A complete collection of immunity-boosting recipes

High-quality protein accounts for 1/3 of each meal, enough fruits and vegetables of different colors for half a catty, and less highly processed seasonings and additives. As for what to eat and how to match it, it all depends on your physique, taste and budget. There is no need to copy the "weekly immunity meal" of Internet celebrities.

I really didn’t make this up, I came up with it after going through many pitfalls in adjusting my family’s diet in the past two years. Last year, my child just entered kindergarten and had an average of 2 colds per month. My dad had been weak for more than two months after recovering from yang. He tried various immunity recipes advertised on the Internet: eating a sea cucumber every day made my dad have a nosebleed, and eating boiled vegetables for a week until I felt nauseous when I saw green vegetables. I didn’t spend less money, and my immunity didn’t improve. On the contrary, the whole family’s appetite dropped a lot.

The most controversial thing about immunity meals on the Internet right now is nothing more than "should I buy expensive ingredients?" One group says that you must eat cordyceps, bird's nests, and sea cucumbers to be effective, while the other group says that ordinary ingredients will do, and the more expensive ones are IQ tax. In fact, both sides are reasonable: if you have enough budget and are not allergic to these ingredients, the sea cucumber polysaccharide in sea cucumbers and the sialic acid in bird's nests can indeed help your immunity. ； But if you have a limited budget, there is no need to make do with it. The Dietary Guidelines for Residents issued by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention clearly states that the protein bioavailability of eggs can reach 94%, which is higher than 80% of sea cucumbers. Two eggs a day plus a cup of 300ml of pure milk will have a much stronger protein supplement effect than if you only eat sea cucumbers once a week.

There is no fixed menu at all for the meals I cook for my family now, I just make whatever I want. For those of us who usually have to go to work, we can’t wait to have a meal in 10 minutes when we get home from work. What I make most often is mixed vegetable baked eggs: beat 3 eggs, add half a handful of chopped spinach, 3 sliced ​​mushrooms, 4 halved tomatoes, sprinkle with a small handful of mozzarella cheese, bake it in the air fryer at 160 degrees for 10 minutes, and you only need to wash the pot. The fungal polysaccharides in mushrooms can help increase the activity of immune cells. The vitamin C in cherry tomatoes can promote iron absorption. The cheese also supplements calcium and protein. It is delicious and easy to eat. It is much more comfortable than chewing cold vitamin tablets.

If there are elderly people at home or people with weak stomachs after illness, don’t listen to people’s advice to drink old hen soup, which is a great tonic. This is another controversial point that has been quarreling for a long time: some people say that the soup is the most tonic, while others say that the soup is full of purines and is useless. In fact, it depends on the stage: when the fever has just subsided and you have no appetite, drinking a bowl of clear chicken soup skimmed with oil can quickly replenish water and a small amount of amino acids, which is really comfortable. ； But if you can already eat normally and only drink soup without eating meat, then it is really better to drink a glass of milk. When my dad was in Yangkang, I would stew lean meat soup with yam, lotus seeds and glutinous rice for him: mince the lean meat into puree, cut the yam into small cubes with an iron rod, soak the lotus seeds and glutinous rice for 2 hours in advance, put it all into the stew pot and simmer for 1.5 hours. Just sprinkle a little salt on it when it comes out of the pot. It is not oily at all. Drinking it will warm your stomach. Chinese medicine says this recipe strengthens the spleen. Only a good spleen and stomach can withstand diseases. ； In Western medicine, it is said that the intestines and stomach are the largest immune organ of the human body. Reducing the burden on the intestines and stomach is to help the immunity. The opinions of the two schools are actually consistent here. My dad drank it for half a month, and his problem of wheezing after walking for two steps gradually improved.

It’s even easier to make for children. Don’t force them to eat supplements that they don’t like. My baby didn’t like vegetables the most before, so I chopped the cod into puree, added chopped carrots and broccoli, added a little corn starch and kneaded it into small balls. When cooking noodles and soup, I threw a few of them in. He didn’t have to chase after each bite. The Omega3 in it can help reduce inflammation, and the beta carotene in carrots can supplement vitamin A and help repair the respiratory mucosa, making it less likely for viruses to take advantage of it. Of course, if your child is allergic to seafood, you can switch to chicken breast or pork tenderloin instead of imported cod.

By the way, don’t be too dogmatic about immunity meals. What if you just want to eat hot pot today? No problem at all. Choose a clear soup pot, cook more fresh beef, various mushrooms, and green leafy vegetables, eat less processed fat beef rolls and meatballs with a lot of additives, and drink less iced carbonated drinks. This hot pot is still a qualified immunity meal. Enjoying the meal is more important than anything else. If you eat boiled vegetables every day, you will feel bad and your immunity will not improve.

Oh, by the way, there is another pitfall that many people step on: they think that the more vitamin C the better, so they take several effervescent tablets every day. In fact, if you eat half a catty of strawberries or two kiwis, it is enough vitamin C for one day. If you supplement too much, it will cause diarrhea, which is simply not worth the loss.

After all, immunity is something that can’t be built up by just eating a few special meals. Even if you stay up until three o’clock every day, eating sea cucumbers every now and then will be of no use. The recipe is just a helper. Eat a balanced and comfortable meal, get enough sleep, and move appropriately. It’s better than any internet celebrity recipe.