The current COVID-19 outbreak has made everyone more aware of how

important the foods you eat can be to your body and its immune system.
Having a diet that is rich in vitamins and minerals has been proven to boost
your immune system and helps prevent catching COVID or any other cold, flu,
or virus. Now more than ever it is important to eat and stay healthy as we
battle a global pandemic that does not look to be going away anytime soon.
In this article, we will breakdown the simple and easy foods that you can add
to your diet to boost your immune system. These foods are very accessible
and can be added to your daily diet with ease to help you stay healthy.
The best food ingredients to boost your immune system can be categorized
as follows:
1. Vitamin C
2. Selenium
3. Flavor
4. Fermented Foods.
Each category is made up of four types of foods that contain key vitamins and
minerals to boost your immune system.
Let’s begin, with everyone’s favorite immune booster that is Vitamin C.

Category #1 Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a popular choice for anyone wanting to boost their immune
system and has research to show how effective it can be in boosting your
immune system.
Vitamin C is especially effective in producing white blood cells in your body
that help to fight off any type of infection or virus. When a virus enters our
system, our immune system deploys these white blood cells to attack the virus
so we can get back to full health as soon as possible.
Foods that are rich in vitamin C include most fruits and vegetables. When
looking to boost your immune system, the best first step would be to ensure
you consume more fruits and vegetables in your daily eating routine.
Some of the best fruits and vegetables with high levels of vitamin C include:
● Citrus family fruits
● Red bell pepper
● Broccoli
 ● Spinach
● Berries
Vitamin C is probably no surprise in the list to boost your immune system, but
have you heard of the next category, Selenium?

Category #2 Selenium
Selenium is great in boosting the immune system as it acts as an antiviral
property. Selenium helps boost your cellular health so it can prevent colds and
flus preventing cellular damage. In the prevention of cellular damage, this can
in turn help to prevent diseases such as cancer.
Selenium is a trace mineral that is found in the earth’s soil. Foods where you
will likely find selenium include:
● Mushrooms
● Spinach
● Brazil nuts
In addition to these you can also find selenium in the following animal
sources:
● Egg
● Tuna
● Poultry
Never knew? Amazing isn’t it.
Next up is flavor, I’m sure your wondering how can that boost my immune
system right? But some food flavoring ingredients sure can help!

Category #3 Flavor
Those condiments in your cupboard can also play a part in boosting your
immune system. Some of the best common condiments that can help boost
the immune system include:
● Garlic
● Ginger
● Turmeric
Garlic especially has great infection-fighting compounds so by just adding a
fresh garlic clove to your food you will be getting an extra boost of antiviral
properties.
Other great condiments to use in your diet are ginger and turmeric thanks to
their antioxidant properties. Ginger and turmeric act as an anti-inflammatory
and can help with any aches and pains in the body too.
Finally, we have fermented foods and how they can boost the immune system
and help the gut.

Category #4 Fermented Foods

Fermented foods contain probiotics and by introducing fermented foods to
your diet you are helping to feed healthy bacteria in your gut.
It’s important to note that when you are protecting your gut you are also
boosting other systems in your body that includes the immune system too.
Hopefully, this article has given you some tips for foods that you can include in
your daily diet to boost your immune system. The key takeaway is that to
boost your immune system you need to increase your vitamin and mineral
intake. As we have discussed, getting these vital vitamins and minerals into
your diet doesn’t have to be difficult but require some slight changes in your
meal preparation.
For more healthy tips and tricks on making healthy food choices, head over to
our website at Easy Platters here.
Stay healthy!! Stay safe!!