Covid still paces among us, and peak cold and flu season is around the corner – so it’s time to make sure your immune system is firing on full power to keep you happy and healthy this winter. Helen Foster finds out more…
W ith the explosion of new Covid variants, and research suggesting that the efficacy of a second booster jab may decline rapidly, you might be feeling a bit concerned about how well your immune system will cope this winter. So it’s worth remembering that not only can we strengthen our natural immunity through lifestyle choices but that our bodies’ immune response to Covid infection is more robust than scientists initially believed.
WHAT TO EAT
‘The headlines might claim the new variants evade immunity, but that’s a bit of a Diet plays a major role in fuelling our immune system. ‘There’s not one magic nutrient that will keep your immune system working perfectly – there are lots,’ says nutritional immunologist Philip Calder, a professor at the University of Southampton. ‘And there is a way of eating that can help provide most of them – a mainly plant-based diet with lots of different fruits, vegetables and sources of fibre.
That’s the foundation on which simplification,’ says Dr Jennifer good immunity is built.’ But you
Juno from the Peter Doherty can then add to those foundations.
Institute for Infection and ● Eat a palm-size portion of
Immunity in Melbourne, Australia. protein at every meal ‘When your
‘Our research shows that there body mounts an immune response, are several layers to your immune you make lots of new cells, and system that will help protect you.’ you need protein to fuel this,’
For starters, we have says Professor Calder. To meet our physical immune system this demand he suggests adding
– membranes and cells that a small serving of protein at every stop bacteria and viruses meal, mixing up sources like meat, entering our system. Then fish, eggs, dairy, beans and pulses. there’s a second army of cells, ● Bring down your blood sugar called T-cells, ready to go into battle. These fight ‘A study in 2021 found that elevated blood sugar all variants of Covid – and for a long time, too; is the most likely single risk factor to explain why Dr Juno’s study found that T-cell immunity lasts otherwise healthy patients get severe Covid-19,’ says for at least 15 months after vaccination, or a case immunologist Dr Jenna Macciochi, author of Your of Covid. What this means is that we’re not Blueprint for Strong Immunity (Yellow Kite, £14.99). defenceless against even the new variants of Covid. ‘Elevated blood sugar weakens anti-viral defences We now have access to the fourth booster, and we and promotes viral replication. Eating slower-release can he
