8 Foods that can improve your immunity

                                                               

Are you often susceptible to sickness or unhealthy frequently?

A huge number of people in all life stages including; children, adolescents, adults, pregnant women, and the elderly tend to be prone to a wide range of diseases and infections for a certain period of time.

The immune system is a complex defense network that protects body against potentially harmful agents and has the capacity to respond to millions of antigens.

Through three particular jobs, immunity protects the body.

Firstly, by stopping pathogens from entering the body, killing bacteria or viruses once they enter the body but before they make you sick, and finally destroying viruses and/or bacteria after they have created disease.

Unbelievably, we are what we eat! Proper nutrition is a critical determinant of immune responses while malnutrition is considered as the first cause of weaker immunity and its deficiency in all life stages.

Both under-nutrition and over-nutrition are proved to impair some immune system processes and hence the individual becomes susceptible to different infections and discomforts.

Older people and HIV-positive individuals who are vulnerable to various numerous diseases, really need to take care of their daily meals thoroughly.

In fact, nutrients play an important role in the development and functioning of the immune system and any deficiency, either single or multiple, often lead to the compromised immunity.

Foods you should eat to improve immunity

1. Plenty of Spinach

Apart from increasing blood cells count, spinach contain huge amount of nutrients which are mainly antioxidants such as; Flavonoids, Carotenoid and Vitamin E.

These nutrients help the body to maintain skin, mouth, stomach, intestine and respiratory system healthy. 

Consequently, when the above organs are healthy they tend to serve as our first line of defense against minor infections such as Common Cold and others.

 2. Food rich in Vitamin C

 

• Oranges, 
• Grapefruits, 
• Guava, 
• Tangerines, 
• Red pepper, 
• Papaya, 
• Strawberries,  
• Tomato juices and other foods fortified with vitamin C should enhance your body's defense.

These Vitamin C rich food, help body in different metabolisms, formation of antibodies and production of certain immune cells. 

This vitamin contains antioxidant called sulforaphane that also boost immunity and reduce oxidative stress that further lead to cancer.

 3. Dark chocolate

In Chocolate you can obtain an antioxidant called Theobromine that protects free radical that is responsible for cancer, prevention of memory decline, lowering cholesterol level and prevention of minor infections as well.

However, the recent research revealed that the long term consumption is associated with different conditions such as coronary heart diseases, Diabetes and Hypertension. 

It is also recommended to consume them in the appropriate amount.

 4. Fish

Various types of fish including salmon, tilapia, tuna, and mackerel are oily fishes that are rich in omega 3 fatty acids and zinc.

These compounds consumed from fish might prevent or delay Rheumatoid arthritis in adult people and repair damaged cells.

Normally, this type of arthritis in older people might result from immune self-attack and other organs, especially in different joints.  

 5. Garlic

During the cold or winter period taking Garlic might reduce the risks of a common cold.

This is based on the fact that garlic possesses Allacin even though research keeps on so as to confirm if garlic might prevent cold directly and their mechanisms indeed.

 6. Protein-rich foods

 Those foods include: 

• Chicken
• Black beans 
• Pork, 
• Eggs 
• Peanuts 
• Butter, 
• Cheese, and 
• Milk 

Why protein? This is because insufficient protein intake is associated with the production of fewer immune cells (immune cells are protein in nature) and hence vulnerability to fewer defense mechanisms in the body.

Besides, Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM) is also associated with the impairment of cell-mediated immunity phagocyte function, secretory immunoglobulin, antibody concentrations, and cytokine production.

However, Elders should be cautious about animal source food so as to mitigate further health problems resulting from excess protein consumption.

 7. Food rich in vitamin A

Below foods list possess nutrients, such as tocopherol, retinol, zinc and essential fatty acids.

They also modulate the intensity of the responses that define inflammatory process opened a field on the potential influence of nutrition on inflammatory processes.

By including 

• Carrots, 
• Apricots, 
• Orange sweet potatoes, 
• Kale, 
• Red bell pepper and
• Eggs, 

in your daily meal, you will be improving your body immunity.

 8. Green tea

Researches have revealed that tea also contains flavonoid, antioxidants that prevent colds, cancers, improve brain functions and hence boosting immunity.

It also advised to drink this type of tea in cold periods so as to reduce the problems of frequent common colds

 Limit Alcohol intake

Normal consumption of alcohol should contribute to healthy living.

Nevertheless, its excessive consumption tends to depress the immune system and makes it harder for them to gear up against harmful germs.

As a result, an individual with high alcohol intake likely tends to be susceptible to different infections such as pneumonia, delayed wound healing, and others that could be resisted by the body itself.

Summary

Healthy life goes hand in hand with enhanced immunity.

People’s immune systems are quite different based on different factors such as life stages, nutrition status, a load of chronic diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and many others.

Proper nutrition is among the road leading to reduced infections and strengthened immunity.

A wide range of food such as fish, green tea, vitamin C and A and minerals enrich food, spinach and garlic are thought to improve our immunity in different mechanisms.

However, all stated food should be taken along with a balanced diet for sufficient recipe of the human body.

Sources 

Diet, B. and Function, I. (2011) ‘Nutrition and Immunity’, 46(1).

Hosp, N. and Nuhoeq, C. (2015) ‘Immunonutrition : methodology and applications’, 31, pp. 145–154.

Kumar, R. and Nutrition, C. (1997) ‘and the immune system ’:, pp. 460–463.

Lifestyle, H. and Body, H. (2019) ‘Immune System’, (November).

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

www.niaid.nih.gov