The sniffles, sneezes, and coughs are generally one of the first signs that you’re probably getting sick. As “Sweet Brown” says in her viral YouTube video, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” We all live incredibly busy lives, and the last thing we need is to be held back due to an illness. Therefore, on top of ensuring you’re taking your multivitamin every day, there are certain foods you should include in your nutrition plan to help boost immunity.

In this article, we are going to look at seven foods (actually, even more than that since some are “groups” of foods) that have been found to help boost immunity and support your active and healthy lifestyle.

1. Garlic

It’s not just for keeping vampires away, garlic is loaded with a sulfur-containing compound called allicin. Thanks to its potent immune-boosting properties, garlic can be added to your meals to help keep the sniffles from creeping in. Add in the fact that garlic is good for your heart and can help stabilize blood sugar levels, and you have yourself a delicious and powerful way to help boost immunity and health.

2. Broccoli

While greens are something that many people avoid, like the plague, it’s easier to add a few greens to your diet than it is to find yourself sick, right? Broccoli is the perfect vegetable to add to your daily nutrition plan as it contains vitamins A, C, E, and K. This cruciferous vegetable can help boost immunity thanks to being rich in antioxidants. Broccoli also contains many other key nutrients like zinc, selenium, folate, and magnesium.

3. Spinach

Popeye may have been onto something by eating his spinach to stay big and strong. If you’re looking to help boost immunity and avoid foreign pathogens from infiltrating your system and getting you sick, add some spinach to your diet. Whether it be in your protein smoothies where you can toss a handful of spinach, using it in a salad, or adding it to some of your dishes, spinach is slammed with vitamin C and antioxidants to help keep you healthy.

4. Citrus Fruits

When looking to add some natural vitamin C to your nutrition, it’s hard to pass up the benefits and flavors you find in citrus fruits. Oranges, grapefruit, and lemons can easily be added to your meals throughout the day to help enhance your immune system. Cut up some oranges to toss in a salad, add some lemon juice to your water, or consume half of a grapefruit at breakfast (which also has some weight loss benefits).

5. Nuts

If you love snacks or food items with some crunch to them, you’ll love the fact that adding more nuts into your nutrition can help boost immunity. You can grab a handful of peanuts, almonds, cashews, Brazilian nuts, pistachios, walnuts, whatever you prefer will fit the bill. Add them as part of a healthy snack throughout the day, toss them in your healthy salad or bowl of Greek yogurt, oatmeal, or include them in various dishes to increase your protein and healthy fats. Nuts are full of vitamin C and E, selenium, and zinc.

6. Greek Yogurt

Are you looking to double your immune-boosting power? Take the nuts that were mentioned in #5 and toss them in your Greek yogurt. Not only is Greek yogurt a delicious high-protein food that contains crucial nutrients like vitamin D, but it can also help boost immunity by improving gut health. The role of bacteria in your gut microbiome is to fight off harmful bacteria and pathogens that can do harm to the body. Greek yogurt provides your body with probiotics to help feed healthy gut bacteria and supply you with a good amount of active and live cultures that your gut needs to support the immune system.

7. Red Bell Peppers

To round out our list of foods to add into your nutrition plan to help boost immunity, we have red bell peppers. Not only are red bell peppers loaded with flavor, but their versatility is vast. You can cut them up as a crunchy and healthy snack option, dip them in something like hummus, toss them into a stir fry dish, grill them as a side dish, put them in a salad — the options are endless. Red bell peppers contain twice the amount of immunity-boosting vitamin C as citrus fruit, which is perfect when you’re trying to stay healthy and protect the immune system.