There is always that time of the year when seasons change.
Temperatures swing from high to low and so often our bodies cannot adapt quickly enough.
It is clear that cold and damp weather is the time when we should be more careful. This is the time when our organism is most susceptible to infections and our immune system has to work overtime.
Then add into account all those other obvious risk factors that suppress our immune system.
The polluted air we breathe in. Our Diet. The level of stress in our everyday life and insufficient rest most of us get. And all those negative emotions as well.
Clearly, we should do our best to help our immune system cope with all that.
Is there anything that can help our immune system so we don’t get sick so often?
Nothing makes an immune system stronger overnight. What you can do is make sure it has everything it needs to work normally, and most of that comes from ordinary food.
Foods That Help Your Immune System Work
We all know that eating fruits and vegetables is healthy. They are healthful, to be precise.
Your immune cells run on nutrients these foods are full of: vitamin C, folate, and the beta-carotene your body turns into vitamin A.
Eat those greens
Dark green vegetables such as spinach, kale and broccoli carry all three, plus vitamin K.
Cruciferous vegetables such as kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts have one more trick. In mice, compounds from these vegetables help keep the gut lining in good repair, and the gut lining is one of the body’s first lines of defense. Human studies have not caught up yet, but these are foods worth eating anyway.
Just make a salad or throw some in your main dish right away!
Add some berry delight
Small berries such as blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, black currants and strawberries are very healthy in addition to their blissful flavor.
Strawberries and black currants are rich in vitamin C, blackberries and raspberries add manganese, and blackberries add vitamin K too. Enjoy them every day for both health and happiness.
Love your mushrooms
How can we talk about the immune system without mentioning mushrooms?
In one small study from the University of Florida, 52 healthy adults ate shiitake mushrooms every day for four weeks, and their immune cells responded more strongly afterwards. There was no comparison group, so it is a promising sign rather than proof. Mushrooms are good food either way.
Diversify your meals by including all kinds of mushrooms (white button mushrooms, shiitake, chanterelles).
Forgo those vitamin C pills
Your immune cells need vitamin C to work normally. But for most people, pills add little.
A Cochrane review of the trials found that taking vitamin C every day did not prevent colds in ordinary people. It shortened colds by about 8 percent in adults, less than a day for a week-long cold. The exception was people under heavy physical stress, such as marathon runners and soldiers in subarctic conditions, where the risk of a cold was halved.
Vitamin C rich fruits and vegetables are all around us, most notably citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, lemons and pomelo. Also bell peppers, tomatoes and all those greens.
Feast on beta-carotene
Beta-carotene rich vegetables are very beneficial to our body, as beta-carotene is later transformed into vitamin A.
Too little vitamin A makes infections more common and more serious. That is why it matters so much in parts of the world where food is scarce.
Get it from food, not pills. In two large trials, high-dose beta-carotene supplements raised the risk of lung cancer in smokers. Beta-carotene eaten in vegetables has not been linked to that harm.
Especially rich in beta-carotene are carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, spinach, kale and cantaloupe.
Do include as much of these foods in your diet as you can!
What About Herbs and Essential Oils for the Immune System?
Echinacea is the herb most people reach for. A Cochrane review of 24 trials found no clear benefit for preventing colds or for treating them.
Ginseng is not free of side effects either. In a controlled trial, American ginseng weakened the effect of the blood thinner warfarin. If you take any medicine, ask your doctor before adding an herb.
Essential oils are not food. Never swallow them, and keep them out of reach of children: a teaspoon or two of eucalyptus oil has left small children unconscious.
The things that do help are less exciting and cost nothing: enough sleep, regular movement, and a plate built on whole plant foods.
Read next
- Seven lifestyle ideas for your immune system: sleep, movement and stress, which do at least as much work as food.
- Sprouting at home: a windowsill jar of broccoli seed costs pennies, and three-day-old sprouts carry 10 to 100 times more glucoraphanin, which your body turns into sulforaphane, than mature broccoli.
- How whole plant foods keep you healthy: how it works, rather than a list of superfoods.
Sources (8)
- Hemilä H, Chalker E. Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;(1):CD000980. View
- Karsch-Völk M, Barrett B, Kiefer D, et al. Echinacea for preventing and treating the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014;(2):CD000530. View
- Dai X, Stanilka JM, Rowe CA, et al. Consuming Lentinula edodes (shiitake) mushrooms daily improves human immunity: a randomized dietary intervention in healthy young adults. J Am Coll Nutr. 2015;34(6):478-87. View
- Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta Carotene Cancer Prevention Study Group. The effect of vitamin E and beta carotene on the incidence of lung cancer and other cancers in male smokers. N Engl J Med. 1994;330(15):1029-35. View
- Omenn GS, Goodman GE, Thornquist MD, et al. Effects of a combination of beta carotene and vitamin A on lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. N Engl J Med. 1996;334(18):1150-5. View
- Yuan CS, Wei G, Dey L, et al. American ginseng reduces warfarin’s effect in healthy patients: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2004;141(1):23-7. View
- Li Y, Innocentin S, Withers DR, et al. Exogenous stimuli maintain intraepithelial lymphocytes via aryl hydrocarbon receptor activation. Cell. 2011;147(3):629-40. View
- Tibballs J. Clinical effects and management of eucalyptus oil ingestion in infants and young children. Med J Aust. 1995;163(4):177-80. View
Made the Healthy Vegan Nuggets: So Morrish. Thank you. Slowly converting my Hubby who’s finally taken an interest in WFPB.🌸
Thank you, Valeria. I am so happy that you loved the recipe! I think that making delicious WFPB meals is the only way to show people how tasty healthy food can be! 💚