Boosting Your Immune System: 5 Things You Need to Be Eating

1. Garlic

Garlic contains the chemical compound “allicin”, which can also be found in veggies like onions and leeks to a smaller degree. It also contains beneficial levels of sulfur, arginine, oligosaccharides, flavonoids, and selenium. One study showed that daily consumption of garlic increased subject’s resistance to the common cold by 2/3s and a shorter duration of symptoms for those who did catch a cold.

One hundred forty-six volunteers were randomized to receive a placebo or an allicin-containing garlic supplement, one capsule daily, over a 12-week period between November and February. They used a five-point scale to assess their health and recorded any common cold infections and symptoms in a daily diary. The active-treatment group had significantly fewer colds than the placebo group (24 vs 65, P < .001). The placebo group, in contrast, recorded significantly more days challenged virally (366 vs 111, P < .05) and a significantly longer duration of symptoms (5.01 vs 1.52 days, P < .001). Consequently, volunteers in the active group were less likely to get a cold and recovered faster if infected. Volunteers taking placebo were much more likely to get more than one cold over the treatment period. An allicin-containing supplement can prevent attack by the common cold virus. (source)

Simply including garlic in your cooking is a delicious way to reap the benefits. As well, include things like onions, shallots, and leeks in your diet. 

2. Tea

Both black and green teas increase your resistance to illness. Both types of tea contain  L-theanine, an amino acid that can not only improve your physical health, but also your mental health. L-theanine enhances the function of gammadelta T lymphocytes. These t-cells are your body’s first line of defense against the microbes that can make you sick. A Harvard study showed that  the production of antibacterial proteins was up to five times higher in the tea drinkers than in non tea drinkers, via blood tests.

These primed gammadeltaT cells have an enhanced capacity to proliferate and to secrete cytokines upon ex vivo exposure to a wide variety of microbes and tumor cells. The largest dietary source of alkylamines is L-theanine, an amino acid unique to tea beverages that is catabolized to ethylamine. Supplementation of subjects with capsules containing L-theanine and catechins has recently been shown to decrease the incidence of cold and flu symptoms, while enhancing gammadelta T cell function. (source)

For optimum benefits, consume at least 3 cups of black or green tea per day.

3. Mushrooms

Everyone’s favorite fungi offers major immune-boosting power. Dr. Douglas Schar, the director of the Institute of Herbal Medicine in Washington, DC, has spent a great deal of his career studying the effects of mushrooms on the immune system. 

In Europe, several mushrooms have been used as panaceas with particular application in the treatment of poisoning, venomous bites, infectious disease, and loss of immune function. They were used to treat conditions that required on an active immune system, whether that was an infectious disease or a bite in which venom was injected into the body. They were called tonics and were used when a person faced what was formerly described as debility or loss of vitality. Today, we know “debility” often results from a failed or failing immune system.

The allopathic medical community often ridicules the lists of traditional uses of medicinal plants. Admittedly, claims that a mushroom was used to treat snake bite, tuberculosis, hepatitis, poisoning, influenza, debility, and rheumatoid arthritis seem a bit incredible. However, there is a common thread to all of these conditions. They are all caused by either a failing immune system or are improved by an active immune system. Many panaceas have in the laboratory proven to be immune system stimulants. This is the case with several European medicinal mushrooms.

For the ethnobotanist, it is interesting to note the use of medicinal mushrooms in Europe parallels the Native American use of Echinacea purpurea. Echinacea purpurea was used to treat rattlesnake bite, insect bite, wounds, burns, and coughs and colds. A list that, again, suggests its proven action on the immune system.

It would appear medicinal mushrooms have been used since the earliest day as medicine in Europe. In 1991, hikers discovered the remains of a man that died 3500 years ago in the Italian Alps. The discovery was well covered by the media though certain key facts were omitted. The frozen man had a medicine bag attached to his person which contained a pair of medicinal mushrooms. (source)

In particular, the Maitake mushroom has been valued medicinally for its antiviral properties, however the edible (and delicious) Enoki and Shiitake mushrooms are also beneficial. They all contain polysaccharides, glycoproteins, ergosterols, triterpenoids.  These compounds increase the production and activeness of white blood cells, which work more aggressively to protect you from illness. 

