Monique Richard, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist shares some key nutrients for supporting our immune system through foods. She also shares some easy ways to add more of certain vitamins to our diet. For more information, visit her website at www.EatRightRX.com.
Of course, American Heart Month. But we also want to protect and support our immune system as we roll through winter and then maneuver the season’s challenges Monae Richard, a registered dietician. Nutritionist is here to share some. >> Key nutrients for
Supporting our immune system. Good to have you on the Sharon. Good morning and good Monday morning. Great to be fun show, right? Out how it sounds like a also I love the message to I know, right? And that goes with watchers.
That’s really building up our immune system. Yes, supporting the foundational things. So again, American Heart Month, but also the things that are good for our heart. A good for immune system. >> Are good for our respiratory system are good
For endocrine system. So key nutrients that we talk a lot about. But a lot of these are found in combination in many foods packed. So we’ll start with vitamin C So right here is your vitamin So it’s going to reduce cold symptoms and
It’s going to reduce the number of days sick, but it may not prevent colds. So those people taking tons of vitamin C every day. >> Not a great thing because you can overdo it really? Yes. So some foods that are rich in
Vitamin C that maybe you wouldn’t think about green and red peppers baked potato >> and thinking about not overdoing it again. So 90 milligrams is what we need in a day. And the Max is 4,000 milligrams. So you can over
Saturate your body in a can actually reduce the efficiency of your immune system. So really good to know because you see a lot of those vitamin C czar. >> You know, towering touting the state’s huge numbers. Exactly. And interesting
Hours. Think of citrus. Yes, a lot of That’s why have the lemon. They think oranges, orange, orange juice. But again, lots of foods are very rich. She went think a big potato, but it’s a great source. Wonderful. and then those that do smoke, they’re
Going to need more vitamin C as well. So even though it’s a water, soluble vitamin and what your body uses, you excrete out, you still can overdo it. So I want to be clear to get that message out because since COVID, I’m
Seeing a lot of clients and patients overdue. Zinc and vitamin okay. And speaking up. Yeah. So let’s hop over dizzying. So zinc is going to possibly increase the speed of recovery of a cold but not necessarily the severe. A T
Okay. It’s good for are still going to be It exactly. Exactly. So it’s good again, protecting ourselves like vitamin C 8 to 11 miligrams is the recommendation. 40 miligrams as the max. Again, I’m seeing a lot of patients and clients overdoing. They’re
Saying and if you get too much, it can cause severe neurological problems. You don’t want that. >> Older folks out there. If you’re using a denture cream, you can get too much. Zinc is an ingredient. So you do want
To be careful about that. Wow. Yeah. Hey, good to know. And if you don’t have enough zinc, you might have a loss of taste and smell. >> So during COVID we saw a lot of that. has deficiency could lead to loss of taste
And smell so very important beings. Not fish. Oysters is a great source of But again, if you eat a variety of foods, you can generally meet that need. Okay. Without the supplement. Exactly. Alright. Next next, let’s go with vitamin so vitamin A is going
To it’s going to protect ourselves again. Really important and immune We have 2 sources of vitamin. A ones are pre source. You think of retinal. That’s a pretty source. Most of them come in a precursor so things that our body turns into active vitamin
A. So those are going to be things like Herat, annoyed like beta carotene is the most prominent So when we think of beta carotene, we think of carrots, we think of things that turn vegetables, orange, red, yellow. But broccoli is
Also very high source vitamin A Black Eyed Peas are high sweet potatoes. So down there, I have a sweet potato and a purple sweet potato. Those are very high. In vitamin A so again, if you have a variety in our eating all of these
Foods, you generally can meet most of your needs. So you’re multitasking exactly that one You’re getting a few getting it right. Different things And those with celiac disease or expression, Lee, having a lot of diary RG I upset maybe vitamin a deficient and you
Can have too much vitamin A is. Well, it’s fat soluble. So it gets toward so again. Check with your dietician, your healthcare team and make sure that you’re not taking too much. Okay. Good to know. And then over here by the money,
Yes, Vitamin E is another one that protects ourselves as an antioxidant helps fight infections widens. Blood cells, so good for heart health as well. It’s going to be in seed seed oils, green vegetables. Again, your broccoli spinach, leafy greens, 15 milligrams is the
Recommendation for day and a lot of these will interact with medications. So if you’re taking a staten for heart health, blood pressure medication, any of these medications can react with supplements again. Talk to your pharmacist, your dietician, your healthcare
Team to know what’s going to work for you. I’ve always heard that. If you can get it through your food, it is bad. It is best. Yeah. And and again, people are complaining about how expensive food as but yet they’re spending a lot
On supplements and supplements are not So if you can get the other benefits like you said, multitasking, that’s going to be better. So put your dollars in produce. All right. And then Omega threes up there in the Guthrie’s, again, protecting your fossil if it’s
With just a fancy word for yourself, membrane. And so really, that’s going to help again the integrity of your immune system. So if you’re a fish eat you can think of the acronym, smash salmon mackerel. >> Anchovies. Sardines. Herring. So they can provide
Vitamin D and Omega threes in. If you’re not so much fish, then you can do flaxseeds chia seeds and a variety of seeds. That also algae seaweed also has make a 3 fatty acids sites and just are those in your smoothies. And he got we’re
Out of time. Any other quick tips? >> Again, even variety and don’t rely just on supplements to think that it’s going to do everything that food does. All right. Great information. We’re going to give everybody a website for more each right
Are acts dot com. That’s a link to her
