Pairing Protein, Fiber and Zinc to Boost Your Diabetic Immune System
Pairing Protein, Fiber and Zinc to Boost Your Diabetic Immune System
There are some often overlooked micronutrients that are key parts of your immune system. While everyone focuses on vitamins, they may forget that things like protein, fiber, and zinc are all very important parts of helping your immune system stay strong and competent, and call all be found in some great diabetic-friendly foods.
Protein is very important for your immune system. Many people may only associate protein with the stuff that weightlifters drink in order to get big muscles, but protein is actually the building block foundation of most cells in your body.
This includes your immune system. If you don’t get enough protein regularly, your body won’t be able to produce strong white blood cells, nor will those cells be able to use the other nutrients efficiently.
Zinc is used in most processes by your white blood cells. White blood cells are important because they’re your primary defense against viruses that are trying to take hold in your body.
If they don’t have things like zinc that they need to use to gain energy or communicate, then they won’t be as effective. It’s good for diabetics in general to get a healthy amount of zinc, because it helps mitigate some of the long term effects that diabetes can have on you.
Specifically, diabetes and high blood sugar can damage your heart as the years go on, but zinc helps strengthen your heart so that it’s not much of a problem. Finally, fiber has a much better use than just making sure you’re taking regular bathroom trips.
It actually helps improve your gut bacteria health greatly, which is an important part of your immune system that handles contaminates that may be found in your food. Fiber is also great for diabetics, since it helps keep your blood sugar much more stable, and makes insulin much more effective.
If you really want to go for one food that will help you boost all of those things, you should look into hummus. It’s made with chickpeas, which contain all of those nutrients in good amounts, and it has been recommended to help diabetics boost their immune systems.
Typically, people eat hummus with things like bread or crackers, but you can also use slices of raw vegetables and it’ll be just the same. You want something firm so that you can sort of scoop the hummus, such as long slices of bell peppers.
