Immune System Boosters from the Grocery Store

If you love the idea of taking care of your own health without using over-the-counter medications, this article is for you.-Editor

"You don't have anything if you don't have your health." This quote is generally a true statement because when you aren't healthy, you often cannot work, cannot engage in social activities, cannot give help to others in many ways, and often cannot realize your true potential. You can't be you when you're sick. There are, of course, exceptions to this, but they are far and few in between.

Maintaining your good health is important, and one of the ways to do it is to use immune system boosters from your grocery store's produce department to keep infections away. Imagine that: food remedies right there in the grocery store waiting for you to discover them! While these immune system boosters are not cure-alls when used in normal serving size portions, they can be cure-alls when used appropriately together for beating winter and spring infections.

Juicing and Eating Vegetables Does Wonders for Your Immune System

Your diet can be the source of great immune system boosters by adding several servings of raw, simmered, wok-ed, sauteed, boiled, blended, and juiced fruits and vegetables. These natural immune system boosters and food remedies are relatively inexpensive compared to some of the immune system boosters you can find at the health food store. Fruits and vegetables can be really tasty, too if you utilize seasonings and foods such as lemon, garlic, parsley, ginger, mint, onion and cilantro.

One way to insure that you have a good balance in your fruits and vegetables is to consider using color in your meal plan. Adding multiple fruits and vegetables with different colors generally adds those that are natural immune boosters easily and without much deliberation.

For example, why not add a splash of red, blue and black with a blueberry-strawberry-blackberry combination with yogurt on top? Combine this with a healthy green spinach chicken salad with onions, carrots, yellow squash, tomatoes, and artichokes for white, green, orange, and yellow. Now that's a great balance of color. Aim for colors that simulate a rainbow and you'll do well. The natural immune boosters in this meal include the berries (vitamin C), spinach (iron), onion (anti-microbial constituents), carrots (beta-carotene), and tomatoes (vitamin C).

Impossible to Get Enough Vitamins and Minerals

Supplements are a must in this day and age. Your body needs nutrients but it is nearly impossible to get all the natural immune system boosters in a day. I was actually quite idealistic when starting out in the nutritional field and thought there must be a way to get all the nutrients. Utilizing a computer program that automatically calculated amounts of major vitamins and minerals for the daily menus I planned for 197 residents of a nursing home, I discovered that it was close to impossible to get the RDA for every vitamin and mineral. The only time this was possible was when I used high nutrient dense foods such as liver. The problem with that was that serving liver a few times a week was not acceptable by the majority of the residents.

The Only Vitamin Mineral Supplement I Recommend

After examining hundreds of vitamin mineral supplements over the years, I have finally found one brand that contains all the vitamins and minerals in the right amounts, with the exception of two. The nutrients are also in the right forms; they are active in the body. E-mail me if you would like info on this.

This Immune System Booster is Free

Exercise is one of the most powerful natural immune system boosters and it does wonders for your body, inside and out. Just adding 30 minutes of walking to your daily routine will make all the difference in your overall health. The benefits to your system come from the production of endorphin chemicals that keep you happy and the "training" of your body to adjust its nervous system to different stressful situations. Since exercise is considered a stress, it forces the nervous system to switch from parasympathetic, where you're basically functioning without stress, to sympathetic, where you're in an emergency situation, and then back again to parasympathetic. These transitions are helpful to the body over time.

One way to boost immunity systems is to eliminate habits that wreak havoc on a healthy body; for example, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, and people who create emotional stress. Your desire is to stay calm and collected all day long. Whatever happens during the day doesn't harm you, doesn't upset you, and you go with the flow as much as you can. The effects of stress on the body are profound and cumulative. Try to take measures to keep stress at bay even during the most trying times.

Keep Sunday Holy and Get Enough Sleep

Two great natural immune system boosters are sleep and prayer. Getting enough sleep allows your body to restore its immune system cell numbers back to normal. Taking time to pray restores and regenerates your spirit and physical body. Don't forget these!

There are also herbal remedies that are good immune system boosters. Learn about these from a qualified herbalist; your physician has not been trained in herbology.

Immune System Resources

1. Find out more about the immune system here. How Immune System Works.
2. Another source on how your Immune System works.