Boost your immune system with our nutrition advice
Véronique Liesse, a nutritionist at Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo, offers some useful advice to help you boost your natural defences and to have the best possible chance of protecting yourself.
The basics: protect yourself
The most effective way to protect yourself is to carefully follow the barrier measures, which are logical hygiene tips to be followed on a day-to-day basis. Carefully comply with the lockdown rules, wash your hands regularly with soap or use a hydroalcoholic gel.
Strengthen your barriers
The first stage in immunity consists of our barriers, which include our skin and our intestinal membranes. A porous intestinal membrane or an intestinal flora affected by excessive consumption of meat, alcohol, sugar, sweeteners, toxic substances or pesticides and certain drugs (anti-inflammatory agents, antibiotics and antacids, etc.) can weaken our barriers and consequently our immune system. Fibres, plants, vitamin D, omega-3 or zinc are just a few examples of food products and nutriments vital to the quality of our intestinal barriers!
Boost your immunity through the food you consume
The immune system is one of the body’s most complex systems. These are the nutriments it requires to work properly:
- Vitamin D: ensures a balanced immune system. It is found in small quantities in certain foodstuffs (fish, butter, eggs, etc.), but exposure to the sun is required for it to be produced. During this period of home confinement, use the opportunity to get exposure to the sun on your terrace or balcony if you have one. For the rest of you, feel free to take food supplements (2000 IU per day minimum).
- Vitamin C: naturally present in raw spinach, raw vegetables, red fruit, citrus fruit and kiwi fruit. An acerola food supplement can be useful if you are unable to obtain all the necessary foodstuffs (200 mg of vitamin C per day).
- Vitamin A: contributes to the production of white blood cells, helps balance our immune system and maintains the integrity of our barriers. You can find provitamin A in coloured vegetables and vitamin A in eggs, cod-liver or offal!
- The B vitamins: these boost antibodies and are found in whole foods, vegetables, seeds or offal.
- Zinc: helps our immune cells to mature and is vital to the integrity of our natural barriers. You’ll find it in meat, duck, seeds or dairy products.
Don’t forget the antioxidants!
Becoming oxidised because we lack antioxidants can weaken our defences, making viruses all the more dangerous. Vitamin E, vitamin C, zinc, copper, selenium or polyphenols are part of our antioxidant arsenal. It’s important that we control and contribute to it. Seeds, nuts, high-quality extra-virgin oils, lentils, green tea, very dark chocolate, berries, fruit and vegetables or fish. Treat yourself!
And also…
Your food intake is important but let’s not forget that to boost your immune system you should also not smoke, sleep well and stay calm, managing your stress levels. The latter causes great harm to our immunity!
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