5 Natural Foods To Boost Your Immune System While You’re Losing Weight
5 Natural Foods To Boost Your Immune System While You’re Losing Weight: When it comes to losing weight, it’s so important to remember that it’s not just about saying no to fattening foods. As you’re losing weight you should also be trying to boost your immune system with some healthy alternatives.
At Motivation Weight Management, we love introducing you to low-fat, immunity-boosting foods as part of helping you change your unhealthy eating habits. We’ve got lots of delicious recipes for you to try so you don’t have to lose out on flavour just because you’re losing weight.
When it comes to preparing a meal, you should try to include as many healthy, low-fat ingredients as possible. We’ve got five great suggestions here to get you started.
1. Leafy Greens
The Recipes:
Get back to eating your greens with this delicious Pork Steak with Bean Salsa or Fish Kebabs with Pineapple and Steamed Veggies.
Why Try It?
Green vegetables like cabbage, kale, lettuce, brussels sprouts and broccoli are all great for detoxing your liver. If you find greens hard to eat, why not disguise them in a spicy stir-fry or in a homemade
soup, or simply drizzle some fresh lemon juice over steamed veg?
2. Mushrooms
The Recipes:
Have fun experimenting with different mushrooms with this Chicken and Mixed Pepper Stir Fry or this Scallop, Prawn and Vegetable Skewers.
Why Try It?
Japanese mushrooms like shitake, oyster, enoki or reishi mushrooms are amazing flu-fighters. They are loaded with the antioxidants ergothioneine and polysaccharides, which are immunity-boosting compounds.
Mushrooms can also help to reinstate your body’s own natural defences and increase the production of the body’s own cells that help fight off infection. While they may sound exotic, these mushrooms are actually fairly common and inexpensive in Asian grocery and health food shops. We’ve got tons of great, low-fat mushroom recipes for you that you can have fun experimenting with.
3. Lentils
The Recipes:
Try using lentils in this quick and healthy Grilled Cod with Tomato and Lentil Salad.
Why Try It?
Lentils are loaded with immunity-boosting iron, zinc and vitamin B6, which create lymphocytes, infection-fighting white blood cells. By combining lentils with some vitamin C, (like in this recipe’s 250gms of cherry tomatoes), you can double the amount of iron you absorb from the lentils.
Lentils are low in fat, low GI but high in fibre which provides long-lasting energy and keeps sugar levels low. Lentils are great for lowering cholesterol, maintaining good colon health and are even said to lower the risk of breast cancer in women. Regular consumption of iron-packed lentils is recommended for vegetarians and vegans.
4. Yoghurt
The Recipes:
Add creaminess to this fruity smoothie with some low fat yoghurt.
Why Try It?
You have to be somewhat discerning with your choice of yoghurts, as most types are non-organic and can contain many harmful artificial flavourings and sugar.
A good tip when buying yoghurt is to choose a large low-fat, organic natural yoghurt and stir through a few drops of pure vanilla extract or powdered cinnamon to flavour it. It is said that eating a cup of this a day can reduce your susceptibility to colds and flu by 25% thanks to its “good bacteria” (lactobacillus reuteri) which stops the multiplication or toxins in our bodies.
5. Ginger, Onions And Garlic
The Recipes:
Most of our amazing, low-fat recipes will use at least one of these tasty flavour enhancers.
Why Try It?
Onions, garlic, chili and ginger are all powerful, and delicious, immunity-boosters. Onions contain antiseptic compounds, garlic unclogs sinuses, and chili is high in anti-fever and pain-relieving piperine.
Ginger, however, is the holy grail of immunity-boosting foods. Its sesquiterpenes compound is an amazing cold virus killer and cough suppresser. It’s also a pain reliever and natural sedative to help comfort your body in times of illness. Homeopaths also credit ginger as being the best cleanser of the lymphatic system, the body’s sewage system, which is essential to the body’s health.
To speak to a Motivation Weight Management Adviser or to book an assessment consultation, find your local clinic contact here.
