Keep Your Defences Up Mother and child slicing fruit together As the weather turns colder you’re more likely to suffer from coughs and colds so now is a good time to look at all you can do nutritionally to help keep your immune system running in tip-top shape. Despite what your parents or grandparents might have told you, you don’t catch a cold from being out in the cold air; when the weather turns chilly, we spend more time indoors – which means we’re in closer contact with more people, and there’s less air circulating – so we’ve got more exposure to the germs that can make us sick. Your body has a built-in defense in the form of your immune system. It’s your own personal army of ‘soldiers’ that protects your body by identifying anything foreign – from a virus to a bacteria to a parasite – and then seeking it out and destroying it. In order to keep your defenses up your body relies on good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. Fruits and vegetables are key players because they provide an abundance of phytonutrients – natural compounds found in all plant foods that help to promote health by serving as antioxidants. You need antioxidants to balance out the processes in your body that cause oxidation. Oxidative processes are a normal part of metabolism, but oxidation can run rampant in cells if it’s not kept in check – and that can weaken the body’s ability to fight illness. So your body relies on a steady source of antioxidants from fruits and veggies to reduce this oxidant stress and, in turn, help to support immune function. Your immune system also has some ‘special forces’ in the form of white blood cells. These cells produce specialised proteins – called antibodies – that seek out and destroy invading viruses and bacteria. Since antibodies are proteins, you need adequate protein in the diet to ensure you’ll be able to manufacture the antibodies your body needs. Healthy protein foods – like fish, poultry, lean meats, soy foods and low fat dairy products – provide the building blocks that your body needs to make these specialised proteins. Keeping your digestive system healthy is also important in supporting immune function. Your digestive tract is home to trillions of bacteria that have numerous functions in promoting health. Some strains of bacteria help you digest the fibre in your foods; others consume intestinal gas, while others produce vitamins, like vitamin K and vitamin B12. When your system is populated with these “good” bacteria, they also serve to ‘crowd out’ the potentially harmful bacteria that might enter your digestive tract. Some of the best sources of these friendly bacteria are cultured dairy products such as yoghurt. Eating well really does pave the road to good health. And to help your body in the fight against foreign invaders, your internal ‘army’ needs the best nutrition possible. So call in the troops!
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 16:41:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015