Obviously you want to eat a diet rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to keep your immune system at its best. Highly processed foods and saturated fats = not good for keeping you healthy (I don't even think I need to be a dietitian to tell you that). An overall health goal is to eat 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day. Why? All those brightly colored foods have lots of antioxidants to protect healthy cells that will fight off infection and inflammation.
So, here are things you should eat:
Bright orange foods - pumpkin, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, oranges -for their high vitamin C content. Other excellent vitamin C sources are kiwi, broccoli, Brussels sprouts.
Dairy products - yogurt, kefir (which is like a thin yogurt), milk - for good probiotics and vitamin D. Probiotics can help protect the good cells in your body to help them fight disease.
Lean protein - chicken, turkey, shellfish, lean cuts of beef - for protein, zinc and iron, all of which support a healthy immune system. They also contain glutamine (lean proteins, eggs, dairy products) which is an amino acid that can help with recovery of an illness
Water - and a lot of it.
So, have some chicken soup (loaded with carrots), make a fruit smoothie with frozen fruits and kefir, or even have a slice of pumpkin pie.. but stay healthy this winter!
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