7 easy ways to improve your immunity

Get Outdoors

Now that spring has sprung, take every opportunity to get outside so your body can create vitamin D from the UVB rays (it won’t work through a window). It only takes a few minutes to absorb enough sunlight through the skin on your forearms, hands and lower legs to keep your immune system topped up. Those with fair skins will need to slap on sunscreen before they start to burn, and those with darker skins will need to spend a little longer in the sun to produce the same amount of vitamin D.

Earlier To Bed

Lack of sleep has been shown to seriously reduce your immunity defence system – one study showed just one night of four hours’ sleep is enough to cut 70% of the natural cells that circulate in your blood, fighting infection and disease.

By going to bed just a quarter of an hour earlier each night you could accumulate precious sleep.

Have A Giggle

Studies show being in a good mood can boost your immune system. Laughing has been shown to boost the lymphatic system, which helps clear the body of toxins and allows resources to be used to strengthen immunity. A study found watching a comedy on TV before your flu jab could boost antibody levels by up to 14%.

Food Of Many Colours

There is no single “superfood” that will boost your immune system on its own, but a varied diet that feeds the trillions of microbes in your gut microbiota can help.

The microbiome plays a key role in training, maintaining and supporting our immune system if you eat a wide variety of plantbased foods. The more variety, the better: vegetables, fruit, wholegrains, legumes (beans and pulses), nuts and seeds, frozen, tinned and dried all count. Different colours denote different nutrients, so aim to eat a rainbow.

Open A Window

You can significantly reduce your risk of catching a cold or flu by opening a window when you are in a room or car with people you suspect might be ill. Research in Australia found that spending 90 minutes in a modern car (which tend to be well sealed) with someone who has flu gives you a 99.9% chance of catching the virus. The risk falls to 20% if you open the windows.

Exercise Daily

“Using muscles during exercise has an antiinflammatory effect and helps immune cells called neutrophils get to an infection site quicker,” Professor Janet Lord, an expert in immunity and ageing at Birmingham University, says, adding, “It also helps other immune cells called macrophages – ‘guard’ cells that patrol the body for signs of attack – function better.” Any regular exercise that gets your heart rate up can turn back the clock of the immune system.

Keep Off The Booze

Although alcohol consumption might have gone up during lockdown, it is important to know that excess alcohol is not good for the immune system.

“Drinking to excess can affect production of immune cells produced in the bone marrow,” Jenna Macciochi, a lecturer in immunology at the University of Sussex, says.

Excess alcohol can also damage the lining of the gut, where 70% of the body’s immune system is located.