Whether your goal is just to build your immunity to stay fit or ward exposure to an exposure to a virus or bacterial infection, clients at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY, ask for help finding foods that build immunity.
It takes more than just exercise to be healthy, you need to eat healthy, too. It’s why we offer nutritional advice and help at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY. If you want to provide the nutrients you need for immunity, you need to eat the foods that provide it. Whether you’re worried about catching the latest variant of Covid-19 or simply want to boost your immunity to stay healthier and avoid the common cold, eating healthier and focusing on immune building foods can help.
Food that contain vitamin D can be a big benefit to your overall immunity.
Studies on patients hospitalized with covid deduced a large percentage had vitamin D deficiencies. Safe sunning is one suggestion, but you can also eat food higher in vitamin D. Milk products and juices are often fortified. Egg yolk, salmon, red meat and organ meat like liver are also higher in vitamin D. Since Louisville is above the 33 degree latitude line, you can’t get adequate vitamin D from the sun year around. Older people, the obese and those with darker skin can also have a problem getting it from the sun.
Fresh fruits and vegetables can provide most the phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals you need.
Eating citrus fruit can provide vitamin C, which is an immune booster. If citrus fruit upsets your stomach, red bell peppers are also high in vitamin C. Foods with bioflavonoids, like anthocyanin, the substance that make purple and deep red fruits and vegetables that color, like blueberries, grapes, blue/purple corn and eggplant are examples. Other foods that help boost immunity provide vitamin A and include cantaloupe, Brussels sprouts, carrots and strawberries.
Sometimes, what you don’t eat is just as important.
Start by cutting out highly processed food and sugary treats. Not only are they absent of nutrients, they contain ingredients that can cause inflammation. Inflammation is the cause of many serious conditions and have few or no antioxidants that can fight free radicals, which can lower your immunity. Conditions caused by chronic inflammation include Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease. Sugar and highly processed foods also can destroy your body’s microbiome. Having adequate beneficial microbes actually boosts your immunity.
- Add soluble fiber to your diet to increase the healthy microbes that aid in digestion and boost your immunity. Apples, black beans, avocados, broccoli and pears are high in soluble fiber.
- Zinc can boost your immune system. Foods that contain zinc include crab, whole grain foods, lobster, red meat, dairy and oysters.
- Spicing up your diet with herbs and spices like cinnamon, garlic, cayenne pepper, black pepper, saffron, turmeric and ginger. Turmeric, for instance, contains curcumin to boost immunity and garlic contains allicin.
- You can improve your gut bacteria with probiotic foods like kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut and kim chi. Be careful when you choose yogurt. Make sure it doesn’t contain added sugar.
For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training