By now, most of us are aware that viruses are more prevalent in the winter - so what's the best way of protecting yourself and your family? The new year is a fresh opportunity to build better, healthier habits and so, immunologists like Doctor Jenna Macciochi are sharing their advice for ensuring we have the nutrients we need.
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00:00 It's that over half of the nation agrees that January is the bleakest month of the year.
00:07 And we all know that feeling at the start of the year.
00:09 A lot of people are trying to, you know, overhaul their diet lifestyle, put new resolutions
00:14 in place which inevitably slip away in those first few weeks of January and leave us feeling
00:19 a bit flat.
00:21 There's also lots of those winter germs around right now.
00:24 And it is a concern for people from the research, about 40% are concerned about getting sick
00:32 but mostly don't know where to start with regards to making sure their immune system
00:37 is working properly.
00:38 Not only has the research found that we're more likely to get a case of the blues at
00:42 this time of the year, the winter months are also those that see the highest number of
00:46 people falling ill with seasonal viruses like cold, flu and Covid.
00:51 That's mainly down to human behaviour. When the mercury plummets, we all strive to stay
00:55 indoors where germs are more readily spread from person to person.
00:59 There are more germs around in winter. This is because a lot of those seasonal colds like
01:04 the cooler weather. We also huddle indoors a lot, so there's lots more opportunities
01:08 for those germs to transmit between us.
01:11 So in terms of making sure your immune system is working properly, we want to be making
01:15 sure that we've got a healthy, balanced diet. That's really important.
01:20 And I think that that's something that a lot of us in January are failing to do, just getting
01:25 more vegetables on your plate, things like that.
01:27 That's why the experts like Dr Jenna are encouraging us to use the start of a new year to help
01:32 build in some newer, healthier habits in a bid to strengthen our immune system this winter
01:37 and help avoid getting ill as much as possible.
01:40 One really important thing is getting enough vitamin D. So this is an essential vitamin.
01:46 It's really important for proper immune function, but it's one that we don't get enough of in
01:52 winter. And the main reason for that is because we get vitamin D from the sun.
01:56 Come October, when we start going into winter, the sun just isn't strong enough for us to
02:01 be able to make enough vitamin D.
02:03 Therefore, it's recommended people keep an eye out for foods fortified with vitamin D
02:07 or take supplements at this time of the year.
02:10 When it comes to making a change to your lifestyle, Jenna says to start small.
02:14 I think a lot of people struggle because they don't really know where to start. And so I
02:18 always recommend people start small with small, achievable habits that we know are going to
02:22 build up and give you the most bang for your buck in terms of improving your health over
02:27 time.
02:28 But how do we know when our immune system is weakened versus strong? According to the
02:32 experts, there are some warning signs we can look out for.
02:36 It can just be things like thinking about how frequently you're getting ill. It is normal
02:40 to pick up the odd infection over the year. But if you're getting ill more frequently
02:45 than normal or you're really struggling to shake off those infections, that can be a
02:49 sign. It's great to go and talk to your doctor about that.
02:53 If you're feeling tired, lack of energy, again, that could be through various different means,
02:59 but it's also could be linked to your immune system just isn't getting what it needs.