This way you can boost your immune system

The immune system works constantly to protect us against viruses, bacteria and foreign substances.
And we can help it on the trot.
– Sleep and recovery are central, says Mikael Sandström, chief physician.

After we crawl into offices and classrooms after the summer, infections usually start to run rampant. And with them comes the flood of advertisements for various nutritional supplements that claim to boost the immune system. But for a dietary supplement to work, you have to have a deficiency of that particular substance.

– We can take any substance: If I don’t have a vitamin B deficiency and take vitamin B, nothing happens. I’m full of vitamin B in the glass – then there’s no point in adding more! It flows out and we poop it out, says doctor Mikael Sandström.

Three important tips

If you are deficient in a substance, you should of course take dietary supplements of that substance, but if you eat a normal diet, it is not very common to be deficient in something, he says.

– You can have an iron deficiency if you are pregnant, that’s what we check. Vitamin D deficiency in Norrland in the spring, when it has been dark for a long time – this is something we know about, says Mikael Sandström in Nyhetsmorgon.

Just good, healthy food is one of Dr. Mikael’s tips for boosting your own immune system. Another is physical activity.

– The lack of physical activity could become our next national disease. Movement is good!

Last but not least, he advises on sleep and recovery.

– If you don’t sleep, you get sick. It is so central to sleep and recovery – and now I mean real recovery, not pausing for a quarter of an hour.

Worse over the years

The immune system is constantly active in our bodies and mainly consists of the white blood cells, which are the body’s specialized defense cells. The cells of the immune system are already present at birth but develop over the years.

– The immune system is largely a memory. Children have six to ten infections a year. Then there are fewer infections because the immune system is trained. Above all, you form antibodies against viruses, but also against certain bacteria, says Dr. Mikael.

If you get a virus, is it a sign that the immune system is not working?

– No. It is so common to be affected by viruses and cold viruses. A good immune system is one that responds quickly and strongly. It does so at the beginning of life and worse as you get older.