Are There Any Mexican Foods That Can Boost Your Immune System?

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Are there any Mexican foods that can boost your immune system? This is JJ Virgin, four time New York Times bestselling author, celebrity nutrition expert, and fitness fitness hall of Famer. I've been on a lifelong quest for answers to the toughest health questions, and now I'm sharing what I found with you. Welcome to Ask the Health Expert. Kari from my Facebook group asks, are there any Mexican foods that can boost your immune system? Hey, it's jj. I've got the perfect person to answer this question. My pal, health coach and healthy Mexican food chef, Maru Davilat. So Maru was born in Mexico City, and then she came to the US to go to Harvard, both undergrad and B school. A few of her many business ventures included co founding two banks, two in San Diego. And then she made this big career change because she realized she seemed to turn her health around. So she started competing in triathlons and she learned to cook at age 40. Now she's known as the healthy Mexican food chef. And her healthy Mexican food recipes are literally so delicious that you feel like you're cheating. In fact, one of my favorites. You're not gonna believe this is guacamole ice cream. Yep, it's a thing. And trust me, you want this.

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You bet there are. JJ Mexican Cuisine when you prepare it healthy like I do, it can be the best way to boost your immune system and as the secondary or primary benefit, you'll be satisfying your taste buds. JJ Keeping My Immune System Strong with the Power Food is my obsession in case you haven't noticed, because seven years ago I found myself in a very bad situation. I was overweight, depressed and continuously sick. I would catch any cold that came my way and then I would stay sick for several weeks until the cold became a full blown sinus infection and I always ended up with antibiotics. I was also hospitalized twice for severe kidney infections. As you can guess, my immune system was not able to protect me and with the recurring antibiotics it only got worse. I did not know at the time that antibiotics were destroying my gut and that this would keep making my immune system weaker because you of course know that between 70 to 80% or more of your body's immune cells live in the gu. So this was like I was in a bad situation and when no doctor could give me a permanent solution, I just got tired of taking medicines and decided to go back to school. I needed to learn how I could use food to heal. I am so grateful jj. I did this because I have not gotten sick in five years. Well, let me correct I did catch two colds but they lasted only two days and I did not need any medicine. I also know why I got them. I had been sleeping very little on both occasions because I Was working on deadlines for my book. Anyway, I started searching for superfoods which would help my gut heal and strengthen my immune system. And to my surprise, I found that Mexican recipes, the food I grew up with, use some of the most powerful immune boosting and gut healing foods, among many other benefits. Because I think Mexican food is great for everything. For weight loss, for detoxification. But let's focus on immune boosting and review some of my favorite foods. We will start with one of the most well known, of course, hot peppers. Everybody thinks about hot peppers for Mexican food. They promote your natural defenses against infections. They contain a substance called capsaicin, which is responsible for their heat and for many other health benefits that they provide. One of its function is to break up mucus congestion in nose and lungs. Hot peppers are also a better source of vitamin C than most citrus fruits. I bet you didn't know that, or maybe you do. You know everything. But one single small green pepper provides you with almost two times your daily requirement of these important vitamins that is so essential for our immune system. They also have a high level of the antioxidant beta carotene, which contributes to their ability to support the immune system. And they're especially good to protect you from colds and flu. I use hot peppers in everything. Now. If you don't like spice, you can choose the milder versions like jalapeno. And to make it even less spicy, which for me it looks like almost non spicy. And how do I know it's because I give them to my young daughter and she doesn't perceive them. What you do is you just remove the seeds as a bonus. Jj, Hot peppers are also great to boost your metabolism so you can burn more fat. And they also help you reduce cravings and appetite so you can eat less. The ways to eat them, it's just very easy. You can add them raw to everything. You can roast them, you can saute them, you can blend them. My second favorite is something we use in almost every Mexican dish, which is I'm going to combine them. Garlic and onion. It's just they are powerful for keeping our immune system strong. It is very well known that garlic has strong medicinal properties. It is very well known and documented that garlic has strong medicinal properties. In fact, it was used as a medicine in old times and it is very good for killing bacteria and viruses. I like to say always a garlic a day keeps the doctor away. Now it could also keep some of your friends away, right? But I personally like garlic, so I try to have More garlic loving friends than not. Garlic also has very strong antioxidants that as you know, will reduce the oxidative stress and inflammation key for a strong immune system. Now onion has similar attributes, but I want to emphasize its benefit for gut health. Onions are rich in fiber and prebiotics that can increase the number of good bacteria in your gut and improve immune function. And just like garlic, they have antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties. They have a compound that has shown to inhibit the activity of specialized white blood cells that can trigger large scale inflammatory responses. And so as how to use it, you will find it just, you know, in most sauces and in all cooked dishes. I just use it for everything. Whether Mexican or not, we add cooked onion and garlic to everything. The third one I love is jicama. Jicama is like the sweet potato from Mexico. It is a fabulous vegetable to include in your weekly meals. It is crunchy and juicy. I just love, love it. And it, it has a very sweet and naughty flavor. It is most known in its raw form. Probably you eat it all the time as a snack. But I have to tell you that when you roast them or even when you have it as puree, it is delicious. Jicama is loaded with a variety of nutrients with high levels of antioxidants, especially vitamin C and high in fiber elements that we need for a strong immune system. Jicam. I want to mention that it contains high levels of a prebiotic fiber called inulin which has shown to increase the number of good bacteria in your gut and decrease the bad ones. You very well know that healthier microbiome will make your immune system stronger and your weight loss efforts easier. My fourth favorite food is pumpkin seeds or pepitas like we call them in Mexico. These are small seeds packed with nutrients and they provide you with high levels of important antioxidants, especially vitamin E, which is good to strengthen your immune system. They are also a good source of zinc which supports the also the immune system. I eat them, you know, frequently as a snack. I add them to my chia pudding or coconut yogurt. You can make moles and dips. You can roast them, you can add them to your smoothie. So multiple ways to add these powerful seed fifth element. Also very well linked to Mexico Mexicans are beans. Beans I love. Of course they're plant based protein. But they're also high in resistant starch which feeds the friendly bacteria in your gut and can trigger the production of short chain fatty acids. These type of acids are essential for a healthy gut which as we've been mentioning is is the base for a strong immune system. So eating beans is also very easy. You can make soups, you can eat them in a you can make dips or hummus, or you can even make desserts. Lots of creative ways. 6 I love Chia seeds. They're very small but powerful for your immune system. They're great sources of energy and they support your brain health. Specifically mentioned, they are high in omega 3s that help reduce inflammation and keep your immune system in check. I eat them as a pudding, I prepare lemonades with them, or I add them to salads and smoothies. And I also make yummy breast with it. You would love it. And last but not least, let me talk about lime. I grew up adding lime to everything. Just like every other Mexican, we just really we add lemon and lime. Lime actually, because that's what we have more in Mexico. To everything. We add them to soups, of course, guacamole, we make lemonades, we add them to veggies, to proteins. I don't know. You name it, we add it. So for me, it's very easy to stay on top of my vitamin C, which limes and lemons have high levels of. It is also high in other antioxidants that will strengthen your immune system and help you fight off infections and viruses. They could also shorten the duration of any incident and maybe even prevent it. As you can see, this is a wide variety. You can include them every day. So I support Mexican food to boost your immune system every day and any day.

This is cheerful. JJ with Ask the Health Expert. I do this five times a week, so make sure you never miss a show by going to subscribetojay.com.

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