Immune-boosting food list

There is no magic food that can double your immunity after one bite. Instead of spending a lot of money to grab all kinds of rare supplements and internet celebrity health products, it is better to eat enough of the three basic ingredients in three daily meals and mix them correctly, which is the most cost-effective and most effective for ordinary people.

To be fair, there is another school of thought in the nutrition community: Rare ingredients with the same origin as medicine and food, such as Ganoderma lucidum extract, cordyceps polysaccharides, and American ginseng saponins, do have clear immunomodulatory effects and are suitable for special groups of people with extremely low immunity (such as patients after surgery or during radiotherapy and chemotherapy) to take them as directed by doctors. However, for the vast majority of healthy people who eat normally, daily food supplements are enough to cover their needs, and there is no need to spend extra money.

In the past two years, I would catch colds every time the seasons changed, and I would get pharyngitis when the temperature dropped. I adjusted my diet for three months with a friend who was a clinical nutritionist, and I didn’t catch the flu during the peak period of the flu for two consecutive years. To be honest, it was nothing special. I just took enough of the few things I had neglected before.

The first thing to adjust is the intake of high-quality protein. Don’t underestimate this. The synthesis of immune cells relies entirely on it as a raw material. I used to have a bowl of white porridge with pickles for breakfast, but later I changed it to adding a hard-boiled egg. When I was hungry in the afternoon, I skipped potato chips and ate a handful of plain almonds instead. With this small change, the number of pharyngitis attacks was reduced by half in the first winter. The daily options don’t have to be expensive: 1-2 whole eggs a day (don’t throw away the yolks, the upper limit of cholesterol intake for healthy people has been lifted a long time ago, and the vitamin D in egg yolks is also very good for immunity), eat lean meat 2-3 times a week, beef tenderloin and pork legs will do, and eat deep-sea fish twice if possible, such as salmon and mackerel. Omega3 can also help regulate the inflammatory response in the body, making it less likely to get sore throats and acne. There are also soy products, especially fermented ones like natto and fermented fermented bean curd. Although they taste weird, the probiotics and soy peptides in them are particularly friendly to intestinal immunity. Just eat a small piece at a time, and you don’t have to worry about excessive sodium.

Oh, by the way, I have stepped into a trap before. I squeezed orange juice and drank it every day to supplement vitamin C. As a result, I gained three pounds in half a month. Later I learned that it takes three oranges to squeeze a cup of orange juice, and the sugar content is directly over the limit. It is better to eat oranges directly. Not only can I eat dietary fiber, but I will not eat too much sugar unknowingly. A while ago, people were snapping up vitamin C effervescent tablets. There are people around me who take 3 tablets a day. It is really not necessary. If you eat a medium-sized kiwi fruit or half a catty of small tomatoes a day, the vitamin C content is enough for the day.

Materials alone are not enough, immune cells also need help from various trace elements to work. My family now puts at least one plate of green leafy vegetables at every meal, taking turns with spinach, broccoli, and lettuce. We eat at least a pound of it every day. The folic acid and beta carotene contained in it are necessary raw materials for immune cell metabolism. With this habit, the number of respiratory infections in winter for the elderly and children in my family has been reduced a lot. By the way, there are also orange-red ingredients, such as pumpkins, carrots, and sweet potatoes. The beta carotene in them can be converted into vitamin A, which helps protect the mucosal barrier of the respiratory tract and digestive tract, which is equivalent to building the first wall for your immune system. I often eat steamed pumpkin as a staple food in winter, and it is much more fragrant than eating white rice.

Some people must ask, should I take probiotics and various supplements? There is currently no unified conclusion in the academic world. The nutritionists around me are also divided into two groups: one group believes that as long as the diet is balanced, there is no need for additional supplements; the other group believes that nowadays everyone often eats takeaways and has irregular work and rest schedules, and there is no harm in taking appropriate supplements of multivitamins. My own experience is that if you can eat every meal at home and eat enough vegetable and protein, then you don’t need to spend this money at all; if you often travel on business and can’t find green leafy vegetables every meal, you can take some regular brands of multivitamins, but don’t overdose. For example, if you take too much vitamin A and vitamin E, you will be poisoned, and the gain is not worth the loss.

Oh, by the way, there is another pitfall that I have to remind everyone. In order to improve immunity, my best friend spent more than 20,000 yuan to buy Cordyceps for half a year, stewed it and ate it every day. However, she still got the flu last month. She went to the doctor and said that she was eating Cordyceps every day and was not eating well. Her daily protein intake was only more than 20 grams. She lacked raw materials for the synthesis of immune cells, so no matter how much expensive supplements she took, it was in vain.

After all, immunity is a comprehensive matter. If you stay up late and drink every day, it will be useless no matter how much good food you eat. If you really want to make a most practical list, it is actually the things you can buy every day in your vegetable market. Eating well is better than anything else.