Julia There is really no "super food" that can boost immunity with one click. For ordinary people who want to rely on food to build immunity, the core is to eat enough balanced meals with high nutrient density, which is more reliable than any expensive supplements.
Two years ago, I helped an operations girl in the company who always stayed up late to work on projects adjust her diet. Before, she would catch a cold every time the season changed. When she ate milk tea with fried food takeout for half a month, the herpes on the corner of her mouth would come back again and again for a month. Later, I didn’t recommend any expensive supplements to her. I just asked her to adjust to my family’s eating habits. In less than two months, half of the people in the office last winter didn’t catch a cold.
Oh, by the way, when it comes to this, someone must mention vitamin C. I have to break this aside. At present, there is no unified conclusion on the relationship between VC and immunity. There are already long-term follow-up cohort studies showing that supplementing with about 100mg of VC every day can slightly shorten the life span of the disease. Regarding the course of colds, there are also large-sample clinical controlled trials proving that if the daily intake of fruits and vegetables is adequate, taking a few hundred milligrams of extra VC effervescent tablets will not prevent colds at all. Excessive intake may increase the risk of kidney stones and diarrhea. There is no need to follow the trend and stock up.
In fact, we ordinary office workers don’t need to make it so complicated. When you buy vegetables, you can just choose a few more colors of vegetables, such as red tomatoes, yellow peppers, green spinach, purple cabbage. Make sure you have a fistful of grains or potatoes as the staple food for each meal, and a palm-sized portion of lean meat, fish, shrimp or soy products. Don’t worry if you get hungry in the afternoon. You always dig out potato chips and biscuits, grab a handful of plain nuts, or nibble on an orange or half a box of strawberries. The vitamins, minerals, high-quality protein and antioxidants in these foods are the best food to provide energy for the immune guards. You always feed the guards junk food with high oil and sugar, and they don’t have the energy to work, right?
Some people say that eating protein powder, propolis, and Ganoderma spore powder can quickly boost immunity. I met an aunt a while ago who spent more than 3,000 yuan to buy a bunch of propolis that claimed to "enhance immunity and prevent COVID-19." After eating it for two months, she still got sunburn, and her symptoms were worse than the uncle downstairs who ate fresh vegetables every day and took no supplements. If your daily protein intake is sufficient, you can drink a glass of milk, eat an egg, and have one or two pieces of meat every day. You don't need to drink extra protein powder. Drinking too much will increase the burden on the kidneys. Unless you have just undergone surgery or are on a diet to lose weight and are seriously deficient in protein, then supplementing in an appropriate amount is really useful.
Of course, this does not mean that supplements are all about IQ tax. If you are really busy recently and have been eating takeout for a week in a row, and you can't even eat a few bites of fresh vegetables, then it is no problem to prepare a bottle of ordinary multivitamins. But don't believe those gimmicks that say that eating a certain thing will make you immune to all poisons. Immunity is a long-term maintenance system, and it cannot be filled up by eating "magic food" for a few days.
