Nutrition can play an important role in alleviating Joint Pain
One of the most common types of joint pain is knee pain… and one of the most common types of knee pain is called patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) or simply patellofemoral syndrome. It is often referred to as “runner’s knee” but could just as easily be called “sitter’s knee” as it often affects people who sit for a living, such as office workers. In fact, almost anyone can develop patellofemoral pain syndrome. The actual causes of PFPS are unknown but any exercise that minimises stress on the knee can be effective in reducing the pain and this would include knee exercises in pools.
Eating a healthy, nutrition-based diet that includes healthy fats (several servings per week), along with plant-based fruits and vegetables may help reduce some of the symptoms of knee joint pain such as arthritis pain, as well as “Runners Knee” syndrome.
NUTRITION AND JOINT PAIN
The symptoms of arthritis in the joints are stiffness and swelling of the joints. As we age, we may have experienced stiffness in the joints due to normal wear and tear, accidents, knocks or falls. Joint trauma, stress and strain or just simply the everyday effects of use of the joints.
In terms of nutrition to help relieve joint pain, we must look at the natural health benefits in the foods that cause inflammation of joints and also the foods that help arthritis.
WHAT ARE THE FOODS THAT CAUSE INFLAMMATION OF JOINTS?
Regardless of whether you have some type of arthritis, osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis it is very important to pay close attention to your diet for the foods that cause inflammation of joints.
Eating many of the highly processed foods such as candies, soda, ice cream, crackers, breads, pasta and meats means that you are consuming foods that inflame joints. Inflammation can lead to physical pain in the knees and joints and other parts of the body. Often these heavily processed foods that cause joint pain, such aschips and margarine, also contain trans-fats which raise the bad cholesterol levels (LDL) that are associated with other diseases like stroke and heart disease. These are foods that inflame joints.
The foods that cause inflammation of joints in the body are often readily available on the supermarket shelves, with misleading labels. This is where the natural goodness is often replaced or altered in some way and replaced by high levels of salt, sugar and other additives. These additives are often for the purpose of longer shelf life and products are frequently labelled as healthy foods, such as “low-fat” or “diet food”. However, these labels are somewhat misleading as they may be foods that inflame joints. If you suffer from arthritis, you need to avoid foods that cause joint pain at all cost.
Foods to avoid are the foods that contain unnatural chemical additives. These are foods not to eat with arthritis, otherwise joint pain stiffness may occur as a result. They can be foods that help arthritis inflammation develop and therefore will exacerbate joint pain.
WHAT ARE THE BEST FOODS THAT ARE GOOD FOR YOUR JOINTS?
The Mediterranean diet has many benefits not only to health and lifestyle, but the diet also includes beneficial foods that are good for your joints.The Mediterranean Diet is based on eating whole plant-based foods such as fish and seafood, fruit, vegetables, legumes and grains, none of which are refined.
These are the most beneficial foods for sore muscles and joints…
OILYFISH such as salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines are all high in the essential omega-3 fatty acids that have anti-inflammatory properties and are excellent foods for joint health. Omega-3 fatty acids help to protect and reduce inflammation in the body.
CRUCIFEROUSVEGETABLES such as broccoli, cauliflower and kale and are all foods that are good for your joints. These foods are excellent foods for joint health because they are high in sulphoraphane which possesses anti-inflammatory properties. Cruciferous vegetables are foods that help with joint inflammation and reduce the symptoms of arthritis.
BLUEBERRIES are full of vitamins, minerals and huge amounts of antioxidant anti-inflammatory nutrients. Strawberries, blackberries and blueberries are all great foods that help arthritis and are all beneficial foods for joint health.
GINGER AND TURMERIC SPICES are well known for blocking inflammatory pathways in the body. These blocking properties inhibit cell damage and may be beneficial foods for joint pain sufferers.
CINNAMON also has high level of anti-inflammatory properties that may help relieve the symptoms of joint pain. Honey and cinnamon are beneficial foods that help arthritis. One tablespoon of honey with one stick of cinnamon and one cup of warm water, mixed together may be a healing drink to include in your diet to treat arthritis symptoms
AVOCADOS are a healthy choice of foods for joint health. Avocados have high anti-inflammatory monounsaturated fatsand are an important food to include in your diet to treat arthritis joint pain.
VITAMIN C FOODS such as oranges, red bell peppers and green leafy vegetable are excellent sources of vitamin C and can help protect and block inflammation in joints. These are good choices to eat often in your diet to treat arthritis.
The Mediterranean Diet is recommended by doctors for good Health and Nutrition.
The great thing about the Mediterranean way of eating is that it’s not really a diet at all but a lifestyle way of eating great food.
