When the warmer months fall behind us, it’s a great time to be proactive and start thinking about implementing strategies to influence our winter wellbeing.
A little effort early on, can really pay off later.
A well-nourished, well-rested body that moves regularly and laughs often is the most formidable health insurance policy. Treating our body with love, respect, kindness and sunshine on a daily basis can go a long way to bolstering resistance to infection and keeping inflammation low. It also helps ensure you have reserves in the bank so that if you do succumb to illness, you’re better equipped to make a speedy recovery because you have a healthy bank balance of nutrients from which to draw.
When it comes to immune-supportive nutrients, Vitamin C and zinc are superstars. They have both been shown to improve immune resilience and decrease the duration of cold and flu symptoms. Our body uses up these two crucial nutrients to support so many functions, including healing and repair, as drivers for many biochemical pathways, as well as helping to make the cells needed to gobble up infective organisms if they manage to get inside us. We also use them up abundantly in times of stress.
Our body doesn’t make or store vitamin C or excess zinc. It relies solely on what it obtains from the nutrients in the foods we choose to eat, and supplement, each day.
How can we get more zinc and vitamin C into our day?
One of the richest sources of dietary vitamin C is citrus fruits such as oranges, mandarins and lemons. Berries, such as blackcurrants and blueberries are also excellent sources of vitamin C. Cleverly, many of our seasonal fruits and vegetables that help to boost our vitamin C come into season as the weather cools and we transition into winter. Choosing foods when they’re in season means they will be at their peak of nutrient status and, will be freshest and less likely to have nutrient-loss from long storage.
Zinc is found in oysters, red meat, eggs, and there’s a small amount in some seeds, such as sunflower seeds. For anyone avoiding, or eating very little red meat, it’s important to ensure you’re regularly eating other foods that are high in zinc, as it’s critical for oodles of functions including ones involved in immunity, digestion and mood.
At Bio Blends, all of our products are entirely plant-based, sourced directly from nature – rather than synthetically made in a lab – because we believe your body knows what to do best with what nature creates. You can find zinc from organic guava leaves in Bio Blends Organic Zinc Extract and in Bio Blends Organic Daily Greens and Radiant Reds you’ll find blackcurrants, broccoli, dandelion, beetroot, wheatgrass and barley grass – real food, plant-based sources of vitamin C.
You might like to set yourself a reminder in your calendar every March (for Australia and New Zealand) to prompt you to focus on boosting your intake of immune-supportive foods and nutrients, to help set you, and your family up with the inner resources we all need for potent defence throughout the winter months and beyond.
It’s never too late to make more choices that support you having a healthy bank balance of nutrients to draw from all year round.
