Understanding nutrition ,Guide
Understanding nutrition:Food for a Healthy Immune
System
Focusing on food for a healthy immune system can increase
overall good health and nutrition. Foods that build your immune system are rich
in vitamins, minerals, trace elements and omega-3 fatty acids. Including these
foods in your weekly diet can improve your energy levels and decrease the number
of colds and other bugs that you get every year.
Understanding nutrition:Some people rely on daily
multi-vitamins and dietary supplements, instead of food for a healthy immune
system and good supplements are always a good idea. It is not always possible to
eat the right foods in the right combination every day. For instance, you may
think of oranges or orange juice when you think of foods that build your immune
system, but oranges are not the only foods that contain Vitamin C. And if you
don't have enough calcium and magnesium in your diet, then your cells cannot
efficiently absorb Vitamin C. Complicating things further, if you drink a glass
of orange juice and a glass of milk, then the acidic content of the juice can
sour the milk, leading to stomach upset.
People who have frequent heartburn
or are lactose intolerant may not be able to include either orange juice or milk
in their diets. Citrus fruits are highly acidic and trigger heartburn in many
people. Regular milk causes bloating, pain, gas and diarrhea in people who are
lactose intolerant. So, what is a person to do?
Understanding
nutrition:Crabmeat, lobster and oysters are all rich in calcium,
magnesium and vitamin C. Salmon is an important food for a healthy immune system
and is often referred to as a "super food" by dieticians and nutritionists,
because it contains numerous vitamins and minerals, plus a healthy amount of
omega-3 fatty acids, believed to be beneficial in preventing heart disease,
cancer and arthritis. Broccoli, tomatoes, peaches and apples are good sources of
Vitamin C and are all foods that build your immune system. Broccoli is another
food that contains numerous vitamins and minerals, including Vitamin C, calcium,
magnesium and selenium. Not familiar with selenium?
Selenium is an essential
trace mineral that may not be included in your daily multi-vitamin, but very
important to human health. It is essential to proper immune system function, as
well as numerous metabolic pathways. Remember chicken soup? Chicken is another
good source of selenium and is one of the foods that build your immune system
strength.
Understanding nutrition:Like mushrooms? Researchers studying
foods that build immune system strength by increasing white blood cell counts
learned that shitake mushrooms worked. The study concluded that beta glucans
found in edible mushrooms increased white blood cell counts. White blood cells
are primary infection fighters. Don't like mushrooms? Beta glucans are
biologically active compounds found in numerous plant foods and some immune
system dietary supplements.
So, in order to include some of the best foods
that build your immune system in your weekly diet, eat salmon, tuna and/or
seafood three or four times a week, chicken three or four times a week, a
variety of fruits and vegetables including broccoli and mushrooms, whenever
possible. Relying on food for a healthy immune system may not be enough,
depending on where you live or work. A daily multi-vitamin can help and there
are immune system supplements that contain beta glucans, herbs and other
ingredients that can also help, particularly during cold and flu
season.



