Foods to support the immune system: part 2

Sweet Potato Salad at My story in Recipes

Fresh vegetables strengthen your immune system naturally with immune-boosting vitamins.

Virtually every fresh vegetable is good to include in your diet if you suffer from autoimmune disease. It’s absolutely crucial that you maintain a well balanced diet when you have chronic illness to ensure you are getting all the nutrients you need. So whether you are in a flare or feeling okay you need to eat for optimum nutrition. You may feel this is difficult when you are having a low energy day but if you have some washed spinach and some left over roasted or baked sweet potato you can make a meal to support your immune system.

The beta carotene in spinach and sweet potato, transforms into vitamin A, which triggers your immune response to keep you well.

Spinach and sweet potato are 2 of my go to veggies and I am so pleased they are packed full of Vitamin A and fibre.

Other info about these immune system supporting foods:

Spinach:

• prevents cancer and heart disease 
• is rich in the mineral zinc 
• contains vitamin C that helps fight infection 
• has B vitamins that give you energy

Sweet potato:

• contains beta-carotene which your body turns into vitamin A which plays a major role in the production of connective tissue, a key component of skin 
• high in vitamin A, C and E 
• high in potassium

Spinach and sweet potato just happen to work so well together in many recipes and the flavours combine well with parmesan cheese, feta cheese, chick peas or other cooked beans and roasted nuts and seeds such as pine nuts and sunflower seeds.

Some recipes that use both spinach and sweet potato together:
Sweet Potato Salad at My story in Recipes
Roasted Sweet Potato and Feta Salad at Leite's Culinaria
Sweet potato fennel salad at Easy Healthy Recipes for kids
Kumera, Roast Tomato & Pine Nut Salad at Soul Kitchen

You might also like to read my previous post on this topic Foods to support the immune system: part 1