Your immune system helps your body get rid of bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi, as well as keeping potentially life-threatening cancer cells as bay. Overuse of antibiotics means that common infections and minor injuries could pose a threat to life. So what nutrients do you need to keep your immune system fighting fit?
Antioxidants: The best known is vitamin C, but vitamins A and E are also important. Eat more brightly coloured fruits and vegetables (e.g. kiwi fruit, citrus, green peppers).
Vitamin D: Manufactured in skin from sunlight; plentiful in the summer months, but the sun is too low in the sky between October and April in the UK for our skin to make it. Eat more oily fish (e.g wild salmon, herring, sardines, mackerel) and dairy products. For some people even this is not enough (pregnant and breast-feeding women, those who don't get enough sun at any time (e.g. because they are covered up) and those over 65) and supplements are advised. [See also these blog posts: ~ Vitamin D ~ More on Vitamin D ~]
Selenium: One of nature's most powerful immune boosters (immune cells need selenium to work properly) but the selenium content of soil in the UK is extremely low compared with countries like the US and Canada. Eat more tuna, beef, cod and turkey, and especially Brazil nuts.
Probiotics: It is thought that as well as helping keep harmful bacteria in check, they may also limit susceptibility to infection in the first place. It seems beneficial gut bacteria may have akey role in the development of white blood cells (immune cells that form part of the body's first line of defence). Eat more naturally fermented foods (e.g. tempeh, miso, soy sauce, fresh sauerkraut) and live or bio-yoghurts and cultured dairy products such as kefir (a fermented milk drink) and buttermilk. Supplements should contain Lactobacilli or Bifidobacteria in sufficient numbers - no less than 100 million.
Use Honey to sweeten drinks - just one teaspoon of sugar is enough to prevent vital macrophages and natural killer cells from doing their jobs for up to six hours.
Robert Hobson in Healthspan magazine, Autumn 2014