Historically, throughout the different countries along the Mediterranean coastal regions, people ate what was readily available in their gardens at the time. They also grew many varieties of fruits and olive trees, as well as different farm animals like goats, pigs, chickens etc. Grape vines and olive groves were grown there for many centuries; hence the wonderful quality wines produced, along with the fantastic abundance of olive oils.
The Mediterranean Way of Life was that of tending to animals, picking fruit, digging and planting different varieties of food crops in the various vegetable gardens. and sharing the produce with those around… with neighbours and at the local markets.
Food was fresh, natural and healthy. This way of life was based around food, fresh from the garden, prepared in the kitchen, then eaten… relaxing with family and friends around the table, enjoying and soaking up the lifestyle.
What is the Mediterranean Diet?
The Mediterranean Diet is mostly based on eating large amounts of plant-based foods, along with whole grains, olive oil, beans, nuts, seeds, legumes and flavoured with fresh herbs and spices.
seafood is recommended to be eaten at least twice a week, followed by poultry,
eggs and dairy products, taken in moderate portions daily and weekly.
Red meats and
sweets foods to be limited to weekly.
Eight cups of
fresh water taken daily and red wine to be taken moderately.
The Omega-3 fatty acids in some of these foods are essential to your body’s health. These fatty acids increase the good cholesterol HDL in the body. The healthy fats in olive oil are great for heart health, as well as weight loss.
often used instead of using salt, which is much healthier.
Salmon is often a recommended food of choice for the health benefits.
Why Follow a Mediterranean Diet?
If you base your diet around the Mediterranean diet you will not only be eating healthy food packed full of great nutrition, but your healthy lifestyle will greatly improve your overall health and nutrition. Eating slowly and enjoying every morsel while relaxing is highly recommended for health and digestion.
It is also recommended that you buy fresh food, when it is in season and locally where possible. Farmers markets are often great places to buy fresh vegetables and fruit, including herbs for your supply of healthy foods to maintain your healthy Mediterranean diet.
Many towns have set up community gardens where you can grow your own plants and share your produce with other gardeners. This is highly recommended for your own health and wellbeing. Otherwise, set up your own garden plot, get your children involved and grow your own vegies.
Why not try adopting the Mediterranean Diet? The health benefits to you and your family will be profound.
Many people are looking for foods boosting immune system function
In today’s world it’s not good to have a weak immune system, especially with the presence of the Covid-19 and other common viral infections.
Feeding the body with immune boosting foods can help stave off the dreaded winter cold and flu symptoms.
Immune Boosting Foods
11 Powerful Foods That Help Boost Immune System Function
These are some of the best foods that boost immune system function…
1. CITRUS FRUITS
Lemons, oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, clementines and limes.
These are some of the best fruits that boost immune system efficacy, especially if you have an immune deficiency.
Foods containing Vitamin C need to be eaten every day as Vitamin C is not stored in the body. However, they are a great source of immune system booster food that’s easy to be included in a meal or taken as a snack. We often look to Vitamin C for combating colds and flu ailments and reach for a squeeze of lemon in a glass of water to relieve the symptoms. We do this because citrus fruits are proven foods that boost your immune system. Vitamin C can help fight infection by increasing the white blood cells in the body. Therefore, choose citrus foods… fruits that boost immune system.
For a great health immune booster, start your day with a squeeze of lemon in a small glass of water as well as grapefruit or orange for an effective boost to your immune system, every day.
2. RED BELL PEPPERS
The red bell pepper is a wonderful immune system booster because of the high levels of Vitamin C it contains. It is high in nutrition value which makes it a very healthy food as well as an immune system booster. Red bell peppers are one of the best foods for immune system building and their Vitamin C levels, along with being a rich source of beta carotene, aids healthy skin and eyes.
If you are looking for ways to boost immune system function, just simply add red bell peppers to your diet to greatly improve and maintain your health and help strengthen your immune system.
Garlic has been known for many years as a highly nutritious immune system booster food. It contains many health boosting compounds that constitute a rich source of Vitamin C and Vitamin B. Garlic has high levels of Sulfur and contains compounds that play an important role in fighting infections with flu-like symptoms. It’s for these reasons that garlic has been widely used throughout the ages, both as an immune boosting food and as a herbal medicine.
Garlic contains antioxidants that help the body’s immune system to
maintain overall good health. It
is also beneficial for cardiovascular health.
Crushed or sliced garlic is one of the best foods that boost the immune system. However, garlic supplements are also a good immune booster, without the strong taste or aroma of garlic. Add garlic to your diet to strengthen your immune system.
