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Everyone is wondering what they can do to ensure they don’t get sick during this Coronavirus scare. Eating foods that strengthen your immune system is one of the easiest and most powerful steps you can take right now to stay healthy. Read on to learn what you should be eating to support your health – no matter what time of year it is!
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Using Food to Support Your Health
The best thing you can do to support your health – whether it’s during cold & flu (& coronavirus) season, or anytime of the year – is eat high quality, nutrient-dense foods. While a quick Google search is going to show you lists like 15 Food that Boost Your Immune System, or 6 Ways to Boost Your Immune System, ultimately – you don’t HAVE to stick with just those foods.
The truth is, that ANY fresh, whole food is going to support your health and strengthen your immune system. Your body needs a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and, of course, macronutrients like fat, carbs and protein. And the more you can meet those needs through whole, real food that has been minimally processed, the better off you’ll be.
So you’re going to be a heck of a lot healthier (and feel way better) if you make your own stir fry instead of ordering take out. Or getting that P.F. Chang’s Orange Chicken frozen dinner since all the restaurants are closing (thanks a lot Coronavirus…).
Make your own Quick Chicken Noodle Soup to get major whole-food health benefits! It’s not like you can buy canned soup in those picked-over grocery stores anyway.
If you’re looking to create a healthier diet for yourself, start with 4 Steps to Create Your Healthy Diet. Or you can read on to get my 5 favorite foods to strengthen your immune system.
New Here? I’m here to help you make sense of all the health and fitness info out there and create a simple, healthy lifestyle you love, even if you don’t know what that looks like yet!
- 5 Day Movement Habit Challenge (FREE!)
- 1 Week (FREE!) Getting Started with Cardio Program
- The Monthly Meal Planner eBook (FREE!)
- Join the Making Sense of a Healthy Life Community (FREE!)
- Creating Crucial Habits 4 Week Program
- Book a 15 minute Coaching Consultation here to learn how I can help you rebuild your health and fitness and create a healthy lifestyle that works for you.
The 5 Best Foods to Strengthen Your Immune System
- Fresh Vegetables
- Fresh Herbs
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Bone Broth
All the fresh veggies and herbs
Vegetables and herbs have all the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients your body needs to strengthen your immune system. This is why plant-based diets are all the rage. Scientists don’t even fully understand all the ways the nutrients from veggies and herbs can change our health for the better. But lucky for you, all you need to do is eat all the veggies and herbs you can get your hands on.
Normally I’d say go with frozen if you can’t get fresh – though right now it seems like the opposite is true. If you can’t get frozen veggies because they’ve all been bought up, you can buy fresh veggies, chop them up and store them in the freezer in freezer bags or glassware.
It’s almost spring, so that means fresh herbs are going to be easier to come by. If at all possible, get a few herb plants to keep in your house in a sunny spot. Then you’ll have access to fresh herbs for cooking, and you’ll get the mood-boosting and air-cleaning benefits of having plants in your home!
Garlic & Ginger
Garlic is high in antioxidants and has been used in traditional medicine for its antimicrobial, antiviral and antibiotic properties. It’s also good for reducing mucus production!
Ginger is also high in antioxidants as well as magnesium, iron, zinc and calcium. It has been in used in traditional medicine for everything from treating fever, to soothing upset stomaches and relieving stress.
It seems a lot of people knew that garlic and ginger are foods that strengthen the immune system since only the soft, shriveled bulbs and roots were left at my grocery store. Luckily, you can get tubes or jars of minced garlic or ginger and these will definitely work in a pinch!
Bone Broth
I can’t say enough about the benefits of bone broth, both from the scientific evidence and my own experience drinking it to ease my leaky gut issues and manage my hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Bone broth is chock full of nutrients that strengthen your immune system, improve digestion, and support your overall health. Bone broth is high in:
- Collagen
- Magnesium
- Calcium
- Phosphorus
- Amino Acids (especially proline and glycine which are critical for healing)
The process of slow cooking the bones helps extract all the collagen, minerals and amino acids. And you can get even more vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients by adding veggies, garlic and herbs!
I always have Bone Broth on hand because it’s all my 5 best foods to strengthen the immune system in one. And it has everything the body needs to survive and heal in liquid form – which is great when you’re sick and can’t stomach anything else.
Read More:
The Health Benefits of Bone Broth from The Paleo Mom
How to Make Bone Broth from Wellness Mama