Top 7 immune boosters to help keep you healthy amid COVID-19 outbreak
Now more than ever, it’s important for your immune system to stay in tip-top shape during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the best ways to stay healthy is by maintaining a nutritious diet. So here is the list of top 5 healthy food stuff to keep your health up to date and boosts your immunity to sky high.
1. Vitamin A (Beta carotene):
Vitamin A is essential for your health in a number of ways. Your body cannot produce vitamin A from scratch, which makes it an essential micronutrient (Need to be taken from outside via food). So you need to get this vitamin from your food. On average, adults need between 750 and 900 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin A every day to avoid a deficiency.
Vitamin A plays an important role in many body systems, including Immune health, Eye health, Reproductive health and specially vitamin A also assists with the health of your intestines and respiratory system which is a crucial necessity in COVID-19 related health conditions.
Vitamin A-rich foods include carrots, sweet potato, spinach, broccoli, red bell peppers, meat and many other food products. Though most abundant amount of vitamin A is found to in Halibut fish liver oil, ripped mango among fruits and in carrots among vegetables.
2. Vitamin B complex:
A new report suggests that B vitamins may improve COVID-19 symptoms and reduce the length of hospital stays for those with severe infections. Though there is no data to support the statement that vitamin B can prevent COVID-19.
But hypothetically, B vitamins could improve breathing, prevent blood clots, and decrease mortality rate in COVID-19 patients. This is because vitamin B (specially vitamin B12) can down-regulate the cytokines that cause inflammation, they could potentially prevent or reverse cytokine storm.
The vitamin B rich food products are:
- Milk
- Cheese
- Eggs
- Meat - such as chicken and red meat
- Fish - such as tuna, mackerel, and salmon
- Shellfish such as oysters and clams
- Dark green vegetables - such as spinach and kale
- Vegetables - such as beets, avocados, and potatoes
- Whole grains and cereals
- Beans - such as kidney beans, black beans, and chickpeas
- Nuts and seeds
- Fruits - such as citrus, banana, and watermelon
- Soy products - such as soy milk and tempeh
- Blackstrap molasses
- Wheat germ
3. Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid):
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a water-soluble vitamin that is thought to have beneficial effects in patients with severe and critical illnesses. It is an antioxidant and free radical scavenger that has anti-inflammatory properties. Because humans may require more vitamin C in states of oxidative stress, vitamin C supplementation has been evaluated in numerous disease states, including serious infections and sepsis. Because serious COVID-19 may cause sepsis (organ damage) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the potential role of high doses of vitamin C in ameliorating inflammation and vascular injury in patients with COVID-19 is being studied. Also vitamin C helps stimulate the formation of antibodies.
Thus all of these properties of vitamin C on us suggests how important is this to the humans. Those food products containing plenty of vitamin C are Citrus fruits, strawberries, red bell pepper and kiwi are all rich in vitamin C.
4. Vitamin D (Calcitriol):
There are a growing number of studies looking at the effect of micronutrients on people infected with SARS-CoV-2. Vitamin D seems to be a promising candidate for reducing the severity of COVID-19. Also one of the new study found 80% of COVID-19 patients were vitamin D deficient especially males.
People who had COVID-19 and lower vitamin D levels also had higher inflammatory markers such as ferritin and D-dimer. Those have been linked to poor COVID-19 outcomes. People with vitamin D deficiency had a higher prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. They also had longer hospital stays for COVID-19, the study showed.
So why not to bulk up the required amount of vitamin D than to suffer these outcomes. The vitamin D rich source of food products are: red meat, liver, egg yolks, oily fishes such as salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel.
Also, as we all know by our 1st grade knowledge that vitamin D can be obtained by exposing the body to early sunrise and late sunset for few minutes. So why not to take a good sun bath in the balcony in these quarantined days. :)
5. Zinc:
Like in many other diseases, the host’s immune system determines the progress of COVID-19 and fatality. Modulation of inflammatory response and cytokine production using the nutrition is a novel concept that has been applied to COVID-19 and other diseases as well.
Zinc, one of the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant micronutrient found in food with well-established role in immunity, is essential for multiple cellular functions including maintenance of overall immunity of an individual. That said, it is currently being used in some clinical trials against COVID-19.
There are many zinc-dependent enzymes in our body and deficiency has been linked with immune dysfunction. So Zinc-rich foods include beans, seeds, nuts, meat, poultry and seafood etc are necessary to have food products to fight against COVID-19 infections.
6. Magnesium:
A growing body of evidence supports that magnesium supplementation (mainly magnesium sulfate and magnesium oxide) prevents or treats various types of disorders or diseases related to respiratory system, reproductive system, nervous system, digestive system, and cardiovascular system as well as kidney injury, diabetes and cancer.
The ongoing pandemic coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) characterized by respiratory tract symptoms with different degrees of important organ and tissue damages has attracted global attention. This is where magnesium rich food sources prevents the deficiency of it and supports an individual to heal as quick as possible.
Also magnesium-rich foods may help you to feel calmer too. Stress can deplete our magnesium levels too and thus it is very crucial to have enough amount of magnesium bulked up in the body. Examples of magnesium rich food products are legumes, nuts, seeds, leafy greens, and whole grains.
7. Spices:
Few of the home-made remedies can also help improving the health or boosting your immunity to fight against the COVID-19 infections. These are most of the spices and other food products which are anti-oxidants which supports the immune system of an individual detoxifying their body.
This list includes: Ginger, Garlic, Turmeric and Capsaicin (from chili peppers) can be easily added to the soups, stews, stir-frys or in the salad dressings.
These nutrients have been shown to help your immune system work most efficiently and effectively, but too much of a good thing can be harmful. Eat these nutrients in moderation and don’t go overboard.
Staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging for everyone, and the increased anxiety (and boredom) can cause people to abandon their healthy eating intentions and snack on whatever is around. But with a little thought and planning, you can continue to make good food choices and maybe even boost your mood and immunity.
Do let us know down into the comments if you got to know anything new from our articles. As always with preventing the spread of illness, wash your hands frequently, maintain social distancing and wear masks wherever you go. Stay healthy. Stay safe.
