5 Immune Boosting Plant Based Foods
We have NEVER in all of history, had such amazing access to health foods from around the world. This should mean as Americans and other first world countries we should have prime health right? Quite the opposite, the wide accessibility to quality foods comes along with lots of access to unhealthy-factory foods made with inauthentic ingredients and harmful chemical additives.
Here are 5 whole food – plant based goodies to start incorporating in your everyday life to fight all these nasty bugs going around.
I am sure as soon as your throat starts to hurt you run to the cabinet and snag an “emergen-C” pack to help boost your immunity. Why are you only hustling for those vitamins when you are sick, holistic nutrition is ALL about prevention so take advantage of it!
“Annalisa I cannot eat that many oranges in one day” You don’t have to eat ANY oranges actually, bell peppers, broccoli, kale, sweet potatoes, and strawberries are some of natures #1 forms of Vitamin C. When I do tract my daily nutrients, I always get well over 100% of my vitamin C and honestly, I haven’t been sick in about 8 months now.
Okay but what foods can really get me through these weird influenzas and bugs going around?
Garlic
Let’s start with some good news huh! Garlic, in it’s raw and cooked form is great for you, to increase the benefits, pair it with some onion. They are besties in the nutrient pairing world and also taste great together.
Turmeric
Wow another spice huh? Something that blew my mind in my Vegan Nutritional Health Coaching class was that raw spices are our #1 access to nutrient density and is also one of the best forms we absorb the benefits in. Think about how much we are losing in a diet based around sugar and salt. Again, nutrient pairing here, eat it with black pepper to reap those benefits.
Bell Peppers
Who else loves the yellow ones the best!? By FAR my fav. Okay back to the science, the more we learn about bio-availability (our body’s ability to access and use nutrients based on the state of a food) we have found that bell peppers are best eaten raw. I sauté them a lot but also make sure to throw them on salads, in wraps, and fresh on other meals as well.
Citrus Fruits
We all know this, but are we really bringing these fruits into our lives as much as we know we should? Probably not, a great way to kickstart your system with immune boosting properties would be to start your day with some citrus infused water. The acid in them will also help kickstart your stomach lining and make digestion easier throughout the day.
Spinach
Ahhhh cruciferous vegetables, what a love/hate relationship right. Spinach is great and we all know it, but I do not think people know how to use it outside of making a big salad. Remember when I talked about bio-availability, well since we are all SO afraid of cooking out our nutrients, here is a fun fact. By steaming, baking, and sautéing spinach, we actually INCREASE our body’s ability to use the nutrients by breaking down their cell walls a little bit.
These are ALL ready to use foods without weird geographic stipulations for the most part, and super east to incorporate into our daily lives.
Also let’s seriously settle this, yellow bell peppers are the best right?
Happy Cooking
~Annalisa
