5 Immune-Boosting, Power-Packed Snacks to Keep Your Energy High at the Office  

If you’re like most of us, you’ve probably spent the last four months hibernating, curled up under your electric blanket, with your fuzzy socks on (you know you have them), watching Scandal (ahh – the guilty pleasures of the Fall/Winter TV season, right?), drinking hot chocolate, and maintaining a continuous hand-to-mouth action moving winter treats (like creamy soups, cookies and all sorts of breads) to your mouth.

But now winter is moving on, and it’s time for your body to come out of hibernation and get an immune system make-over!  With warmer weather just around the corner, and more frequent sunny days, you might be feeling like you have more energy than you have had in last four months.  Some of that is the vitamin D your body pulls from the sun, some of that may be your more frequent trips to the gym, but most of that is your body coming out of the winter food/cold-and-flu-coma you have just survived, and realizing it’s human again!

This change in season is celebrated not only by the return of colorful fruits and veggies to your local grocery store, but also through National Nutrition Month.  That’s right — March is the month our nation has set aside to remind ourselves that we are all survivors of the winter season, and should come back to the land of the living, full-force, by eating healthily again.

If you would like to reboot your immune system for Spring, but don’t know which healthy snacks you should ingest to do it, I’ve got you covered.  Below are my top 5 favorite grab-and-go snacks to help your body shake off winter, jump into spring and celebrate National Nutrition Month all season long: 

Go Green With Tea
Although this not a food snack, it is vital for resetting your immune system, and can replace one cup of your regular coffee throughout the day.   Here’s why you need this in your nutrition make-over: green tea is considered to be one of the healthiest drinks in the world for immunity, containing a wealth of natural antioxidants. In fact, it not only contains catechins (polyphenolic compounds that have been linked to heightened cardiovascular health), but also the well-known EGCG, which is the bioactive component most effective in eliminating free radicals, decreasing inflammation, and oxidizing and preventing cell damage, so that your body has the cleanest cells possible to fight off disease.

Quick & Tasty Tip: Buy your green tea (to get the most bang for your buck, go with a loose leaf brand), heat up your water (but not to boiling), steep for 45 seconds so you don’t scald the leaves, and drink in this on-the-go-immune-booster!

Say Yes To Leafy Greens
There is a reason your mother told you to eat your spinach: it is a superfood that has the power to repair, oxidize and fill your cells with amazing vitamins and nutrients such as vitamin C (an antioxidant), vitamin K (which helps to “siphon” calcium out of the bloodstream and, when combined with specialized proteins in the blood, helps it clot properly so cuts and scrapes heal quickly, without excessive bleeding), and, last of all, lutein (a key element of maintaining healthy vision and preventing sight degeneration —  imperative when you spend your all day looking at a screen).

Quick & Tasty Tip: Two cups of fresh spinach provides about 25% of our daily iron needs, and at only 23 calories per serving, it’s the perfect snack! So the night before work, pack two cups of spinach in a reusable container, along with a small reusable container of olive oil-based dressing, grab a fork, and head to the office. (Note: you can also dress it up with some walnuts, cranberries and goat cheese to give it some kick.) 

An Apple A Day
One of the most powerful source of antioxidants in an edible product, containing polyphenols, flavonoids, and vitamin C, apples are also packed with soluble fiber and potassium to help your body digest like a boss! Since most cold and flu viruses live in our digestive organs, it’s important to eat the apple’s skin, which offers up to six times the antioxidant activity of the apple itself.

Quick & Tasty Tip: To give your body the best chance at getting rid of immunity threats in your body, eat your apples!  Cut them into sections, or wash and eat them whole –either way, they are a great grab-and-go snack for the workplace. 

Be Better With Blackberries
Blackberries are very low in calories (approximately 66 calories per ½ cup), while also being low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium (great news for our heart and arteries), an excellent source of both fiber at 8 g/serving (this benefits the digestive system), and vitamin E (a key ingredient in fighting off disease and repairing and strengthening muscles).  

Quick & Tasty Tip: Blackberries can be added to your dark leafy greens for a small snack salad, or can be washed, thrown into a plastic container and eaten by themselves as a sweet, healthy treat to replace the candy bar you would normally have. 

Try To Eat Your Tuna
You may want to eat this immune-boosting snack in the kitchen at work as it smells pretty fishy! However, that’s the only drawback: tuna has one of the highest percentages of omega-3 fatty acids, which help balance blood vessels by reducing cholesterol in your arteries, leading to better heart health. Tuna meat is also nutrient-dense, with immune boosting manganese, zinc, vitamin C, and selenium – all of which have free-radical fighting properties, paramount to fighting disease at a cellular level (in fact, just one serving of tuna meat gives your body approximately 200% of your daily antioxidant needs).

Quick & Tasty Tip: All in all, this fish is a must-have in rebooting your spring immunity. Buy it prepackaged, mix it with a little bit of dill, lemon juice, Himalayan salt and black pepper, put it in an air tight container the night before work, grab it and go in the morning.  (Just make sure you have mints for that important staff meeting after eating it!) 

These five immune-boosting foods are among many that you can choose for convenient snacking; they  are all excellent options to rebalance your immunity, bounce into Spring and celebrate National Nutrition Month all month long!