Experts say you should aim to strengthen your immune system, no matter the season, and diet is a key way to do this.
Gut health can contribute to the state of your immune system, Kim ShapiraDr MC Sharma, dietitian and nutrition therapist, tells CNBC Make It.
Shapira recommends these “quick steps to heal your gut” and boost your immunity:
- Eat omega-3-rich foods like flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, and fatty fish
- Include a variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet
- Take a good quality probiotic
- Add fermented foods to your diet
- Eat foods rich in antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, D, E and K (including mushrooms, seeds, asparagus, berries or oranges)
- aim to eat whole grains that are high in fibre
But Shapira says it’s not just what you eat, it’s also how you eat it. Here are two tips she gives to help you get the most nutrients from your food.
1. Smell your food first
“One thing I strongly recommend is to smell your food before you eat it,” says Shapira.
Smelling food triggers salivation in your mouth, which is a signal to your body that it’s time to digest the food, he said.
“If you’re eating and you’re not getting saliva, you’re missing out on valuable digestive enzymes, and you’re not getting all the nutrition from the food you’re eating,” Shapira says.
He said this is true even if you’re eating foods with high nutritional value.
2. Chew your food longer than necessary
“The next thing I strongly recommend is to chew your food for longer than you think you should,” says Shapira.
“Our teeth are our first form of mechanical digestion. It’s how we break down food and the fiber it contains so we can extract the nutrition from the inside.”
She says that when you swallow your food, it should basically be in a liquid state.
“When you don’t chew your food enough, or avoid chewing, you’re actually missing out on all the nutrients in your food,” says Shapira.
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Disclaimer : The content in this article is for educational and informational purposes only.
