Nourishing Your Natural Defenses
“How do you even boost immunity?”
At Laroot, we approach this question through modern nutrition and the ancestral traditions that inform our kitchen. Each offers a different perspective on the relationship between food, rest, and resilience.
Understanding the Immune System
The immune system is a network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect us against infection. It recognizes potential threats, responds to them, and remembers many of the pathogens it has encountered.
Its work depends on balance: responding when needed and regulating that response appropriately. Supporting immune health means giving the body the nourishment and care it needs to carry out these functions.
Modern Life vs Immune Support
Long days, irregular meals, insufficient sleep, and sustained stress can leave little room for the routines that help sustain immunity. Ancestral wisdom offers a way to reconnect with these daily foundations, placing nourishment, rest, and seasonal rhythms at the center of caring for ourselves.
The Ayurvedic Perspective: Nourish Digestion, Sustain Vitality
Ayurveda places digestion at the center of nourishment. Agni, or digestive fire, describes the capacity to digest and transform food. Well-functioning digestion supports the nourishment of the tissues and the maintenance of ojas, a concept associated with vitality and resilience. Through an Ayurvedic lens, caring for the body’s defenses begins with consistent nourishment, attention to digestion, and sufficient rest.
The Traditional Chinese Medicine Perspective: Support Defensive Qi
Traditional Chinese Medicine describes wei qi, or defensive qi, as a protective function of the body. It is traditionally understood to depend on nourishment derived from food and on the functions of the Spleen, Stomach, and Lung systems. Through a TCM lens, caring for the immune system begins with warm, nourishing meals and protection from seasonal cold and wind.
So, how do you support the immune system?
Enjoy Whole Ingredients
Build variety with vegetables, fruit, legumes, and whole grains for fiber, alongside fermented foods (like our kimchi!) to support immune function.
Prioritize Rest
Sufficient rest supports the body’s immune defenses and helps regulate inflammation.
Eat Your Vitamins & Minerals
Seasonal greens, squash, and citrus provide vitamins A and C, while fish, eggs, legumes, nuts, and seeds contribute other nutrients needed for normal immune function...all abundant in our menus!
Incorporate Warming Herbs & Spices
Ginger and turmeric contain compounds studied for their anti-inflammatory effects, while garlic contains sulfur compounds studied for antimicrobial properties.
We look forward to nourishing you!