100 Ways to Boost Your Immune System. Theresa Cheung

improve concentration. But before you pour yourself another cup, experts say it’s important to remember coffee’s main ingredient, caffeine, is a drug and not a nutrient necessary for good health, such as vitamins and minerals. Caffeine can also dehydrate you and leach important immune-boosting nutrients, such as bone-boosting calcium, out of your body. In fact, too much caffeine may also lead to health problems, such as high blood pressure, brittle bones, sleep disorders and just plain irritability.

      You don’t have to stop drinking coffee altogether, but, if you are drinking more than three cups of coffee a day, you do need to cut it down to one or two cups. Here are some tips to make sure your coffee-drinking habits are healthy:

       When you drink your coffee, make sure you add an additional glass of water to your daily water intake per cup of coffee to avoid its dehydrating effects.

       Drinking one to three cups of coffee a day (up to 300 mg of caffeine) does not seem to have any negative effects in most healthy people. However, pregnant women, children, people with heart disease or peptic ulcers and the elderly may be more susceptible to the effects of caffeine, and are therefore advised to restrict their intake.

       Be aware that the caffeine content of coffee varies widely depending on roasting and brewing methods, as well as the size of the cup from which you’re drinking. For example, a recent study showed that a 475 ml (16 fl oz) cup of the house blend at a leading coffee chain had a massive average of 259 mg of caffeine.

       Put back some of those lost nutrients by adding two tablespoons of milk to your coffee or making your espresso a latte.

      Coffee is the main source of caffeine for many people, but other items, such as soft drinks, tea, chocolate, and cold and headache medicines also contain caffeine and can add substantially to your daily caffeine quota. As for chocolate (another source of caffeine), make sure that the type you eat is quality dark chocolate, containing at least 70 per cent cocoa solids.

      Some people feel the buzz of caffeine more than others. Listen to your body and know when to say ‘no’ to that extra cup of coffee, even if you are surrounded by people who drink it like water.

      It is important to bear in mind that coffee drinkers who skip their daily fix may experience temporary caffeine withdrawal (usually in the form of a headache or drowsiness), but that these symptoms will disappear within 24–48 hours.

      8 Sugar shut down

      The next time you’re tempted to grab a bar of chocolate, down a sugary drink or tuck into a sugary cereal, give your immune system a break and have a piece of fruit or a bowl of oatmeal instead.

      The impact of refined white sugar on your immune system can be enormous. Eating or drinking 100 grams (8 tablespoons) of sugar – the equivalent of about two cans of a full-sugar fizzy drink – can reduce the ability of your white blood cells to kill germs by 40 per cent. The immune-suppressing effect of sugar starts less than 30 minutes after ingestion and may last for up to 5 hours. On top of all this, a diet high in sugar increases your risk of blood-sugar imbalances that can trigger mood swings, weight gain, fatigue, headaches, hormonal imbalances and a host of other unpleasant symptoms.

      If you do only one thing to boost your immune system, eliminating sugar will do the trick. Sugar gives you no nutrients, just calories. You will see noticeable results in your energy levels, weight distribution, immunity and ability to think clearly when you break the cravings and stop eating refined sugar.

      Cutting down on your sugar intake may seem daunting at first, but it is easier than you think if you follow these tips to total sugar shut-down:

      Sweet substitutes: Try fruits and unsweetened fruit juices more often in meals and snacks to cut down on sugar. Fruits have natural sugars, but they also give you important vitamins and minerals. Plan to have fresh fruit in season for desserts. Use dried fruits to sweeten cereals and baked goods. Slice a banana or fresh peach instead of using jam on a peanut butter sandwich. Make your own fizzy drinks with unsweetened fruit juice and sparkling water.

      Pass on the sugar: Take the sugar bowl off the table and, if you add sugar to your tea, gradually cut down until you need none at all. Persevere with this because once your taste buds get used to tea and other hot drinks without sugar, you’ll never want to switch back. And while you are cutting down, reduce the amount of sugar you use in baking as well.

      Don’t ban sugar altogether: Some sugar, judiciously added to wholesome foods, may make them more appetising; a sprinkling of brown sugar on oatmeal or grapefruit, or a teaspoon of maple syrup on winter squash enhances the taste of these healthy options. It is better to avoid sugar substitutes, as some studies suggest that they can also have an adverse effect on your health.

      Cereal killer: Some breakfast cereals have four or more teaspoons of sugar added to each serving! When you buy unsweetened cereals you may be saving money and you can add your own sweetener at home, if you choose. Sprinkle fresh, canned or dried fruit on your cereal to sweeten.

      Read labels: When food shopping, read ingredient labels to find the amount and types of sugars that have been added to the food. There are many kinds of sugar that are used to make a food sweet and crisp. Look for words that end in ‘ose’ or ‘ol’, such as dextrose, fructose, maltose, sucrose, glucose, lactose, mannitol and sorbitol. These are all forms of sugar. Syrups such as corn sweetener, sorghum syrup and high-fructose syrups are sweeteners that are often added to drinks. Brown sugar, molasses and honey may be ‘natural’, but they all give you the same calories as refined table sugar. Ingredients are listed in order by weight, from most to least, so when a type of sugar or syrup is the first ingredient, you will know there is more sugar in that food than any other ingredient. Some foods may contain many kinds of sugar. When they are added up, the total may be more than any other ingredient in that food.

      Switch from white bread, pasta and rice to wholegrain alternatives: Wholegrains are packed with nutrients and fibre that can keep your blood-sugar levels and your appetite balanced for hours after eating, unlike sugar, which gives you a quick high followed by a long low.

      9 Conquer your sweet tooth

      If you have a sweet tooth and constantly crave something sweet, you need to conquer it. A diet rich in sugar depresses your immune system and stops it working efficiently.

      To conquer your sweet tooth, first of all, make sure you always eat breakfast and never leave more than two or three hours between meals and snacks. This is because eating little and often and kick-starting your metabolism first thing will keep your blood-sugar levels balanced so you are less likely to suffer from cravings. Aim for a healthy breakfast, followed by a satisfying mid-morning snack (a piece of fruit and a handful of nuts and seeds, for example), a healthy lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, supper and a light snack before bedtime.

      For blood-sugar balance and appetite control, your meals and snacks need to be a mix of fibre-rich carbohydrates (such as wholegrains, fruits and vegetables) and healthy protein (such as nuts, seeds or dairy products) that give your body and brain a sustained release of energy so you feel satisfied. Avoid sweets, cakes, crisps and other processed or refined foods; these give you a quick burst of energy followed by a long, drawn-out low.