Getting Sick? Stay Home and Eat These Immune Boosting Foods

We were recently interviewing interns. One candidate came in, shook our hands, sat down and proceeded to take one of those repulsive, slurpy sniffs. “I didn’t want to cancel but I’m not feeling well” was her opener. She was smart and qualified but I couldn’t finish fast enough to wash my hands. I’m not such a germophobe, much more of a sickaphobe.

Some who are sick may be in denial or even tell sick, little lies. Whenever I hear allergies or food poisoning I can’t help but wonder if it’s really a head cold or stomach virus. Who wants to confess to that when they’re breathing all over you? If you're reading this feeling sick contemplating going to work or whether or not to break plans I say don’t be a martyr; keep your germs to yourself, stay home. And as a thank you gift for doing so, here are all the foods you should eat to feel better.

Germ Riddance Smoothie

Blend this puppy up whenever you think you’re coming down with something or if you’re feeling sickaphobic. Whey protein and every single ingredient (other than the stevia is immune boosting.

Tera’s Whey Protein

1 cup frozen fruit (strawberries, peaches, pineapple or kiwi)

1 handful kale (only if in high powered blender club)

1 tsp. Coconut oil

4 ounces almond milk

Few slivers fresh, peeled ginger root- few slivers fresh ginger root or use a couple ounces Ginger Fireball juice from Juice Press

Shake of Cinnamon

Nu stevia
Note: if you use fresh fruit you'll need some ice cubes

Mid morning: 2 cups or more of White Tea. White tea is the best immune boosting tea and a killer of bacteria and viruses- love that.

Lunch: Miso Soup  and Salmon

This miso recipe from Whole Foods is the warm equivalent of the smoothie below.

Note, if gluten free some miso has barley derivatives. I like the South River miso.

Have some poached salmon in addition to the soup. Omega 3’s boost immunity by increasing phagocyte action. Think of these white blood cells as bacteria traps.

Mid Afternoon: either Kefir  or Siggis drinkable yogurt or green juice for infection ammunition

My kids have kefir most mornings and love the Evolve brand; I also like Nancy’s.

Dinner: Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Chicken is good for immune system due to zinc content. There’s also an amino acid released as chicken cooked that’s similar to a bronchitis drug (not incredibly appetizing information but according to the University of Nebraska, it’s true). Garlic contains sulfur-based components that are both antibacterial and antifungal.

So there you have the best foods to keep you healthy. The worst things for your immune system are sugar, inadequate (less than 7 hours per night) sleep and, as we spoke about a couple of weeks ago, lying. So the next time you’re tempted to sniff the day away and call it “allergies”…think twice.

Are you a sickaphobe? What do you do when you think you're coming down with something? Have you ever told a "sick" lie?

Foodtrainers' Favorite Probiotic

At Foodtrainers, we love delicious food but we love a good story even more (truth be told we would rather not chose between great food and great stories). Siggi's yogurt or “skyr” has a great story behind it. I first met Siggi about two years ago. After inquiring about the delicious, agave-sweetened, beautifully packaged, orange ginger creation I was obsessed with, we set up a meeting. It was then I heard this story that started with Siggi’s dislike for the yogurts here in the U.S. when he came from Iceland. He started testing his family recipes for “skyr” and went into Whole Foods with a backpack of product and well...the rest is history.

Siggi’s skyr is a huge success and they have a new product, a probiotic drink. I adore the plain but there are fruit flavors too. I asked Siggi a few questions about these little bottles. It's hard to tell in the photo but these cute bottles are a couple of inches tall, shot glass size. They are low in calories and fantastic for you.

How did the drinkable probiotic come about? 

Our skyr yogurt had been on the market for a while when our customers started asking for a probiotic drink. We looked around us and didn’t see any products of this type that were low in sugar and without artificial sweeteners so we decided to go for it!

How can you tell a good probiotic product from an imposter? 

The best probiotic products give you full information about not only the type but also the particular strain of probiotic cultures they use. They also guarantee you a certain number of these strains per serving. This way there is full transparency about what you are getting. To put it simply, you can Google the probiotic strain and find all the information you can about it.

