Real Wellness Care Starts with a Healthy Immune System

In the holistic healthcare, functional nutrition and wellness field at Natural Health Improvement Center of South Jersey and Natural Health Improvement Center of Des Moines, we are constantly looking for the best alternative health information to share with our community. At our patient's Nutrition Response Testing visits, we have been getting many questions on what to eat and what whole food supplements to take for a healthy immune system. Everyone wants to know how to strengthen their innate immunity and enhance their bodies ability to heal themselves.

In this edition, we are covering four main nutrients (in no particular order) crucial to the immune system and the best food sources to get them from.

First up...Calcium.

Calcium is crucial to the immune system. It mobilizes white blood cells to destroy viruses! We also love calcium for fevers, thyroid regulation, leg cramps, and teething. Who knew!

The myth is that we were taught that in order to get calcium we need to drink milk. We don’t. Pasteurized milk is a dead food devoid of enzymes. Vitamins including A, C, B6, and B12 are diminished to a point where milk is fortified to add nutrients back in but in a synthetic state. Then the heat changes the fragile milk proteins into non-health promoting amino acid configuration, and pasteurization also destroys all the beneficial bacteria which ends up promoting pathogens. Raw is better if you can get it but there are many non-dairy alternatives as well if you are avoiding dairy.

Here are some mostly non-dairy foods that promote healthy calcium intake.

✳️Nuts and Seeds including almonds, chia and sesame seeds.

✳️Whey Protein if from the right source is a good source of calcium. Most of the whey out there is heavily processed and denatured which makes it very unhealthy. We recommend Standard Process SP Complete or Whey Pro Complete for a safe and healthy source.

Broccoli, especially broccoli sprouts & Kale along with other Cruciferous veggies and dark leafy greens pack a powerful calcium punch.

Sardines and Canned Salmon due to the small bones are excellent and great if you don’t have access to fresh or are in survival stocking your pantry...or bunker.

✳️Beans and Lentils properly prepared, meaning soaked and sprouted are an excellent source of both calcium and protein are another survival food.

✳️Amaranth makes a lovely hot cereal in place of oatmeal and can also be used to make bread.

✳️Chinese Cabbage or Bok Choy is great in stir-fry for added nutrition and has a really good flavor along with onions, garlic, and coconut aminos.

Cheese is the only dairy item on the list. Opt for hard cheeses like Parmesan or raw cheeses.

✳️Okra may not be your favorite especially if slimy isn’t your thing, but it’s a good source of calcium as well as excellent for digestion. It’s the key ingredient in Standard Process Okra Pepsin.

✳️Rhubarb is popular in pies. It along with spinach is high in oxalic acid do it’s better cooked and not overeaten if kidney disease is present.

✳️Spinach is super popular to get extra calcium and other essential nutrients in smoothies, and sautéed, creamed, in quiche, etc.

✳️Fig is on of only a few fruits that contain a decent amount of calcium. A very sexy and elegant fruit revered for thousands of years.

Oranges are just amazing all around for how much nutrition they offer. We love them for vitamin C and calcium to help the immune system.

Shrimp is a great source of iodine along with calcium to help move nutrients through the body and feed organs.

Eggs are another superfood that contain every nutrient we’ve talked about so far to help the immune system. Truly incredible! Quality and source matters.

✳️We also have whole food calcium supplements available at our office that we love and are using for immune system support. Ask about them during your next Telehealth or in-office visit!

Next up...Vitamin D.

Did you know that Vitamin D tells calcium where to go and activates your killer T-cells. Killer T-cells are what activate the immune system against pathogenic invaders including viruses. T-cells are made in the bone marrow and mature in the thymus gland (located in the middle of the chest).

Why is this important? The Thymus gland is where we are finding the corona virus gets stuck and why it causes such a huge problem in some people. Adequate vitamin D can assist the body in not letting corona stick around.

BOTH calcium and vitamin D are essential to keeping your immune system healthy.

There is a huge difference between vitamin D rich foods and vitamin D enriched foods. Foods like milk and breakfast cereals are example of foods that have been enriched or fortified with synthetic vitamin D along with other vitamins and minerals that have been added in.

Here is a list of vitamin D rich foods to rotate into your diet every week.

Salmon, Sardines, Herring, Tuna & other oily fish.

Eggs, especially egg yolks from pasture fed chickens.

❇️Collard Greens are the vegetable with one of the highest levels of naturally occurring vitamin D.

❇️Cod Liver Oil contains both vitamin A and vitamin D which are important to the immune system.

❇️Liver is a super food prized by traditional diets throughout history. It’s not eaten as much in the U.S. now but it sure does pack a vitamin-rich wallop!

❇️ Butter? Yes, please! Pasture-fed cows produce vitamin D rich butter that is super healthy. And don’t worry, real studies show that it won’t raise your cholesterol or give you heart disease, so slather away!

