A weaker immune system means your body is lacking the ability to resist illness and ailment. This isn’t good news! With a compromised immunity, you are at risk of being frequently exposed to diseases. Not only that, but the diseases also take longer to diminish completely. Vitamins and all the necessary minerals in food are responsible for a strong immune support system. If your body lacks any of the vitamins, proteins, and minerals, the chance of a compromised immunity gets higher.
Therefore to maintain your immune system, you need to ensure you have a healthy and balanced diet. Along with diet, you need to get good sleep and exercise for 30 mins 3-5 days a week! Let’s find out which immune support vitamins do what to our body.
1. Vitamin A
Vitamin A (Retinol or Retinoic acid) is a nutrient that helps in vision, cell division, body growth, and immunity. Vitamin A also has antioxidant properties that fight free radicals and delay cell damage. Vitamin A comes in two forms: Preformed or Carotenoid. Preformed vitamin A is found in an animal such as meat, fish, eggs, etc. And carotenoids can be found on vegan food such as carrots, pumpkins, green leafy vegetables, sweet potatoes, etc.
2. Vitamin B
Vitamin B9 (Folate or Folic Acid) is one of the best immune support vitamins. It is often added to food because of its health benefits. Pregnant or nursing mothers, patients suffering from anemia, etc., benefit hugely from folic acid. The difference between folate and folic acid is that folate is the natural form and folic acid is the synthetic form of Vitamin B9. To get the natural nutrient to start eating more beans and lentils regularly. You can also eat green fruits like avocado and green leafy vegetables.
3. Vitamin C
Vitamin C or Ascorbic acid prevents infections, delays cell damage. It is responsible for the development and repair of all body tissues. Every citric fruit (sour tasted fruit) contains some amount of Vitamin C. However, the good sources of Vit-C are Lemon, Orange, Spinach, Strawberries, Bell peppers, etc.
4. Vitamin D
Vitamin D (Ergocalciferol) is also known as the sunshine vitamin. This is because we all know that when the sun’s rays hit our skin, we get Vitamin D. When the sun’s rays contact our skin, the UVB rays interact with a protein called 7- DHC in the skin, converting it into Vitamin D. Vitamin D3 supports and improves the immune system. But that doesn’t mean you need to be under the sun to get Vitamin D. Eating Salmon, Tuna, Sardines, Milk, Orange juice, etc., can help you achieve the required nutrition.
5. Vitamin E
Vitamin E (Tocopherol or Alpha-Tocopherol) is a powerful antioxidant that helps the body fight off illness and infection. Vitamin E is responsible for creating biochemical reactions inside a body that benefits the state of your immune system. Vitamin E is not only good for the body but for hair and skin as it helps in cell regeneration. The most valuable source of Vitamin E in nuts, especially almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.
Conclusion
Last thing to say to you, if you are restricting calorie consumption and the meal intake won’t compensate for the number of vitamins and minerals your body needs, you can take supplements as well. So, if you want the best immune support vitamins, check out our page.
