5 food sources to boost your immune system

5 food sources to boost your immune system

Eat a diet high in fresh local fruit, vegetables, seafood, dairy, meat and nuts and you’re on the path to great health every day.

Did you know that fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood, nuts and dairy have a swag of immune boosting properties and that if you eat fresh local produce you won’t need to add expensive supplements to your diet?

There are many fad diets around, offering better health and weight loss, but the simple way to boost your immune system and keep healthy eat is to eat real FOOD. Don’t put processed foods in your body.

Our West Australian farmers are amongst the best in the world and Busselton is in a central location of many varieties of fresh produce. Our fruit and veg mostly comes from the farm to the shop direct – and then to you, with low food miles, reduced refrigeration time and therefore increased health qualities, which of course also means better taste!

Vitamins C and E, Carotenoids, Zinc and Omega 3 Fatty Acids are well researched immune boosters. We’ve listed foods high in these elements here;

High Sources of vitamin C:

Red, yellow, orange and green capsicum

Strawberries

Kiwi fruit

Broccoli/broccolini

Mangoes

All citrus fruit

High Sources of Sources of Vitamin E:

Almonds, almond oil and almond butter

Sunflower seeds, oil and butter

Hazelnuts, oil and hazelnut butter

Peanuts and peanut butter

High Zinc content foods

Unprocessed Red meat – WA beef, pork, lamb.

Chickpeas, Butterbeans, Borlotti beans, broad beans, lentils – all legumes

Seeds and nuts – Vasse Valley hemp seeds, Cashew nuts

Shellfish – oysters, crab, mussels, prawns

Dairy foods – milk, cheese, yoghurt

Eggs

High in Carotenoids – are converted into Vitamin A by your body. Better absorbed when cooked or eaten with fat or oil.

Carrots – steam and serve with butter and honey, or dip into hummus

Kale – Make Kale chips, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with your favourite seasoning, bake slowly for 15 mins.

Spinach – wilt and serve with a dob of butter or your favourite Omega 3 oil, see below.

Sweet Potato – mash with butter or your favourite Omega 3 oil, see below.

Apricots – cook gently with a touch of water and serve on your breakfast porridge

Pawpaw – eat with your fave nutty muesli (the oil in the nuts will convert it to Vitamin A)

Mango –  eat in smoothies or on your muesli, use full fat WA milk and yoghurt to get the best immune boosting health benefits.

High in Omega 3 fatty acids

Oily fish – delicious Tasmanian salmon, you don’t need a huge serve as it’s very filling, West Australian sardines and fabulous Holy

Smoke smoked trout

Walnuts – from Manjimup

Chia seeds – from Kununurra

Flaxseed – from the wheatbelt (also called linseed)