fbpx

Supporting your immunity for PCOS

Posted on by jessdrmmnd

We are all worried about our immune systems right now and nutrition is a powerful (and enjoyable) way of supporting the body to be as strong as it can be. There are a lot of claims about foods that boost immunity online, but not all of them are backed up by studies.

These 4 foods are supported by evidence to significantly boost your immune system and are good for us PCOS ladies as well:

  1. Extra virgin olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil contains amazing bioactives that support your immune system such as oleocanthal, oleic acid and hydroxytyrosol. By substituting other oils or fats in your diet with olive oil, you can increase the amount of T-cells your body produces. T cells are like the soldiers of the immune system. An additional benefit of olive oil is that it reduces inflammation in the body. 

Aim to use olive oil instead of butter and other oils.

  1. White button mushrooms

Button mushrooms contain a special type of fibre which feeds healthy bacteria in your gut. The micro biome then stimulates the immune system to kick into gear and more antibodies are made.

Aim for 100g per day.

  1. Broccoli sprouts

Broccoli is high in the bioactives sulphoraphanes, but in it’s sprouting form, the amount of sulphoraphanes are 100 fold! Eating these regularly could significantly increase your Natural Killer T cells, which kill off any invaders.

Aim for 50-60g per day.

4. Chilli

The key bioactive in chilli is Capsaicin which activates the immune systems and increases white blood cells and the B cells that produce antibodies. 

Aim for 1/5 of a chilli per person to get a good dose. Or more if you can handle it!

REFERENCES:

Müller L1,2, Meyer M3, Bauer RN1,4, Zhou H5, Zhang H5, Jones S1, Robinette C1, Noah TL, Jaspers I. Effect of Broccoli Sprouts and Live Attenuated Influenza Virus on Peripheral Blood Natural Killer Cells: A Randomized, Double-Blind Study.PLoS One. 2016 Jan 28;11(1):e0147742. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147742. eCollection 2016.

Jeong SC1, Koyyalamudi SR, Pang G. Dietary intake of Agaricus bisporus white button mushroom accelerates salivary immunoglobulin A secretion in healthy volunteers. Nutrition. 2012 May;28(5):527-31. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2011.08.005. Epub 2011 Nov 23.

Mitra Rozati, Junaidah Barnett, Dayong Wu, Garry Handelman, Edward Saltzman, Thomas Wilson, Lijun Li,Junpeng Wang, Ascensión Marcos, José M. Ordovás, Yu-Chi Lee, Mohsen Meydani, and  Simin Nikbin Meydani. Cardio-metabolic and immunological impacts of extra virgin olive oil consumption in overweight and obese older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2015; 12: 28. Published online 2015 Aug 7Meri P Nantz, 

 

Yu R, Park JW, Kurata T, Erickson KL. Modulation of select immune responses by dietary capsaicin.Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 1998;68(2):114-9.

Leave a Reply

);