A slow immune system or a weak immune system can improve greatly by adding broccoli to your daily diet, along with other rich glutathione foods such as spinach and avocados. You will not only improve your health, but it will have a beneficial effect on your longevity and your overall immune system.
Broccoli is an immune system booster food which has huge overall health and longevity benefits. Broccoli is part of the rich cruciferous vegetables group which are Sulfur-rich foods that build a strong immune system. These foods have a high concentration of sulforaphane. The compound sulforaphane activates a gene whose primary job is to produce antioxidants and one powerful antioxidant is glutathione, found in broccoli.
As an immune system booster, broccoli contains amino acids that must be obtained through the diet. Amino acids are the building blocks of life and have a vital role to play in maintaining a healthy immune system or boosting a weak immune system. Amino acids also help in muscle development as well as repair muscle damage.
Broccoli is a food that boosts your immune system by its powerful antioxidant protections against ageing and helping to improve cellular damage, while at the same time fighting against free radical damage. To strengthen the immune system, it is therefore important that you take full advantage of the nutritional value of broccoli. Broccoli contains glutathione which is a powerful antioxidant and is a huge immune system booster food, helping to protect the body from diseases such as Alzheimers, heart disease and stroke.
Broccoli helps maintain a strong immune system for high levels of health and well-being.
Spinach is a highly nutritional, value packed leafy green vegetable. It is an immune system booster food which was popularised by “Popeye the Sailor Man” from the 1930’s movie cartoon, in which Popeye would eat lots of spinach thereby developing strong muscles to impress his girlfriend, Olive Oyl.
Spinach is an immune booster food, rich in vitamins A, C and K, iron and magnesium. These nutrients help to strengthen bones, body tissue and skin, hair and eyesight, all helping to boost a low immune system. Spinach helps strengthen the immune system as it helps repel bacteria and viruses. Spinach is an immune system booster food that also protects against eye diseases and cardiovascular diseases. It can help reduce the risk of heart attacks and the thickening of the artery wall, building a strong immune system.
Spinach helps turn food into energy to sustain you throughout the day.
For a low immune system or an immune deficiency, it would be highly recommended that you add spinach to your diet. To gain all the benefits of this powerful leafy green vegetable, you can eat spinach raw in salads, lightly steamed or added to soups for garnish, as well as lightly sautéd with other immune booster vegetables. However, the less cooking the better, to retain all the nutrients.
Spinach is a “must-have” vegetable to add on a regular basis to your diet as it’s one of the best immune-boosting foods.
Ginger has natural, built-in, strong antioxidant properties that boost the immune system. Itis one more of the many immune system booster foods.
Ginger is well known as a defence against cold viruses and other infections with flu-type symptoms, such as chills and fevers. Ginger is a food that actually fuels the immune system and has been used in traditional as well as alternative medicine throughout history. It has been widely used as a natural remedy for stomach pains, nausea, travel sickness as well as to alleviate morning sickness and many other health problems.
Ginger is an immune boosting food and an excellent antioxidant source and works well with dishes where turmericis also included. These two foods work well together, giving a huge boost to the body’s health and well-being, while at the same time helping to build a strong immune system.
Ginger is a great tonic. The raw ginger can be grated into a glass of warm water and taken as a tonic. Ginger is also known to improve immune system health as it helps with inflammatory issues and helps support the cells in the brain where is also helps inhibit against diseases such as Alzheimers and other brain related problems.
Ginger is a natural immune booster and by adding ginger to your diet on a regular basis you can improve a low immune system as it’s one of the best foods for immune system building.
Blueberries are included on our list of immune system booster foods because they are full of antioxidant flavonoids that greatly reduce cell damage and help boost the immune system for better health and well-being. Blueberries are often referred to as a “superfood”, packed with flavour, containing essential nutrients such as potassium, Vitamin C and A and dietary fibre. The blueberry is very small in size but it packs a fantastic punch when it comes to health effects on the body. This is because it can help boost a low immune system as well as protect a strong immune system.
Blueberries can be added to breakfast meals, added to smoothies along
with yoghurt or just eaten on their own as a small snack.
Turmeric has been long known as one of the most effective immune system booster foods. It has been well known for its anti-inflammatory benefits for centuries. Curcumin, the yellow orange component, is the active ingredient in turmeric. It’s a powerful spice that is mainly used in curries, stews, sauces and other dishes and has widely been used throughout Asia.
Turmeric is an immune booster and has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine for providing benefits to those suffering depression, anxiety, mood, stress or other emotional issues as well as building a strong immune system.
Turmeric’s natural properties have good effects on the immune system, boosting the body’s all-round function. Turmeric has excellent tonic benefits for helping good liver function and may also help remove stones in gallbladder disorders.
