Foods That Help Your Immunity

Most of you know my kids have been sick, along with the rest of the kids on our street and what seems to be about 15% of the school.

I read on nrp that not only do we need to be careful with the actual flu this year, but if our kids get sick again right on the heal of getting over their original cold/flu.  Their defenses are already lowered so they can get worse. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113700568&ft=1&f=1128)

So, I’m thinking I need to make sure I give my family good nutritious food that can help boost their immune system and nurse them back to health.  I turned to my friend Rita Heikenfeld from www.abouteating.com for some advice and tips on foods that help boost our immune system:

• Cook with lots of garlic and onions: Onions have quercetin which may help prevent viruses from multiplying.
• Zinc is huge for immunity – which is in seafood, eggs, mushrooms, nuts, whole grains, and some seeds (Think of granola with whole grains, seeds, nuts, etc. – which is a great snack or breakfast.
• Yogurt with the probiotics is for the digestive/immune system.
• Vitamin A strengthens the body’s defenses. You can find Vitamin A in fresh veggies such as spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, the cruciferous veggies, etc.
• Apples are good since they help prevent germs from spreading and help fight off free radicals.
• Don’t forget about vitamin C which our bodies can’t store – citrus fruits are huge sources and awesome for the immune system.
• Rita also suggests drinking lemon water first thing in the morning (to break the fast) and is now adding lemon in her green tea since is helps the body utilize the good stuff in green tea better.
• Lemon also helps absorb iron which the kids need.

So, I picked up some fish for us tonight and served that with roasted red onions & tomatoes with brown rice & quinoa for dinner tonight.  Dinner was delicious!  I seasoned the tilapia with salt, pepper and chili powder and grilled it on the grill pan.  For me (because nobody else likes Salmon but me),  I season the Salmon with Salt, Pepper and covered it with fresh chopped up parsley.  Added a little bit of soy sauce, seared it on both sides and then reduced the temperature and covered to cook through.

What’s on your dinner table?

Good luck fighting the cold/flu/virus this season!  Hopefully this advice will help you and your family boost its immunity so you can all stay healthy and happy.

Peace,

Betty