Turmeric, Green Tea, and Garlic: What to Eat to Support Your Immunity This Season

Staying fit and healthy is a priority all year round to keep our minds and bodies feeling great, but it's particularly important when we start to move into cooler months to avoid compromising your immune system.

The best way to keep yourself protected is from the inside out, starting with the foods you eat each day. Food is one of the most powerful tools we have in preventing disease and building a healthy immune system that can help to fight off bacteria and illness. To fill any nutritional gaps and to top up your daily diet, you should be incorporating these foods into your diet this season.

1. Turmeric

A bright ingredient in many of our favourite curries (and the inspiration for one of our linen colours), turmeric has been used for many years as an anti-inflammatory, detoxifying and antibacterial weapon to improve digestive health and treat conditions like osteoarthritis.

2. Green Tea

Green tea is more than just a soothing drink to help you unwind of an afternoon, it's an antioxidant-packed superfood that's been shown to enhance immune function over time. It's also a fantastic source of L-theanine which can help your body produce germ-fighting compounds.

3. Ginger

A lot of people turn to ginger once they've become sick, but by incorporating it into your diet on a regular basis, your immune system will receive a boost as well as helping to combat cellular damage.

4. Citrus fruits

There's a reason why you'll see people struck with a cold walking around with a bottle of orange juice. That's because almost all citrus fruits are high in vitamin C which helps maintain the body's defence against bacterial infections.

5. Garlic

It's a must-have for giving your dish an extra element and it's just as vital to your immune system. Garlic has been used for generations as an infection-fighting ingredient because of its sulphur-containing compounds that are helpful for cardiac health as well.

6. Papaya

Papaya is another fruit that is jam-packed with vitamin C—so much that a single papaya contains over 200% of your daily needs. There's a reason the papaya is referred to as the medicine tree in parts of the Caribbean, and that's due to its anti-inflammatory effects and other essential vitamins that promote wellness.

7. Carrots

It turns out that carrots aren't just good for your eyesight, they're also effective at supporting your overall immune system to fight off nasty infections. Antioxidants found inside help the body fight free radicals, cell damage and inflammation.

We asked a dietitian to tell us the truth about this year's biggest food trends. Find out about them here.