Give Your Body A Boost During This Pandemic
With the current health focus being primarily (and understandably) on the outbreak of COVID-19, or Coronavirus, our general health and wellbeing can get a bit lost along the way. Whilst doing things like maintaining social distance, washing your hands, and not touching your face have proven effective in keeping us safe and slowing down the spread of coronavirus, we still have other bacteria, diseases and viruses to contend with. Which is why it is super important to keep our body and immune system healthy.
So how do we do that? Certain vitamins and minerals have proven effective in giving our bodies and immune systems a much needed boost.
Whilst no evidence to date has proven that vitamins can help prevent the likes of Coronavirus, a healthy body and immune system is something we need to maintain at all times.
Here are some vitamins that can help give our bodies and our immune systems a boost during this pandemic whilst staying safe!
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is almost like the celebrity of vitamins, we all know it, we all know we need it, but where (besides oranges) does it come from? And why is it so good for us? To get technical “Vitamin C contributes to immune defense by supporting various cellular functions of both the innate and adaptive immune system” (NCBI). That is to say it’s really good for our immune system helping to create a barrier to stop pathogens getting in. You can take supplements for vitamin D, or you can get it from fruit and veg like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kiwi, orange juice, peppers, sweet potato, strawberries, and tomatoes.
Vitamin D
Nicknamed the ‘sunshine vitamin’, what exactly does this popular vitamin do? Vitamin D is great for bone health, it is produced in our skin in response to sunlight (always remember to wear SPF). With us spending a majority of our time inside nowadays we might be lacking our hit of Vitamin D. Luckily for us, we can get Vitamin D from our food! Food items that contain Vitamin D are:
Foods fortified with vitamin D, like some dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, and cereals.
Fatty fish, like tuna, mackerel, and salmon
Soybeans
White beans
Spinach
Kale
Vitamin E
A lesser known vitamin, Vitamin E is great for protecting cell membranes, as well as being a good antioxidant! You can find vitamins in seeds and nuts. A Harvard study says “Vitamin E has the ability to protect cells from free radical damage as well as stop the production of free radical cells entirely.”
Vitamin A
Vitamin A has a host of benefits. Vitamin A helps in the production of our white blood cells which help clear our bloodstream of pathogens. It is great at producing “the mucous barriers in your eyes, lungs, gut and genitals” (healthline.com) these barriers are used by our bodies to trap bacteria and infectious agents. You can find Vitamin A in:
Cod liver oil.
Eggs.
Fortified breakfast cereals.
Fortified skim milk.
Orange and yellow vegetables and fruits.
Whilst Vitamins are good for giving us a boost, it’s super important to not get over zealous and overdo it on your vitamin intake. You can calculate your RDA (recommended daily amount) here.
And remember, to keep control of your and your family’s health info, sign up for your free Jinga Life account if you haven’t already!