- Discover the top vitamins to help boost your immune system all year round
- Find ways to incorporate immune-boosting vitamins into your daily diet
- Find the best way to help your immune system stay strong
The Top Vitamins to Boost Your Immune System Year-Round
Much like a castle with impenetrable walls, warding against unwanted intruders, your immune system functions as a complex natural defense system. Composed of cells, tissues, and organs, it ensures your body stays healthy and disease-free. A recent research report suggests that a good way to strengthen your immune system is by implementing vitamins into your diet to keep you in tip-top shape all year round.
What Are Vitamins?
Vitamins are a subgroup of organic compounds known as micronutrients. Like a housemaid or butler, running around dusting lamps and cleaning windows, ensuring the house is in pristine condition, our bodies need vitamins to carry out simple metabolic processes that help keep us fully functioning.
While most of our vitamin intake should come from a balanced diet, a recent study conducted by Oregon State University found that 97% of Americans don’t adhere to a healthy lifestyle. Meaning, that a large majority of us are deficient in more than one area.
How to Help Your Immune System
While vitamin consumption of all 13 different vitamins is crucial to leading a healthy lifestyle, when it comes down to boosting your immune system, there are a couple you want to pay special attention to. The following vitamins play a crucial role in supporting and maintaining a strong immune system: Vitamin A, B6, B12, C, D, E, and K. Read on to learn more about their benefits and how to better integrate them into your daily diet.
Vitamin A
Importance of vitamin A:
- Boosts the immune system by helping fight diseases and infections.
- Promotes healthy skin.
- Helps with vision.
- Boosts cell reproduction and growth.
Food Sources:
- Animal Sources: Dairy, eggs, fish, organ meats (liver).
- Plant Sources: Orange and yellow fruits and veggies, as well as leafy green vegetables.
Vitamin B6
Importance of vitamin B6:
- Helps metabolism.
- Supports healthy brain and nerve function.
- Boosts your immune system by producing white blood cells.
- Assists in the formation of red blood cells.
- Regulates hormones.
Food Sources:
- Animal Sources: Eggs, fish, meat, poultry.
- Plant Sources: Bananas, chickpeas, spinach, potatoes, and walnuts.
Vitamin B12
Importance of vitamin B12:
- Helps with DNA synthesis.
- Aids in the creation of red blood cells.
- Supports the nervous system and proper brain function.
Food Sources:
- Animal Sources: Beef, poultry, pork, salmon, tuna, and shellfish.
- Dairy Products: Cheese, milk, and yogurt.
Vitamin C
Importance of vitamin C:
- Collagen production. This is important as collagen’s primary function is strengthening skin, blood vessels, and bones, which in turn help heal wounds.
- Antioxidant Properties.
- Helps absorb iron.
- Vitamin C fights infections through lymphocytes, which require vitamin C.
Food Sources:
- Fruits: Blackcurrants, grapefruits, kiwis, lemons, limes, mangoes, melon, oranges, strawberries, and tomatoes.
- Vegetables: Brussels sprouts, broccoli cabbage, capsicum, cauliflower spinach, lettuce, and potatoes.
Vitamin D
Importance of vitamin D:
- Healthy bones.
- Muscle movement.
- Boosts immune system functions.
Sources of Vitamin D:
- The sun.
- Physical activity.
Food Sources:
- Fish such as salmon, sardines, mackerel, and herring.
- Eggs.
- Margarine.
- Some types of milk such as whole milk.
- Non-dairy milk: almond, soy, oat, and rice milk.
Vitamin E
Importance of vitamin E:
- Antioxidant properties.
- Supports the immune system.
- Promotes healthy skin.
- Increases the production of antibodies.
Food Sources:
- Animal Sources: Meats (liver) and eggs.
- Plant Sources: Spinach and broccoli.
- Nuts and seeds: Almonds, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, and peanuts.
Vitamin K
Importance of Vitamin K:
- Promotes healthy bones.
- Helps heal wounds.
- Prevents blood clotting
Food Sources:
- Plant Sources: Spinach, kale, kiwi, and avocados.
Boost Your Health With a Multivitamin!
At Rock’s Discount Vitamins, we know choosing the best immune-boosting supplements can be complicated. With so many different options out there it can be difficult to narrow it down to just one. Lucky for you our large selection of premium quality multi-vitamins makes it easy. Visit us online or in person and boost your immune system today! With friendly staff committed to your wellness goals, we guarantee you will find the best multivitamin for your needs.
