There are several other foods too that help boost immunity.

In case you are willing to bear the smell, garlic is a highly beneficial food as it helps fight infections. It is good idea to include crushed garlic in everyday cooking as much as possible.

In addition, just two raw cloves of garlic — in a salad or a chutney — is all it takes to get such benefit.

The Vitamin A/Carotene-rich foods provide our skin — the major organ of defence against infections —with adequate power.

Pumpkin, carrot and the ubiquitous kharbuja (cantaloupe) in this season is good for the skin’s defence system.

Zinc is a crucial mineral in the body’s defence and it has been found in well documented studies that even a mild deficiency of zinc can up your risk of infections.

Vegetarians can imbibe zinc from milk and yoghurt (low fat) and non-vegetarians can do so from red meats, pork, poultry and oysters. As zinc plays an important role in the development of the white blood cells (the fighter pilots of our body’s immune systems) vegetarians should take extra milk/yogurt to get enough amounts.

Another great food for boosting immunity through increased production of white blood cells is the mushroom. The Shiitake or the Maiitake variety provides the greatest punch.

Selenium can be imbibed through fish and shellfish —oysters, lobsters, crabs, clams. The role of selenium is production of proteins called cytokines, which, in turn, help clear out viruses from the body. Vegetarians could instead stock up on the good fats —Omega 3 fatty acids. The Omega 3 fats create the highest level of T-cells (the fighter pilots) and they also produce proteins that reduce inflammation — inteferron gamma cytokines.

... contd.