Flu-fighting vitamins

Viwe Ndongeni-Ntlebi

SALMON is high in vitamin D, which fights off infections and maintains strong bones. | COTTONBRO Pexels

Essential vitamins and minerals that keep your body healthy and where to find them

WITH the flu season upon us, you’re doing everything in your power not to have anyone in your household get sick. While you can’t control the school or office environment, you can control what’s in your home.

Cold and flu symptoms frequently include fever, chills, a sore throat, headaches, and body aches.

The recommendation to help you fight the flu is a combination of a healthy diet, exercise, increased water intake and frequent handwashing along with five essential vitamins and minerals to keep your body healthy.

Vitamin C

Supports the immune system. This can also be found in oranges, grapefruit, broccoli, strawberries, red bell peppers and tomato juice.

Vitamin D

Also fights off infections and maintains strong bones – it is found in salmon, mushrooms, milk, cereals and breads

Vitamin A

Helps regulate the immune system and protects against infections by keeping your tissues and skin healthy – it can be found in sweet potatoes, carrots, apricots and spinach.

Vitamin E

Is an essential antioxidant that helps fight cell damage. Nuts and peanut butter are filled with vitamin E.

Zinc

Works as an antioxidant and boosts the metabolism along with healing wounds. Meat, shellfish, beans/legumes and nuts/seeds are high zinc foods.

Are there foods that we could be eating to boost our immune systems? There is no single food that will prevent you from catching the flu. But upping your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy diet will help you source essential vitamins and minerals In addition to having all of these, many experts advocate for the flu vaccination. In South Africa, seasonal flu vaccinations are now widely available, with the major pharmacy chains, Clicks, Dis-Chem, and Shoprite (via its MediRite pharmacies) all administering them.

MediRite will do so for a cash price of R109, the cheapest among the three.It accepts all major medical aids, and you can book an appointment across a network of 146 pharmacies.