Dr C: Here’s how you can really boost your immunity
Now more than ever, keeping healthy and improving our immune system is a priority. While there’s no magic ‘healthy pill’, Dr C says small changes can make a big difference
Even before we were in the grip of a pandemic, many of us were keen to protect ourselves against ill health. Wellness sites are littered with smoothies, tonics and supplements that promise to improve immunity function, but unfortunately there’s not one magic pill.
TAKE A SUPPLEMENT
Nearly a third of people have started to take a vitamin or supplement to boost their health. Vitamin D is probably as good as you’ll get in pill form, as most of us are deficient. Topping up your levels will help your immune system function better. However, nothing will suddenly give you super immunity. In fact, we all possess “super immunity” already. Our immune systems are truly amazing – vastly complex and incredibly robust.
EAT WELL
Supplements sold to support the immune system tend to fall into two categories: vitamins or probiotics. Vitamin D is crucial, but if you have a balanced diet you won’t need a multivitamin. When I check, even patients with fairly poor diets tend to have good levels of vitamin C, largely because chips are a good source, but I often see people with vitamin D and vitamin B deficiencies. People often think only certain foods will contain certain vitamins, for example eating oranges for vitamin C, but fruit and vegetables contain a variety of nutrients so the best way to get a broad range is to eat variety and colour.
FEED YOUR GUT
The other thing often suggested as a remedy to improve immunity is probiotics.
That makes sense, because gut health and immunity are intrinsically linked. I do recommend probiotics to my patients, but not capsules and pills, as while they may contain billions of good bacteria, not all of it makes it to your gut. I much prefer real probiotics in fermented foods, such as kefir, sauerkraut and kimchi. We used to think of body parts in isolation – the gut and the brain as separate entities – but we now realise a healthy gut leads to a health body, including your skin, immunity, mind – everything. Keeping your gut healthy is also relatively easy.
It’s about eating a variety of fruit and veg, including some fermented foods. The more varied your diet, the more varied your gut bacteria and the more robust you’ll be.
Also, remember that diets high in processed food and lots of added sugar damage the diversity of your gut bacteria.
DON’T OVER-EXERCISE
Regular moderate exercise, such as 30 minutes of brisk walking or jogging, is anti-inflammatory and helps your body deal with threats. Excessive exercise has the opposite effect. If you’re sore and hobbling after exercising, your body is having to use too much energy to repair itself.
It’s important to find the middle ground.
REPAIR AS YOU SLEEP
Sleep is very important, because T-cells (essential to your immune system) peak
when you’re sleeping. T-cells react to “foreign substances” in the body, and kick-start the immune response, sending cells to respond. That’s particularly relevant now, because COVID19 appears to attack T-cells. Without enough of them, you’re very susceptible to infection. Parts of our body are cyclical, so while some things reach a high point first thing in the morning, others peak in the middle of the night – and for T-cells, it’s at night while you sleep. Sleep also improves your ability to deal with stress, which is damaging to immunity as it makes you release stress hormones like cortisol. That, in turn, dampens your immune response. Sufficient sleep brings cortisol levels down, giving your immune system more of a chance, as it doesn’t have to battle against the stress hormone. In trying to educate yourself about immunity, be careful who you trust. One positive impact of coronavirus is that there is greater awareness of misinformation and whether it’s flagged as untrustworthy to its readers. Rather than viewing general healthy living advice as boring or dull, consider it as life saving.
CHANGE YOUR MINDSET
Exercise regularly and improve your diet as much as you can. If you haven’t been outside enough, consider a vitamin D supplement, because you’ll be a bit low. For your gut, have a bit of sauerkraut, which you can find in supermarkets, on your plate with each meal – it will be better than expensive probiotics on the market. All of that, I promise, will make a real difference.