Willy's been a very important influence in our lives,
and he's been a guest on our show.
He's never been a guest in our kitchen.
Will, welcome to our kitchen!
Nice to see you Rachael and John.
To see you too, doctor.
Will has 10 things to eat right now,
so kind of a very abridged version of this, right?
So let's start Will with that.
We cannot, today, medically therapeutically fight COVID,
we haven't come up with a solution yet.
We're not there yet.
Right, well COVID-19's a new illness
and there's a lot we don't know about it.
And so it makes people worry,
they don't know what to do.
But the good news is that we are beginning to actually
get at understanding this virus,
and there are some things that we can do,
and one of the most important things
is actually to support our own immune system
because our immunity is the best way
to prevent us from getting sick from anything
including bacteria and viruses.
And so that's one of the things that we can do
to boost our own immunity,
strengthen our bodies to be able to prevent infection.
So that doesn't mean we don't practice
social distancing or wear masks
if our governors and our local authorities
are telling us to do so.
This just means it gives you an extra layer
and strengthens your body to go into battle really, right?
So Will, there's 10, we're gonna link to all 10
and put them up on our website of course
and link to the information you already have posted,
but can you explain what's in front of you
and why these are keys to boosting immunity?
Yes absolutely.
So first is that every time we go to the grocery store,
or the farmer's market, or in our kitchens,
we're making mindful decisions about what to eat.
And we can boost our own defenses because
it's not just about the food;
it's about how our body responds
to what we put inside it.
Now, foods containing Vitamin C, Vitamin D,
Zinc, Vitamin B12, they actually support our immunity
and the good news is that many of these foods
are already found in our refrigerators and pantries
and you can get them at the grocery store.
So I just wanted to share with you five of them,
and the first one is mushrooms.
These are baby bella mushrooms,
but it could be white button, they could be shiitake,
it can be Porcini, whatever you can actually find,
they contain Vitamin D and a fiber called beta glucan
that increases our antibodies in our saliva
which helps our immunity.
And the good news is that it's not just in the caps,
but the good stuff's also in the stem
so make sure you eat the stems as well as the caps.
And then another little trick about mushrooms
is that sunlight actually increases Vitamin D in mushrooms,
so if you leave 'em out every now and then by the window,
that's okay.
Yeah, we don't keep them in bags at all.
We keep them open to the air.
And not in the refrigerator.
And we use shiitake stems I always find
a little bit tough, but we always use the stems--
In stock.
When we use mushrooms obviously, in stock,
and we use them in our cooking.
And we had mushrooms last night in ramen bowls.
We made delicious mushroom ramen bowls.
Yes, and tonight we're having more mushrooms.
Wow.
We're just all mushroomed up over here.
We're gonna have Mu Shu tofu with mushrooms tonight.
Yay, we're doing good so far!
Awesome, you're getting good.
Here's another favorite I know you have
which is extra virgin olive oil,
something great to saute your mushrooms.
Um, yes! (laughing)
We got plenty of that.
So EVOO, extra virgin olive oil ramps up
a number of our immune cells
and actually activates them
which is actually a good thing.
The next thing I wanted to share with you
is pomegranate juice.
And I love that; I drink some every morning.
Because it actually activates a healthy gut bacteria
called Akkermansia and it's been shown,
research has shown that high levels of
Akkermansia actually is good for our immunity,
better for our immune response.
Next one are tomatoes, some of my favorites
and yours, I know.
Great source of Vitamin C.
You can go with fresh tomatoes, big tomatoes,
small tomatoes, you can go with the cans or the puree,
or even the paste. Tomato paste!
I love cooking with all these.
Oh yeah, it's great.
All great sources of Vitamin C.
And if, for some reason, you don't like tomatoes,
you can use broccoli, oranges, blackberries, guava,
all great sources.
There's no reason to actually run out of Vitamin C,
but tomatoes are one of my favorites.
And then finally, pecans.
I love pecans.
They're a great source of fiber
and healthy omega 3 fatty acids
that are good for our immune systems.
(applause)