5 Foods To Keep on Hand in Case You Get Sick
										Keeping these food items in stock is an excellent way to maintain a happy, healthy immune system.

5 Foods To Keep on Hand in Case You Get Sick Keeping these food items in stock is an excellent way to maintain a happy, healthy immune system.

Flu season is upon us, but that isn’t even the worst thing you have to fear. Experts have also been warning people about the tridemic this year, which is the result of an increase in RSV cases, flu cases, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While these can’t be 100% avoided, there are ways to prepare for a potential infection this winter. First of all, it’s important to prepare our bodies by focusing on a healthy immune system.

To prepare your immune system, the CDC recommends things like maintaining a balanced diet, exercising, taking vitamins, lowering your alcohol consumption, and getting a good night’s sleep every night. These steps can help us have healthier immunity, but there’s always the chance you’ll still catch a cold or flu. When this happens, it’s important to have your pantry and refrigerator stocked with helpful immune-boosting foods.

To find out more about which foods would be helpful to support a healthy immune system strong enough to weather the cold and flu season, we asked dietitians about the food they like to have on hand for when they get sick.

“Antioxidants like flavonoids, anthocyanins, and carotenoids help fight the free radicals (aka the bad guys) that can potentially cause damage to your cells and compromise your immune systems,” says Amy Goodson, MS, RD, CSSD, LD, who is a member of our Expert Medical Board and the author of The Sports Nutrition Playbook. “And thankfully, these nutrients are found in all of your colorful produce.”

So, if you come down with a cold or flu bug, what exactly should you have stocked up as far as produce to get these antioxidants into your diet as fast as possible?

“Flavonoids are found in foods like berries, kale, cabbage, and even dark chocolate, anthocyanins are found in berries, grapes, pomegranates, and medjool dates, and carotenoids are found in orange, yellow and red produce like summer squash, pumpkin, mango, and apricots,” Goodson says.

“Vitamin C is another powerful antioxidant that can help keep your immune system strong against disease and illness,” says Goodson.

In fact, this vitamin can help your white blood cells grow and produce, which is the kind your body needs to help fight off infection. Furthermore, vitamin C can help fight off free radicals, similar to the other antioxidants mentioned above. You can keep a vitamin C supplement on hand for when you’re in a bind, of course. However, you can also get your day’s worth of vitamin C from different foods, too.

“While you might only think of oranges and orange juice, you can also get vitamin C from tomatoes and tomato juice, red bell peppers, other citrus fruits like strawberries, and green vegetables like spinach and green beans,” explains Goodson.

RELATED: 6 Supplements That Really Do Boost Immunity

If you’re a meat eater, you may benefit from keeping some lean beef on hand for when you need a nutrient boost after getting sick.

“Zinc is a mineral that helps maintain a strong immune system, and beef is considered an excellent source of zinc, providing almost half of what you need in a day,” says Goodson.

If you’re a vegetarian or simply prefer plant-based proteins over red meat, according to Goodson, you can also get a zinc boost from legumes, nuts, seeds, dairy foods, and even dark chocolate.

According to Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, FAND, an award-winning nutrition expert and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Family Immunity Cookbook, having some Greek yogurt in your fridge can help with giving your body crucial nutrients in a bind.

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