Turmeric has one of the highest antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits for improving health as it’s an immune boosting food. It can help those with an immune deficiency or a low immune system by its natural energising protective properties. These protective properties may also be beneficial for fighting cancer cell invasion. Turmeric has many important medicinal properties and gives a natural boost to the immune system.
Turmeric is one of the best foods for immune system strengthening. It helps to eliminate harmful effects from “free radicals” that try to harm the body. It has beneficial effects on digestive disorders, cramps and helps eliminate gasses in the intestine.
Turmeric helps cardiovascular health, which in turn
reduces cholesterol levels. Studies have
shown it also has benefits on cognitive impairment, helping improve memory and
its natural properties fight against Alzheimer’s.
Turmeric has natural medicinal properties that have so many health benefits so why not spice up your life with Turmeric, one of the best immune system booster foods.
To help supercharge your immune system, simply add more turmeric
to your diet on a regular basis, especially during flu seasons and times of
stress and anxiety.
Almonds are immune boosting foods and a good source of nutrition. They are a food that is low in carbohydrates which may help those trying to lose weight, however it is recommended they need to be always taken in small portions. They exhibit antioxidant benefits, supporting the immune system, helping protect the body against the risk of heart disease. Almonds are high in fat, but it is good monounsaturated fat, which has cardio-protective properties.
Almonds are one of the many foods that help restore a weak immune
Gut Health is incredibly important for maintaining a healthy immune system. A low immune system can become a strong immune system by eating a healthy, well-balanced diet with regular natural yogurt.
Good health is reliant on immune system booster foods that will help support strong bones, skin, hair, nails and give us energy and balance our weight, mood and diet. Natural Yogurt gives a powerful benefit to the body’s health, enabling the digestive system to function properly.
Natural Yogurt has great benefits for the immune system as it is one of the best sources of probiotics. The probiotics in yogurt are gut-friendly bacteria that aid and dictate our health. Yogurt is a dairy-fermented milk product that provides both calcium and protein. Its health benefits help protect against osteoporosis, heart disease and issues around weight. If there is an imbalance in the gut bacteria, this will lead eventually to an immune deficiency and many health problems.
Healthy bacteria help to turn on enzymes that will create a healthy gut and boost the immune system to fight off unhealthy bacteria such as fungus related infections as well as other health issues. Yogurt’s friendly bacteria help break down food as it enters the gut, absorbing the nutrients into the body. This helps to fight off any unfriendly, harmful organisms that could potentially cause infections, diseases, diarrhoea or other issues.
Look for a natural Greek yogurt, high in probiotics, that has a “live
and active cultures” seal as this will help build a strong immune system.
11. GREEN TEA
Green tea has been widely used throughout Japan, China and India and its origins are known to date back 3000 years. There is a great correlation between drinking green tea and the improvement to health and it has a direct effect on the body’s immune system.
The benefits of drinking Green tea are numerous. Chinese traditional medicine long held the
view that drinking Green tea helped relieve the body’s aches and pains,
improved digestion and had a detoxification effect, thus improving quality of
Drinking Green tea two or three times a day can provide valued benefits
for a healthier lifestyle.
Green tea has natural antioxidants called
flavonoids that help to prevent cell damage in the body. It is also beneficial to those who want to
lose weight because it helps improve the body’s metabolic capabilities and
increase fat burning and weight maintenance. It may also help those with Type 2 Diabetes.
Drinking Green tea helps improve health for those with a weakimmunesystem.
The antioxidants in green tea help promote heart health, thereby reducing the risks of high blood pressure and stroke. These antioxidants help improve and regulate blood pressure function and cholesterol levels, thereby strengthening the immune system. Green tea is an immune booster food that greatly reduces inflammation damage which can have an effect on the reduction of tumour incidences lowering the risks of cancer. It also helps reduce risk of bacterial infections and viral diseases.
Drinking green tea is one of the best ways to build a strong immune system, while improving heart health by antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, with healing benefits.
Here are some of the immune system boosting teas that may also improve blood pressure:
Try some of the following teas as foods to boost immunity…
Lemon balm tea may help relieve anxiety, insomnia and stress as well as nausea and indigestion. Lemon balm has antiviral properties as well and helping improve cognitive function.
Sage tea may help promote healthy skin cell growth as it is rich in anti-inflammatory compounds and antioxidants.
Green tea and Black tea.
Hibiscus and Nettle tea, blended together Hibiscus and Nettle tea not only taste great, but they are all-round “immune booster teas”
We should all choose immune boosting foods as these foods are vital for optimum health and nutrition. These “immune system booster foods” provide energy, health and wellbeing, strengthening the overall immune system.
