Immune Boosting Vitamins

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The cold weather can take a toll on your immune system. That’s why it’s important to make sure you are taking immune boosting vitamins. In this blog post, we will discuss the top 5 Immune Boosting vitamins that you should be taking this winter!

Vitamin C and Rutin – The Power of 2

Vitamin C is one of the most important immune boosting vitamins, but have you heard of Rutin? Rutin is a plant compound that helps strengthen blood vessels. Together, these nutrients help to keep the immune system in top condition. Together they help protect your cells from damage and aid in the production of white blood cells – essential for fighting off infection.

While you may think of oranges when it comes to Vitamin C, this nutrient can actually be found in loads of fruits and vegetables. Check out the list below for some foods that are high in Vitamin C also think about how you could add these to your diet!

Foods that contain Vitamin C:

  • Citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and grapefruit
  • Berries like strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries
  • Vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale
  • Tomatoes
  • Potatoes

Rutin

Rutin is a citrus flavonoid glycoside found in many plants, including citrus fruits, buckwheat, and asparagus. Hold on a what?

Flavonoid glycosides is flavonoid that helps protect plants against harmful solar radiation. But it’s got benefits for humans too!

Rutin has been traditionally used as a medicine for treating hemorrhoids and capillary fragility, and is also known to be an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.

Foods that contain Rutin:

  • Citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, and grapefruits
  • Buckwheat
  • Asparagus

If you’re looking for an Immune Boosting vitamin, Vitamin C is a great place to start. This nutrient can be found in a variety of fruits.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is another Immune Boosting vitamin that is important for maintaining a healthy immune system. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that’s stored in the liver and fatty tissues. It can be gathered from food sources, such as eggs, fish, and fortified dairy products.

However, the best source of vitamin D is exposure to sunlight. The body produces vitamin D when the skin is exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays from the sun. We’re taking natural sunlight here, not sunbeds!

Vitamin D helps to regulate the immune system and has been shown to reduce the risk of respiratory infections.

Vitamin D plays big role in regulating the immune system overall and is another essential vitamin for a healthy immune system.

There is some evidence that suggests that vitamin D deficiency may be linked to an increased risk of respiratory infections, such as the flu as well as possibly even Covid 19. One study found that people who took a vitamin D supplement were less likely to get the flu than those who did not take a supplement.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an Immune Boosting vitamin that acts as an antioxidant. Antioxidants help to protect your cells from damage and can help to improve your immune system function.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A supports the body’s natural defences by helping to produce white blood cells in the body as well as antibodies all in a bid to fight off infection. Vitamin A also helps to regulate the Immune system. Deficiencies in vitamin A have been linked to increased susceptibility to infections, such as measles as well as diarrhea.

Vitamin A is found in a variety of foods and vegetables across the board, including dark leafy greens such as chard or spring greens for us in the UK.

Here are some greens that are packed full of Vitamin A:

  • Turnip Greens (cooked)
  • Swiss Chard (raw)
  • Spinach (raw)
  • Romaine Lettuce (raw)

Fruits High In Vitamin A

  • Passion Fruit
  • Tangerine
  • Cantaloupe
  • Watermelon
  • Guava
  • Nectarin
  • Pink or Red Grapefruit
  • Papaya
  • Mango
  • Apricot

Vegetables High In Vitamin A

  • Sweet Potato (cooked)
  • Winter Squash (cooked)
  • Carrot (cooked
  • Sweet Red Pepper (raw)

Zinc and immune function

Zinc is an Immune Boosting vitamin that is essential for a healthy immune system. Zinc helps to fight off infection and can help to improve your Immune System function, actually Zinc is an essential mineral that plays a vital role in many different bodily functions!

Zinc is involved in several different aspects of immunity, including cell-mediated immunity, humoral immunity, and inflammatory responses.

Zinc is essential for the development and function of immune cells. It is required for the activation of T-cells, which are a type of white blood cell that helps to fight off infection. Zinc is also necessary for the production of antibodies, which are proteins that help to neutralize foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses.

Foods Rich in Zinc:

  • Beef
  • pork
  • chicken (including the skin)

Shellfish and Seafood

  • Crab
  • lobster
  • Oysters (raw is better)

Seeds

  • Squash and Pumpkin Seeds
  • Hemp Seeds
  • Pine Nuts Cashews (Dry Roasted) Sunflower Seeds
  • Pecans (Dry-Roasted)
  • Chia Seeds
  • Flax Seeds
  • Brazil Nuts
  • Almonds

Dairy and Eggs

  • Cheese
  • Whole Milk
  • Chiken Eggs
  • Quil Eggs
  • Cheddar Chese
  • Swiss Cheese

Funigi High In Zinc

  • Eringii (raw)
  • Bunashimeji (boiled)
  • Hatakeshimeji (raw)
  • Usuhiratake (raw)
  • Shiitake, Hoshi-shiitake (boiled)
  • Tamogitake (raw)
  • Shiitake, Hoshi-shiitake (dried)
  • Shiitake, Nama-shiitake (boiled)
  • Oyster mushroom (raw)
  • Arage-kikurage (boiled)
  • Bunashimeji (raw)
  • Shiro-kikurage (dried)
  • Winter mushroom (raw)
  • Common mushroom (raw)
  • Numerisugitake (raw)
  • Kikurage (boiled)
  • Kikurage (dried)
  • Shiro-kikurage (boiled)
  • Winter mushroom (bottled in seasoning)
  • Yanagimatsutake (raw)
  • Matsutake (raw)
  • Kuroawabitake (raw)
  • Matsutake (canned in water)
  • Nameko (canned in brine)
  • Common mushroom (canned in brine, solids)
  • Maitake (boiled)
  • Honshimeji (raw)
  • Common mushroom (boiled)
  • Maitake (raw)
  • Shiitake, Nama-shiitake (raw)
  • Nameko (boiled)
  • Nameko (raw)
  • Maitake (dried)
  • Arage-kikurage (dried)
  • Winter mushroom (boiled)
  • Oyster mushroom (boiled)

The key takeaway

Clearly there are lots of vitamins and minerals that go into boosting your immune system. There are many vitamin supplements that play a key role in immune health. But fundamentally supplements are exactly that “supplements” they should t to supplement potential efficiencies. But a healthy lifestyle and a balanced diet with lots of varied nutritional key to staying healthy long terms.