By Sarah Glunz
Your body does a lot of incredible things to keep you healthy—one of the most impressive is your immune system at work. When faced with fighting off bacteria or viruses, your immune system makes moves to remove those foreign substances. Your immune cells, the soldiers that do the fighting, require the right building blocks to stay in tip-top shape. And that’s where your diet comes into play. Here, we break down four ways to boost your immune system this winter through the foods you eat.
Focus on gut health
It’s crazy to think about, but a majority of your immune cells live in your gut. One way to boost your immune system is by focusing on behaviors that improve gut health, like getting probiotics from fermented foods like sauerkraut, yogurt, kimchi, and miso and enough fiber that acts as prebiotics or food for the good bacteria. Our gut-healthy salad recipe has both, but if sauerkraut isn’t your thing, try a Smoothie Bowl with yogurt for probiotics.
Get the gut health recipes: Tropical Green Smoothie and Gut-Friendly Sauerkraut and Arugula Salad
Increase Vitamin C intake
This nutrient is pretty powerful at supporting the immune response, so you may want to consider upping your intake in the winter months. Research shows that at least 500mg per day of Vitamin C is ideal for improved immunity, and a good amount of that can come from food, like the orange juice in this Sunshine Shot recipe. You can also incorporate other Vitamin C-rich fruits and veggies, like grapefruit, strawberries, bell peppers, and broccoli.
Get the Vitamin C recipe: Sunshine Wellness Shots
Limit inflammatory foods
Inflammation is a necessary reaction in our bodies but sometimes it lasts too long and can contribute to decreased immunity and a higher risk of chronic conditions. Even though cold weather and holidays can bring on comfort food cravings, be sure to balance your intake of inflammatory foods, like sugar and alcohol, with anti-inflammatory foods, like fruits, veggies, beans, nuts, and whole grains. Still need something sweet? These Fudgy Beet Bites are rich and chocolaty but mostly sweetened with dates!
Get the anti-inflammatory recipe: Fudgy Beet Bites
Stay hydrated
Dehydration can affect immunity on a cellular level and can impact the way your lymphatic system works. Sounds complicated, but what’s important to know is that in the winter months, hydration can make a big difference in keeping you and your family healthy. If plain water sounds boring, try herbal tea instead, or make it more exciting by infusing water with fruit and herbs.
Get the hydrating recipe: Infused Waters
Sarah Glunz, MS, CNS, LDN has been a nutritionist for over 15 years and currently dedicates her time to working at Savory and trying to figure out how to keep her family healthy.
