It’s never been a better time to seek out ways to boost your health. Experiencing a pandemic is a major reminder of how precious our health is. Your diet is a key part of immunity and keeping in that health in top shape. Add these four foods to your diet to make sure you’re getting a health boost wherever possible.
Sweet Potato
The humble sweet potato has plenty of benefits that make it worth recommending. The Japanese, particularly Okinawans, are known for their longevity and the sweet potato is a big part of their diet.
Besides being the best of the potatoes (don’t fight us on this), one cup of sweet potato has over 700 percent of your RDA for vitamin A. Low levels of vitamin A are associated with poor immunity. You won’t lack for vitamin A with even a little bit of sweet potato in your diet. Try replacing your classic white potato with a sweet potato. You can bake it and add butter and cinnamon for a sweeter taste or make your sweet potato fries. Being healthy rarely tastes this good.
Berries
Berries of all kinds may help boost your immune system. Blueberries contain vitamin C, fiber, and flavonoids. Yes, those fancy acai berries are more expensive, but also show plenty of promise for keeping you healthy. Cranberries are rich in polyphenols that scientists say might help the immune system. Cranberries are also known for helping prevent urinary tract infections, which we’re pretty sure were featured in Dante’s Inferno, thus making these berries worth more than gold.
Citrus
Are we about to wink at the possibility that your brunch-time bottomless mimosas are health — kind of, since all citrus contains vitamin v, which has long been linked to a healthy immune response. Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, appears to increase the blood cells we need to battle disease.
You can get most of your body’s RDA of vitamin C in a single citrus fruit. That Instagram-able citrus-water is actually better for more than just your follower-count. You can also add fresh lime juice to water for a spritzy post-workout drink. Now here comes the bad news about those mimosas — there’s often a lot of added sugar. Even natural sugar in fruit juice can be unduly high and juice lacks the natural fiber of the whole fruit to help offset the effects.
Green Tea
You probably aren’t surprised to find green tea on this list. There are lots of health benefits to drinking tea, but green tea in particular has been noted for a lot of immune system boosting. Green tea isn’t processed in the same way as black tea, even though it’s the same plant; black tea leaves are oxidized longer.
Green tea contains little magical molecules called flavonoids. These chemicals have been shown to help regulate the inflammatory response. Green tea consumption has also been linked to weight loss and other health benefits. It’s basically just pure goodness with zero downsides — what more could you want?
