Boosting your system naturally

Cold and flu season is almost upon us. If you read my column on a regular basis, and read it completely, you will notice a lot of the foods I have covered have all sorts of great benefits from reducing your cholesterol to helping prevent heart disease to improving circulation to boosting your immune system. With the cooler temperatures on the horizon, I thought this would be a good time to put a few of them together in one column as an immune booster to help prevent the cold in the first place.

Garlic has antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal properties. You are less likely to get sick and even if you do get sick, you will get over it quicker. Studies have shown it actually boosts the portion of the immune system tasked with fighting viruses and cancer. In higher doses, it’s also been shown to remove heavy metals from the body. Did you know it was used as a natural ‘performance enhancer’? In ancient cultures, it was used to reduce fatigue and enhance working capacity for laborers. Most notably, it was used in Ancient Greece for athletes performing in the Coliseum for stamina and strength. Who knew garlic was a natural steroid? Definitely use more garlic!

Ginger is full of antioxidants which are potent anti-inflammatory and immune boosting compounds. Antioxidants quench free radicals and help guard against arthritis, cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and many other conditions. Gingerol is a bioactive ingredient in ginger that inhibits the growth of many types of bacteria and therefore is often used to fight infections. Did you know ginger is used for pain relief? It is used for everything from arthritis pain and headaches to more severe pain from menstrual cramps and even after surgery pains.

One cup of sweet potato contains 769% of the daily recommended value of Vitamin A. We all know Vitamin A is extremely important for eye health, but it’s also vital for your immune system. It keeps your mucous membranes healthy which is central to catching germs and other pathogens we want kept out of our system.

Turmeric has been shown to boost the immune system. Research shows turmeric can strengthen the activation and production of T cells, B cells, macrophages, neutrophils, natural killer cells, and dendritic cells, all of which your body produces to fight off invaders to your system, as well as enhance the body’s antibody responses.

Black pepper also increases your white blood cells, which we all know are vital to fighting off infection. Perhaps even more importantly, pepper helps you absorb nutrients from your food while also eliminating toxins from the body. This helps you get what you need from all foods. Believe it or not, pepper is also full of Vitamin A and C, which are both vital to the immune system. It’s also a natural anti-inflammatory which will help keep issues from becoming chronic. Add pepper to your foods. It’s helpful and so tasty!

Find a way to incorporate these foods into your diet and you may just avoid getting sick all together. There are more, like mushrooms, watermelon, oysters and broccoli, I just have no room to write about them today so I will save them for another column, or you can find them in a previous column. Make your grocery list and pick up some fresh ingredients. Then, meet me in the kitchen this weekend and let’s hold off the common cold!