Strengthen Your Immunity: Spotlight on Vitamin C

The short answer is we should all be eating for immune health ALL THE TIME. Choosing real food naturally feeds your good gut bacteria, which is the bulk of our immune systems. Also, whole and homemade foods strengthen your virus-fighting army.

It doesn’t need to be time consuming or hard. Eating for immune health can simply mean throwing together colorful, old-fashioned ingredients for a nutritious meal.

Our food lends us LOTS of goodness, but for simplicity’s sake I’d like to focus on just one big do-gooder. Vitamin C without a doubt does help strengthen your immunity. If you’ve not been making the best food choices—there’s no time like the present to turn that around.

Best Vitamin C Food Sources 

Food                                                 mg per svg                  % Recommended Daily

Bell Peppers red, ½ cup                  95                                          106

Oranges, 1 med                               70                                           78

Kiwi, 1 med                                       64                                           71

Broccoli, ½ cup cooked                   51                                           57

Strawberries, ½ cup                        49                                            54

Brussels Sprouts, ½ cup cooked   48                                            53

Cantaloupe, ½ cup                           29                                            32

Cabbage, ½ cup cooked                  28                                            31

Cauliflower, ½ cup raw                    26                                            29

Potato, 1 medium baked                17                                            19

Tomato, 1 medium raw                  17                                            19

Spinach, ½ cup cooked                     9                                            10

Source: USDA nutrient chart

Breakfast Ideas

1. Shake with unsweetened nut milk, strawberries, protein powder, cinnamon and hemp seeds
2. Egg muffins with spinach, tomato and mushrooms
3. Egg frittata with roasted cauliflower and potato with cilantro

Lunch Ideas

1. Tomato soup and salad
2. Roasted cauliflower soup with salad
3. Baked stuffed red pepper with quinoa, onion, ground beef, parsley

Dinner Ideas

1. Cauliflower tabbouleh with baked salmon
2. Roasted Brussels with chicken skewers (chicken, onion, peppers)
3. Beef and broccoli over cauliflower rice

Snack Ideas

1. Orange with a handful of nuts
2. Kiwi with a handful of nuts
3. Strawberries with a handful of nuts

• Yummy Egg Cup Inspiration
• Delicious Tomato Soup
• Fabulous Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup
• Italian-Inspired Stuffed Peppers (leave out cheese for no-dairy..really, you don’t need it)
• So Good Cauli-Tabbouleh
• Decadent Brussels Sprouts with Garlic, Onion and Bacon
• Beautiful Beef and Broccoli