Have you ever struggled with recovering from a simple illness like common cold ,viral fever or cough? It's because your immune system was not capable enough to fight the virus causing these infections. A good and healthy immune system decides the time your body needs to recover from the attack of any pathogen .
Several food items like fish, cereals ,green vegetables, fruits and nuts help develop a strong immune system .
The combination of your cells, tissues, organs form the immune system of your body and together they work to fight against pathogens or foreign virus, bacteria trying to enter your body . The antibodies produced by your immune system counter the attack of these foreign bodies that cause infections or disease.
Immune system can be protected and kept strong by following a healthy diet plan and adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Let's look at the factors that decide the strength of your immune system:
Nutrition and Diet: What you add in your plate decides what you're serving to your immune system. Adding food rich in vitamins,proteins, minerals is a must to attain strong immunity.
Exercise and physical activity:
Being physically active along with eating the right food is the key to having a strong immune system. Regular exercise and activities involving physical work should be encouraged in children ,adults and even older people. This helps to burn the extra calories that add to body fat and weaken the immune system.
Genetics: Genes carry with them a lot of inheriting factors from parents to offspring. Your physical appearance, mental health, and behavior has a lot to do with genes. Similarly the immune response is also inherited from parents to children, a pregnant woman must be given healthy foods that boost immunity so that the offspring also has a stronger immune response.
Stress and Environment:
If you're living a very stressed out life and worrying about things that consume your mental peace and happiness, then your immune system is also at stake. Stress Management through meditation,medication and a healthy diet is the key to building a strong immune system. On the other hand a very abusive, unhygienic,and vulnerable environment can also affect the immunity of a human body . Children must be given a healthy environment so that their immune system also grows stronger in growing years.
Vaccination: Getting vaccinated against diseases at the right time is a must for a healthy immune system. Vaccination introduces the similar bacteria/ virus/ pathogen to the immune system and helps it respond by producing antibodies . Whenever in future a similar foreign body tries to enter the human body, an immune response is activated quickly to fight that disease and eliminate it from the human body.
Alcoholism/ drug abuse / Smoking: All these habits weaken and damage the immune response of your body in the worst ways possible .
Keeping the above factors in mind , maintaining a healthy immune system becomes a lot easier . Taking care of the food habits is the first step towards strengthening the immunity. Our body’s immune system responds well when we are feeding it with vegetables ,fruiye etc. instead of processed or junk food . Vitamin C,D,B6 , beta carotene, Probiotics, antioxidants , Proteins,Zinc are some of the essential nutrients for boosting the immune system. We must know the food items which we can include in our diet easily to obtain these healthy nutrients.
Here are some Food items for boosting the immune system:
1)Nuts , Seeds and greens:
Nuts ,seeds, avocado and Spinach are the some food items that are rich in Vitamin E. Vitamin E is essential for building a healthy immune system.
2)Citrus fruits: Lemon, oranges, grapefruit, strawberry,kiwi etc. Increase the production of WBCs in human blood . These WBCs (White blood cells) are responsible for fighting the disease.
3)Carrot, Spinach,sweet potato, apricot:
All these food items are rich in Beta carotene. Beta carotene converts into Vitamin A which is an anti- inflammatory vitamin and helps the antibodies to fight with toxins .
4)Fish and Eggs : These contain vitamin D which is also found in Sunshine, it helps build a strong immunity. Oily fish ,salmons ,tuna are a rich source of Omega-3 fatty acids.Omega-3 fatty acids help fight rheumatoid arthritis which is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the healthy part of the human body.
5) Brocolli: Broccoli is a rich source of vitamin C and helps to build a strong immune system. It also contains potential Antioxidant, thus it is recommended for overall immune health.
6)Garlic: Garlic stimulates the cells fighting the disease and helps to increase the production of T-cells( the virus fighting cells) , helps the immune system to function at full strength.
7)Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate helps to prevent the body from free radicals which can weaken the body cells and contribute to disease. Dark chocolate contains an antioxidant theobromine which can help boost the immune system.
8) Spinach: Spinach is not only rich in Vitamin C but also contains antioxidants and beta carotene which helps increase the ability of the immune system to fight a disease.
