5 different products to keep your body up and running any season
We should always take care of ourselves to the best of our ability, but regardless of what you do there will be times that you get sick, that’s a certainty. Getting sick is, at best, a major inconvenience that limits how you go about your daily life, whether it involves work, kids or your social life.
Keeping your immune system strong is the best way to keep yourself healthy. A lot of people think that to improve your immune function you need to take all sorts of vitamin supplements, but you can improve your immune function by making a few changes to your diet.
With that in mind, here are five top immune boosting foods that can keep you in tip top shape when you’re over 40.
Citrus Fruits
Citrus fruits are a brilliant source of vitamin-C. It’s a common misconception that vitamin-C can prevent the common cold, and although there is little evidence to back that claim up, it seems like it can reduce the length and severity.
What vitamin-C does do for your immune system is reduce the damage that proteins called “free-radicals” do to your system which can reduce your likelihood of cataracts, heart disease and cancer later in life.
It was found that elderly people with higher levels of nutrients found in citrus fruits performed better on cognitive tests, indicating that citrus fruit can improve brain power as you age.
Citrus fruits also contain high amounts of phytochemicals which help protect you against a wide range of chronic diseases, including heart disease and some cancers.
There are literally dozens of different types of citrus fruits including blood oranges, limes and grapefruit, so no matter your tastes you’re sure to find one that you like!
Broccoli
This seems to be a vegetable that most kids hate, but it’s a superfood that is loaded with vitamins and minerals. It can be cooked in a large variety of ways, but if you want to lock that nutrition in them steaming it is your best bet.
Broccoli has huge amounts of potassium and iron among other vitamins and minerals.
Potassium is essential to help control blood pressure, which can reduce your risk of serious medical conditions like stroke and heart disease in the future.
Iron performs a lot of different functions in the body, but perhaps the most important and well-known function is that it helps to improves how your red blood cells function.
Just about every single vitamin and mineral that our bodies need to survive and thrive are present in broccoli, although some are in tiny amounts. Either way, it’s a super food that you need to add to your diet as soon as you can.
Poultry
Unless you’re vegetarian or vegan, poultry is an absolute must include for your diet. Chicken is the most popular type of poultry, but ducks, geese, quail and turkeys all fall under the poultry banner.
Poultry is high in vitamin-B which helps to prevent a variety of health problems, including (but not limited to) skin disorders, migraines and diabetes.
They also contain high amounts of vitamin-D and protein and help control blood pressure.
Chicken is an incredibly versatile food that can be cooked in a variety of different styles and ways. It should be relatively simple to boost the amount of chicken in your diet, but that doesn’t mean only eating deep fried chicken from KFC!
Ginger
Ginger is one of many foods that is called a superfood, but one of the few that deserve the title. It has a wide range of benefits from helping with arthritis to relieving nausea and vomiting due to seasickness or post-surgery, however it is the immune and health benefits of ginger that we’re interested in.
Ginger helps to fight infection and kill oral bacteria, so it can help prevent diseases like periodontitis and gingivitis. Gum disease has been linked to other health problems like heart disease, stroke, diabetes and even dementia. Stopping gum disease in its tracks is a great way to help reduce your risk of these problems.
Research is also linking ginger to lowered cholesterol levels, so much so that it lowers bad cholesterol levels about as well as a cholesterol lowering drug, but obviously ginger is a much more natural way to do this.
The health benefits of ginger aren’t just associated with your immune system, so spice up your life with some ginger!
Garlic
Garlic is a herb that is used in most cuisines across the world, and it isn’t difficult to integrate it into a meal. Garlic has been used for its medicinal qualities for thousands of years, dating back to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and modern research has proved that garlic supports immune function and general health.
Garlic is thought to boost immune system function and even fight off the common cold, reducing the duration of cold and flu by up to 70%. Even though there are some studies that don’t think that there is enough evidence if you suffer from long and consistent colds it may be worth adding a bit of extra garlic in your life.
Much like broccoli, garlic contains a little bit of everything that you need, from manganese to fiber and is worth adding into at least a few dishes a week.
There are obviously more foods in the world than the five listed, but these five have so many positive, wide ranging effects on not just your immune health, but your general health. From reasons as varied as stopping the common cold to reducing chances of dementia, these foods are a must include in your diet. All of them are easily sourced and easy to add into your diet, so make the change!