If you’re worried about your immune health being too low, you can always eat your way to good immune health!
I’m going to break down some crucial immune-boosting vitamins and nutrients you should focus on getting every day, and the foods that you can eat to get them in!
Vitamin K2
Vitamin K2 helps prevent calcification in the arteries, but more importantly, it works very closely with vitamin D3 and allows it to get absorbed and provide you with immune-boosting properties.
The main source of vitamin K2 is fermented foods.
The bacteria and K2 in fermented foods activate protein receptors inside of your body that stimulate your immune system.
Researchers out of Germany have found that humans have three of these receptors, where most other animals only have two.
Fermented foods not only give you K2 and activate those receptors, but also provide good bacteria that help fight sickness in your body.
Some great food sources of vitamin K2 include:
Kefir
Sauerkraut
Fermented Cheeses
Kombucha
Apple Cider Vinegar
The worst type of fermented food that you can eat is yogurt, because it has dairy, is full of sugar, and oftentimes comes with hormones and antibiotics.
Magnesium
Magnesium runs 80% of all of the interactions and reactions in your body, many of which are immune-related.
Magnesium can also prevent calcification and protect you against oxidative stress.
Not getting enough of it can cause head discomfort, digestive distress, constipation, and muscle and heart issues.
For extra magnesium, you don’t have to worry about supplementing it–you can eat it!
Vitamin C
A lot of people try to get vitamin C through sugar-filled chewables or artificial sugar-filled powders like Airborne or Emergen-C.
These contain Ace-K, Nutrasweet, and aspartame, which are all chemicals. That makes your immune system worse while you’re trying to help it.
If you want to get vitamin C from a healthy source, trying eating foods like:
Acerola Cherry
Kale
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Lemons
Berries
Oranges.
Stay away from orange juice that comes from concentrate, because it’s loaded with sugar that takes your immune system in the wrong direction!
Zinc
Zinc stops the replication of bad germs. If your hair is thinning, you have strange tastes on your tongue, or you’re getting sick a lot, chances are, you’re deficient in zinc.
You can eat zinc through multiple sources, including:
Grass-fed burgers or beef:
Beans:
Chickpeas:
Pumpkin Seeds:
Cashews:
You need about 10-20 milligrams of zinc a day. If you want to learn more about food sources of zinc, check out my video on it here.
Vitamin D
If you’re taking vitamin D, stop taking it if you’re taking D2 instead of D3, or if you’re not taking D3 with vitamin K2 and magnesium. These all have to work together to avoid depleting your magnesium and hardening your arteries.
There are many videos about vitamin D on my channel if you want to learn more about this.
The best way to get vitamin D is through the sun, but for 6 months of the year, most of us don’t have enough sunlight, so we have to supplement it.
Two good food sources of it are:
Eggs: Provide 37 IUs
Salmon: Provides 520 IUs.
Eating fish, eating eggs, getting sunlight, or taking supplements are the best ways to get vitamin D in.
Omega-3
Omega-3 can be obtained through plants, and flax and chia seeds, but the best source of it for brain and immune health is through fish.
Adding turmeric to it helps both of them get absorbed, and helps combat any type of sinus issues.
Taking omega-3s and turmeric will help you boost immune health.
Antimicrobials
There are a ton of foods that are good antimicrobials and rich in phytonutrients that fend off bad bacteria, funguses, and invaders.
These are 4 of my favorites:
Apple Cider Vinegar: Fermented apples are great at controlling microbes and cleaning out the liver.
Ginger: Ginger tea and ginger lozenges are antimicrobial and help with sore throats, congestion, and coughing.
Garlic: Garlic has a phytonutrient component that fights off microbes and fungus.
Honey: Honey has a soothing effect and helps fight off allergies, and can be added to teas
Summary
These are 7 of the main nutrients that keep immune health bolstered, and that you should be getting in by eating more foods rich in them.
But California research shows it’s not eating that might make the biggest difference for cleaning up for your body, and boosting your immune system.
The biggest key may not be what you’re eating–it might be what you’re drinking! Check out my video that covers the potential benefits of juicing here.
