How to Boost Your Gut Health to Look After Your Immune System
Did you know that over 70% of your immune system lives in your gut? Amazing, right?! Millions of gut bacteria work tirelessly every day to help develop ‘T Cells’, the ones which alert your body to foreign substances and so help to fight them off. These are super important in tackling illnesses and protecting our DNA! Your gastrointestinal tract contains a huge proportion of your immune system, which interacts with bacteria on the outside world to activate an immune response and produce antibodies when something sinister is identified (fascinating).
So, looking after your gut health is one great way you can boost your immune system
💪 Here’s how you can do just that every single day! 👇
🦠 Start each day with a #Probiotic drink
🥒 Eat fermented foods such as #Kombucha #Sauerkraut #Kimchi & fresh pickles – Our seed-based snacks make the ideal pairing with fermented foods – simply top with kimchi, pickles or sauerkraut and enjoy a double whammy gut-boosting cracker!
🌿 Eat more sprouted vegetables such as activated nuts and seeds
🥕 Get more fibre from your diet – Pep & Lekker seed-based snacks are high in inulin, a type of fermentable fibre which is found naturally in plantbased foods such as the chicory root we use in our recipes. Inulin is considered to be a probiotic thanks to the effect it has on encouraging good bacteria to colonise in the gut 🦠
🥬 Eat bitter greens such as radishes, chicory, dandelion and artichoke
⛔ Steer clear from alcohol and caffeine – which are harmful to gut health
🤧 Avoid Allergens - It is estimated that 20% of us have a food intolerance and because it’s tricky to investigate and diagnose, many of us may not know exactly which foods we can’t tolerate. Eating foods you are intolerant to can disrupt gut microflora and cause digestive problems that affect your immune system. By avoiding allergens whether you have an allergy or not, you can choose foods which protect your gut rather than aggravate it. At Pep & Lekker our entire range of seed-based snacks is 100% free from the top 14 allergens – helping to boost gut health and immunity in synergy 🙌
By optimising your gut health you can help to maximise your body’s natural defences and give yourself the best change of staying strong and healthy in coming months 💚
🤔 Why Getting Enough Protein Can Help to Boost Your Immune System 💪
The protein we get from our diet gives us the amino acids we need to build protein in the body. This is super important to repair damage and regenerate new, healthy cells – so protein plays a major role in keeping us healthy and boosting our immune system 👊
If protein conjures up images of chicken breasts and bulging biceps for you, then guess again! It’s perfectly possible to get all the protein you need from plants. Here’s our top tips to getting enough #PlantbasedProtein and boosting your immune system 👇
🍽️ Mix It Up – Plant sources of protein are more limited in the types of amino acids they contain, so it takes some mixing and matching to get all the essential amino acids from one meal. Try to include two different kinds of plant protein in every meal e.g. rice and peas, beans and cheese.
🥜 Snack on Protein Rich Foods – Snacking on protein dense foods such as seeds and nuts is a great way to get a plantbased protein boost between meals and top up your levels of amino acids.
🥤 Make a Protein Packed Smoothie – Try making a vegan smoothie each day with some plantbased milk, protein powder (pea or hemp are good vegan protein powders), a dollop of nut butter and a sprinkling of seeds – for a quadruple protein boost!
🍪 Enjoy Seed Based Snacks – Seeds are naturally high in plantbased protein, as well as healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. Our seed-based snacks are high in protein from hemp seeds and chia seeds, as well as an added dose of 100% vegan rice protein. This combination of protein sources provides a good variety of amino acids which combine to give you a complete protein source i.e. all of the essential amino acids in one handy package!
Getting enough protein should be a priority for vegans and non-vegans alike year-round, but is super important when it comes to boosting immune health and fighting off illness right now 💚