Ways to boost immunity has been a hot topic of discussion around the world since the virus outbreak. In the past year, people have paid a lot of attention to ways to increase their immunity. When it comes to boosting immunity, what we eat has a crucial role to play in it. As it is rightly said that our dietary habits have a lot of impact on our overall health. There are certain food items that are known to make our mind and body strong. Not just this but including them in your diet also helps to protect ourselves from various infections and diseases. As we prepare to step in the new year, we look back in time to know about the various foods that helped us stay fit and strong in the year 2021.
Take a deep dive into this article to know the various expert recommended superfoods that were extremely helpful in boosting immunity in 2021.Expert Dr. Kajal Pandya Yeptho, Chief Dietician, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals explains about the importance of these immunity boosting food items.
Superfoods To Boost Immunity
Feeding your body with food items that are rich in nutrients can help to strengthen your immune system. Most of these food items are easily available around us and are a part of our diet. It is just that we have never paid enough attention to them. Let us take a look at some of these immunity boosting food items and their benefits as recommended by Dr. Kajal Pandya Yeptho.
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SPICES
Spices are an integral part of Indian cooking. There is no savory dish prepared in the subcontinent without the use of some flavourful spices. Where there are various spices available to enhance the taste of your favorite dish, some of them are actually beneficial for boosting the immune system functioning. Dr. Kajal says that “Spices such as ginger and garlic are used in their fresh form as well as in the dried powdered form. Both these spices consist of some or the other compounds that help to develop our immunity and keep us strong.” Let us take a closer look at the benefits of these immunity boosting spices.
1# Ginger
An ingredient that is part of almost every home remedy. Ginger is used in many ayurvedic medicines as an active ingredient. This root spice is known for its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiparasitic and antioxidant properties. Consumption of ginger is proven to be helpful in decreasing inflammation and in treating various inflammatory illnesses.The presence of active ingredient gingerol makes it a perfect immunity boosting spice. Making ginger a part of your regular diet can benefit your health in many ways such as-
- Reducing inflammation
- Soothing sore throat
- Preventing nausea
- Decreasing chronic pain
- Breaking down the accumulated toxins
- Keeping the body warm
- Soothing upset stomach
- Lowering bad cholesterol levels
- Boosting immune system functioning.
How to consume?
In order to reap the myriad benefits of ginger, add some freshly grated ginger to your stir fried vegetables, curries and dals. Adding half an inch of fresh ginger to your cup of tea can also be a great way of consuming the extracts of this root spice.
2# Garlic
Garlic might be a spice that is known to add a flavourful aroma to your food. Found in almost every cuisine of the world, this spice is a must have for good health. A strong smelling spice that comes along with antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal,
Also Read: Garlic for Weight Loss: Know how garlic helps in shedding pounds
antioxidant and various other nutritive properties. Garlic has been used as an immunity boosting spice since ancient times as it helps to protect our body against various viral and fungal infections. The spice gets its immunity boosting property from the high concentration of sulfur compounds present in it such as the allicin. Adding garlic into your food on a regular basis can provide you with several health benefits such as-
- Lowering blood pressure
- Reducing inflammation
- Lowers the risk of heart diseases
- Providing relief from chest congestion and infections
- Combat common cold
- Improves good cholesterol
- Prevents diseases like dementia and alzheimer's
- Improves bone health
- Helps in detoxification of the body
- Strengthens immunity
How to consume?
Consumption of garlic is very beneficial for a person’s overall health. It helps in preventing and fighting various severe conditions. To make it a part of your regular diet, peel some fresh garlic and pound it or chop it well. Cook it with your stir fried vegetables or mix it with spices and olive oil to prepare a flavourful and healthy salad dressing.
FRUIT & VEGETABLES
One can never go wrong with fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables. All these fresh fruits and vegetables make a cut to the superfoods list as they are rich in nutrients. Their high nutritional value helps to protect us from various infections and strengthens the immune system functioning. Dr. Kajal suggests that- “Try to add more natural coloured fruits and vegetables to your diet according to the season. In winters where we have various green leafy vegetables coming in, try to make the most of them as you would not get them in summer months. Try to collect and store these nutrients into your body so that when there is a deficiency, it can be used.” Let us take a step ahead and understand how these fresh fruits and vegetables can be our immunity boosting buddies.
