With autumn weather upon us and much less sun than we’ve been used to lately, perhaps it’s time to think about giving our bodies a health boost ahead of the winter bug season.

There are mixed views out there about the use of nutritional supplements. We’re told that we should get all our vitamins and minerals from a balanced, healthy diet. Great in theory, but not always possible for all of us.

Do you feel you eat healthily enough? What do you think about the nutritional quality of some of the foods you eat?

This article is not about guilt trips, scare stories etc, but just a few thoughts about immune system supporting vitamins and minerals which may help some of you have a healthier winter.

Vitamin D is one vitamin many of the ‘authorities’ agree we may need to supplement. It is normally obtained in sufficient quantities by exposing our skin (safely) to the sun’s rays during late March to October. However, during the autumn and winter months, most of us in the UK will not make enough vitamin D for our needs.

If your diet includes the following, you may not feel too vitamin D deprived:

•  Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines
•  Liver
•  Red meat
•  Egg yolks
•  Fortified cereals and spreads

Why do I need vitamin D?
Vitamin D is important to build up calcium in bones and teeth, to keep them healthy and strong. It can also be helpful in protecting against a range of illnesses and conditions as our bodies need an ongoing good balance of vitamins and mineral etc to regulate our immune systems and other bodily functions.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is well known to many of us. Our parents and grandparents probably gave many of us vitamin C tablets as children and made sure we ate our oranges and our vegetables. We’ve also probably heard of the sailors in the ‘olden days’ getting scurvy on long voyages through not having enough vitamin C.

Why do I need vitamin C?

Vitamin C is known for helping to protect our cells and keeping them healthy. It also helps to make collagen, which aids the healing process. It also aids the absorption of iron from eating our vegetables. It is very important for good functioning of the immune system, to help us get over the winter bugs a bit more quickly.

Our bodies cannot store vitamin C, so we need to ensure a regular intake.

Magnesium is also highly important to our wellbeing and is a mineral in which many of us are deficient to some degree. If you eat foods such as the following, you may not feel deficiencies:

• Spinach
• Almonds
• Cashew nuts
• Whole grain cereal and bread products