STAY AWAY FROM PROCESSED FOOD

As well as eating to boost your immune system, it is important to avoid – if possible – habits which could be undermining your body’s ability to protect you. Smoking is an obvious one, and insufficient sleep is another. But you might not realise that eating processed and junk food, and sticking to a narrow range of your favourite foods (the same sandwich for lunch every day, regular takeaways, and the same meals night after night) can undermine your immune system at a time when you most need it to be working on your behalf.

Our gut bacteria don’t respond well to the artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers and additives which are packed into highly processed food to make the cheap ingredients palatable. Eating lots of sugary or processed foods will just reinforce and feed the ‘bad’, pro-inflammatory microbes that live in the gut and a healthy microbiome is crying out for variety. Many families eat from a limited repertoire of set meals with a boringly small range of ingredients. The problem is, the more limited the range of foods you eat, the more limited your bacterial diversity is likely to be. There has never been a better time to experiment with new foods and recipes. It’s not just delicious – it’s the best way to bolster your immunity!