1# . Fruits
We all love eating those colourful fruits either in the form of fruit salad or fresh juice. Where these fruits are an absolute treat to our taste buds, they are good for our overall health as well. Consuming seasonal fruits such as apples, kiwis, grapes and plum in winters and mangoes, oranges, papaya and watermelons in the summer months is very beneficial. Many of these fruits are rich in vitamin C content. Vitamin C acts as a key ingredient when it comes to boosting immunity as it helps in rapid production of white blood cells. They are also rich in digestive enzymes that are known for their anti-inflammatory effects. Adding fresh fruits to your regular diet not just helps in boosting the immune system functioning but also comes with other health benefits such as-
- Helping in better digestion
- Is good for cardiovascular health
- Are low in calorie and hence aid weight loss
- Providing essential nutrients to the body
- Reduces the risk of diabetes
- Protects against cancer
- Helps in maintaining healthy blood pressure
- Provides you with healthy skin
How to consume?
Where many of us have a favorite fruit of our choice that we love to enjoy around the year. In order to reap the health benefits of fruits, it is always recommended to consume them in their fresh form. Eating fresh seasonal fruits provides you with better nutrition and antioxidants which in turn boosts immunity.
2# Vegetables
Admit it or not, but we all have been scolded to finish our veggies during childhood. Parents always find some way to feed their children with healthy vegetables in order to meet their nutritional requirements. Consuming healthy vegetables is not just important for children or elderlies but for people of every age group. Vegetables are supercharged with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. While they help in meeting our body’s nutritional needs, they also fight inflammation caused due to the free radical damage. By doing so they help in protecting our body from various infections and diseases along with strengthening the immune system response. Packed with antioxidants and beta carotene, seasonal vegetables like spinach and broccoli help in boosting immunity and fighting infections. Consuming these vegetables on a regular basis can benefit your health by-
- Reducing blood sugar levels
- Improving eye health
- Helps in reducing inflammation
- Preventing cancer
- Improving bone health
- Promotes digestion
- Slows the process of aging
How to consume?
Fresh vegetables are sufficient on their own to meet your body’s nutritional needs. Keeping a few points in mind can actually help you in better absorption of these nutrients and strengthen your immunity. Try to consume vegetables that are natural in colour and are seasonal. Consuming seasonal vegetables provides you with a high amount of nutrition. Instead of overcooking your veggies, try to steam them and consume. Overcooking them might result in reducing their nutritional value and would not lead to effective absorption.
3# PROTEINS
The building blocks of the body, proteins are one of the most integral parts of our diet. Consuming a diet that is rich in protein content is very important for our overall body functioning and better immunity. According to Dr. Kajal “Having a good protein diet is very important.Unfortunately Indian diets are not very rich in protein. Having enough protein in our diet along with these superfoods will help you to boost immunity. It also helps to provide protection against viruses, diseases and infections.”
Also Read: 7 Simple Ways to Add More Protein to Your Diet
Let us take a quick look at the benefits of consuming a diet rich in protein to strengthen our immunity.
Known as the building blocks of the body, proteins are made up of amino acids. Consumption of protein is not just important for building muscles and losing weight but also for proper function of various organ systems. It plays an important role in powering the immune system and boosting its functioning. Consumption of adequate amounts of protein helps in repairing the body tissues and other wear and tear. These proteins make a framework for the immune system cells. An adequate amount of proteins in the diet can help you to fight off various infectious diseases and illnesses and hence is a great immunity booster. Benefits of adding adequate amounts of protein to your diet are-
- It boosts metabolism
- Helps in weight loss
- Increases muscle mass
- Lowers blood pressure
- Provides you with healthy bones
How to consume?
There are various protein rich food items available out there for both vegetarians and non vegetarians. One can add pulses, tofu, eggs, meat, chicken breast, cheese, yogurt, milk and nuts in their diet.
Dr. Kajal Pandya Yethpo suggests that along with all this, regular physical activity is very important. Whatever we eat needs to get digested, absorbed and utilized properly. Only when proper absorption takes place, the body cells will get that nutrition. There are so many things that can fall in the category of superfood. But it is not right to label them as they are our day to day food items which we didn’t pay too much attention to.
With inputs from Dr. Kajal Pandya Yeptho, Chief Dietician, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital