Nutrients need to be readily available to ensure our body can utilise the nutrients and protect and boost your immune system and function.
Most people’s immune systems are functioning at only around 50%. Science-based research shows that nutrient-dense foods packed with antioxidants have the power to double your immune system’s function so you can keep disease and illness at bay.
What’s more, as you age, toxins (from both the environment and your diet) build up in the body. By the time you hit your 40s, daily stress, hormonal shifts and years of toxic build-up create a scenario in which you can get sick easier and more often.
Here are two strategies to support you:
- Base Your Meals on Phytonutrient-Rich Foods:
These are the foods with the most vitamins, minerals and phytochemical (organic plant compounds such as antioxidants, including beta carotene, vitamin C, folic acid and vitamin E), and the least amount of calories. Phytonutrient-rich foods include colourful fruits and vegetables such as dark, leafy greens, micro greens, tomatoes, capsicums and berries. Dark leafy greens contain lymphocytes that aid digestion. Berries, for instance, contain anthocyanin and bioflavonoids that protect the heart and ward off cancer.
- Eat Slow-Absorbing Foods:
Avoid fast-absorbing foods such as saturated and trans fats, sugar and white flour. These “fast foods” create a high glucose response in the blood stream, spiking insulin, which promotes fat storage and weakens the immune system. By eating slow-absorbing foods, your body is able to properly absorb essential nutrients and use them to fight disease. Slow-absorbing foods include nuts, seeds and beans. The sterols and stanols in nuts and seeds actually help pull bad fats out of the body, allowing good fats to be absorbed to lower “bad” LDL cholesterol, increase brain function and more.
