Boosting your immunity part-2
Isn’t it amazing how nature provides everything our bodies need to be healthy and stay healthy! I’m marvelled every time I think about this profound fact. Which brings us to our next vitamin in this series; Vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin, this is one vitamin you can get absolutely free! The sun’s ultraviolet rays interact with our skin’s cells to produce all the vitamin D we need. This fat soluble vitamin is well known for improving our bone and muscle health, but it also plays a significant role in strengthening the immune system. White blood cells have receptors for Vitamin D and it plays a role in regulating the immune system and enabling white blood cells to fight off infections.
In recent studies on severely ill Covid-19 patients it was discovered that the vast majority of patients ending up in the ICU and on ventilators were vitamin D deficient. This led to many health organizations such as the NHS recommending vitamin D supplements as a Covid-19 preventive measure. We are fortunate in Uganda as sunshine is something we are not short of. For individuals with a darker skin complexion just 20 – 30 minutes of exposure to the sun between midday and 3pm daily can ensure that your body synthesizes all the vitamin D you need. For those with a lighter complexion 10 – 15mins of exposure to the sun daily is adequate. Ensure that you expose as much of your skin to the sun as possible. Very few foods contain vitamin D and these include fatty fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel. Other vitamin D rich foods are beef liver, cheese, egg yolks and mushrooms. For this vitamin nothing beats good old exposure to the sun!
Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant associated with skin health and it’s no surprise that the beauty industry has maximised on this for decades! Not only will this vitamin slow down the aging process and give you beautiful wrinkle free skin, it also boosts immune function in the process! It is also a potent vasodilator widening blood capillaries and prevents formation of blood clots thus improving blood circulation. This function makes vitamin E immensely beneficial in the fight against Covid-19. Vitamin E rich foods include nuts such as almonds, groundnuts, and hazelnuts; seeds and their oils, green leafy vegetables and other fruits and vegetables such as red bell peppers, avocado and mango. We need about 15mg of vitamin E per day, this can be obtained by eating two tablespoons of peanut butter or a few slices of avocado.