Keeping your body in prime condition has never been more important as people battle both physical and mental stressors, including the stress of working from home, home-schooling, isolation and of course ailments related to covid-19 and typical season bugs like colds and flu. Dr Shaza Mohammed, Family Medicine Specialist at Medcare Medical Centre Al Barsha, says that while you can naturally boost your immune system to an extent using a variety of healthy foods including fresh fruits and vegetables, a varied, healthy diet may not always provide you with all the vitamins and minerals that your body needs.
This is why she always recommends that her patients include an Immune Boosting Supplement in their daily diets. COVID-19 aside, the popularity of immune boosting products has soared over recent years, as people have started taking their overall mental and physical health very seriously. Featuring ingredients that include high levels of Vitamin C, Echinacea and Zinc these immune boosters help to support immunity, fight against illnesses and shorten the duration of colds and flus.
There are many different brands of immune boosting supplements available on the market today and these are some of the key health-boosting ingredients that Dr Shaza recommends that you look out for and why they’ll be beneficial in helping to boost your immune system:
- Vitamin C: Vitamin is the most common vitamin recommended when trying to fight off colds and flus and for good reason! Also known as ascorbic acid, the body relies on this to form blood vessels, cartilage, muscle and collagen within the bones. It also plays an essential role in helping the body maintain a proper immune function. As Vitamin C is not produced by the body, it is important that the body gets its recommended Vitamin C allowance from your diet or to guarantee that you’re getting enough Vitamin C, a supplement such as Vitamin C tablets or an Immune Booster comes highly recommended.
- Echinacea: Gaining popularity in recent years, this medicinal plant contains active substances that help to boost the immune function, relieve pain and reduce inflammation. Studies show that Echinacea also helps to prevent or treat common colds and that if taken in an immune boosting supplement, may help to shorten the duration of a cold by up to half a day as well as may help to reduce symptom severity.
- Zinc: Studies show that taking zinc supplements can help to significantly reduce the length of a cold, especially when taken within 24 hours of the first symptoms of a cold. Researchers think that zinc works by preventing the rhinovirus, which is the virus that causes most colds, from multiplying and may also prevent rhinovirus from lodging within the mucous membranes of the throat and nose.
‘Providing your body with all the vitamins and minerals that it needs on a daily basis is so important and even more so during this peak period of illness,’ Says Dr Shaza . ‘Taking just one immune boosting supplement a day could significantly boost your ability to fight back at not only the common cold and flu but more serious illnesses too, especially when combined with a healthy varied diet that includes a large amount of high-quality, fresh fruits and vegetables. I recommend this not only to all my patients but to my husband and children too, whether they are feeling ill or not, and insist that they include this dietary supplement all year round to really give their immune systems the boost that it needs.’
Keep your body in tip-top shape with an immune boosting supplement, available from pharmacies, including Aster, across the country.