The immune system will continue to face new battles against the body's invaders regardless of the time of year. Fortunately, there are small, simple measures we can take every day to reduce the risk of illness – namely, paying close attention to our nutrient intake.
The Swedish Food Agency recommends that certain groups should use supplements. This is based on the fact that substances such as vitamins and certain minerals must be obtained through food and that the diets of certain groups are not sufficiently comprehensive to meet their needs. In order to feel well and for the body to function as intended, we need both vitamins and essential minerals. Although they are needed in small amounts to meet basic daily requirements, research shows that larger amounts and so-called therapeutic dosages can sometimes contribute additional or stronger desirable health effects. In other words, there may sometimes be situations where we should look at things from a slightly different perspective if we want our health to actually improve rather than merely be maintained.
Although it is a healthy approach to believe that a varied diet should be sufficient, it can be difficult to maintain ideal eating habits every day. If, for example, you have a stressful everyday life, a healthy diet may end up at the bottom of your list of priorities. In other cases, active choices in one's diet may mean that the intake of certain vitamins and minerals becomes insufficient. For example, certain food categories are excluded in various special diets, which in turn may mean that the only truly potent sources of certain vitamins or minerals disappear entirely.
To protect yourself against colds and influenza, it can be useful to know what your body needs to keep the immune system in check. Our Biomedical Expert Erik has therefore listed four friends of the immune system that you should keep in mind:
Vitamin D
Vitamin D receptors are found throughout the body, and the vitamin is therefore involved in a great many different cellular processes. One of these is the regulation of the body's immune cells during infection. Today, we also have plenty of solid research showing the benefits of vitamin D supplementation when it comes to preventing upper respiratory tract infections.
● DRI: 200 IU / day *
● RDI: 400-800 IU / day **
● Therapeutic dose: 500 - 3000 IU / day **
Zinc
Zinc is considered one of the essential minerals that we need to obtain through our diet. The mineral is involved in hundreds of enzymes in the body that affect everything from the metabolism of proteins and nucleic acids to supporting the immune system and T cells.
● DRI: 10 mg / day *
● RDI: 7-15 mg / day **
● Therapeutic dose: 15-25 mg / day ***
Vitamin C
For many people, Vitamin C is the first choice for strengthening the immune system and avoiding colds. It is also easy to understand why this has become the case – the vitamin is needed to form and support the body's immune cells. In addition, it plays an important role in supporting and protecting the body's physical barriers, such as our skin cells, against infectious agents and microorganisms that we come into contact with every day.
● DRI: 80 mg / day *
● RDI: 75-100 mg / day **
● Therapeutic dose: 500-2000 mg / day ***
Garlic
The active compounds in garlic can improve the ability of white blood cells to neutralize invaders. At the same time, they can increase the production of the body's T cells, which are part of the important adaptive immune system. Together, these effects have been shown to be able to reduce the risk of colds by 60%.
● DRI: there is no daily reference value for garlic
● Therapeutic dose: 3 garlic cloves / day or 500-1200 mg garlic extract **
* Daily Reference Intake – a value established by the EU and intended to be used as a reference value when nutritional information is provided on food packaging. Not to be confused with Recommended Daily Intake (RDI).
** Recommended Daily Intake – indicates the minimum amount of vitamins or minerals a person should consume each day.
*** Therapeutic dose – refers to the range that research has recommended specifically when it comes to, for example, strengthening the immune system and/or reducing the risk of infections, or alternatively shortening the duration of illness.
