Want to fight off the second round of winter cold and flu that is spreading around the office or your child’s school?
Aside from practicing good hand hygiene and getting plenty of rest, supporting your immune system is going to keep you feeling strong, healthy and free from colds!
To acquire the right vitamins and nutrients to support your immune system through the final weeks of winter check out the table below!
| Nutrient | Food Sources | How it Helps |
| Vitamin C | Leafy green vegetables such as spinach and kale, red and green capsicums, brussels sprouts, strawberries, papaya, mango, cauliflower, broccoli, lemons | Decreases the length and severity of cold symptoms; antioxidant; builds and maintains mucous membranes and collagen |
| Vitamin E | Almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, avocado, spinach, broccoli | Powerful antioxidant effects when combined with Vitamin C; T cell enhancer (a subtype of white blood cells that play a central role in immune response by scanning for infections) |
| Vitamin A | carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, rockmelon, squash, liver, apricots, mint, spinach | Antioxidant effect to help strengthen the immune system; helps keep mucous membranes healthy and intact |
| Zinc | oysters, crab, lean meats, poultry, baked beans, yogurt, chickpeas, eggs | Essential for normal development and function of immune cells; helps to control the body’s inflammatory response |
| Medicinal Foods that
Support the Immune System |
How it Helps |
| Mushrooms: Shiitake |
Activates immune cells; immunosuppressive effects |
| Manuka Honey |
Effective in reducing cough frequency and severity; aids in loosening mucus |
| Licorice Root |
Anticough, provides soothing, protective film over throat |
| Ginger |
Anti inflammatory specifically in the lungs |
| Thyme |
Relieves symptoms of cough and mucus congestion; Anti inflammatory; anticough; aids in loosening mucus |
| Garlic |
Rich in antioxidants; antimicrobial and antiviral properties |
And of course, chicken soup! Keep it the chicken soup basic or add in as many of the vegetables and medicinal foods from the list and have a SuperFood Soup! Evidence suggests chicken soup may help to clear a stuffy nose, break up mucus and reduces the severity of the inflammatory response.
We all know that our immune system does a remarkable job of defending us against disease-causing microorganisms. But sometimes it fails; a germ invades successfully and makes you sick. Here is a brief summary of how the common cold attacks your immune system. After a virus, like the cold, invades your body and enters a health host cell, it replicates the host cell and then goes on to infect other healthy cells. This activates the immune system and the response is as follows: a) immune fighter cells are recruited to the site of infection, b) immune fighter cells release a number of substances that initiate and maintain inflammation, c) inflammation causes characteristic flu symptoms: redness, soreness, and swelling in the back of the throat, fever, headache, fatigue, mucus secretion and coughing, while the immune system is fighting the virus and d) as the concentration of virus increases in the body, symptoms intensify until the immune fighter cells fight off all the virus cells. When this battle is over and the healthy immune cells outnumber the nasty virus cells, you start to feel better!
Supporting and boosting the immune system with nutrients and vitamins from the table above can decrease the amount of inflammation and the length of time that inflammation occurs. Getting you back on your feet and feeling better sooner!
As always use caution and/or consult your healthcare professional if taking any of the vitamins and minerals from supplements.
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I love that you included Manuka honey in your list of immune system boosters. It’s so great for your body when taken internally and when applied externally to wounds and burns.