10 Recipes To Add To Your Diet To Make Your Immune System Stronger Than Ever

For the not-so-into-health-and-fitness ones of us, strengthening the immune system had never been a priority. However, the coronavirus outbreak in 2020 led every single one of us to stuff ourselves with anything and everything that is said to support immune health. From scrolling through countless webpages to emptying several grocery shelves to regularly taking supplements, we did it all.

But, for how long were you able to stick to this haywire, immune-boosting diet? Most probably not longer than a month or two. And that’s where you go wrong. A good immune system can’t be built in such a short time. Nor can it be made to reach an optimal level and remain at it even when efforts supporting it are retracted. We have to be consistent about it all round the year.

To help you with that, we have in our list below 10 recipes that are excellent for your immune system boost.

While following healthy habits such as cutting back on too much salt and sugar and eating more veggies and fruits more or less does the job, the inclusion of particularly these recipes is crucial to take it up a notch.

Flavorful broccoli and mushroom noodles

Your Friday movie night is now set. Just make sure you have some broccoli and mushrooms in your refrigerator. We’d like to share with you a little less known fact here. On exposure to ultraviolet light, mushrooms become rich in vitamin D. This particular vitamin is crucial for proper immune functioning. Any deficiency is a road to an unresponsive body’s natural defense mechanism.

Amongst the several varieties available, go for shiitake mushrooms if you can find them anywhere. The reason we are ranking it higher than others is that it increases the levels of Secretory Immunoglobulins in the body. This is an antibody that helps to protect our membranes such as those of the respiratory system, the lining of the gut, etc.

Mussels with baby tomatoes

Not a huge fan of mussels? Cook them with fresh tomatoes, basil leaves, and other herbs and spices and you’ll be left spellbound by their delectable taste.

Not only that, but the zinc present in them is essential for the growth of our immune cells. As opposed to many other nutrients, our body doesn’t store zinc. Therefore, it is important that we make sure we consume it through our diet in ample quality. Other chief sources are meat, nuts, pulses, oysters, and shrimps.

Sautéed cabbage with yellow mustard seeds

If you are one of those people who dislike cabbage, then you seriously don’t cook it the right way. It’s the crunchiest and the juiciest vegetable. The best part about it is that it can be added to a lot of dishes to enhance their flavor and nutritive value.

When you chop or shred cabbage or any other brassica vegetable, a compound known as sulforaphane is activated. This compound is helpful to fight inflammation in the body. Moreover, it’s also been proven to give significant positive results when used in cases of auto-immune complications such as rheumatoid arthritis.