Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum here. Doing everything we can to have an
Speaker 1: immune system that runs like a top should be a
Speaker 1: priority all the time, but of course it's on our
Speaker 1: minds more during cold and flu season and when we're
Speaker 1: worried about a deadly pandemic. You may have heard that
Speaker 1: certain foods are good for bolstering your immune system, but
Speaker 1: is that true? First off, there's no way to boost
Speaker 1: your immune system. We spoke with Kristen Kirkpatrick, a registered
Speaker 1: dietitian with Cleveland Clinic. She said, it's better to say
Speaker 1: enhancing immunity. And here's why. The human immune system has
Speaker 1: two facets, innate and acquired or adaptive. The innate immune
Speaker 1: system is your first line of defense that starts working
Speaker 1: the moment you're born, based on your mother's lifestyle when
Speaker 1: you were in the womb. These are cells that go
Speaker 1: to work immediately fighting off in actions. But if the
Speaker 1: innate system can't do the job, after four to seven days,
Speaker 1: adaptive white blood cells and proteins acquired antibodies targeted to
Speaker 1: a specific pathogen will be mobilized to fight the infection.
Speaker 1: It's true that these two systems do better under certain conditions,
Speaker 1: but our bodies aren't like a video game. You can't
Speaker 1: just eat or drink something to get a health bonus. Still,
Speaker 1: eating the right foods can maintain or improve your bodies
Speaker 1: immune function. Fresh or minimally processed foods are best, and
Speaker 1: excess sugar should be avoided because it can slow down
Speaker 1: immune function. Kirkpatrick said a healthy diet, along with things
Speaker 1: like sleep and stress management, all those things help contribute
Speaker 1: to that robust immune system. Good food diversity and colorful
Speaker 1: plants are going to be a key factor to a
Speaker 1: healthy gut. But don't kill yourself if you have a cookie.
Speaker 1: We also spoke with Alison Brown, a nutritional researcher and
Speaker 1: chair of the National Organization of Blocks in Dietetics and Nutrition.
Speaker 1: She explained that you could compare the body and immune
Speaker 1: system to a luxury imported car. Unfortunately, some of us
Speaker 1: treat our automobiles better than our bodies. She said, if
Speaker 1: your car is a luxury car, you can't just put
Speaker 1: regular gas in a luxury car. You want to put
Speaker 1: premium fuel in it. So the same goes for your body.
Speaker 1: Here's a few things you need to fuel it right.
Speaker 1: First up evidence shows that vitamin A enhances immune response
Speaker 1: in ways that researchers are still unpacking, though we do
Speaker 1: know that it supports the innate immune system, including what's
Speaker 1: called natural killer cells. Plus, vitamin A is needed to
Speaker 1: form the epithelial cells and mucous layer that act as
Speaker 1: defensive barriers in the lungs and intestines. The best sources
Speaker 1: for vitamin A tend to be orange or golden colored
Speaker 1: foods like sweet potatoes, carrots, egg yolks, and cantaloupe, though
Speaker 1: other plant and animal sources includes finach, broccoli, and liver.
Speaker 1: Then there's full late, also known as B nine, which
Speaker 1: helps send signals to the natural killer cells. It also
Speaker 1: helps with forming and repairing DNA. To incorporate more into
Speaker 1: your diet, look two lentils and other lagoons, leafy greens
Speaker 1: like brussels sprouts, beats, and the aforementioned deliver. Then, of course,
Speaker 1: there's the famous vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant that does
Speaker 1: many beneficial things for the body. Research paper that explored
Speaker 1: vitamin c's impact on immunity says that it supports protective
Speaker 1: epithelial cells and killer cells work. It's also crucial for
Speaker 1: helping immune cells called macrophages to clean up infected areas.
Speaker 1: The best sources include things like citrus, kiwi fruits, and spinach.
Speaker 1: Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, is also critical to optimal
Speaker 1: immune function in the body. It acts as a hormone
Speaker 1: that signals actions and cells and helps fight offruses and infections.
Speaker 1: Low vitamin D levels are associated with higher rates of sepsis,
Speaker 1: m R s A and hepatitis C, but when people
Speaker 1: have at least thirty nanogram's permilla leader of vitamin D
Speaker 1: in their bloodstream can help prevent or blunt the severity
Speaker 1: of pneumonia and respiratory infections. Researchers at the Medical University
Speaker 1: of South Carolina currently are studying weather supplementing with vitamin
Speaker 1: D can lessen the severity of COVID nineteen infections. They're
Speaker 1: hoping that D three supplementation in particular, could better the
Speaker 1: survival odds for Black Americans and the elderly in care homes,
Speaker 1: both being groups of people who run a higher risk
Speaker 1: of vitamin D deficiency and both having been especially vulnerable
Speaker 1: to COVID nineteen. Salmon, other fatty fish, and egg yokes
Speaker 1: offers small amounts of vitamin D and sun exposure is
Speaker 1: an easy way to synthesize of vitamin D unless you
Speaker 1: have darker skin, in which case D three supplements are key.
Speaker 1: Nutritional Epidemiologist Walter Willet colleagues at Harvard University's th H.
Speaker 1: Chan School of Public Health recommend taking a supplement of
Speaker 1: one thousand or two thousand international units per day if
Speaker 1: you believe your levels might be low, for instance, if
Speaker 1: you have darker skin or get limited sun exposure. Then
Speaker 1: there's vitamin E, which is a nutrient that can help
Speaker 1: protect cells from damage and support the creation and action
Speaker 1: of T cells, which are a type of white blood
Speaker 1: cell that's important to the immune system. Good sources include almonds,
Speaker 1: sunflower seeds and most other seeds for that matter, avocados, spinach, mangoes,
Speaker 1: butternut squash, and cooking oils like staff flour and olive oil.
Speaker 1: And finally, there's selenium, a trace mineral that's necessary for
Speaker 1: certain proteins to function. Those seleno proteins help kick off
Speaker 1: the immune response when germs invade, but it also makes
Speaker 1: sure the response isn't too vigorous, which can cause inflammation
Speaker 1: and cell damage. Brazil nuts, fish, chicken, and ham all
Speaker 1: contain it. Today's episode was written by Maria C. Hunt
Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and
Speaker 1: lots of other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com.
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