Beat the winter bugs: What nutrients you need to keep your immune system boosted

National World - LocalTV

By now, most of us are aware that viruses are more prevalent in the winter - so what's the best way of protecting yourself and your family? The new year is a fresh opportunity to build better, healthier habits and so, immunologists like Doctor Jenna Macciochi are sharing their advice for ensuring we have the nutrients we need.

Transcript

00:00 It's that over half of the nation agrees that January is the bleakest month of the year.

00:07 And we all know that feeling at the start of the year.

00:09 A lot of people are trying to, you know, overhaul their diet lifestyle, put new resolutions

00:14 in place which inevitably slip away in those first few weeks of January and leave us feeling

00:19 a bit flat.

00:21 There's also lots of those winter germs around right now.

00:24 And it is a concern for people from the research, about 40% are concerned about getting sick

00:32 but mostly don't know where to start with regards to making sure their immune system

00:37 is working properly.

00:38 Not only has the research found that we're more likely to get a case of the blues at

00:42 this time of the year, the winter months are also those that see the highest number of

00:46 people falling ill with seasonal viruses like cold, flu and Covid.

00:51 That's mainly down to human behaviour. When the mercury plummets, we all strive to stay

00:55 indoors where germs are more readily spread from person to person.

00:59 There are more germs around in winter. This is because a lot of those seasonal colds like

01:04 the cooler weather. We also huddle indoors a lot, so there's lots more opportunities

01:08 for those germs to transmit between us.

01:11 So in terms of making sure your immune system is working properly, we want to be making

01:15 sure that we've got a healthy, balanced diet. That's really important.

01:20 And I think that that's something that a lot of us in January are failing to do, just getting

01:25 more vegetables on your plate, things like that.

01:27 That's why the experts like Dr Jenna are encouraging us to use the start of a new year to help

01:32 build in some newer, healthier habits in a bid to strengthen our immune system this winter

01:37 and help avoid getting ill as much as possible.

01:40 One really important thing is getting enough vitamin D. So this is an essential vitamin.

01:46 It's really important for proper immune function, but it's one that we don't get enough of in

01:52 winter. And the main reason for that is because we get vitamin D from the sun.

01:56 Come October, when we start going into winter, the sun just isn't strong enough for us to

02:01 be able to make enough vitamin D.

02:03 Therefore, it's recommended people keep an eye out for foods fortified with vitamin D

02:07 or take supplements at this time of the year.

02:10 When it comes to making a change to your lifestyle, Jenna says to start small.

02:14 I think a lot of people struggle because they don't really know where to start. And so I

02:18 always recommend people start small with small, achievable habits that we know are going to

02:22 build up and give you the most bang for your buck in terms of improving your health over

02:27 time.

02:28 But how do we know when our immune system is weakened versus strong? According to the

02:32 experts, there are some warning signs we can look out for.

02:36 It can just be things like thinking about how frequently you're getting ill. It is normal

02:40 to pick up the odd infection over the year. But if you're getting ill more frequently

02:45 than normal or you're really struggling to shake off those infections, that can be a

02:49 sign. It's great to go and talk to your doctor about that.

02:53 If you're feeling tired, lack of energy, again, that could be through various different means,

02:59 but it's also could be linked to your immune system just isn't getting what it needs.

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