Eating To Boost Your Immune System
One way to help improve your immunity to illness this winter is to eat a varied diet. Here's how Lo-Dough can help.
First of all, wherever a vaccine is available, this is still the single most effective means to boost your immunity against infectious, virally-transmitted diseases. But secondary to that, diet and lifestyle also play their parts. Long story short - eat the rainbow! Enjoy a varied mixture of all fruits and vegetables, whether alongside meat/or fish or on their own, as the star of the show. The variety of colours on your plate will broadly indicate the variety of nutrients contained within the fruit and vegetables. The greater the variety, the more nutrients you'll be getting into your body.
This kind of diet isn't just about keeping illness at bay - it's about your general health and wellbeing, with fresh fruit and veg supplying combinations of vitamins and other nutrients that are all important for various biological processes in our bodies, some being linked to immunity.
Below, we'll list some key fruits/vegetables to include in your diet and some of the best corresponding Lo-Dough recipes that include them. By combining with Lo-Dough, you'll keep the calories and carbs low while dramatically boosting your gut-friendly fibre intake - with the NHS recommending 30g or more fibre per day.
Citrus Fruits
Citrus fruits, as we all know, are full of vitamin C, something we all turn to when fighting off a cold, as it's known to be linked to building up our immune system. Thankfully, there are a wide range of citrus fruits available and they all contain vitamin C, so we needn't rely on any single one.
Red Peppers
That said... The red bell pepper contains approx. 3 times more vitamin C than any citrus fruit, so you'd do well to eat plenty of pepper too! They also contain beta carotene which is converted to vitamin A when digested - great for your skin and eyes.
Red Pepper & Goats Cheese Pizza
Broccoli
Packed with a number of vitamins and antioxidants, broccoli is a health-powerhouse of a vegetable. Try to avoid having it boiled - steamed, roasted, griddled or stir-fried are all better (and frankly, tastier) ways to enjoy it and keep the nutrients where you want them... in the vegetable and on your plate!
Chorizo & Rainbow Veg Gratin / Creamy Veg Gratin
Spinach
Again, packed with vitamin C, as well as antioxidants and beta carotene - lightly cooked spinach is another big hitter in terms of your health and wellbeing - as with broccoli, spinach doesn't need boiling. Show it a hot pan for around 1 minute with a tiny touch of oil or even just a splash of water, turning occasionally.
Brie, Spinach & Mushroom Toastie
Garlic
Garlic has long been used to fight off colds and flu... and science has shown us this is for good reason. Garlic contains a compound called allicin. When broken down, this compound converts to sulfur-containing compounds that help boost white-cell's disease-fighting response.
In addition to fruit and veg, you should look to include well reared meats, shellfish, plenty of nuts and seeds, healthy fats, live yoghurt and high fibre foods such as Lo-Dough in your diet. These all contain essential macro and micro nutrients that will contribute to your well being. As ever, leading an active lifestyle will only help with your well being and as is well understood, keeping your home environment clean and washing your hands regularly will also contributed to warding off illness.
References:
https://www.pcrm.org/news/blog/foods-boost-immune-system
https://www.health.com/food/immunity-boosting-foods
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-boost-your-immune-system