There are a lot of misconceptions out there about which supplement to take to help boost your immune system and whilst it is true that some supplements will help so will organic coffee or green tea – depending on which part of the immune system you are trying to influence. The reality is that supplements are not necessarily the most effective (or cheapest) things to do.

So here are three easy things that will have a more beneficial effect on you immune system:

1.   Sleep and circadian rhythms – It has been shown that sleep has a very positive effect on the immune system by exerting a strong regulatory influence on immune cells. During a normal sleep wake cycle the number of immune cells in circulation is boosted during early sleep, which has a positive effect on the number of immune cell that have an ability to immediately kill off pathogens, when you are awake. The key thing to remember is that the beneficial effect is felt from going to bed early enough ideally around 10pm and having 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep it also helps to keep regular bedtimes (Besedovsky at al, 2011).

2.   Increase the amount of soluble fibre in your diet – This may seem like a strange one but there is a fundamental link between the health of your gut and more specifically your gut bacteria’s ability to modulate immune cell function. The gut and mucosal membranes are the main sites of immune activity in the body, as these are the areas of greatest exposure to pathogens. In order for your gut to be healthy you need to have a healthy balance of gut bacteria and this is where the soluble fibre comes in. In order to survive the bacteria need soluble fibre. The best source of these is from vegetables and fruits so actively increasing your intake can help to boost your immune function (Schley&Field, 2002).  You should be aiming for 5-6 potions of vegetable per day and 1 portion of fruit.  You can get a further boost by adding high fibre sources like psyllium husk or chia seeds to smoothies and meals.

3.   Diversify the vegetables you eat – Not only is it important to boost the amount of fibre you are eating it is also important to eat as wide a variety or fruit and veg as possible. What researchers are discovering is that the diversity and richness of the microbiome is just as important as amount of bacteria. With this diversity the body has the maximum ability to adapt to the environment and that means you are better able to deal with new pathogens.  In immune terms eating lots of different vegetables this will improve your oral tolerance, when we start to eat limited foods or same thing day in day out the diversity of our microbiome is effected and ultimately your health (Morgan et al, 2013). This also a better strategy than taking probiotics as you will be increasing the amount of fibre at the same time not only diversifying your microbiome but feeding it as well.

I hope you find these tips useful all three have the added benefit of inexpensively boosting your overall health and wellness. Having said all that if you were to take one supplement for immune health I would encourage you to take Vit D3, especially in the winter (Aranow, 2011). It is widely available at pharmacies and health food stores.

Aranow C.(2011) Vitamin D and the immune system. J Investig Med.2011;59(6):881-886. doi:10.2310/JIM.0b013e31821b8755

Besedovsky, L., Lange, T. & Born, J. (2012) Sleep and immune function. Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol 2012.463, 121–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-011-1044-0

Morgan XC, Segata N, Huttenhower C (2013) Biodiversity and Functional Genomics in the Human Microbiome. Trends Genet. January 2013 ; 29(1): 51–58. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2012.09.005

Schley PD, Field CJ (2002) The immune-enhancing effects of dietary fibres and prebiotics. Br J Nutr May 2002;87 Suppl 2:S221-30 doi: 10.1079/BJNBJN/2002541