immune system

This is a CNM excerpt from our Winter 2017 issue. Read the rest of the article by subscribing soon so we can post you a copy or picking up a magazine from one of our lovely stockists all over Ireland. Tell them we said hello!

By Nutritionist Jacqueline Ryan

Our immune systems can be supported in many ways throughout the cold winter months, such as with supplementation, exercise, ensuring adequate sleep, proper hydration, managing our stress levels and avoiding alcohol and smoking. The food we feed our bodies daily is the most important way to keep the immune system functioning to its optimum.

Choosing the right foods isn’t that difficult. Basically, stick to the essentials by avoiding all processed and sugarladen foods. Instead, eat a wide range of vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, nuts, seeds, fish and meat. Introduce fermented foods such as kefir, kombucha or sauerkraut which maintain a healthy gut, to ensure your immune system runs well. Increase immune boosting foods and herbs such as garlic, mushrooms (shiitake/ maitake/ reishi), vitamin C and zinc-rich foods, ginger, turmeric, elderberry and echinacea.

As the cold, dark days of winter appear, our cravings often turn to comfort foods – so a hearty stew may be
the ultimate meal to warm you inside and out. Stews are an ideal winter dinner as they are a comforting, soothing meal, which is easy to digest and packed full of nutrition to help support the immune system. Beef stew is an excellent source of protein, iron, fibre, antioxidants, B vitamins, zinc, selenium, phosphorus, vitamins A and K. One of the main ways to really boost the immune properties of your stew is by making it with a homemade bone both.

This is a CNM excerpt from our Winter 2017 issue. Read the rest of the article by subscribing soon so we can post you a copy or picking up a magazine from one of our lovely stockists all over Ireland. Tell them we said hello!