Staying healthy should always be top of mind, though many of us simply put it the back of our minds to focus on other things. It’s totally normal as soon as you become independent, but now’s the time to take a look around at the world and see that it really is your choice to best protect yourself when it comes to your diet and your immune system. This is especially so if you have an egg allergy or any other kind of allergy that requires food avoidance. Are you getting the proper nutrients that you need to protect yourself? Take a look at what your immune system needs and find out.
The role of eggs in your diet
Firstly, with an allergy, let’s take a look at what it means for your diet in particular Why? Eggs are thought to be, as supported by experts and research, one of the most important foods you can eat when it comes to giving you a healthy balanced diet [1]. Eggs are rich in amino and fatty acids as well as many minerals and vitamins including natural proteins and even calcium.
That’s a lot to take in and, if you are unable to eat eggs at all, it means that all of these checklist healthy ingredients need to be found in other places. The good news is, there are plenty of foods that you can look at to boost your immune system whether you have an egg allergy or not.
The best foods to boost your immune system
One of the best things about boosting your immune system is that you don’t necessarily have to eat, say, kale. Or have yoghurt. Or anything, really, that you don’t like. Eating healthy should be a goal, of course, but it isn’t about forcing yourself to eat or drink something that you absolutely hate. So instead of taking this by food, let’s take a look at the ingredients and components of those foods.
- Antioxidants: There are plenty of delicious foods out there that can provide you with immune system benefits when it comes to the all-important work of disease and illness fighting antioxidants. These foods could include dark chocolate, blueberries, kale and beans. When you add any or all of these into your diet in the form of soups or salads or dessert, etc, you’ll be giving yourself a delicious and healthy boost in antioxidants. Research supports the fact that supplementing extra antioxidants into your diet however you can help keep your immune system strong, even when dealing with chronic health conditions [2].
- Fatty acids and oils: There is a lot of support in the importance of both fatty acids and oils in your diet. Extensive research suggests that it can be helpful in boosting immunity both during pregnancy as well as in an infant and child as they grow [3]. It’s thought to be an effective protector both short- and long-term. Common foods that you can add to your diet for an increase in these acids and oils include salmon, avocado, cheese, chia seeds and coconut oil. When you add any or all of these into your diet, research also suggests that you will be helping protect your child against developing food allergies (including an egg allergy) and asthma [2].
- Protein: You know protein is in meat, but you can also find protein in a lot of other sources, including oats, milk, broccoli, chicken breast (it’s a meat, but go with it) and cottage cheese. If you have an egg allergy and can’t enjoy natural protein from eggs, try these instead.
- Calcium: For delicious and easy to add alternatives for calcium, consider adding in tofu, sardines, cabbage, milk and fortified flour products. Yes, even cake can have calcium in it! Pretty great life goals…
- Probiotics: Probiotics are important for immune system health and strength. They’re thought to have really significant effects on the gut health in general, which will lead you to a stronger and better developed immune system [3]. You can find impressive amounts of probiotics in yoghurts, kimchi and bananas.
Why you need to know this
The average person can simply sit down with a boiled egg or two, and get a lot of these nutrients in a simple serving. But those with an egg allergy cannot have the same luxury. It’s important to note that when you have a good allergy, you should not tempt fate by trying to eat egg products. Since a food allergy is an immune system response, it will trigger a reaction and it can quickly shift from a skin rash to airway inflammation and a severe allergic reaction in a matter of seconds.
Since the whole point of a strong immune system is to, you know, strengthen it and keep you healthy, intentionally triggering an allergic reaction is not the way to go about doing any of that. If you are allergic to eggs, avoid eggs. Period, end of story. There are many ways to still get the same health benefits while steering clear of them.
Not sure if you have a food allergy? An allergy test can help clear that up and give you the right information you need to stay healthy, strong, and as protected as possible. Plus, you get to enjoy some exploration in food as well with the right information to keep you safe.
References
[1] Surai, P.F. and Sparks, N.H.C., 2001. Designer eggs: from improvement of egg composition to functional food. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 12(1), pp.7-16. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924224401000486
[2] Devasagayam, T.P.A. and Sainis, K.B., 2002. Immune system and antioxidants, especially those derived from Indian medicinal plants. Available at: http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/23508
[3] Calder, P.C., Kremmyda, L.S., Vlachava, M., Noakes, P.S. and Miles, E.A., 2010. Is there a role for fatty acids in early life programming of the immune system?. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 69(3), pp.373-380. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-nutrition-society/article/is-there-a-role-for-fatty-acids-in-early-life-programming-of-the-immune-system/A1C8F59075ABB3DA3D3805861B860120
[4] Amit‐Romach, E., Uni, Z. and Reifen, R., 2010. Multistep mechanism of probiotic bacterium, the effect on innate immune system. Molecular nutrition & food research, 54(2), pp.277-284. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/mnfr.200800591
