After coming out of a cold, I realized my immunity may be quite bad. So I went to look into the research to find out how I can boost my own immune system.
What surprised me was that athletes may actually have a weaker immunity because of the stress and inflammation during exercise.
So in this article, you’re gonna find out 10 different things you can do today to boost your immune system.
And it’s gonna be no surprise that most of them are going to be healthy foods. But what you might not know is how and why that may boost our immune system. Alright, let’s begin!
1. Green Tea
Number 1 is Green Tea. You’ve probably heard that green tea has many antioxidants and everything. That’s all good and gives even more reason to drink green tea. But what is green tea’s effect on immune cell production? In a study, people drank 6 cups of green tea a day which led to a 15 fold increase in gamma delta T cell production within a week! The gamma delta T cells act as the first line of defence against infection. In the same study, coffee had no effect on immune cell production.
Another study gave healthcare workers green tea compounds, and they had 3 times lesser flu than those who weren’t given.
2. Cruciferous Vegetables
Number 2 is Cruciferous Vegetables. This study dropped kale on human cells and they produced more antibodies, almost quadrupled. Also, cooked Kale worked even better.
Our Intra-epithelial lymphocytes (our protective gut cells) has 2 functions: condition and repair epithelial barrier AND provide a front line defence against pathogens.
This study found that Broccoli contains the key which fits on our AHR receptors in our Intra-epithelial lymphocytes which then activate our intestinal immune function.
3. Garlic
Number 3 is Garlic. Garlic increases the activity of natural killer cells and production of T and B cells. In a randomized study group, those who ate garlic had 60% fewer colds and faster recoveries. 1.5 days instead of 5 days and also fewer symptoms.
Another study showed that garlic boosted different mRNA proteins within 3 hrs of eating it. They compared different cooking methods and found that raw garlic was the best, boiling had a 3 times drop , and the allicin protein were totally wiped out when even just a single minute of stir frying.
What was interesting was that even though roasting is hotter than boiling, it preserved twice as much allicin.
4. Blueberries
Number 4 is blueberries. We have an average of 2 billion natural killer cells in our bloodstream This study showed that people who ate blueberries for 6 weeks, their natural killer cells were boosted from 2 billion to 4 billion.
During prolonged exercise, your natural killer cells drops by half to 1 billion. This study showed athletes that ate 1.5 cups of blueberries a day had a decrease that wasn’t as bad and they had a less oxidative stress after running.
This study put black pepper on cancer cells in a lab and nothing happened. But when they added natural killer cells, the black pepper boosted killer cell activity by 10 times with the same no. of cells.
5. Mushrooms
Number 5 is mushrooms. It’s been shown that white button mushrooms accelerates immunoglobulin (IGA) secretion. That’s a type of antibody in our mucus lining in our digestive tract.
This study had a group who didn’t eat mushrooms and a group who ate about a cup of white button mushrooms everyday for a week. After a week they collected their saliva and measured their IGA levels. The group without mushrooms had no change in IGA but the group with mushrooms increased their IGA levels by 50% and stayed up there for a week even when they stopped eating the mushrooms. before dropping back down again. This suggests that a continuous intake of mushrooms is necessary to maintain an increased level of IGA secretion.
6. Fruits
Number 6 is fruits. This study split elderly into two groups. One ate 2 or fewer fruits and the other group ate at least 5 fruits n vegetables. The group with at least 5 fruits had more immune response by having more antibodies.
7. Sleep
Number 7 is sleep. This study showed that people who had more sleep were 3-5 times likely to beat common cold.
Even if someone with the cold sneeze directly at you, you may not even get sick.
8. Exercise
Number 8 is exercise. 95% of infections are protected by IGA, an immunoglobulin antibody found in your saliva, preventing infections from penetrating the body.
In this study, elderly women had 50% chance of getting upper respiratory tract infections in the fall, those who walked 30 minutes a day had 20% chance and those who ran had less than 10% chance.
However, sustained, intense exercise had an opposite effect like a U shaped curve. Those who exercised at a moderate intensity had less risk than sedentary people but those who did intense exercise or over trained had the most risk. In fact, they had a 2-6 times the risk of URTI for several weeks.
9. Zinc
Number 9 is Zinc. Zinc has 3 ways it can slow down the proliferation of corona viruses.
It blocks the attachment of the virus to your throat, it blocks replication of RNA viruses, boosts immune system.
What are foods high in zinc? Wheat, oats, dark green vegetables like spinach, nuts and seeds especially squash, chia pumpkin seeds. Also, beans, rice and mushrooms.
Foods high in zinc and their amounts here: https://www.myfooddata.com/articles/zinc-foods-for-vegans-vegetarians.php
10. Nutritional Yeast
Lastly we have Nutritional Yeast. This study showed that after 2 hours of cycling, there was a dip in monocytes in their blood. Monocytes are our body’s first line of defence. But those who ate 3/4 of a teaspoon of Nutritional Yeast, their monocytes were even more than when they started cycling.
In marathon runners, a daily spoonful of nutritional yeast cut their upper respiratory infection rates in half and they were also less tensed, fatigued and less aggressive.
But what was it in nutritional yeast that’s so good? It’s the beta glucan that boosts number of monocytes, 250mg of yeast was good and 500mg was even better.
CONCLUSION
As athletes we already are putting ourselves at higher risk by exercising at high intensity or long duration for fitness gains. So it’s even more important to boost our immunity especially when there’s a pandemic in the world now.
So here’s a short recap. 6 cups of green tea a day led to a 15 fold increase in gamma delta T cell production within a week. Cruciferous vegetables like kale and broccoli produce more antibodies and activate our intestinal immune function. Garlic increases the activity of natural killer cells and raw garlic was better than boiling or stir frying.
People who ate blueberries for 6 weeks had their natural killer cells boosted from 2 billion to 4 billion. Black pepper also boosted killer cell activity. White button mushrooms accelerates IGA secretion. Elderly who ate at least 5 fruits a day produced much more antibodies than those who didnt.
People who had more sleep were 3-5 times likely to beat common cold. Exercise reduces the chance of getting upper respiratory tract infections but intense training increases the risk.
Zinc can slow down the proliferation of corona viruses by preventing attachment of the virus to your throat, it blocks replication of RNA viruses, boosts immune system. Lastly, nutritional yeast increased cyclists levels of monocytes even after a long ride.
Thanks for reading all the way till the end. I hope I’ve helped at least one person today. Comment below if this has benefited you in any way. I love to hear your comments. Stay safe and healthy everyone!
Aaroiseverything 