According to the World Health Organisation, some of the biggest diseases that could affect your health as you age, are heart disease, strokes, obesity, depressive disorders, diabetes, and osteoarthritis. While many diseases can be inherited, most of these health risks are preventable, but they are rooted in our physical and social environment. All of your actions today, will impact your health in the long run. Therefore, it is necessary to take action as soon as possible to improve your lifestyle and general health. While we can improve our wellness by maintaining healthy habits, such as getting enough sleep and exercising, it is not always as easy to maintain a healthy diet.
Our food habits
Food plays a big role in our daily lives, since it is a source of energy for us, but it is also so much more. Food reminds us of home, brings us comfort and connects us. Our fast-paced, stressed filled lifestyles, do not always allow us to take the extra time to assess and change our food choices, which unknowingly impacts our everyday life.
According to Margaret Roberts, the author of Healing Foods, processed foods hold little to no nutritional value. Instead, the foods endanger our health with high levels of sugar, salt, preservatives, additives, and saturated fats. This means that all of the carbonated drinks, sweets, and snacks we consume exposes our bodies to these substances and impacts our health negatively.
However, we can change our eating habits by drinking more water and including foods that nourishes our bodies. Unprocessed, raw and fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains all form part of a healthy diet. These foods are high in vitamins, antioxidants and high in fiber. By switching out refined foods for healthier options, we can boost our immunity.
Boosting your immune system with your diet
In many cultures food is regarded as medicine – and only recently the same idea is starting to emerge in modern Western society. Recently, Harvard Chan School of Public Health, published a study in 2017 proving that the lack of nutrients in our system effects the way our immune system functions, and how it defends our bodies. According to the study, certain nutritious foods can assist our immune systems by providing antioxidants, supporting cell growth and producing antibodies.
“Each one of the substances in a man’s diet, acts upon his body and changes it in some way, and upon these changes his whole life depends, whether he be in health, in sickness or convalescent”.
Hippocrates
Some of the foods we can incorporate into our diets to boost our immune system are:
- Avocado
- Spinach
- Apples
- Dates
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Almonds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Brown rice
- Oats
These foods can be found in virtually any supermarket, or you can also start your own vegetable and herb garden to have easier access to fresh produce.
If the saying “you are what you eat”, is true, we can start being healthier by eating healthier. By adding fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet and limiting processed foods, humans can prevent certain diseases and live healthier lifestyles. The choice to live healthier and to maintain healthier habits is solely yours.
Briza has a wide collection of books, by Margaret Roberts, author of Healing Foods, filled with her knowledge on herbal and food plants:
