Sarah's Health Notes: How to help your immune system
With the clocks changing in the UK (saying that cos we have readers worldwide), it’s a reminder to think about how best to stay well through the damp dark days when colds and viruses are just waiting to leap out and invade.
Whether or not you choose to have one or more of the vaccines on offer – like flu, Covid and the less well known but nasty RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) – it makes sense to support your immune system in every way possible.
So you know the drill! Warm food, lots of vegetables (I’ve just made a big pan of soup with sweet potatoes, carrots, garlic and ginger which I lace with olive oil and parsley at the table), fruit (I take a bag to pick up windfall apples which I cook until soft, then purée – lots of delish ways of eating), and probiotics/fermented foods. That means full fat natural yogurt for me, but you might be a devotee of more exotic options like kimchi and kombucha (like Jo’s husband).
In search of supportive supplements, I turned as usual to our go-to pharmacist Shabir Daya at Victoria Health. He says:
‘I have not seen anything else as comprehensive as DoSe by VH Daily Immunity, with the herbs that enhance white blood cell counts, vitamins C and D for their varying roles in immune support, mushroom extracts for beta glucans which influence macrophages (cells that engulf bacteria and viruses), probiotics, etc.’
Do read up on this (just click on the name to be whizzed through); basically it’s a powerhouse of immune system primers – vitamins and herbs – which is suitable for anyone over 12. As Shabir says, a number of factors including high stress levels, close contact in confined areas (offices, classrooms, public transport for instance), lack of sleep and nutritional deficiencies can all play a role in compromising the immune system.
I also want to tell you about one of my all time favourite supplements: 10 Day Get Well Stay Well. After I had two recent bouts of what was probably a norovirus going round locally, with some people ending up in hospital owing to dehydration, I felt like the proverbial wet rag. Gill Sinclair at Victoria Health remembered that 10 Day Get Well Stay Well had helped me in the past and sent me supplies.
Oh, my word! It was really amazing: within a couple of days I was bouncing around again. My energy returned pretty much within a week and by the time I finished the 10 Day course, I was back to being the Tigger that Jo has dubbed me for decades…. Actually, my husband reminded me that years back when we were due to go to New York and had the most appalling colds/coughs, it was 10 Day that got us well enough to go.
Take lots of care and stay healthy.
Get Well Stay Well/£27 for 60 capsules
DoSe by VH Daily Immunity/£29 for 60 capsules
