral infections.
In a 2005 study published in the American Journal of Chinese Medicine, researchers showed that long-term oral administration of ginseng extract successfully prompted antigen-specific antibody responses. Ginseng’s ability to stimulate antibody production helps the body fight invading pathogens and microorganisms to prevent them from harming healthy cells.
However, there is one thing to keep in mind…
Most all plant-based foods have strong healing and health-boosting effects, so this list of immune boosting foods is in no way an exhaustive list. There are also dietary supplements like pine cone extract that you can add to your diet for even greater immune-enhancing health effects.
Consult your local nutritionist for more lists of powerful immune boosting foods to include in your daily diet.
Building a special autoimmune diet
When you suffer from an autoimmune disease - where the body is literally attacking itself day-to-day - it’s important to consider diet protocols, along with other dietary supplements, that can support the healing and regeneration of both your body and immune system.
Thankfully, pine cone extract does just that!
Studies show that pine cone extract can successfully reduce symptoms from allergies and other overactive immune system responses. Additionally, when pine cone extract is consumed as a natural supplement, it can boost your immune system as part of a holistic diet protocol.