An essential nutrient is one that fulfils the daily nutritional needs that support health
Essential nutrients such as amino acids foods and choline foods have a variety of particularly important essential vitamins for maintaining immune health and wellbeing. It’s all about nutrition value and daily nutrition needs. We all need nutrition foods high in the daily essential nutrients to provide the nutrition required for human body function.
The body relies on six essential nutrients
By knowing what nutrition benefits there are in foods, you can gain a better understanding of all the different food nutrients there are, especially the essential nutrients and various types of nutrition for maintaining a healthy diet.
WHAT ARE NUTRIENTS?
The six essential nutrients are Protein, Carbohydrates, Fats, Vitamins, Minerals and Water.
WHY ARE NUTRIENTS IMPORTANT?
A healthy diet is all about good nutrition and taking in the essential nutrients in foods.
A person’s body is mostly unable to produce anything on its own. Therefore, to function normally, the body needs enough of the six main nutrients for sustainability. These six essential nutrients provide the dietary requirements the body needs for good health.
What nutrition foods do is supply the body with adequate nutrients to fuel energy, growth, and build immune health to support immune system function. They can provide an immune defence against disease.
Essential nutrients are the various substances… compounds or elements found within foods that, when eaten, can produce growth and development, sustain energy, while providing ongoing support to the immune system. These important food nutrients help develop a strong defence against disease.
You may wonder why you need to rely on an essential diet of healthy foods, rich in food nutrients, to function and maintain health. These essential nutrients strengthen the immune system, creating an immune defence system to sustain life itself, as well as ward off disease.
WHY DO WE NEED THESE ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS?
What benefit is there in having an essential diet rich in nutrients?
There are 2 DIFFERENT TYPES OF NUTRIENTS
As there are a variety of different essential nutrients, these nutrients are separated into two distinct categories… essential micronutrients and essential macronutrients. These provide the foundational major nutrients the body needs to support health.
Micronutrients and Macronutrients
The micronutrients and macronutrients are the main nutrients that provide and sustain health.
Essential micronutrients are those nutrients the body needs to be consumed only in small quantities at a time. These essential food nutrients are the important Vitamins and Minerals that help support immune system function and help to ward off disease by building up your immune system defence.
Essential macronutrients need to be eaten in much larger quantities as they are the major nutrients that provide the building blocks to a healthy diet.
Examples of Nutrients
It’s important to know what nutrition and which nutrients are in these important essential macronutrients. These food nutrients are protein, carbohydrates, and the essential fats. These important essential nutrients maintain the body’s energy levels.
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6 ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS
WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF THESE FOOD NUTRIENTS?
Healthy foods are good sources of nutrients that the body needs for immune health.
The benefits of these six nutrients are:
Proteins help build strong bones for strength and endurance
Carbohydrates provide energy to sustain activity
Healthy Fats are essential for supporting cholesterol levels
Vitamins boost immunity due to their antioxidant benefits
Minerals are needed for immune system function
Water is essential for survival as up to 70% of body components consist of water
The key nutrients form part of essential diet foods that sustain a healthy body.
Protein in DAILY NUTRITION
Proteins represent essential food nutrients for all cell tissues. Protein is one of the essential diet food elements that provides the important basic nutrients that will help sustain good health.
Protein food supports your daily nutrition needs. It is one of the daily essential nutrients that every healthy diet includes. Proteins are essential for building strong bones and strengthening muscles. It’s an important major nutrient the body requires for maintaining skin, hair, and cell growth.
PROTEIN FOR DAILY NUTRITION NEEDS
There are a variety of amino acids foods such as fish, avocado etc. These provide particularly important nutrients and constitute a major source of nutrition. They are the essential nutrients for body function that support long term health.
Fish, meat, and eggs are all excellent amino acids foods as these contain one of the key nutrients to maintain growth, support health and provide for daily nutrition needs.
2 CARBOHYDRATES – DAILY NUTRITION FOODS
ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS TO FUEL THE BODY
Carbohydrates are one of the primary nutrients They are beneficial food nutrients that help fuel the body and support both brain function and the central nervous system, all the while protecting and strengthening immune defence against disease. Carbohydrate foods are excellent sources of nutrients that the body needs for daily nutrition.
Some nutritionists even suggest that carbohydrates are essential food and that about 45% – 65% of your daily calorie intake should come from eating carbohydrates.
HEALTHY CARBOHYDRATE FOODS
Healthy carbohydrate foods are good sources of nutrients and include low carb foods.
