5 Superfoods that Will Boost Your Immune System

By
Ben S
-
Photo by Mike Kenneally on Unsplash

As we enter the cold and flu seasons, try cooking as much as possible with these 5 superfoods to boost your immune system.

Chia Seeds

These little seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and provide twice as much protein as other seeds. They can be used in salads, creamy puddings or mixed in yogurt.

Garlic

Garlic is packed full of antioxidants which strengthens the body’s natural defenses. If consumed regularly, it can also improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

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The garlic is planted! The potatoes are dug. The compost is heaped and cooking. The early spring bed is edged and top dressed with compost. And the gardeners are sore and exhausted today. The weather this weekend precipitated a massive push to check many things off our fall task list. And I’m so glad we did just that, as 1.5” of rain dumped overnight, a welcome relief from our unseasonably dry season. I haven’t purchased garlic in two years; we bought Music and German Red hardneck and Italian Late softneck seed garlic to plant that year. The softneck was not repeated because I ran out of time (read: motivation) to plant it last fall. We planted about 75 cloves of our hardneck last fall, and they grew really well. These are the biggest and best cloves and they all went into the ground last night. Pictured here in a 12-year old hand is one of our largest Music cloves, which is a variety known for massive cloves. I planted out 100 cloves, which will allow us to generously give some away next fall. Homegrown garlic is one of my favorite housewarming gifts to give, especially to non-gardeners who’ve never tasted homegrown. Here’s how I prepare my garlic bed for planting, sometime in fall before the ground freezes solid (I often don’t plant mine until closer to November here in zone 4): 1. Weed, edge and add 2-3” of compost to the top of the bed. 2. Using a measuring tape, I dig all the holes, 6” apart in rows spaced 9-12”. I offset the rows so the garlic is spaced diagonally between rows, giving them at least 6” on center between each plant. 3. We add a few tablespoons of slow release organic fertilizer to each hole and mix in as I set the clove tip up a good 4” deep. I don’t measure the depth, but because I consider the compost our mulch, I make sure I bury the clove good few inches below that. 4. Cover each hole with soil, compost, and water in. 5. We use top dressed compost as our mulch so don’t add any other mulch on top, though if you have straw, leaf mulch, or the like you certainly can add it. Next spring we will broadcast fertilize once in spring, and then let them do their thing.

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Ginger

Ginger reduces inflammation, relieves pain, and helps reduce nausea. You can cook with it in curries and stir-fries, or add it to drinks, teas or soups.

Goji Berries

This superfood contains high levels of vitamin C, B vitamins, amino acids, essential fatty acids, as well as minerals, and trace elements. They can be eaten as a healthy snack, drunk as a smoothie or sprinkled on your oats in the morning to give your immune system that extra boost.

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The last berries to harvest this season are the goji berries. We have just one 3 year old bush and this is the 2nd year we’ve gotten berries from it. They don’t ripen all at once so I usually pick them a couple times a week. There’s still lots of green ones left to ripen. It’s got a different kind of growth habit than other berries. It has long bendy branches that bend down nearly to the ground and it’s right near a pathway which is not ideal. It gets pruned heavily during the winter and I’m considering moving it but where I’m not sure yet. . #gojiberries #sweetlifeberry #freshberries #freshgoji #bowlofberries #superfoods #pnwberries #berryseason #growberries #homegrownberries #pnwgardening #berryharvest #growsomethingred #healthyfood

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Blueberries

Blueberries are packed full of vitamin C and potassium which strengthen the immune system, reduce inflammation, and protect against disease. Eat as a snack, in smoothies, or sprinkled over muesli.