5 Golden Rules for Preventing the Flu

By strengthening the immune system, we can protect ourselves from diseases such as flu and colds. Sinem Usuk, Specialist Dietitian from the Nutrition and Diet Department at Istanbul Okan University Hospital, provided important information about ways to prevent flu and colds.

Strengthening the Immune System

Vitamin A is a vitamin whose protective effect against respiratory tract infections has been definitively proven. We can easily meet our daily requirements through food sources. Among animal sources, liver, eggs, milk and butter are included, while plant-based sources include dark green leafy vegetables (spinach, chard, etc.) and orange-colored vegetables (carrots, winter squash, etc.). A diet featuring these will be sufficient to meet your vitamin A needs. As the number of people around you suffering from colds increases, remember that the presence of green, yellow and orange colors in your diet should also increase. Since vitamin A can be stored in the liver, unaware consumption as a dietary supplement can lead to poisoning.

Vitamin C Requirement: 2 Mandarins Daily

Vitamin C, one of our basic protectors, is a water-soluble vitamin that cannot be stored in our body, so we need to consume it daily. Our dietary sources of vitamin C are fresh vegetables and fruits. Animal products are quite weak in vitamin C at this point, and many contain almost no vitamin C at all. An adult individual needs to consume an average of 90 mg of vitamin C daily. To put this theoretical information into practice: 2 small mandarins contain 85 mg, 1 medium orange contains 115 mg, 1 kiwi contains 75 mg, 3 hot peppers contain 110 mg of vitamin C. In other words, by consuming 3 green peppers at breakfast and 2 mandarins during the day, we can even exceed our daily vitamin C requirement. For this reason, when winter arrives, do not immediately reach for vitamin C supplements, but rather for vitamin C-rich vegetables and fruits. Since nursing mothers have higher vitamin C requirements than non-nursing adults, it is beneficial for women during this period to maintain higher vitamin C intake. Individuals under heavy stress, those who consume alcohol and tobacco, those with febrile and viral illnesses, and those taking antibiotics and painkillers also have higher daily vitamin C requirements.  

Zinc Helps You Recover Faster

Zinc is a powerful antioxidant mineral. Therefore, it plays an important role in strengthening the immune system or in our faster recovery when we become ill. This is why we find zinc in many multivitamins, sometimes even combined with just vitamin C. Looking at nutritional zinc sources, animal products in particular, especially red meat, are good sources of zinc. However, oily seeds (especially pumpkin seeds) and dark green leafy vegetables also support us in terms of zinc.

Water consumption and sleep are essential to the immune system!

Adequate water consumption is very valuable for the proper functioning of immune system components. With the arrival of winter, our water consumption should increase, but unfortunately it decreases. However, especially in cases of infection, water consumption must be increased with extra care. Chronic fatigue is also one of the factors that increase disease risk. You need to show the same care for your daily sleep level as you do for your nutrition in order for all the mechanisms of the system to work properly.

"Unaware Dieting Weakens the Immune System"

Finally; carelessly implemented, insufficient and unbalanced nutrition programs, especially very low-calorie crash diets, damage metabolism in every way and put you at risk for disease. In particular, low-calorie diets weaken the immune system because they do not provide adequate nutritional support in individuals. Even if you are in a dieting process to lose weight, there are essential nutrients you must consume. Remember that in diets where unnecessary food restrictions are made with the aim of rapidly losing weight in the short term, you are weakening your immune system in the background.