Choose healthy options when looking for healthy carbohydrate foods. Look for fiber-rich foods, fruits, and vegetables (except potatoes), whole grain foods, quinoa, whole wheat breads, oats, rye, barley, as these all provide the major nutrients for supporting health.
3 HEALTHY FATS
Healthy fats are nutrition rich foods.
Monounsaturated fat helps reduce heart disease. Monounsaturated fats help protect organs. They can also lower heart disease and cholesterol levels.
If you are looking to reduce your risk of heart disease, it’s important to reduce your intake of saturated fats to the healthier monounsaturated fat foods.
To help maintain good levels of cholesterol, choose healthy fat food nutrients. Good examples of fats include extra virgin olive oil, avocados, nuts, almonds as these benefit heart health and the immune system.
Healthy omega-3 fats can be found in sardines, herring, and salmon.
Vitamins help boost immunity
A healthy diet relies on foods packed with essential vitamins and minerals, as they are the essential nutrients the body needs to support health. The best immune system booster foods include vitamins.
The body needs thirteen essential vitamins…
A well-balanced diet needs to include a variety of these thirteen essential vitamins.
These thirteen essential vitamins and all vitamins are essential for the body to function. Vitamins are vital nutrients that help ward off disease, keeping the immune system healthy and strong. Vitamin food nutrients have important antioxidant benefits.
There are two distinct types of vitamins…
WATER SOLUBLE VITAMINS
When the body ingests water soluble vitamins, it expels anything it does not absorb. Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12 and vitamin C are all important vitamins for the body that support the immune system.
FAT SOLUBLE VITAMINS
Vitamins have important antioxidant benefits for supporting the immune system, overall health, and wellbeing.
The body only takes what it needs. Any leftovers are then stored within the liver and the tissue walls, keeping them in reserve.
Vitamins A, D, E, and K are all important essential vitamins for body health and wellbeing.
Healthy sources of vitamins:
Healthy sources of vitamins include fruits and vegetables including leafy greens, spinach, broccoli, red peppers, legumes, cabbage, beetroot, milk, cheese, yoghurt, lean meat, poultry, oily fish, and healthy nuts such as almonds and cashews in moderation, along with whole grain foods such as quinoa, oats, and barley.
As with vitamins, a healthy diet should include a variety of essential minerals to support a healthy immune system. They are both major nutrients as they enable the body to stay hydrated.
Minerals and vitamins are essential for our metabolic function. We mustn’t underestimate the importance of minerals in our body. Mineral packed foods provide essential nutrition for survival.
Mineral foods having calcium, zinc and iron contain especially important food nutrients for growing strong bones and teeth, along with helping to regulate blood pressure.
Zinc has antioxidant benefits that help strengthen immunity against disease. It helps maintain a strong immune defence, helping wounds and infections to heal faster.
WATER IS AN ESSENTIAL NUTRIENT
Water is vital for life itself
Last but not least, water is a vital nutrient, essential for life itself. Without adequate water, dehydration can occur, and the body’s immune system could be at significant risk. Staying hydrated is important. You could go without food for a few days, but water is an essential nutrient, as it’s a critical contributor to overall immune health and staying immune from disease.
Water enables all the essential nutrients from fruits and vegetables to distribute throughout the body. The body is entirely dependent on regular supplies of vital nutrients through regularly eating different types of nutrition… foods rich in essential vitamins and foods with minerals. It is unable to store water for its future use.
It’s important to eat lots of fruits and vegetables because nutrients in foods distribute the essential vitamins and all the important essential minerals the body needs to function. Water helps lubricate the immune cells, avoiding dehydration and preventing constipation.
Eating nutritious foods directly affects your immune system
Nutritious food, with all its essential nutrients, builds a strong immune system. These essential nutrients, in a well-balanced diet of healthy food choices, can even support those who have a compromised immune system or weak immune system. So, a healthy balanced diet may prevent and treat chronic diseases.
Hippocrates coined the phrase “Food as Medicine” in his renowned quote… “Let Food be thy Medicine and Medicine thy Food” *
Paying close attention to what you eat, how and when you eat, can form the basis for your overall health and wellbeing.
Nutritional habits, or the lack thereof, may very well determine whether you may or may not have a lower chance of acquiring chronic diseases.
It’s a powerful thought.
Viewing food as medicine, as a preventative for treating chronic diseases, is a different paradigm from many people’s conventional way of thought and thinking.
Food is a powerful natural medicine that can not only prevent illnesses, heal, and nourish the body for peak performance… it may also be able to reverse or slow down some chronic diseases.
