How to Boost Your Immune System with a Plant-Based Diet

In an earlier short piece, Your Immune System−Defined, you gained insight into this crucially important system. How can you keep it in top form? As it happens, there are numerous ways to boost your immune system naturally, one of which is following a plant-based diet.

A plant-based diet emphasizes fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds. While both vegetarian and vegan diets would be called plant-based, the phrase also applies to menus that feature plant foods but also include some animal products. In other words, following a plant-based diet doesn’t require you to delete all animal products. Instead, it means eating mostly plant foods, which are the healthiest items we can consume.

One way that eating mainly plant foods boosts your immunity is by improving your nutritional well-being. Whole plant foods are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants, all of which help keep your cells healthy and your body in balance so that your immune system can function optimally.

Plant foods also help reduce chronic inflammation in your body by delivering high concentrations of antioxidants, polyphenols, and fiber, which neutralize free radicals, lower inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein (CRP), and promote a healthy gut microbiome.

Nor do plant foods contain the inflammatory triggers commonly found in red meat, processed meat, dairy, and lard, such as high levels of saturated fats, trans fats, and omega-6 fatty acids. These unhealthy food components can cause immediate, short-term inflammatory responses, such as increased inflammatory markers IL-6, as well as inducing endotoxemia (bacterial toxins entering the bloodstream).

Prolonged inflammation has been linked to cancer and other inflammatory diseases like arthritis, in part by damaging your body’s cells and tissues. Fortunately, a plant-based diet offers strong protection as it excludes many of the triggers to these diseases. If you’re ready to get strategic with your menu, check out the Top 10 Anti-Inflammatory Foods.