Easy Ways to Boost Your Immune System
As we work our way through the pandemic, one thing that comes to mind is how to enhance our health or boost our immune systems.. I’m not entirely sure whether one can really boost one’s immune system, or whether it will help in this particular situation, but it seems like as good enough excuse as any to start laying in some healthy habits. I don’t think it can hurt.
I don’t talk about cooking much on my blog, because as some of you know, I don’t actually cook very often anymore, though that has changed some in the past several weeks. As I return to cooking, I began to think in terms of choosing menu items that would enhance our health.
The first thing on my list is a good multi vitamin. When I pulled out my vitamin stash, I realized that most are on the verge of expiration. My doctor prescribes and sells supplements and after a while I was taking so many it became daunting so I quit. This time around I am looking for a good multivitamin, some extra vitamin D and a small amount of zinc. Studies show that loading up on vitamins can cause serious problems, and we don’t need that right now, do we?
When it comes to cooking, I pulled a list of foods that boost the immune system which include citrus and red bell peppers for vitamin c, broccoli for A,C and E, Garlic, Ginger, Spinach, Yogurt, Almonds, Turmeric, Green Tea, Papaya, Kiwi, Poultry and Sunflower seeds.
As I looked at the list, I was reminded of several great recipes featuring some of these foods! How fun is that? Grab yourself a cup of green tea and indulge me here.
Switch Taco Tuesday to Fajita Friday. Fajita’s have lots of red and green peppers, plus we sprinkle them with lime juice.
Whip up an Avocado and Grapefruit salad, or add a little garlic to your broccoli and potatoes, maybe make some roasted garlic. Don’t forget to add almonds to your green beens, or sprinkle them on salads. I used to make a delicious chicken dish with greek yogurt https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/221090/grilled-lemon-yogurt-chicken/ or Ina Garten’s recipe for Garlic Chicken https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/chicken-with-forty-cloves-of-garlic or try her ginger chicken recipe https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/indonesian-ginger-chicken-recipe-1913010 or you can try a Tumeric Latte Here: https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/24k-gold-vanilla-turmeric-latte/
And a few more tips to boost your immune system:
Spending time outside in the sun
According to studies sitting beside a window doesn’t count. Yes, you heard right. Our bodies need vitamin D to help fight off illness, and one of the best sources of vitamin D is the sun. Now you can certainly take vitamin D supplements, but as little as 15 minutes of sunlight can stimulate vitamin D production. If you choose to take vitamin supplements, the recommended daily dose is 600 IU or 15 mcg. Too much is not a good thing, by the way.
Getting plenty of sleep. Yes, actually sleeping boost your immune system, so all that sleeping in you are doing right now is actually helping.
Exercising.
So like how can you get exercise with the gyms closed…walking and bike riding are fun, right? That’s what we’ve been doing. It’s actually quite nice to take a family walk in the evening and catch up for the day. We’ve been waking twice a day in the neighborhood in part to just get out of the house, but also because we can get our vitamin D, and our exercise in one shot.
Eating healthy.
Trust me, I know how to make this easy and fun.
Avoid Stress.
Dare I say it? So, while stress feels sort of terrible, I am actually usually an advocate for confronting and working with stress, however, in times like these, I am all about minimizing added stress, such as watching too much news, talking to Negative Nellys or anything else that raises your blood pressure unnecessarily.
Nurture yourself and your family with healthy foods, exercise and a calming routine.
As you can see, boosting our immune systems isn’t super hard, it’s actually sort of relaxing and tasty. Do you have a delicious immune boosting recipe? If so, please share it. We all benefit from helping each other.
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