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How Good Nutrition Supports Your Immune System


 Posted by Susan Bowerman, M.S., RD, CSSD, CSOWM, FAND – Senior Director, Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training  0 Comment

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Eat fruits to bolster your immune system.

A strong immune system relies on a healthy diet for support. Here are some nutrition tips to help you keep your immune system in tip-top shape.

When you stop to think about how hard your immune system works for you, it’s nothing short of amazing. It’s an incredibly complex system that works nonstop to protect and defend you. And it’s a system that depends on good nutrition in order to function properly.

We tend to focus on immunity more in the colder months. It seems that colder weather and illness go hand-in-hand. Part of the reason is that when the weather turns chilly, we spend more time indoors. That means we’re in closer contact with more people, and there’s less air circulating so we’ve got more exposure to the germs that can make us sick.

But that doesn’t mean our immune system isn’t on alert the rest of the year. Your built-in defense system works 24/7. In essence, your immune system is your own personal army of ‘soldiers.’ They protect your body by identifying anything foreign, from a virus to a bacteria to a parasite, and then seeking it out and destroying it.

And your body depends on the proper nutrients and a healthy lifestyle to keep your defenses up.

Good Nutrition and Your Immune System

Your immune system has some ‘special forces’ in the form of white blood cells. These cells produce specialized proteins called antibodies that seek out and destroy invading viruses and bacteria. Since antibodies are proteins, you need adequate protein in the diet to ensure you’ll be able to manufacture the antibodies your body needs. Healthy protein foods, like fish, poultry, lean meats, soy foods and low-fat dairy products, provide the building blocks that your body needs to make these specialized proteins.

Fruits and vegetables are key players in immune system health, because they’re great sources of vitamins A and C, as well as phytonutrients. Vitamin C encourages your body to produce antibodies, and vitamin A supports the health of your skin and tissues of your digestive tract and respiratory system. All of these act as first lines of defense against foreign invaders. Many of the phytonutrients found in fruits and veggies act as antioxidants, which can help to reduce oxidative stress on the body that may weaken your body’s ability to fight of illness.

Keeping your digestive system healthy is also important in supporting immune function. Your digestive tract is home to trillions of bacteria that have numerous functions in promoting health. Some strains of bacteria help you digest the fiber in your foods, others consume intestinal gas, while others produce vitamins like vitamin K and vitamin B12.

When your system is populated with these “good” bacteria, they also serve to crowd out the potentially harmful bacteria that might enter your digestive tract. Some of the best sources of these friendly bacteria are cultured dairy products, like yogurt and kefir. As you know, whenever you’re trying something new, make sure to check with your doctor or other professional about the amount to take that’s right for you.

Some people suffer medical conditions that affect the operation of their immune systems. Diet alone won’t improve the function of a compromised immune system. But for healthy people, eating well can help keep your immune system healthy and strong. To help your body in the fight against foreign invaders, your internal ‘army’ needs the best nutrition possible. So call in the troops!

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Susan Bowerman, M.S., RD, CSSD, CSOWM, FAND – Senior Director, Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training
Susan is the Senior Director of Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training at Herbalife, where she is responsible for the development of nutrition education and training materials, and is one of the primary authors of the Herbalife-sponsored blog, www.discovergoodnutrition.com. She is a Registered Dietitian and holds two Board Certifications from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, and a Certified Specialist in Obesity and Weight Management. Susan is also a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Susan graduated with distinction in biology from the University of Colorado, and received her master’s degree in Food Science and Nutrition from Colorado State University. She then completed her dietetic internship at the University of Kansas. Susan has taught extensively and developed educational programs targeted to individuals, groups and industry in her areas of expertise, including health promotion, weight management and sports nutrition. Prior to her role at Herbalife, she was the assistant director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, and has held appointments as adjunct professor in nutrition at Pepperdine University and as lecturer in nutrition in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Susan was a consultant to the (then) Los Angeles Raiders for six seasons, and was a contributing columnist for the Los Angeles Times Health Section for two years. She is a co-author of 23 research papers, 14 book chapters, and was a co-author of two books for the public: “What Color is Your Diet?” and “The L.A. Shape Diet” by Dr. David Heber, published by Harper Collins in 2001 and 2004, respectively.


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How Good Nutrition Supports Your Immune System


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