Foods that feed your immune
Defence & resilience. PeakPie scores the immune on 10 nutrients; Selenium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc count most. Below: the everyday ingredients that score highest for your immune in one portion, then what each nutrient is for and what may lawfully be claimed about it.
The best everyday ingredients for your immune, by kind
FISH, MEAT AND EGGS
- Liver100 g · Selenium and Vitamin A61
- Lamb kidneys90 g · Selenium and B1235
- Salmon120 g · B12 and Vitamin D34
- Octopus120 g · B12 and Selenium34
VEGETABLES
- Frozen spinach150 g · Vitamin A and Folate (B9)24
- Water spinach160 g · Vitamin C and Vitamin A23
- Pumpkin160 g · Vitamin A and Copper16
- Broccoli100 g · Vitamin C and Folate (B9)15
GRAINS AND STARCHES
- Wholewheat pasta65 g · Selenium and Copper19
- Orzo60 g · Selenium and Folate (B9)15
- Potatoes200 g · B6 and Copper14
- Jacket potato250 g · Copper and B613
BEANS AND PULSES
- Pinto beans155 g · Folate (B9) and Copper19
- Black-eyed beans150 g · Folate (B9) and Copper19
- Chickpeas110 g · Selenium and B616
- Adzuki beans60 g · Copper and Folate (B9)16
NUTS, SEEDS AND OILS
- Brazil nuts20 g · Selenium and Copper15
- Cashews30 g · Copper and Zinc13
- Sunflower seeds20 g · Copper and B611
FRUIT
- Kiwi80 g · Vitamin C and Copper11
The number is the immune score one realistic portion earns on an otherwise empty day, out of 100, against PeakPie's adult daily targets. A portion is the serving the healthy kitchen standard allows where it sets one (a 30 g handful of almonds, 15 g of olive oil), else what one serving of PeakPie's own recipes typically uses, never a cup of it. The list shows the best 4 of each kind so it isn't all fish (a kind appears when its best scores at least 10), and only foods, never stocks, sauces, herbs, spices or sweeteners: a food is listed only if the immune is among the four organs it feeds most and it scores at least 6, and only if it keeps to the healthy kitchen standard: not an ingredient the standard bans (cured and processed meats, crab sticks, white bread, cream), not a food the catalogue flags as ultra-processed, within any cap the standard sets on it, and under 7 g of saturated fat, 2.5 g of salt and 5 g of added sugar a portion, with no alcohol. Ties go to the food with less salt and saturated fat. The foods are the everyday ingredients PeakPie cooks with; ready meals and the branded catalogue are left out.
What your immune is scored on
B12
10% of the score · target 2.4mcg a dayA B vitamin that insulates nerve fibres, builds red blood cells, and copies DNA. It occurs naturally only in animal foods.
- AUTHORISED CLAIMVitamin B12 contributes to the normal function of the immune system.
B6
10% of the score · target 1.3mg a dayA B vitamin that converts the protein you eat into neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, and helps release stored energy.
- AUTHORISED CLAIMVitamin B6 contributes to the normal function of the immune system.
Copper
10% of the score · target 0.9mg a dayA trace mineral that helps immune cells mature, moves iron around the body, and cross-links the collagen in connective tissue.
- AUTHORISED CLAIMCopper contributes to normal function of the immune system.
Folate (B9)
10% of the score · target 400 mcg DFE a dayThe B vitamin behind DNA synthesis and cell division — every fast-renewing tissue, from blood to gut lining, leans on it.
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