In the view of CRN UK, if existing circumstances prevail, we could soon begin to experience a severe lack of certain micronutrients in our diets, including vitamins A, B, C, and D, and minerals such as copper, iron, selenium, and zinc.
Professor David Richardson, a scientific advisor for the body, explains: “Although messages about the importance of a balanced diet and a healthy active lifestyle underpin nutritional advice to the public, now, more than ever, there is also a need for evidence-based scientific advice about the role food supplements play in the provision of essential nutrients.”
According to Professor Richardson, food supplements have long formed part of the strategic dietary recommendations handed out by medical professionals to vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, women at various stages of the reproductive lifecycle, and young people.
As Professor Richardson explains, one of the reasons for this is that these supplements can play a key role in supporting immune function among individuals of all ages; a truth that is more fundamental to our wellbeing now, with Covid-19 impacting the world around us, than it has ever been before.
The takeaway from this is simple: that by refining our eating and focusing on our nutrient intake, we have the power to enhance our immune response and give ourselves an improved chance of staying well and healthy moving forward.
The BDA’s recommendations
While it’s easy to feel hopeless and/or helpless in the current situation, now is actually the time to be proactive about our health, and one way to support your immune system is by ensuring that you’re taking care of your body by eating a balanced diet.
According to the British Dietetic Association (BDA), this should include a number of essential vitamins and minerals, including copper, iron, folate, zinc, selenium, and vitamins A, B, C, and D, all of which can play an important role in enhancing immune function.
The organisation states that those who are self-isolating or not able to go outdoors should take this advice particularly seriously, and recommend that they add a daily supplement of vitamin D to their diets to make up for the lack of natural sunlight they are experiencing.
They suggest that this key vitamin can be included in our diets not only through the addition of supplements, but by eating certain foodstuffs too, such as cod liver oil, infant formula, oily fish, and certain yoghurts that have had vitamin D added.
Supporting your mental health
According to the CRN UK, adding these key foodstuffs to your diet can not only help to support immune function but can be beneficial to your mental health too, with many finding that current circumstances are taking a significant toll on this.
Indeed, a number of studies show a correlation between poor mental state and nutritional deficiencies and health conditions stemming from brain-based inflammation, which is believed to be strongly linked to gut health.
Supporting this, there is further research to indicate that particular food supplements, like omega-3, magnesium, zinc, and vitamins B and D, can help in improving people’s emotional wellbeing, while also relieving conditions such as depression and anxiety.
World Health Organisation guidance
In a further show of solidarity, the World Health Organisation has also taken the unprecedented step of releasing supportive nutritional guidance at this time, emphasising that a good and balanced diet is key “in times when the immune system might need to fight back.”
As well as limiting the intake of salt, sugar, and fatty foods
