Happy holiday season everyone! It’s finally socially acceptable to start playing holiday music and the Old Town lights are shining bright. But as the weather gets cold—we also starting getting more colds. This is because we’re inside more with other people and viruses get spread more easily in close quarters (1). However, nutrition can play a huge role in helping to strengthen your immune system! Here are some nutrition tips to help stave off sickness any time of year.
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Some important vitamins for immune health:
Vitamin A- works with respiratory, skin, and digestive health (these tissues are very important to immune function). Sources: carrots, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, kale, spinach, egg yolks (3).
Vitamin C-While some people say that Vitamin C can prevent a cold, the research hasn’t necessarily shown this to be true. However, it may shorten the duration of a cold. And it's important for immune health overall! Sources: red bell pepper, grapefruit, strawberries, tomato juice, oranges (2) (3).
Vitamin D-Important for immune health but hard to get in the winter months (since it’s the ‘sunshine vitamin', and we spend winter mostly indoors). Sources: Oily fish, mushrooms, eggs, tofu, pork, the sun (3).
Vitamin E-Vitamin E is an antioxidant so it helps decrease harmful free radicals in the body (which disrupt cell health). Vitamin E is found in sunflower seeds, almonds, peanut butter, and spinach (2) (3).
Zinc-Helps wound healing and overall cell health. Found in meat, milk, legumes, and whole grains (3).
Make sure you’re getting enough food and sleep, too! Sleep helps keeps your body working well (and decreases stress) and adequate food intake is important to give your body the energy it needs to fight off viruses.
Happy holidays to everyone!
Credit: Amy Winkelman, M.A., RDN, CED-RD
As always, check our Pantries page for the food pantries hours and eligibility requirements each week.
Visit www.ZESTNutritionService.com for nutrition counseling, kombucha making, and cooking classes!
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1. http://www.pediacare.com/why-colds-in-children-are-more-common-in-winter/
2.https://health.clevelandclinic.org/3-vitamins-best-boosting-immunity/
3. Smith, Wardlaw's Contemporary Nutrition Textbook 11e