Keep your immune system healthy to fight against the new coronavirus! Nutritionist: 6 key dietary points to boost immunity

The number of local cases of the new coronavirus COVID-19 has exceeded 10,000 for several consecutive days. We have now entered a new mode of economic epidemic prevention. In addition to wearing masks when going out, washing hands frequently, and paying attention to self-hygiene habits, it is also very important to prevent virus invasion by eating the right food and building a healthy immune system. Nutritionists remind us that the stronger the immunity, the better. Instead, it is necessary to maintain immune balance. There are six major dietary priorities to keep the immune system healthy, including adequate protein, as well as essential vitamins and minerals. Let's see how to protect yourself.

Immunity is not the higher the better, the key is to adjust

The immune system is the body's important line of defense against foreign enemies. So, does it mean that if we keep improving the immune system, our body will be healthy? Nutritionist Chen Yichun said that in fact it is not, because this line of defense not only needs to be strong enough to eliminate the enemy (kill bacteria and viruses), it also needs to be smart enough to distinguish who is the enemy and who is one's own. If it fails to distinguish between friend and foe (immune system imbalance), and even attacks one's own people who should not be attacked, then autoimmune disease may occur. Therefore, if you want to keep your immune system healthy, it is not enough to just improve it. The key is to regulate it so that the immune system can function well.

【Four warning signs of an immune system imbalance】

How do you know if your immune system is out of balance? Nutritionist Chen Yichun lists the following four major warning signs for everyone to self-examine, including susceptibility to infection, such as frequent colds, or susceptibility to allergies, allergic rhinitis, asthma, etc., which are all caused by an imbalance in the immune system. When the immune system is chronically weakened, confused, or overworked, the risk of infection may increase.

4 major warning signs of immune imbalance. (Photo provided by nutritionist Chen Yichun)

1. Easy to get infected

Frequent colds, frequent infections, virus carriers, cellulitis, purulent acne, etc.

2. Prone to allergies

Sneezing, allergic rhinitis, asthma, eczema, urticaria, itchy skin, itchy eyes, etc.

3. Autoimmune diseases

Systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's disease, scleroderma, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, etc.

4. Tumor cancer:

Benign tumors, malignant tumors, cancer, etc.

【Six dietary tips to improve your immune system】

Sufficient protein

Nutritionist Chen Yichun said that the immune system is a very energy-consuming unit and requires a lot of nutrients to enable the immune system to function properly, the most important of which is protein. Protein is the main component of white blood cells and antibodies. When protein intake is insufficient for a long time, it will lead to reduced immune function and increase the risk of infection.

Fish, meat, soy products, eggs, milk, etc. are the main sources of protein food, and one and a half palms of protein should be consumed every day.

Vitamins and minerals are essential

In addition to protein, many vitamins and minerals are also closely related to immune function. Paying attention to dietary diversity, consuming a balanced variety of foods, and choosing more unprocessed foods are the only ways for us to get enough vitamins and minerals.

Essential nutrients for a healthy immune system. (Photo provided by nutritionist Chen Yichun)

Take more Omega-3 fats

Modern people have many opportunities to eat out and often consume refined oils (such as soybean oil, corn oil, and sunflower oil), which makes the proportion of Omega-6 fatty acids in the diet relatively high. After Omega-6 is metabolized in the body, it will produce "pro-inflammatory" prostaglandins, leading to chronic inflammation, which will increase the burden on the immune system and easily cause an imbalance in the immune system in the long run.

Omega-3 fatty acids can produce "anti-inflammatory" prostaglandins after metabolism. Therefore, it is recommended to consume more foods containing Omega-3 on a daily basis, which will help reduce chronic inflammatory responses in the body and prevent immune cells from overwork.

Eat more spices and seaweed and mushrooms

Spices such as garlic, onion, pepper, and leek have bactericidal and antiviral effects. Having them on the table often helps boost immunity. In addition, seaweed and mushrooms contain special polysaccharides that can activate immune cells and help regulate the immune system, so that immune cells maintain good fighting effectiveness.

Probiotics help with immune regulation

70% of the human body's immune cells are located in the intestines. The bacteria in the intestines can communicate with these immune cells through the components of the cell walls. When there are too many bad bacteria in the intestines, it is easy to cause an inflammatory response in the immune cells. On the contrary, the good bacteria in the intestines help regulate immunity and make the immune cells smarter and avoid misjudgment.

We can get probiotics from fermented foods such as yogurt, kimchi, etc.; we can also get more dietary fiber and oligosaccharides from vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and root vegetables. Dietary fiber and oligosaccharides are food for probiotics (called "prebiotics"), which can promote the growth of probiotics in the intestines.

Avoid eating habits that damage your immune system

1. Refined Sugar:

Studies have found that two hours after consuming refined sugar, phagocyte activity decreases, and this immune-reducing effect can last for up to five hours.

2. Fried food:

When cooking at high temperatures, fats and oils will fission to produce "aromatic cyclic hydrocarbons". This substance has been determined to cause DNA mutations and increase the risk of cancer, so it is considered a "secondary carcinogen". It has also been found in animal experiments that it can damage the immune system.

3. Diet:

When calorie intake is lower than the basal metabolic rate, the body will lower the basal metabolic rate to reduce calorie expenditure, which will cause a decrease in immunity. Nutritionist Chen Yichun said that she has seen many people who used extreme weight loss methods in the consultation clinic. Due to insufficient calorie intake and unbalanced diet, although they lost weight quickly in the early stages, they soon started to catch colds. There was even a case where the cold did not go away for two months after the random weight loss.

4. Unbalanced diet:

Many vitamins and minerals are related to the function of the immune system. When you are picky about your diet or restrict certain foods (for example, ketogenic, low-carb), it is easy to lead to a lack of certain nutrients, which in turn leads to impaired immune function.

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