The cells in your immune system are like an army that protects your body against disease. Whether your body is fighting a virus, bacteria or cancer cells, your immune system serves as your body’s first line of defense. It is your immune cells that seek out and attack cancer and disease cells.
Since an army marches on its stomach, it’s important to feed your immune system fighters well. To keep your immune system in peak fighting shape, a Mediterranean diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables with an emphasis on fish and lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy oils is generally recommended today.
Boost Your Immune System
- Fresh fruits and vegetables contain important vitamins, antioxidants and micronutrients that feed the body’s immune system. For a healthy immune system, make citrus fruits, berries, carrots, tomatoes and cruciferous vegetables part of your daily diet.
- Fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids help fuel a healthy immune system. Omega 3 rich fish include salmon, sardines, mackerel, black cod, anchovies, albacore tuna, rainbow trout, and halibut.
- Dairy products fortified with vitamin D. Vitamin D helps regulate cell growth and may impact the growth of cancer cells. For extra benefit, choose dairy products that contain some fat. Dairy fat helps the body absorb carotenoids, antioxidants in vegetables that have been linked to good immune system health. Triple your immune boost by eating yogurt which contains probiotics in addition to dairy fat and vitamin D.
At Issels Integrative Oncology, nutritional immunotherapy to improve immune system function is offered as part of our immunobiologic core cancer treatment program. Contact us today to learn how integrative immunotherapy can benefit your cancer treatment plan.