Cold, flu, and COVID season is here and poised to ensure that a number of us get sick. While vaccinations, masking, and other precautions are imperative for staying well, the food we eat can also help us fend off infections.
Research has shown that between 70% and 80% of our immune cells reside in our gut. “In the GI tract, we have millions of different organisms, and a lot of them are there because they need to regulate cellular processes in our body,” explains Dr. Selvi Rajagopal, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “And we are learning that the more we can support a healthy bacterial environment in our gut, the better chances we have at fending off a lot of inflammatory processes.”
