your ador - features

Beat the bugs by eating better

If your bid to fend of winter diseases begins and ends with popping vitamin C pills, it is not a bad move. But there is much more to be done on the nutritional front to fortify your body against infections.

Bolstering the immune system to fight the onslaught of seasonal ailments requires a holistic approach to eating that maximises the health of its sophisticated internal army of antibodies, while also optimising the external components of the immune system.

Comprising the skin and other epithelial tissues, such as the membranes of the eyes and ears, the linings of the nose, throat and lungs, digestive and urinary systems, these physical barriers form the front line of the body’s defence against invading organisms and are our primary barrier to infections.

Pack in the protein

Protein-rich meat, chicken, eggs and fish, milk, dairy foods, pulse vegetables, nuts, seeds and soya-based foods all supply vital nourishment for these epithelial cells. Three average servings a day of any of these are important to maintain the integrity of these tissues that physically stop the entry of entry viruses and bacteria, which flourish in the centrally heated environments in which we live and work during the winter months and early spring.

If you’re particularly susceptible to respiratory problems, you need to dig into plenty of bright orange and dark green vegetables, such as carrots and pumpkins, apricots, mangoes, spinach and cabbage, alongside your protein-rich foods. Converted in the body into vitamin A, a lack of this vitamin (which itself is found in a limited number of foods, such as liver) is known to be linked to increased risk of such infections.

Drink yourself healthy

But it is not just foods that can offer protection and shore up the immune system. You can also drink your way to better health in the coming months with beverages such as cranberry juice. Gaining a reputation in scientific circles for its anti-microbial activities, a glass a day is especially helpful at this time of year when general infections can set up a domino effect in the body.

If weakened through catching coughs, colds or even the flu, for example, we are then more likely to fall prey to secondary infections like cystitis. Daily consumption boosts levels of PCOs, the main supernutrient in cranberries, which by coating the linings of the urinary tracts, stop bacteria from attaching and setting up infections.

Go for xylitol and pro-biotics

A similar mechanism seems to occur with xylitol, a natural sugar from the birch tree found in sugar-free gums. Xylitol appears to coat the linings of the eustachian tube running from the ear to the throat, and scientists in Denmark have revealed lower incidents of middle ear infections, which increase significantly in winter, especially in children, with daily xylitol consumption.

Other foods to be looking for on supermarket shelves this winter are those bearing the long and unpronounceable names of ‘good’ or pro-biotic bacteria, which have been shown in clinical research to help to improve immunity from within the colon.

Probiotics work in a variety of ways. They not only create a barrier against common bacteria in the gut wall that can cause intestinal disorders, but also trigger specific anti-microbial agents that help the body’s internal immune system to function optimally.

This internal army has a variety of weapons in its armoury. Certain white blood cells known as macrophages literally engulf and eat the enemy viral and bacterial invaders, while others called B-lymphocytes make specific antibodies to target individual bugs.

Vitamin C defence

It is by fortifying and keeping on red alert this unseen defence system where vitamin C has a vital role. There is little evidence to substantiate the long-held belief that it prevents colds, but supplementing with 1,000mg a day has in some small studies been shown to reduce the severity of symptoms and the duration of an infection. It has also been shown to prevent a minor cold going on to cause severe respiratory infections especially in the elderly.

These immune-boosting effects appear to come from vitamin C’s established role in mobilising bug-eating macrophage cells, as well as through its own specific anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties.

One of the joys of winter is the appearance on the shelves of easy to peel vitamin C-rich satsumas and mandarins. Like other winter favourites, such as sprouts and broccoli, sweet potatoes and kale, eating these foods along with orange juice, kiwi fruits and frozen berries will help to optimise vitamin C in all cells and help to maintain a basic level of resistance to infection.

Garlic and mushrooms

To further boost this resistance, the best advice is to never leave the green grocers without a regular bulb of garlic, a bag of onions and a good bunch of chives. While garlic is the richest in over a hundred anti-microbial sulphur compounds, all of these vegetables provide useful amounts.

The main sulphur compound alliin is converted on crushing or chewing into allicin, a supernutrient responsible for both garlic’s pungent odour and apparent infection-fighting capabilities. Cooking inhibits this conversion, so that to reap its full immune-boosting benefits, garlic is best eaten in the rawest state possible.

Search too for shiitake mushrooms, which are now regulars in most supermarkets. Extracts of lentinan, their main supernutrient, has been proven to improve resistance to bacterial and viral infections. Rich too in glutamate, which naturally enhances flavour, shiitake mushrooms give a wonderful rich, ‘meaty’ flavour to soups and stews with the invaluable lentinan not being destroyed by heat.

Secret selenium

No immune-boosting supermarket trip is complete, however, without stocking up on Brazil nuts, red meat, wholegrain bread and seafood. All are rich in selenium, a mineral that is particularly useful for people for whom a sudden chilly snap spells cold sore trouble. Selenium helps to stop the otherwise latent herpes virus positioned in cheek nerve ending from springing into action as temperatures drop.

Research also suggests a general protection offered by this mineral against influenza viruses. With over half the population not eating enough selenium, a conscious effort to have selenium-rich foods appears to be a crucial part of any winter health plan.

These foods, along with dark poultry meat and liver, are also abundant in zinc, which is needed for making disease-fighting antibody ‘T-cells’. Since even a mild deficiency has been linked to more frequent colds and flu, there can be no better reason for tucking into hearty roasts, steaks and seafood stews to warm and protect you this winter.

… and if you do pick up a bug, click here for your guide to which supplements and herbal remedies can speed up your recovery.