When cold and flu season hits, finding ways to boost your immune system and stave off the worst of the winter bugs becomes a priority. We share five ways you can help support your immune system

Getting through cold and flu season unscathed feels like an impossible task. With so many different bugs going around, looking after your immune system and ensuring it is in top shape is key to making it through the colder months without feeling like you are catching one bug after another.

Your immune system helps fight off cold and flu viruses. Even when you do end up with a cough or feeling achy, it can still be a sign that your body’s natural defence mechanisms are working to keep you safe from more serious symptoms.

Supporting your natural immunity through simple means can have a bigger impact than you might realise. Here are five ways you can look after yourself – and your immune system.

Nurture your gut microbiome

Your gut microbiome is the ecosystem of microorganisms (bacteria, as well as viruses and fungi) living in your digestive tract. Your gut microbiome plays a crucial part in your body breaking down food, producing vitamins, influencing your mood, and training your immune system. Around 70-80% of your immune cells are in your gut. 

Everyone’s gut microbiome is unique to them. It’s shaped by your diet, genetics, and environment. While a balanced gut microbiome helps promote better physical and mental health, an imbalanced gut microbiome (dysbiosis) can disrupt your digestion, immunity, and mental health.

How can you support and nurture your gut microbiome? Variety is key. Eating a variety of different, colourful fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds, helps feed good gut bacteria. Fermented foods like yoghurt, kimchi, kefir, and miso add beneficial bacteria directly to your gut, supporting your gut microbiome. Ensuring you have enough fibre can help support good bacteria growth in your gut, producing the compounds needed to support your immune cells. 

Take care of your mental health and wellbeing

Your mind and body are closely connected. When you feel stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed for a long period of time, your body releases stress hormones. In small amounts, these can be helpful, but too much can weaken your immune responses, making it harder to fight off infections and slower to recover. So, by looking after your mental health, you’re looking after your physical health and supporting your immune system, too. 

Feeling calmer and more resilient can help you to keep up with healthier habits that support your overall wellbeing. When you feel good, you are more likely to do things that you know are good for you – like exercising, eating nourishing foods, and reaching out to friends and loved ones to stay connected, all of which are things that can help strengthen your immune function. 

Spending time outdoors, practising simple breathing exercises, setting boundaries to help reduce stress, and making time to socialise with friends and loved ones can all help. 

Prioritise sleep

Studies have shown that sleep and your circadian system help regulate your immune system. While you are in deep sleep and your stress hormones are lower, your immune cells can better communicate, multiply, and move where they are needed most, helping to build strong, long-lasting immunity. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body stays stressed and is less able to regulate inflammation, which can lead to your immune system becoming weaker. 

Prioritise regular, consistent, quality sleep every night. Establishing a soothing bedtime routine can be helpful for promoting better quality sleep. Try to avoid screens before bed, take a warm, relaxing bath, and help your body wind down and start to switch off. Having a set time to go to sleep and wake up each day can be a big help. Practising good sleep hygiene can make a real difference.

Limit unhelpful habits

Unhelpful lifestyle and dietary habits can also impact your immune system, as well as your overall health and wellbeing. Eating too much ultra-processed food, foods high in sugar, saturated fats, or salt, can all lead to low-grade inflammation and nutrient deficiencies that can negatively affect your immune system. When you exercise, it allows your immune cells to circulate more efficiently, as well as to detect pathogens throughout your body. Being too sedentary can hinder this process, leading to weaker immune responses. 

Smoking, vaping, and excessive alcohol consumption can also have a negative impact. Chemicals in both tobacco and vapes irritate your airway, lessening your immune system’s capacity to resist infection and making you more susceptible to respiratory illnesses, including the flu. Too much alcohol can suppress your immune system, damage immune cells, and negatively affect your gut bacteria, compromising your body’s ability to fight off infections. 

Focus on food (and only use supplements if needed)

Nutrient gaps can happen when you don’t get enough of certain vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Common nutrient gaps can weaken your immune system, including not getting enough vitamin D, C, and A, not having enough zinc, iron, or B vitamins. Even small shortages of some nutrients can impact your overall energy levels, mood, well-being, and immunity. Ensuring you have a varied, whole-food diet can help to overcome these gaps. 

While supplements can help support you, it’s important to get safe supplement guidance. Too much of some vitamins and minerals can be just as bad for you as not enough, and knowing what your body really needs can be tricky. It’s important to know that white supplements can be helpful at some life stages (for example, while pregnant), generally speaking, food provides a wider range of nutrients and fibre that support you and what your body really needs. The NHS advises that most of us should be able to get all the nutrients we need by having a varied, balanced diet. 

Focusing on a balanced, healthy diet is key to creating the foundations for a healthy immune system and a healthier you. If you do think that you might benefit from supplements, speaking with your GP or a nutritional professional can help you to find out what you might need.   

Boosting your immune system doesn’t have to mean overhauling your entire life. Think of your immune health as a long game, rather than a quick fix. Every little positive choice, whether that’s a nourishing meal, an early night, or a walk outdoors, is a small investment in your future wellbeing, not just for flu season, but all year round. 

You don’t need to try to change everything at once. Even one or two changes can make a difference. Listen to your body, take things at your own pace, and be kind to yourself. Supporting your immune system is about progress, not perfection. Your everyday choices will start to work quietly behind the scenes to help support you.