A quick guide for working folks to get an immunity boost

Note: If you work at Microsoft, join the nutrition talk at aka.ms/NutritionGeeks.

By now you probably know all about how to prepare for the coronavirus. But if you have a job, or a job and kids, it might be hard to do long trips to Costco on the weekend where hordes of people might spread the virus there anyway. Online shopping might bring you even more tasks because of all that unpacking, and who knows how many people handled your stuff. Is there something we can do to prepare ourselves while doing what we already do every day? And what if we could start building healthier habits in the process? Let’s focus on our body’s fuel, food, and how it influences our immune system’s responses.

The immune system is our first line of defense against all sorts of attackers, including the virus causing COVID-19 and new threats we are yet to discover. Our best defense against these threats comes from within. But as we age, our immune system declines, and dietary quality and exercise levels tend to decline as well.(1) However, as opposed to how much stock of paper towels Costco has available, keeping our immune system as ready as possible is something we can influence. We know that a high-quality diet and exercise will help us maintain a stronger immune system. To help working folks and their families prepare for these kinds of threats by getting an immunity boost, I’ve distilled content from several experts into a few actionable items to help working folks and their families get an immunity boost and prepare for these kinds of threats. These experts include Dr. Michael Greger, founder of nutritionfacts.org, Diane Kraft MS, RDN, LDN, author of The A-Z Guide to Food as Medicine, Dr. Mehmet Oz, author of Food Can Fix It, Rotimi Aluko, PhD, author of Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, and Tara Parker-Pope, Gretchen Reynolds, and Heather Murphy from The New York Times: Well.

1)    Change the ratios. If you have a full-time job, I’m going to assume you don’t have much time for meal prep. Even so, chances are that you are already eating some legumes, fruits, or vegetables anyway. Simply change the ratios of your plate to eat more of those vs. processed or animal foods. You don’t even have to think about cooking something different. For example, if you eat beans and quesadillas for dinner, fill up on more beans instead of quesadillas. If you make a smoothie for breakfast, make it thicker by adding more fruit. If you’re going out for Asian, get some tempura veggies or edamame as an appetizer. Strengthening the immune system revolves around making sure you get plenty of vitamins and minerals, which are most often found in fruits and vegetables.(2) Research suggests that having at least five servings can considerably increase our protective antibody response.(1) Changing your current food ratios to increase any of the veggies, legumes, and fruits your already eat is the easiest way to start boosting your immune system.

2)    Choose warm vs. cold food. If you’re eating out or at work’s cafeteria, it might be hard to eat confidently since your food likely goes through many hands. Simply try this: pick hot plates, heat or reheat the food to lower your risk. If a sick person handles the food or if the food is in a high-traffic buffet, risks of contamination cannot be ruled out…but, heating or reheating food should kill the virus.

3)    Add mushrooms to your salad or soup. If we never touched our face, we’d be less likely to get sick from any viral respiratory infection. That’s because eyes, nose, and mouth are entry portals for the new coronavirus and many other germs. This is where mushrooms, which contain immunoenhancing properties, play a role.(2) Research suggests that eating mushrooms can boost immunoglobin type A (IgA) in saliva, helping to strengthen the first line of defense against viruses.(1) In addition, immunomodulating compounds have been isolated from oyster mushrooms.(3) Because they are usually found in workplace cafeterias, restaurants, or conveniently prepped at grocery stores, adding mushrooms to a meal may be an easy task for those with a busy schedule.

4)    Try yogurt with berries for breakfast or a snack. Studies have shown that supplementing with good bacteria (probiotics), which we already naturally have in our gut’s flora, might have immunity-enhancing effects, eventually resulting in fewer colds, fewer sick days, and fewer overall symptoms.(1) Luckily, we can get probiotics in a natural and delicious way: yogurt. Yogurt contains the good bacteria that can give your immunity a powerful leg up. Check the labels for yogurt or kefir that contains Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium (also called Bifidus) strains.(2) If you don’t know which one to pick, I recommend Fage Total, instead of added sugars, it has added bacteria. To sweeten it up while getting a nice surge of immunity protection, add some strawberries, they are full of immunity-boosting vitamin C.(2) In addition, strawberries play a role as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiallergic, and antihypertensive agents.(4) If you’re more of a blueberries person, worry not, they can also boost immunity by increasing the number of natural “virus-killing” white blood cells and they have potent antioxidant properties as well.(1,4)

5)    Exercise (yes, it made it to the list). It was probably one of your new year’s resolutions but now you have one more reason beside losing weight to get started. The latest science suggests that being fit boosts our immune systems, and that even a single workout can amplify and improve our ability to fight off germs. Furthermore, studies suggest that exercise can also help prevent age-related immune decline. Compared to a sedentary control group, those who performed aerobic exercises for thirty minutes three times a week for twelve weeks had a 50% increase in the levels of IgA in their saliva and reported significantly fewer respiratory infection symptoms.(1) Seriously, get moving already.

No amount of Purell beats being prepared to fight attackers from the inside out. Nutrition is a key component of our health and one that, for the most part, is in your control, even with a busy working life.

Stay healthy and happy eating!

Note: If you work at Microsoft, join the nutrition talk at aka.ms/NutritionGeeks.

Book references:

1-    Greger, M. (2015). How Not to Die. Flatiron Books.

2-    Oz, M. (2017). Food Can Fix It. Scribner.

3-    Kraft, D. (2019). The A-Z Guide to Food as Medicine. 2nd edition. CRC Press.

4-    Aluko, R. (2012). Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals. Springer.