4. Apple Cider Vinegar

 Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is made from nutritious, organically grown apples and retains many beneficial components because raw apple cider vinegar is not pasteurized. ACV undergoes two fermentation processes where it produces enzymes and life giving nutrients that make apple cider vinegar the powerhouse it is.

·         1 tablespoon of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar mixed in 4 ounces of purified water after a meal has been used as a natural remedy for heartburn and as a replacement for toxic heartburn medications.

·         Raw Apple Cider Vinegar may help improve bowel irregularity, thereby removing toxins from the body at a faster rate.

·         Helps clear up skin conditions and blemishes giving a more smooth texture and appearance.

·         Raw Apple Cider vinegar may also help with joint pain and stiffness.

·         Apple Cider Vinegar helps to break down fats so that your body can use them rather than store them. For this reason, many diets include ACV in the regimen.

·         On a small scale, ACV was studied by researchers at Arizona State University. The preliminary study was published in Diabetes Care and reported that ACV helps reduce glucose levels ^[1].

Raw organic apple cider vinegar is even good for pets. It has been used to help control fleas and even promotes a healthy, shiny coat.

5. Organic Fruits and Vegetables

Increasing your consumption of fruits and vegetables will help load up your system with vitamins (like C) and antioxidants. Antioxidants improve the immune system  by destroying detrimental free radicals.

Oxygen-derived free radicals are important in both natural and acquired immunity. Neutrophil and macrophage phagocytosis stimulates various cellular processes including the “respiratory burst” whereby increased cellular oxygen uptake results in the production of the potent oxidant bactericidal agents, hypochlorous acid and hydroxyl radical. In addition, nitric oxide, a gaseous radical produced by macrophages, reacts with superoxide to form peroxynitrite, also a potent bactericidal agent. Conversely, oxidative stress may be detrimental in acquired immunity by activation of nuclear factor kappa B, which governs gene expression involving various cytokines, chemokines, and cell adhesion molecules, among others. However, antioxidant supplementation essentially reverses several age-associated immune deficiencies, resulting in increased levels of interleukin-2, elevated numbers of total lymphocytes and T-cell subsets, enhanced mitogen responsiveness, increased killer cell activity, augmented antibody response to antigen stimulation, decreased lipid peroxidation, and decreased prostaglandin synthesis. (source)

By opting for organic fruits and vegetables, you’re getting all of the benefit while not forcing your immune system to fend off the toxic additions of herbicides, pesticides, and GMOs.

Easy ways to get mega-nutrition:

·         Make  soup.  When you make a pot of soup,  loads of garlic, onion, and mushrooms, as well as nutrient dense vegetables.  Start dinner each night with a piping hot serving of soup. It’s like a satisfying bowl of vitamins.  Soup also makes a simple, healthy weekday lunch.

·         Drink  tea.  Even coffee lovers can fit in a few cups of tea. For an added bonus, try some delicious black tea chai.  Eat consciously. Make a point of consuming a minimum of 2-3 servings per day of food with immunity benefits.

·         Prep foods in advance.  Make things easy on yourself. Keep a fruit salad and green salad in the fridge, ready to scoop out.  Have supplies close at hand that make a cup of tea as simple as bringing water to a boil. Make a big pot of soup in the crockpot to provide healthy meals throughout the week. Make good choices so simple that you won’t even be tempted to opt for foods that are not beneficial.

·         Invest in some high quality supplements.  For those days when your food intake is not the best, consider some nutritional supplements.  It’s important to remember that food is the most accessible source of nutrients.  Supplements run a distant second, but they can still help. Things like Vitamin D3, Vitamin C, Selenium, probiotics, zinc, odor free garlic tablets, and a quality multivitamin can help keep your immune system fueled. Even though they are more expensive, invest in the best quality of supplements that you can find. Some supplements contain GMOs, sugar, and artificial sweeteners – all things on the list of consumables that you should be avoiding.  Then these are combined with low-quality nutritional ingredients.  This could actually have the complete opposite of the desired effect.  If you aren’t getting high quality supplements, don’t waste your money on the cheap versions.

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