While everyone is battling that brutal flu this winter, protecting our immune systems feels more important than ever. After all, how can we engage in ‘new year, new me’ while we’re stuck in bed, drowning in the snotty tissues that surround us?
While these viruses are sometimes completely unavoidable, there are ways to stay healthy, improve your immune system and give your body a fighting chance against the worst of the seasonal bugs.
Unfortunately, though, there is no wonder food or diet that can do this for you, according to the British Heart Foundation’s dietician Victoria Taylor, “despite what you might read online”.
So, what does help to improve the immune system?
Put simply: improving your diet. Taylor explains: “The nutrients that keep our immune system working well include vitamins A, B6, B12, C and D as well as copper, folate, iron, selenium and zinc.
“This doesn’t mean that you need to be taking supplements – and some vitamin supplements can be harmful if taken in large doses.”
Thankfully, almost all of these vitamins can be found in incorporating fruits and vegetables into your diet on a daily basis. The NHS recommends eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
On its website, the NHS explains that “80g of fresh, canned or frozen fruit and vegetables counts as 1 portion of your 5 A Day (but not potatoes and some other starchy foods)”.
It advises that for tinned or canned fruit and vegetables, you should choose those in natural juice or water, with no added sugar or salt.
This should be enough to get the nutrients and vitamins you need to protect and improve your immune system.
There’s only one exception to this and that is Vitamin D.
How to ensure you’re getting enough Vitamin D
Vitamin D is mostly produced from exposure to sunlight and uh, we don’t get a lot of these during the winter months, do we? The UK Government recommends that everybody takes a daily Vitamin D supplement in autumn and winter.
Other important ways to keep your immune system in good shape include regular, moderate exercise and getting enough sleep.
Stay healthy this winter!