It is important for everyone's immune systems to be working as well as possible, and what you eat plays an important role in that.
A healthy diet will help to prevent you falling ill, and if you do get sick it gives you the best chance of recovering quickly.
Eating well will give you the vitamins and minerals you need to keep your immune systems healthy.
How vitamins help
Vitamin A helps support T-cells, which are involved in identifying pathogens, such as a virus or bacteria.
Vitamins B6 and B12, folate, selenium and zinc help produce new immune cells, while copper and iron assist in protecting, maintaining and fuelling them.
Vitamin C helps immune cells attack pathogens, clear away old immune cells from the site of infection and maintain our skin, our external barrier to infection.
Where to find vitamins
These vitamins are all are found in many foods, including fruit, vegetables, poultry, fish, eggs and nuts, to name just a few.
So if you are eating a healthy diet, you are likely to get the amount of them you will need.
Supplements
If you are deficient in vitamin C or vitamin D, as examples, you may need to take supplements to boost them.
But please note there is no evidence that increasing your vitamin levels with such supplements will advance your ability to fight diseases.
