Fitness: Overview of immune boosters in health and fitness. What boosts your immune system for fitness..

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Health and Fitness: Overview of Immune System Boosters
Overview of immune boosters for immune system in health and fitness.

By Rob McLean

Fitness: A low-fat diet, antioxidants, and minerals are all immune system boosters.

The role of fitness in health: 

Components of a powerful immune system

1. A low-fat diet:

Many health experts such as Dallas' Dr. Cooper are beginning to recommend a diet with 20% of total calories in fats and only 8% or less of those in saturated, animal fats. This is more than cutting out red meat, guys and gals. This is predominantly vegetarian plates here.

Dean Ornish, MD, recommends a diet of 10% fat (no animal or fish fats and no fruits or vegetables high in saturated fat such as coconut), 15% protein, and 75% carbohydrates for heart and artery health.

Before you try the fat-free diet, however, remember that balance. We all need a very small amount of fat to stay healthy. However, I have never read any research that says we need any animal fat for health--not even fish!

Certainly we don't need any of the food industry's invention: hydrogenated fat.

Read those labels because hydrogenated fat, from everything I can read, does as much or more damage to your health as saturated fat. This is an artificial fat used by the food industry to make food stay fresh longer. This long shelf-life helps the food industry's bottom line while hurting your health line. Just don't buy it!

I have read research materials and studies that state we need polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat in our diets, all of which can come from plants and should remain nonhydrogenated, for good health.

2. Antioxidants:

Vitamins C, E, and B6, beta-carotene that the body uses to make Vitamin A, and bioflavonoids all boost the immune system, help prevent disease, and even slow the aging process. Eat carrots, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes (not yams), broccoli, cantaloupe, papaya, apples, almonds, brown rice, wild rice, rice bran, sunflower seeds, bananas, and pinto, lima, garbanzo, or kidney beans. Tea, especially green tea, and red wine contribute  bioflavonoids.

If you must supplement with a pill, keep doses small. Remember balance and forego the American way of "if some is good, more must be better."

3. Minerals:

Plants are the middle men here for these minerals to get from the soil to your body. Grains, shellfish, beans, sea vegetables, spinach, tofu, nuts, raisins, mushrooms, and almonds contribute to the minerals in your body.

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Minerals are important to our immune system and our overall health, although much more research needs to be done. Elinor Levy Ph.D. biophysicist and professor of immunology at Boston University School of Medicine, specifically does not recommend supplements for iron and selenium.

Many scientists feel that more needs to be known about balance in minerals before supplements are necessary or even recommended. For example, zinc can impair the immune response if too much is taken. One more reason to eat your food, not pop pills.

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