The best way for us to stay healthy is to have a strong healthy immune system, a strong healthy immune system will help our bodies fight off disease. When a virus enters the body, the innate immune system is the first thing it will encounter, this system is meant to prevent the spread of harmful pathogens when they enter the body. The innate immune system is composed of three barriers.
Physical barriers such as our skin and eyelashes.
Chemical barriers such as our tears, mucous, and stomach acid.
Cellular defenses like macrophages, neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils.
Our bodies have a secondary immune system that is commonly called the acquired immune system, this is a defense system that develops over time that is long-lasting, specific to the invader, and is sustained for a long period of time. When a virus enters the body for the first time your primary immune system will respond while your acquired immune system clones T and B lymphocytes that are specific to the virus in order to destroy them. When this happens there are also memory cells that are created by the B cells, these memory cells last for a long period of time, if the same virus gets into the body again the immune system will be able to respond quicker and stronger due to these memory cells.
So how do you set your immune system up for success?
A strong and healthy immune system is achieved through regular exercise and a healthy nutrient-rich diet and supplementing your diet with vitamins. Here is a list of vitamins and minerals to build a strong immune system:
Vitamin C:
Vitamin C is an essential vitamin that is water-soluble. This means that the body cannot produce it on its own and is unable to store it. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that has been shown to increase white blood cells which fight off viruses and bacteria. Foods that are rich in vitamin C include red bell peppers, broccoli, spinach, grapefruit, oranges, lemons, and limes.
Vitamin E:
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that is another strong antioxidant to help fight off infections. Some foods that are rich in vitamin E include sunflower seed, almonds, peanuts and peanut butter, hazelnuts, sunflower oil, and safflower oil.
Vitamin A:
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that not only helps your immune system but your vision, reproduction, and cellular communications. Vitamin A comes in two forms preformed or retinol which is found in animal sources, and provitamin which comes from pigments in plants. Typically, foods that are colorful are great sources of vitamin A. Some of these include beef liver, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, spinach, herring, cantaloupe, and green tea.
Vitamin D:
Vitamin D is one of the most powerful and needed vitamins for the immune system, about 42% of Americans are deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D can be absorbed by the sun but with the typical American day many people do not spend enough time outside to benefit from this. Here are some of the common foods to get your vitamin D from cod liver oil, trout, salmon, white mushrooms, sardines, green tea, and vitamin D fortified foods such as cereal and milk.
Folate and folic acid:
These are different forms of vitamin B9, folate being natural occurring form that is essential as the body is unable to produce it on its own, folic acid is a synthetic form that is found in supplements and added to foods such as flour and cereal. Thing to keep in mind is folic acid is not always converted into active B9 in the body so opt for the natural folate. Foods that are a great source of folate are legumes, asparagus, avocado, spinach, broccoli, citrus fruits, nuts, and seeds.
Iron:
Iron is found in every cell in the body and is responsible for hemoglobin and myoglobin which are the oxygen-carrying proteins. Foods such as red meats, chicken, turkey, tuna, and oysters are a great source of iron.
Selenium:
Selenium is a powerful antioxidant which can be found in tuna, cod, meat, liver, poultry, and cottage cheese.
Zinc:
Zinc plays many roles within the body ranging from helping with immune function to wound healing. Foods that are great source of zinc are shellfish, poultry, red meats, salmon and other fatty fishes, cashews, green tea.
While I always suggest my clients to get the majority of their nutrients and vitamins from whole foods the fact remains there are many variables that can suppress your immune system. Things such as a lack of sleep, stress, certain medications, and a high-fat diet just to name a few. This is where supplementing with a quality multi-vitamin comes in handy. I personally supplement my diet with 1st-Phorms Micro-Factor, you not only get a multi-vitamin but you also get an antioxidant to help support a healthy immune system, a probiotic for a healthy gut, CoQ-10 for healthy cardiovascular function, a essential fatty acid for joint, brain, and heart health, and a fruit and veggie capsule to help fight free radicals and help maintain a healthy digestive and immune system all in one easy to take package.
While there is no sure-fire way to prevent a sickness eating a healthy diet will help you in building a strong immune system that will help fight off sickness.
Jim Fultz 