Firstly, with less/no sun on your skin, I hope you are all taking your NHS recommended vitamin D supplements (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/), firstly to help your immunity and secondly improve bone, tooth and muscle health and strength. We absorb vitamin D from the sun during the warmer months (although given the British weather, personally I take it year round), but from autumn to late spring, we really need to supplement to ensure we’re getting enough. Although vitamin D is found in food (eggs, dairy, oily fish, red meat, fortified cereals), it is really hard to absorb adequate amounts from food sources alone. So next time you’re in the supermarket, pop some vitamin D supplements into your basket – there are options available for all budgets.
As I’ve mentioned above, vitamin D plays an important role in immunity – something we all want to improve especially at this time of year. Supplementing with vitamin D, and ensuring your iron and vitamin C levels are well bolstered, will improve your chances of fighting off the bugs and speeding recovery if they do strike. Reducing stress and improving sleep will help significantly too – deep rest yoga nidra can improve both of these so do book in for an upcoming class.
Improving iron and vitamin C to support immunity:
Iron is found in highest densities in red meat and this is the form that is easiest for the body to absorb. It is also available in eggs, fish, dried fruit (dried apricots have the highest quantities but be careful with these are high in fruit sugar), beans and legumes, green leafy veg and nuts and seeds. The best way to enhance iron absorption is to eat your iron source alongside a vitamin C source as the vitamin C helps improve absorption into the body. So in practice, this could look like something you may well have on your food roster already: bolognaise is a perfect example of bringing together iron (red meat) in a vitamin C rich tomato sauce. If you want to increase the nutrient density of this meal, you could add chick peas (more iron, fibre and vitamin C) and chopped/blended carrots and peppers (vitamin C, fibre) into the sauce. A favourite iron and vitamin C rich autumn meal in my home is my salmon noodle soup recipe which I’m sharing with you here:
Nutrient dense salmon/tofu/chicken noodle soup:
Roast/bake/pan-fry your salmon – roughly one fillet per person (iron) In a deep soup pan, cook up some tenderstem brocolli, asparagus, mangetout (vitamin C) and some egg noodles (more iron) in bone broth or just hot water. I tend to cook the egg noodles in with the green veg so they can be cooked in that vitamin C rich water – even better if cooked with bone/mushroom broth. Pan-fry some onions, garlic and mushrooms (super prebiotics – you can read about those in an upcoming blog). Combine all the above into the deep soup pan and season to taste with soy sauce. You can serve this without the water or as a broth, depending on your personal preferences. I chuck in whatever veg we have in the fridge so this might also include grated carrots, kale or green beans. And you could also replace the salmon with chicken or tofu.
Enhance your iron absorption:
You can further enhance iron and vitamin C absorption by avoiding drinking tea/coffee/milk at the same time as the phylates in tea and coffee and calcium in the dairy reduce absorption.
Get your personalised nutrition consultation:
If this was helpful, and you’d like to further optimise your own nutrition, do get in touch to book a nutrition and lifestyle consultation. Priced at £120, you receive:
- 15 minute telephone consultation in advance to check your aims and our compatibility
- Questionnaire for you to complete in advance so I can understand your current diet, lifestyle, aims and any restrictions
- One hour telephone consultation (day/evening): we use this to go into greater detail of your questionnaire, you get some immediate suggestions and can ask all your questions
- Fully personalised nutrition and lifestyle report including tailored meal plans and holistic lifestyle suggestions to optimise your health:you receive this by email within a week of our telephone consultation
- Complimentary general lifestyle guide including how to understand your own needs and motivations, sleep tips, recipes and recommended reading