Immune boosting recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the best meal to boost immune system? ›

The best foods for boosting your immune system. A strong immune system helps to keep a person healthy. Berries, oily fish, turmeric, kefir, and other immune-boosting foods provide nutrients that support the immune system. The immune system consists of organs, cells, tissues, and proteins.

Vitamins B6, C and E are all known for their immune-boosting properties. You can get all of these vitamins from a well-balanced diet, so you don't need supplements. Some foods rich in these vitamins include eggs, bell peppers, spinach and almonds.

Instead, focus on getting these nutrients from a healthy, varied diet including fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, wholegrains, dairy products or fortified alternatives, and meat, fish or plant proteins like pulses. The exception to this is vitamin D, which is mostly produced from exposure to sunlight.

“A lifestyle that includes eating healthy foods, physical activity, reducing stress, and getting enough sleep is known to keep your immune system in the best shape,” adds Milner, who is a leader in the discovery of rare immune deficiency disorders of children.

What foods fight infections? ›

Most citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, lemons, and limes contain high levels of vitamin C, which is thought to help fight infection by increasing your white blood cells. Whether you eat them whole, or squeeze the juice onto your food, don't forget to add these tangy fruits to your regular diet.

Green tea

Green tea is also rich in L-theanine, an amino acid that is thought to help your white blood cells produce germ-fighting compounds.

According to Isa Kujawski, MPH, RDN, a functional registered dietitian nutritionist and the founder of Mea Nutrition, the best immune-system-boosting breakfast doesn't have to be complicated, but it should have some key ingredients such as oats, nuts and seeds, blueberries, and cinnamon with a side of green tea.

New research on intermittent fasting is encouraging because much of the effects of a three-day fast on the immune system are found with much shorter periods like the 16 to 20 hours of fasting typically associated with intermittent fasting.