How to Strengthen the Immune System During This Time

This is my first post back after becoming a mom. I’m obsessed with this little girl that came into our lives and cannot wait to watch her grow (she’s grown soo much already in just two months!) What a crazy time to be navigating these new waters while also going through this pandemic.

While it’s a blessing to have Jeff working from home and getting to spend more time as a family, it’s also a scary time to raise a newborn with all the unknowns, and doing so while distancing from family and friends.

If you know me you know I’ve always been a healthy eater and love knowing what foods benefit the body best. What we eat directly effects our immune systems ability to fight off infections and diseases. It’s so important now more than ever to keep ourselves healthy and strong during this time.

Our immune systems are built up of cells, organs and tissues that all work together, and the food we eat either strengthen or weaken its’ ability to fight off infection. Below are some essential ways to not only keep your immune system strong, but are also great for digestive health, too! its so important to keep our digestive systems healthy right now because 70-80% of our immune system resides in the GI tract.

I actually used most of these to help restore my digestive system (you can read my story on that, here) when I began having issues back in 2017. Here are some ways to help keep your body healthy and strong during this time:

Water with lemon

Drinking hot lemon water, especially in the morning, has so many benefits. First, lemon juice is a great source of vitamin C which protects the immune system and helps fight infection. Hot lemon water aids in digestion and is a great way to detox the body. It also helps maintain your body’s pH levels also increases your metabolic rate. Drinking in the morning helps kick start the body and is a great way to start your day.

Bone broth

Bone broth has sooo many benefits. Real bone broth heals and seals the lining of our intestines, which is not only what we need to have a healthy GI tract, but a great immune system too. It’s also rich in calcium, magnesium and can help reduce inflammation in the respiratory system while also improving digestion. It can help to heal conditions including asthma, arthritis, allergies and autoimmunity. And ladies- bone broth can improve the appearance of hair skin and nails!

Increase Vitamin C intake

Vitamin C is essential for a great immune system, but skip the supplements and head straight to the source. Eating foods rich in Vitamin C such as strawberries, papaya, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, and yellow peppers, is always best.

Eating Whole Foods

Making sure we’re getting our nutrients from Whole Foods and not processed foods is super important, epically during this time. The average American diet is very rich in processed sugary foods which actually weakens our immune systems. Stick to REAL foods like fruits and veggies, whole grain bread and protein.

Which leads me to my next point…

Protein

Making sure we’re getting enough protein in our daily diet is essential to a healthy immune system as it helps break down amino acids. Protein such as chicken, turkey, eggs, sunflower seeds, red meat, and fish contain amino acids called NAC shown to help respiratory conditions and inhibit virus replication. NAC has also been shown to limit lung inflammation and damage associated with viral growth.

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are great for immune support as they contain plenty antioxidants and Vitamin D. Nuts like almonds, pecans, and walnuts are great to eat as a snack or thrown into a salad or meal. Rotating these nuts into your diet instead of overeating one is said to be best to avoid sensitivity.

Fermented foods

Fermented foods contain probiotics, something that has become largely known over the past couple years. Taking a probiotic that has the correct strain for your GI tract is essential, but also eating foods that contain natural fermented foods such as raw sauerkraut, kimchi and low-sugar kombucha are important too.

It’s so important to keep our bodies healthy and strong always, but especially during this time. These are just a few natural ways we can keep our immune systems working properly and in return keeping ourselves and others healthy,