There are three different paradigms for thinking about nutritious food
1 Food is source of pleasure… savouring the flavours and textures of food
2 Food is fuel for the body… necessary to stave off hunger
3 Food is a means of keeping healthy. Nutritious food can be like medicine, keeping the body healthy.
Eating lots of healthy food is lifestyle medicine… based on a healthy diet. Eating a healthy balanced diet not only nourishes the body but protects and prevents disease.
Food is a natural medicine to the body because nutritious food is high in the essential nutrients and vitamins that boost immune system function. Herbal medicine is actually plant-based food that blurs the boundary between food and medicine.
10 RULES FOR TREATING FOOD AS MEDICINE
1 Consider plant-based food as medicine.
The Mediterranean diet is recommended by many health professionals as a healthy diet to follow as it constitutes a heart-healthy diet. This plant-based diet can greatly reduce the incidence of heart attacks and can even be seen as a heart disease prevention diet.
A Mediterranean diet is based on eating lots of whole natural healthy foods such as grains, fruits and vegetables, oily fish and extra virgin olive oil, with a small handful of nuts and wine – in moderation. It encompasses many nutritious food choices and thus becomes natural medicine for the body.
The Mediterranean diet promotes healthy habits. It’s not only an evidence-based, heart-healthy diet, but can greatly aid in disease prevention and ending chronic diseases.
2 EAT HEALTHY FOOD.
…rather than relying on dietary supplements
For many years people around the world have ignored the importance of eating natural plant-based healthy food in their diet and some have reached for supplements to support their overall health care.
The pharmaceutical industries are very heavily invested in selling supplements. But Natural Medicine treats food as medicine and avoids the need for dietary supplements.
A healthy diet is eating a variety of healthy food from all the food groups. By simply treating food as medicine, it should reduce the need for taking supplements. Where possible, seek out fresh food markets where fresh, healthy food is brought straight from the farm.
Purchasing oily fish from the fish monger, whole grain breads from the market bakery, with grass fed meat and locally made cheese and yoghurts, plus eating lots of plant-based fruits and vegetables, makes for a healthy diet. Therefore, purposely making healthy eating food choices can play an important role in disease prevention and, in particular, preventing heart disease.
Food is natural medicine and an alternative medicine for health care, as against relying on supplements to boost your immune system. Plant-based oils from olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds and the fats from fish, mostly omega-3 fatty acids, provide important anti-inflammatory benefits.
Healthy fat foods help to support the immune system, due to their important essential nutrients and the essential minerals in foods.
Supplements should only be used as a back up to a good diet…. not as a replacement for eating healthy and nutritious food. However, many health professionals will consider herbal medicine, taking a more holistic medicine approach. This means recommending a balanced diet of nutritious food as medicine, to assist in a person’s health care.
By regularly eating fresh fruits and vegetables direct from local markets, you are not only supporting your local farms and food markets, but you are enhancing your own health care at the same time.
3 View healthy food as lifestyle medicine.
Natural medicine can not only heal and protect but prevent and treat many diseases brought on by having an unhealthy diet. The well-known saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” was coined because an apple is, when eaten with the skin on, a natural medicine with health benefits that support and strengthen the immune system.
When looking for healthy foods to eat throughout the day, apples always make an excellent choice when it comes to healthy snacks. An apple is not only a nutritious healthy food to eat on a daily basis, but a good source of vitamins, carbs and is also full of soluble fiber and water.
Eating healthy food such as apples on a regular basis may play an important role in helping to lower the risk of high blood pressure and cholesterol levels plus prevent the onset of stroke, heart disease and diabetes.
A balanced diet should always include fruits and vegetables, especially when it includes the humble apple as they will give a weak immune system a boost.
Mindful eating is paying close attention to what you eat, how and when you eat. Specific foods can directly impact your health. Healthy food fuels the body, giving it energy and sustainability, as well as helping to detoxify the body.
Eating a healthy diet supports the immune system and the nervous system, while aiding digestion and regulating blood pressure, helping it to function properly.
We all need to be more mindful of making healthy food choices. It’s important not to choose the convenience of fast food, unhealthy breakfast cereals, high in salt, sugar, and highly processed foods. We should choose heart-healthy foods. Avoid processed foods and refined products as they often have high levels of salt, sugar, and other additives.
Replace processed foods with whole grain healthy foods such as wholemeal bread, quinoa, oats, and beans… to sustain you throughout the day.
5 AVOID EATING WHEN STRESSED
Try to avoid eating when stressed as stress can greatly impact the nervous system.
Increased stress levels put a strain on the digestive system, as well as affecting your mood swings, alertness, and energy levels. Therefore, avoid eating when stressed, especially highly processed foods as these foods compound your stress levels.
