10 Fruits that boost your immune system to fight the Covid-19

Disclaimer: The following article is for general information purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with your doctor before adopting any of the suggestions from this article.

There is uncertainty if the vaccine for Coronavirus can be available in the near time. It seems like our immune system will become the only defender to fight Covid-19 until such a vaccine is ready. Scientists are working 24/7 to create it, around 35 companies and academic institutions involved in the research.

Even when a coronavirus vaccine has been found, it may take a year to produce. This timeline is kind of extremely long and scary considering that the worldwide total number of people infected by novel coronavirus has skyrocketed to 3,018,038 and 207,725 people have died from the virus as of today (April 27, 2020, 11:40 GMT).

Now, the big question that is on everyone’s mind is “how can we boost our immune to fight Coronavirus?”

Well, I’m not a doctor, but I believe that the short answer is you don’t. We can’t boost our immune system because it is not designed to be “boosted”. There’s actually a medical condition called autoimmune, it is a condition in which your immune system mistakenly attacks your body. So, imagine if it can be boosted, then it might do more harm than good.

Maybe the right question that we need to ask is “how can we help our immune system to function normally & optimally?”

To do that, there are several ways to help our immune in check, such as consuming certain kinds of healthy foods, drinks, supplements, vitamins, sunbathing, or fasting. Consult with your doctor or medical practitioner to understand what method is best for you.

When you feel unwell, or when it feels like you’re about to catch the seasonal flu, what vitamin did you usually consume? Vitamin C isn’t it?

Did you know, vitamin C a.k.a ascorbic acid can reduce the duration of illness by 8% in adults and 14% in children during a cold.

Even though there is no scientific evidence suggests that vitamin C can do the same to covid-19 but still, it is essential to our body. Besides strengthening the immune system, it also helps in producing collagen and wound healing processes, as well as protecting our cells from free radicals.

Unlike vitamin D, our body cannot produce vitamin C by itself so we need to get it from foods or supplements. I personally prefer fruits rather than any chemical products though.

Now, what is the right amount of Vitamin C for our body?

Well, in healthy conditions adults only need around 90 mg per day. Although it is different based on age and gender. The following is a list of daily needs for vitamin C based on guidelines made by The Institute of Medicine from the United States:

  • 1 – 3 years old: 15 mg
  • 4 – 8 years old: 25 mg
  • 9 – 13 years old: 45 mg
  • 14 – 18 years old: 65 – 75 mg
  • Woman 19+ years old: 75 mg
  • Man 19+ years old: 90 mg
  • Pregnant woman 19+ years old: 85 mg
  • Breastfeeding mothers 19+ years old: 120 mg

Now, if you’re looking for natural food to help keep your immune strong than you should include these 10 fruits that would help your immune system in check:

1. Orange

The first fruit on this list is orange. This is one of the most popular fruits you can get almost on any fruit stall in the world. Orange is rich with vitamin C, in fact in every 100 grams it contains 53.2 mg of Vitamin C. It means that one orange a day is fairly enough. Not only it will help us to suffice the daily need for vitamin C, but it also easy to find. So, it’s not surprising that at times like this orange is the recommended fruit for daily consumption.

2. Pomelo

Compared to the other citrus family, Pomelo is actually the biggest of its kind. Not only it is big, but it also has various nutritional contents in it, such as calories, fat, sodium, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, protein, riboflavin, thiamine, vitamin C, copper, and potassium.

This fruit also rich in antioxidants that are useful to prevent cell damage caused by free radical exposure.

Of course, Pomelo is rich in vitamin C which is useful to help our immune system to function optimally. It has around 61 mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams. So, eat Pomelo and help your immune to fight the virus.

3. Lemon

The next fruit that’s best to help our immune strong is Lemon. Not only it contains Vitamin C, but this fruit is also high in pectin. Pectin helps feed microbiome bacteria and in fact, this bacteria is beneficial in strengthening our immune system.

Lemon is best to consume when it’s still fresh, so you can get the maximum benefits of it. But it doesn’t matter however the way you serve it though. Warm, cold, or bottled, they’re all good for your body. Lemon has 53 mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams.

4. Lime

Unlike the other types of oranges that we used to eat them raw, Lime is a well-known citrus fruit for flavoring. Who likes to eat raw lime anyways, it’s just too sour.

Not only added as a food flavoring, lime is also a favorite ingredient to make various drinks, such as lime tea.

Just like the other citrus family Lime also rich in Vitamin C. Even though it isn’t as high as orange in general, but still it is a citrus fruit that has 29.1 mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams.

5. Papaya

Moving on from the citrus family, the next super fruit that’s loaded with Vitamin C is Papaya. It contains 62 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams. Just like orange, this fruit is also very popular and I’m pretty sure you can easily find it in a fruit stall.

Not only it is packed with Vitamin C but also Vitamin A, which when combined it becomes an antidote for almost all types of diseases. So, when you feel like you’re about to get sick, then eat Papaya, especially in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak like this.

6. Kiwi

Although it is not as popular as Papaya Kiwi also contains important nutrients, including folate, potassium, vitamin K, and vitamin C. This fruit surprisingly contain 92.7 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams, or 30 mg higher then Papaya.

While the other nutrition in the fruit will keep your whole body functioning at its best. The vitamin C will increase white blood cells to fight viruses.

The nutrition content on Kiwi is excellent to maintain our immune system. So, when you see this fruit on the store you should grab it ASAP before anyone else gets it.

7. Blueberry

Blueberry also proved to be able to increase our immune system. This fruit is rich in flavonoids, which plays an important role in the immunity of our respiratory tract. Many studies have shown that flavonoids prevent people from experiencing respiratory tract infections.

Considering that Covid-19 attacks our respiratory tract, eating blueberry will definitely help us from the infection. In addition to flavonoids, blueberries are also rich in vitamins C and K. Vitamin C content in 100 grams of blueberry is 9.7 mg.

8. Guava

Guava is rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, and antioxidants. In addition, it also contains other useful nutrients, such as fiber, iron, protein, magnesium, and folate.

This superfruit has a dozen health benefits, in fact it contains four times more vitamin C than oranges. This is one of the highest fruit with Vitamin C content, which is 228.3 mg per 100 grams.

Not only it is a good & healthy snack during #Stayathome time but it also keeps your immune strong. With a sweet taste and also not so hard to find, you can eat it regularly to protect you from various diseases.

9. Watermelon

The next fruit that can keep our immune strong is watermelon. This fruit contains an antioxidant called glutathione that works against infections. And what’s more, it also contains lycopene especially in red watermelon that can overcome inflammation in the respiratory system.

In addition, watermelon also has a lot of other nutrients needed by our body such as Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, and amino acids. This fruit contain 8.1 mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams.

10. Pomegranate

The last superfruit on this list is Pomegranate. Although it isn’t easy to find but many studies have shown that this fruit has extraordinary benefits for our body.

Pomegranate is one of the highest fruit in nutritional content. The fruit is rich with vitamin C, antioxidants, fiber and it also contains anti-inflammatory substances.

Eating pomegranates which are rich in vitamin C will ultimately keep our body’s immune strong and also avoid the risk of becoming infected with various diseases. This fruit contain 10.2 mg of Vitamin C per 100 grams.

Those are the 10 best fruits that could help our immune strong based on the nutritional contents and how easy we can find it especially during an outbreak like this.  

Stay safe everyone & eat healthy food..