Can nutrition strengthen your immune system?
Brrr…feel the chill? Winter’s arrived in Sydney, bringing with it the traditional ‘cold and flu’ season. But this year, we’ve also got the novel coronavirus to contend with! So, what can you do to give your immune system its best fighting chance?
Whilst there is no single magic food, nutrient or dietary supplement that can supercharge your immunity, research shows that improving overall nutrition does help your immune system work better. And these are the nutrients that get the job done:
Vitamins A and C keep the membranes of our skin, lungs and intestines strong, which mean that our ‘first line of defence’ is in its best shape to block the entry of any foreign nasties.
Vitamins B and D come into play when a germ does succeed in entering our body by aiding in the production and activity of ‘natural killer’ immune cells. These little fighters swarm to where the infection is, and either engulf or implode the germs.
Vitamin E, zinc and selenium are antioxidants, and they are needed to clean up the battleground after the fact. Because you can imagine that all this fighting causes quite some internal mess (termed ‘oxidative stress’), whereby cells get sad and injured. But never fear, for antioxidants are here!
So, to make sure you get all these important nutrients into you, follow our top three tips:
1. Get your two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables a day
We know, we know, you’ve heard this one a million times before. But eating lots of fresh produce really is the key to a strong immune system because you’ll find all the vitamins you need in this superstar food group.
2. Make nuts your go-to snack
Nuts have powerful antioxidants, with just one brazil nut containing your whole day’s requirement of selenium, and a 30g serve of almonds (about 20) your whole day’s worth of vitamin E. So, enjoy a healthy handful of mixed nuts everyday!
3. Up your legumes
Legumes are the unsung heroes in nutrition. Not only are they cheap to buy, keep for ages in the pantry, and easy to cook, they are also full of special types of fibres that our gut bacteria just love to eat. And when your gut bacteria are happy and well fed, you have a better chance of warding off infection. So, make it a goal to include a cup of cooked chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans or lentils in at least two of your main meals each week. Go to the Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council website (www.glnc.org.au) to get inspired!
Jade Petitat is a Power Living certified yoga teacher, who combines traditional yogic philosophy with a modern-day approach to give participants a challenging, yet nurturing practice. When she is not on her mat, Jade works as an Accredited Practising Dietitian and is mum to a sweet little yogini.