What does “10 billion” on your label tell us? 

It tells us that each serving of the product has at least 10 billion of the good bacteria, Lactobacillus Acidophilus per serving. This is an important number since most of the time these types of cultures only exert their positive effective if they are present and consumed in sufficient numbers.

Anything we should know about specific cultures in the probiotic shot? 

Siggi’s drinkable yogurts contain a well-documented strain of Lactobacillus Acidophilus, called NCFM, which was discovered 30 years ago by researchers at North Carolina State University.  It is one of the best-known and most researched strains of probiotics. Research indicates that consuming it in sufficient doses, regularly, may help digestion and improve immunity.

Who should drink this? Any specific populations?

Anybody really…although if anyone should look into it more than others it should be people who have been taking antibiotics since antibiotics kill not only the bad bacteria in the body but also the good one so they need to refresh the flora of good bacteria.

Can this be blended in a smoothie? 

Of course. Our drinkable yogurts make a great addition to any smoothie; here at our office we sometimes make one that has mango, pineapple, 1 plain Siggi’s drinkable probiotic yogurt, one cup plain Siggi’s skyr and ginger.

Some people who don't digest dairy well can eat yogurt, why is this? 

This can be true for yogurt that contains live active cultures. When yogurt with live active cultures is digested, the cultures convert lactose to lactic acid; hence the yogurt might be better tolerated due to lower lactose content than milk or yogurt without live cultures.

Have you tried Siggi’s? Do you consume probiotics via yogurt or a supplement? What’s your favorite new food or food product?

Flu-flighting Food

Whether you’re pro flu shot or against, whether you lean toward the swine flu shot or the regular flu shot it’s hard to escape the concern over this season’s bugs. Rather than panicking about the flu, why not take action to keep yourself and your family healthy? After all, the best defense may be to protect yourself from the inside out. We’ve found, on our Market Foodtraining tours, participants are very curious about natural flu-fighters, so we’re sharing our 4 favorites:

1. White Tea
Everyone knows about black tea and more recently green tea but if you’re interested in immunity white tea is your beverage. White tea is much less processed than green tea and this results in a higher antioxidant content; white tea is a better bacteria and virus fighter than other teas. It’s also lower in caffeine and less bitter than green tea. Do not add milk to your tea though, casein a protein in milk binds to some of the phytochemicals and makes the tea less effective. Try for 2-4 cups a day. I love the Republic of Tea  and Harney brands.

2. Red Bell Peppers
Chances are when you think of foods high in Vitamin C you think citrus fruits. Red peppers actually have more than double the Vitamin C of a large orange. Vitamin C is important because it increases levels of interferon. Interferon is an antibody that coats cell surfaces (think of it like cell armor) preventing the entry of viruses. Vitamin C is also found in broccoli, parsley, kiwi and melon. Aim for 2 fruits and 2 vegetables per day as many fruits and vegetables contain Vitamin C.

3. Pumpkin Seeds
If you still have your pumpkins, do not toss the seeds. Pumpkin seeds are loaded with zinc. Zinc is needed to make the immune system’s t cells and zinc increases our number of white blood cells. Zinc is actually not common in many fruits and vegetables so you can eat a healthy diet and not get enough zinc. Zinc is abundant in many animal foods so vegetarians, in particular, need to seek out sources of zinc. Oysters, crab and legumes are other non-meat zinc sources.
If you are pumpkin-less you can purchase pumpkin seeds, I really like a brand called Gerbs.

4. Yogurt and Kefir
Yogurt and Kefir contain probiotics. Probiotics are good bacteria that live in our intestines and support our immune systems. Our digestive tract is actually our largest immune organ and what goes on in there is a good indication of what is going on with your immunity in general. Probiotics occur in other naturally fermented foods such as sauerkraut, natural pickles and miso.Look for yogurts with lactobacillus or bifidobacteria on the ingredient panel, there’s also a great kid’s product called Pro Bugs.

And finally watch alcohol and sugar, each of these makes you more vulnerable to the flu. As little as a couple of tablespoons of sugar can decrease immune function by 40 percent!

What are your favorite immune boosters? Any tricks you’d like to share?