Vitamins get most of the attention, but the immune system runs on minerals just as much. Here are the ones I focus on with clients, and where to find them.
Magnesium
Magnesium is the mineral that helps us wind down. Sleep and stress are two of the biggest factors in immune health, and magnesium supports both. You will find it in avocados, nuts and seeds, and legumes.
Iron
There are two kinds. Heme iron comes from meat, including organ meats and seafood. Non-heme iron comes from beans and lentils, nuts and seeds, dried apricots, prunes, dates, broccoli stalks, and green leafy vegetables. If you eat meat, always choose organic, grass-fed, and grass-finished. The toxins an animal consumes reside in its fat, and that is not something we want on our plate.
Selenium
Selenium is high in Brazil nuts. Most of us eat cashews, almonds, and pistachios, which are all good, but try to include one or two brazil nuts a day. That does more for selenium than a supplement. One to two is enough. Do not overdo it as Brazil nuts contain selenium in high amounts.
Iodine
Our soil is deficient in iodine these days because of changes in farming and the toxicity that's caused through everything we use and dispose into the soil. Hence vegetables and fruits are not the reliable source of minerals they once were. Seafood and Sea vegetables are a great source of iodine like Seaweed, wild salmon, wild-caught fish, and shrimp. Iodized salt is a reasonable fallback if you live in a food desert or genuinely do not have time to plan iodine into your diet from seafood and sea vegetables.
Zinc
Zinc gets a lot of attention for immunity, and it deserves it. Oysters, shellfish, meat, eggs, nuts and seeds, kale, and mushrooms all contain zinc. It is not hard to get from food, especially meat and seafood.
The problem is absorption. Plant sources like tofu, hemp seeds, cashews, chickpeas, and oats do contain zinc, but they also contain phytates, compounds that inhibit uptake. So a vegetarian or vegan can eat plenty of zinc-rich food and still come up short. If you are plant-based and dealing with immunity issues, consider a supplement, and choose a form that is bioavailable and well absorbed. Shellfish is the richest source, but some people do not tolerate it, and it can carry more toxins.
Local, seasonal, unprocessed
The same rule applies to minerals as to everything else: fresh, local, and seasonal food carries more of what you need and less of what you do not.
This post is adapted from my webinar "Strengthening Our Immunity." Watch the full talk on YouTube →