Strong immunity is the way to get good well-being. In addition, a strong immunity will keep you away from the deadliest viruses and bacteria. This strong immunity is only achieved when you seriously take the immunity booster food and drinks as a part of your regular diet.
 In the older days, people used to have pure food, and hence, the resistance to diseases was more than it is today. With the advent of junk food, we often ignore the best food for immunity, including all the fresh veggies and fruits in the market. Â
However, the present scenario is very pathetic and people are now becoming conscious about immunity. Therefore, in the next few sections, we will discuss how to boost the immune system quickly with various foods available.
Top 10 Best Immunity Booster Food
Before discussing the top 10 food on the list, please note, these foods will boost immunity naturally. However, do not take this misconception that the food will fight with the virus or bacteria that has already affected you. For any disease and symptoms, follow the guidelines given by your doctor and do not believe in any hearsay.
1. Ginger
Ginger, a must-have ingredient in every household has immense health benefits. It is loaded with antioxidants that effectively boost the immune system. Furthermore, it has properties like anti-inflammatory ones combating chronic inflammation. Although acute inflammation is the natural response to the immune system, chronic inflammation can be the main cause of many illnesses.
Therefore, ginger restricts chronic inflammation and hence is the best food for immunity. In addition, studies have also shown that fresh ginger has antiviral functions on respiratory tract viruses, which means it helps in boosting the immune response against the HRSV.
Apart from having antiviral properties, it has antibacterial effects too. It can reduce sore throat, and prevent nausea also. Gingerol is the active component in ginger that fights the infection-causing agents and keeps the diseases at a bay.
How to Consume
- Use ginger in your regular cooked food.
- Add ginger to your cup of tea. Hot tea and ginger work amazingly on your overall health.
- Otherwise, you can take ginger shots or Kadha made of Ginger juice, Basil leaf juice, and honey. This is in fact an Ayurvedic way to cure simple cough, cold and sore throat.
If you are unable to make a Kadha, you can go for the readymade one available in the market, for instance, Tea Aroma Immunity Booster Tea or BIONATURALS Traditional KADHA.
2. Turmeric
The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin. It has multiple properties that make turmeric a proper immunity booster food. The curcumin in turmeric has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, it also acts as an antiseptic.
On one hand, it cleans the respiratory tract and therefore helps to combat infections. On the other hand, it enhances the immunity to fight with the disease-causing agents.
How to Consume
- In India, turmeric is readily available in every household. Use it in regularly cooked dishes for immunity.
- Turmeric in warm milk is an age-old remedy to various issues like pain. It can also boost immunity by combating cold and flu.
- Turmeric tea has similar benefits as turmeric milk and acts as an effective immunity booster food.
On a whole, the curcumin in turmeric fights activates T-cell productions, which are fighting cells in our immune system.
3. Green Tea
Tea, in all forms, is an active source of flavonoids, a form of antioxidants that helps the body to stay strong against external agents. However, green tea exceeds all of them with the presence of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), another antioxidant that strongly boosts immunity.
Green tea unlike others is not fermented. It is steamed and so, EGCG remains intact within it.
How to Consume
Drinking green tea twice a day is the most effective way to fight diseases and chronic problems in the body. Green tea packages are available in the market. For instance, Bamboo Forest Green Tea, Whole Leaf is pure and without any adulteration.
The best method to drink green tea is:
- Boil water with cinnamon bark, cardamom pods, and black pepper.
- Strain the water and dip a green tea bag.
- Allow to seep it so that you can get proper flavor and color.
- If you are not using tea bags, steep a small quantity of green tea in warm water for a minute or two.
- Add the steeped water with the previously boiled water.
- You can add a teaspoon of honey for taste.
Apart from this, if you want to boost immunity with readily available green tea, you can use the following one:
- Tetley Green Tea Immune with Added Vitamin C, Lemon and Honey
- Organic India Classic Tulsi Green Tea
- Dabur Vedic Suraksha Green Tea
4. Papaya
Papaya is an inherent source of Vitamin C. However, unlike citrus fruit, it is not sour. Furthermore, it is a wholesome food that also aids in the process of digestion. In addition, it keeps the heart healthy and helps to fight cancer. Loaded with vitamins like A, B, C, K and minerals like potassium, copper, magnesium, and calcium, it is indeed a good immunity booster food. Papaya is the best food for immunity both in raw and ripe forms.
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How to Consume
- Cut raw papaya into small pieces and boil. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper to it. This is a healthy snack and at the same time, very effective to boost immunity especially for a diabetic person.
- You can use raw papaya in daily vegetables.
- Ripe papaya is tasty to eat as it is. Otherwise, you can make a fruit salad with watermelon or muskmelons and have it.
5. Spinach
Every green vegetable is an immunity booster food. For instance, spinach contains the essential Vitamin C along with beta carotene and antioxidants. Each and every component in spinach is therefore very essential to boost the immune system of the body.
Light cooking of spinach also retains all the vitamins. Hence, we recommend you cook spinach lightly.
How to Consume
- You can have freshly blanched spinach in salads
- Palaak Paneer or other spinach-based cooked foods are other ways to consume spinach. They are yum and at the same time, very useful to boost immunity.
6. Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower seeds are a source of very essential vitamins and minerals. These vitamins and minerals boost the immune system and fight with the external agents. The main element in sunflower seed is selenium.
25 grams of sunflower seeds contain double the amount of selenium that our body needs. Studies show that selenium is a potential element to boost immunity. Moreover, it fights the infection and reduces inflammation.
In addition to selenium, it also contains zinc. Consequently, zinc in the seeds helps in developing and maintaining immune cells; thus, providing immunity to our body.
How to Consume
Sunflower seeds are themselves a healthy snack. Super Healthy Roasted Sunflower Seeds are very crunchy and with a mild nutty flavor. Alongside, you can have it in different recipes also. You can have them as
- Sunflower seed butter on bread
- Toppings on Salads
- Sunflower flour for cakes or muffins
However, the best way to have them is alone as a snack. It is easy to eat and of more help also.
7. Citrus Fruits
When we talk about citrus fruits the first one in our mind is oranges. Vitamin C is the major constituent of these juicy fruits. Hence, they work amazingly on the body by reducing cell damage to a large extent.
Though it is not confirmed, researches have shown that Vitamin C may have the ability to fight against cold and flu. However, Vitamin CÂ increases the production of the defensive cells of our body, that is the white blood cells.Â
Therefore, taking oranges and other citrus fruits as immunity booster food is very important in today’s time. Main citrus fruits are
- Oranges
- Tangerines
- Lemons
- Grapefruits
- Limes
- Clementines
How to Consume
- Firstly, try to consume them as they are. Sometimes they may be a bit tangy, still, it is the healthiest way to have them. The roughage in the fruits like grapes and oranges helps the digestive system as well.
- You can make juice out of your favorite citrus fruit and drink it.
- Fruit salads are another way to have these citrus fruits.
8. Red Bell Peppers
If you are looking to avoid sugary fruits containing vitamin C, nothing can be better than Red Bell Peppers. They are the richest source of Vitamin C and a portion of versatile food that goes with almost everything.
By far, we understood that Vitamin C is very essential for immunity and red bell peppers are indeed the best food for immunity. Besides, the beta-carotene in red bell peppers converts to Vitamin A, which is very required for healthy eyes and skin.
How to Consume
- Red bell peppers can be eaten raw in salads.
- You can also roast those using stuffing like quinoa inside them. It is healthy as well as yummy.
- One delicious way to have red bell pepper is using it in vegetable stir fry. With lots of veggies like carrots, sweet potato, beans, onion, cauliflower, broccoli, you can use red bell peppers to enhance the taste and effectiveness.
- Bell peppers are an integral part of a pizza. Therefore, along with green ones add a handful of red ones too.
- If you consume egg, bell peppers go very well in an omelet.
9. Garlic
The distinct smell of garlic is due to the presence of Alliin. Notice that we get the smell of garlic only after it is crushed. The reason is the Alliin converts into Allicin. This Allicin contains sulfur, which in turn, gives the pungent smell to garlic. However, the matter of fact here is Allicin, in its sulfur form boosts the immunity of the body. In other words, this actually makes garlic an immunity booster food.
Therefore, consume garlic every day to protect yourself from colds or flu. Allicin has the potential to prevent the flu-causing viruses to enter and affect our health.
How to Consume
- Too much cooking destroys or reduces the percentage of Allicin in garlic. Therefore, try to take more garlic cloves in a cooked meal.
- The best way to get positive results is by eating a single clove of raw garlic followed by warm water. If you feel uneasy, discontinue immediately. However, this works very well.
- Another way to take lightly cooked garlic. Take a few cloves of garlic and shallow fry them in ghee. Eat the ghee and garlic with hot rice.
10. Almonds
In the present situation, we are more focused on the best food for immunity. In addition, we are looking for Vitamin C-rich immunity booster food. However, Vitamin E, a fat-soluble vitamin also acts as a great immunity booster. Almonds are loaded with this powerful antioxidant and therefore, having a handful of almonds will positively give you a great immune system.
How to Consume
You can either take them raw or soaked in water. Soaked almonds have more benefits. However, do not remove the skin, since that is the source of immunity.
FAQs
What foods destroy immunity?
Sugar-loaded foods, highly salted packaged food, processed meat, highly refined carbs, fast foods, etc., are enemies of the immune system. Avoid them and switch to immunity booster food.
Is Apple good for the immune system?
Apples are rich in phytochemical antioxidants which help in boosting immunity. Therefore, yes, Apple is the best food for immunity for sure.
What is the most powerful immune booster?
The most powerful immunity booster is Vitamin C. Hence, it is recommended to take immunity booster food that contains a high amount of Vitamin C.
The End Note
Apart from this top 10 best food for immunity, there are many others on the list. However, it is not possible to take all immunity booster food. In such cases, you can take Chyawanprash which contains all active ingredients for immunity. SIDDHAYU Chyawan Yogue is the perfect one for everyone. It contains Zinc, Vitamin C and is without sugar. Therefore, even with diabetes, you can consume this immunity booster food.
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