Seeing food as medicine enables you to make good food choices. Healthy food is natural medicine for the body. Nutrient rich foods help the body heal and repair itself, improving health and wellbeing.
Eating a well-balanced diet (including healthy breakfast foods to start the day), followed by healthy snacks, including several servings of fruits and vegetables throughout the day, is a healthy eating plan for when feeling stressed.
6 HEALTHY FOOD NOURISHES AND PROTECTS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
Nutritious food nourishes and protects the immune system. Research has shown that certain unhealthy dietary habits can adversely affect your health and you are more susceptible to chronic diseases.
The essential nutrients in healthy food give a protective layer at the same time as nourishing, supporting, and strengthening the body’s immune system, helping the body to function properly. These supportive qualities are reasons to regard food as medicine.
Defend yourself against the possibility of acquiring some chronic diseases by recognising the importance of food and its effects on your health. Diet and health go hand in hand. Eating healthy foods gives the body a defence against the onset of disease. Good eating is a lifestyle medicine choice. Making good plant-based food choices may protect the body against many diseases. Eating a variety of plant-based fruits and vegetables, rich in the essential nutrients and minerals in foods, increases antioxidant levels that help support the immune system.
Heart-healthy foods such as healthy fat foods like avocados, extra virgin olive oil, oily fish and almonds, cashews and walnuts are excellent healthy options for a more balanced diet for heart health. Choosing a heart-healthy diet decreases the chances of heart attacks as it helps to lower cholesterol levels and inflammation associated with cardiovascular diseases.
Other important heart healthy foods include cocoa in dark chocolate in moderation) and whole grains such as quinoa, oatmeal, and brown rice. Spinach, sweet potatoes, carrots, oranges, broccoli, and red peppers are all rich in vitamins and minerals essential to support a healthy diet.
Many health professionals recommend following a more Mediterranean diet plan as it has all the elements of a healthy diet. It is also using food as medicine to sustain a life of health and wellbeing.
How does the Mediterranean diet benefit heart health?
The Mediterranean diet is regarded as a heart-healthy diet that is natural medicine that not only improves and supports the immune system, but possesses health benefits for longevity.
The Mediterranean diet is regularly eating a variety of healthy foods. It’s a healthy diet that is conducive to healthy eating habits that have been followed by those living around the Mediterranean region over many centuries. Studies have shown that those who have long lived in the Mediterranean region and enjoyed its healthy food benefits, have experienced longevity, health and wellbeing, and enjoy a far lower risk of heart disease.
Therefore, it’s important to eat plenty of nutritious foods, along with healthy fat foods. It’s also essential to include whole natural grains, fish, nuts, lots of fruits and vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, olives, along with cheese and moderate amounts of wine.
8 MAKE FOOD A LIFESTYLE MEDICINE CHOICE
Choose healthy foods as medicine, based around a balanced diet full of nutritious foods. Such foods include healthy fat foods, lots of plant-based, fiber rich foods and lots of fruits and vegetables. These are all seen as natural medicine that strengthens the immune system.
Making these healthy food choices should not be viewed as replacement or alternative medicine, but as supporting the immune system to nourish and protect.
Regarding food as medicine is a way of seeing food as a support to medicine. It is not an antidote to chronic disease but making good food choices to strengthen and support the immune system can help improve it. Changing to being more conscious of following a more healthy diet, with lots of healthy food meals along with healthy snacks can improve your health dramatically… at the same time as protecting against disease.
9 WE ARE ALL UNIQUE
When a diet is deficient in the essential nutrients, vitamins D and C and many of the minerals in food, the risks of certain chronic diseases are heightened. Supermarkets are often full of attractive highly processed foods, stripped of goodness and replaced with processed fats, sugar and salt. These foods need to be avoided. A diet which is high in refined foods and/or high in sugary additives helps to contribute to diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer.
Because we are all unique, we all have our different requirements. Some may have a genetic disposition to developing chronic disease, or require certain medication to overcome, stress, depression, or other conditions. Temptations towards certain unhealthy foods such as processed foods, high sugar and high-fat foods place some people at a disadvantage.
The bottom line is to look after your own health care by eating lots of nutritious foods because they constitute natural medicine that boosts the immune system.
10 ADOPT A HOLISTIC MEDICINE APPROACH
Lifestyle changes to promote wellness
Seeing food as medicine can play an important role in improving, strengthening, and supporting the immune system, when you follow a healthy eating regime.
Viewing food as medicine means you have a natural medicine at your disposal, medicine that focusses on the whole person… the body, mind, spirit, and the emotions. Having a well-balanced diet, including lots of healthy fresh food, is a great starting point in looking after your own health care.