Do you easily catch a cold, the flu or other small viruses that will diminish you for a few days or even stick you in bed? Then you probably have a weak immune system, or at least one that needs to be improved. The good news is that you can strengthen it through nutrition. In fact, 70% of our immunity is in our gut. Through targeted nutrition, you can directly influence your microbiota and your immune defenses in your gut. This can be done by giving priority to some vitamins and minerals, and in particular:
- Prebiotics / probiotics: these good bacteria feed our intestinal flora and thus make it more resistant. To fill up on prebiotics, remember to eat enough vegetables (half your plate consistently) and fruit for fibre. In addition, fermented vegetables such as pickles or lactic drinks like kombucha are particularly rich in probiotics.
- Vitamin C: antiviral vitamin par excellence that strengthens our immune system. Peppers, cabbage and citrus fruits are particularly rich in vitamin C. However, natural vitamin C is also extremely fragile, so it is advisable to eat these foods raw to take advantage of their benefits.
- Vitamin D: a vitamin that tightens the gut junctions and strengthens the intestinal barrier to positively influence our immunity. For vitamin D, sun exposure 10 minutes per day is highly recommended. You will also find vitamin D in fatty fish such as salmon, tuna or sardines as well as mushrooms.
- Zinc: a mineral that controls inflammation in our body and protects us from infections. Foods rich in zinc are oysters, dark chocolate and beef meet.
In addition to a healthy diet, rich in micronutrients as described above, it is obviously necessary to reduce stress as much as possible so as not to acidify your body and thus weaken your intestine. It is also important to have a healthy lifestyle. Think of practicing enough sport, and why not in the open air during the lunch break, hence allowing you to fill up on vitamin D as well.