Mushrooms are one of my personal favorite foods and so incredibly packed with nutrients. Best eaten cooked due to some anti-nutrient activity with raw, eating a variety of mushrooms in your diet boosts your dose of vit. D.

Cheese, especially Swiss has good levels of vitamin D. I don’t recommend overdoing dairy...just make sure it comes from clean sources if you do choose to eat it.

If you’re looking for a supplement, our favorite is Cataplex D from Standard Process. Whole food vitamin D!

Stock up on vitamin D rich foods to keep your immune system healthy and strong. Get out in the sun! ☀️ Raise your shield!

Number three is vitamin C.

We have been hearing a lot about vitamin C lately in regards to the coronavirus.

Why is vitamin C so important?

Vitamin C levels drop in patients with acute respiratory infections. Levels then drop even more dramatically when infection sets in and a patient experiences sepsis. Boosting vitamin C levels can help both respiratory health and the reduction of the risk of infection in the body.

In vitamin C studies with patients with viruses, 85% of those who were given high-dose vitamin C reported a decrease in symptoms.

Ascorbic acid is the type of vitamin C that most people take. This is the preservative part of vitamin C, the outer shell, and only a quarter of what the whole complex contains. It should only be taken in emergencies or for acute care as it simply changes the pH of the body and kills the bugs due to acidic effect. To truly nourish the cells, whole complex vitamin C is needed.

Because vitamin C is water-soluble, it is not stored generally in the body, BUT it IS preferentially stored and utilized in some organs such as brain, adrenal gland and lungs. This is why it’s important to eat vitamin C rich foods every single day so that you have a steady dose of it at all times.

Here is a handy list of 12 foods that you can eat for vitamin C!

Oranges are easy to find and fun to eat! My favorites are blood oranges and tangelos.

Rose hips are what is left on a rose bush after the petals fall away. They are tangy-sweet and can be made into jams, teas, or syrups either on their own or as a vitamin C boost to elderberry syrup. Just don’t try to eat a dried rose hip. Blech! Tastes like dirt until cooked!

Pine needles, especially white pine are 5 times richer in vitamin C than oranges. Pour hot water over pine needles and make a delicious and nourishing tea.

All peppers are rich in vitamin C. Eat them raw, in salsa, or roasted.

Acerola cherries are an incredible source of vitamin C and is one of the ingredients in my favorite whole food vitamin C supplement, Cataplex C from Standard Process. It’s also in Standard Process Epimune along with mushrooms!

Kiwi contains antioxidants and 72 grams of vitamin C. It has also been proven in studies to increase immune system function. Plus, they are gorgeous in smoothie bowls!

Strawberries don’t need any explanation do they? They are just amazing! Always eat organic strawberries.

❇️ Kale is a superfood that also happens to be rich in vitamin C. I love a good kale salad with the kale rubbed and marinated in coconut aminos. So good!

Lemons are good for pretty much everything and anything! Amazing for the immune system and are full of vitamin C and antioxidants. Plus, they taste like summer! ☀️ And you can clean with them!

A surprising vitamin C rich food on our list would be sweet potatoes. They are extremely nourishing to the immune system and contain a variety of vitamins and minerals. Plus they are a nutrient dense carb great for those eating a more paleo diet.

Cruciferous vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts are an amazing source of vitamin C and should be eaten at least a few times a week. They also assist the body’s detox processes and keep

the liver clean.

Tomatoes contain both vitamin A and vitamin C which are keys to a healthy immune system.

Bonus vitamin C foods: Buckwheat leaf, mushrooms, alfalfa, thyme, parsley, and camu camu berry.

Do yourself a huge favor and choose vitamin C rich foods every single day! Raise your shield!

Last but certainly not least...Zinc.

Zinc plays a huge roll in inhibiting the replication of viruses. It is especially important in stopping the Corona virus because Corona, specifically COVID-19 is an RNA virus. Why is this significant? Because Zinc blocks something called RNA polymerase activity so the virus can’t replicate in your cells.

This is good! This means you don’t get sick!

But, guest what? There is a problem. Most of us are zinc deficient! This is not good. This means you are more likely to get sick.

Help strengthen your immune defenses by incorporating these zinc-rich foods in your diet.

Meat (& liver if you dare)

✅ Oysters and other shellfish

✅Chickpeas and other beans

✅Hempseeds and other seeds

✅Cashews and other nuts (even though cashews are technically a legume.

Eggs

These aren’t the only foods rich in zinc, so do some research and find more!

We also incorporate whole food supplements including Zinc Liver Chelate, Chezyn, Immuplex, and Trace Minerals B12 rich in zinc to help keep our systems working well with the right amounts of zinc and other balanced minerals.

Foods are such and important part and key to a healthy immune system. Be Well and Thrive with the foods from these lists and also from regular Nutrition Response Testing wellness checks!

In Health,

Sarah Outlaw, MH, MSACN - Clinical Herbalist, Functional Nutritionist