Boost Your Immunity From Home!

Give your immune system a chance to fight back with simple changes to your diet and lifestyle

- Tanya Pearey

How it works

Our immune system is our body’s natural defence. It’s a network of cells, tissues and organs, such as our spleen, appendix and bone marrow, which work together to fight infection or disease.

‘It’s the most complicated system in the body and it’s not just one thing,’ says immunologist Dr Jenna Macciochi from the University of Sussex. ‘It’s like a football team working together.’

They’re activated when a germ, such as a virus, enters our body. If we’ve come into contact with the germ before – through infection or vaccination – our body uses stored information to fight it. If it hasn’t, like with Covid-19, it uses a group of general killer cells to fight off the infection. That can take time and also damage healthy tissue, like cells in our lungs, which will need repairing after we recover.

‘There are ways to balance your immune system and help it to work well,’ says Dr Macciochi, author of Immunity: The Science of Staying Well (£7.99, HarperCollins).

Keep on the move

Physical activity is one of the best ways to prime your immune system. ‘Any kind of movement will get your lymphatic system moving – the superhighway of your immune system,’ says Dr Macciochi. Active muscles release interleukin 7 (IL-7) into your bloodstream, a chemical responsible for a healthy thymus gland, crucial to good immune-system function.

Move around regularly Try a brisk walk or cycle. A recent British study of long-term cyclists aged 55-79 found they had better immune systems than people in their 20s who didn’t exercise.