9) Sunflower Seeds: Sunflower seeds are rich in Vitamin E, Vitamin B6, phosphorus,and magnesium . Vitamin E is responsible for the maintenance of a healthy immune system thus it must be included in the form of food items . Sunflower seeds also contain Selenium,which ,as per the studies is effective in fighting virus such a swine flu.
10)Turmeric : It is a well known remedy from our kitchen which helps in healing wounds and treating many skin infections ,but did you know turmeric also acts as an immunity booster because of it's ability to fight rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. The presence of Curcumin ,which gives the yellow colour to Turmeric has antimicrobial properties.
11) Green Tea: Green tea and black tea are both packed with antioxidants which are very essential for a healthy immune system. Green tea has a high level of EGCG( epigallocatechin gallate) which has antiviral properties and is a strong antioxidant which supports the immune system. Green tea as an immune booster is preferred over black tea as it does not undergo fermentation.
12) Kiwis : Kiwi are rich in Potassium,folate,Vitamin C and Vitamin K . While Vitamin C helps in the production of white blood cells which help the body fight against diseases,other nutrients present in kiwi help in the overall well-being of the human immune system .
13) Muskmelon: Muskmelon is rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin C which help increase the white blood cells which are responsible for fighting various disease. Muskmelon improves digestion, helps again inflammation,and keep your gut healthy which is an important factor responsible for a healthy immune system.
14) Food items rich in Flavonoids: Food items rich in Flavonoids like the Blueberries help boost the immune system . Flavonoids are strong antioxidant which are responsible for respiratory tract’s immune defense system .
15) Red bell pepper: It is a good source of Vitamin C and an alternative for the people who want to take less sugar in fruits. Being rich in Vitamin C , red bell pepper is very important for a healthy immune system.
Frequently asked questions
1)How to boost immunity at home ?
Ans- To boost your immunity at home you can follow a balanced diet including the food items that boost immunity in your daily nutrition like Citrus fruits,green tea,oily fish,turmeric, spinach, blueberries etc. And doing physical activity and exercise daily.
2) What are the food items that can boost immunity in Children?
Ans-Banana, broccoli, Almonds,Curd , oranges,Rajma etc. Are the food items that children enjoy eating and are very good for boosting immunity in children.
3) Is taking supplements a healthy way to boost immunity?
Ans- Supplements can be taken at times when the body can't utilize all the nutrition present in food items or a healthy nutritious diet is not available. However supplements are not a natural way of boosting the immune system. One must try to include food items rich in Vitamins ,beta carotene, antioxidant and Probiotics in order to boost immunity naturally.
4) How to detect a weak immune system?
Ans- A person with a weak immune system has the following symptoms -
Feeling tired constantly
Fatigue
Unable to do physical activities
Frequently falling ill
Catching cold,cough easily
Poor wound healing
Joint pains ,body aches
Stress and anxiety
5) What are the common disease related to weak immune system?
Ans- Immune related diseases are-
Rheumatoid arthritis
Type 1 diabetes
Lupus
6) What is Rheumatoid arthritis?
Ans- Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which causes swelling, deformity and pain in joints and muscles.
7)Is diabetes an autoimmune disease?
Ans-Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the cells in pancreas which produce insulin. Insulin helps in removing the sugar from blood to utilize it in the form of energy .
8)Is frequent diarrhea due to weak immune system?
Ans - Yes frequent stomach related problems including diarrhea are due to weak immune system, one must try to include yogurt ,citrus fruits in diet and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and develop a strong immune response to such disease.
9)Which is the most immune boosting Vitamin?
Ans - Vitamin C is the most important vitamin for boosting the immune system. Citrus fruits such as lemon, grapefruit, oranges are rich in Vitamin C and thus helps to build a strong immune system.
10) What is the role of Zinc in boosting the immune system?
Ans - Zinc is very important in the development of immune system, it plays a major role in cell division, cell regeneration, and wound healing. Thus it is recommended to take food items rich in Zinc such as oysters,red meat, poultry, chickpeas , seafood etc.
11) What are the top food items rich in Zinc?
Ans- Top food items rich in Zinc are-
Meat - meat is a very rich source of Zinc . All kinds of red meat, beef ,lamb and pork are a rich in Zinc content.
Legumes - legumes such as chickpeas ,beans ,lentils contain a high amount of Zinc .
Seafood - Seafood such as shellfish, crabs,etc. Are good source of Zinc . Among the seafood Oysters have the Highest zinc content.
Poultry: