How to boost your child’s immune system and stop germs in their tracks before you get infected
There’s no magic pill to boost your body’s immune response to infections such as the flu, but there are some simple steps to help build up your own defences
When children fall ill, infections spread through schools like wildfire and can bring whole homes down as parents fall prey to whatever the latest infection is. So how can we strengthen our defences, and why are some people more resilient than others?
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Dr Adrian Wu, a specialist in allergy and immunology at Hong Kong’s Centre for Allergy and Asthma Care, says buffering our immunity isn’t rocket science. We need to adopt a common-sense approach, with “balanced nutrition, adequate rest, exercise, avoidance of alcohol, drugs, smoking, and enough sunlight exposure”.
He adds: “There are specific measures [that can be taken] such as vaccinations to boost an immune response to specific infections, but there is no magic pill.”
Dr Lee Tak-hong, a specialist in immunology and allergy, and director of the Allergy Centre at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, agrees.
His advice to patients is to adopt a healthy lifestyle: exercise regularly, have plenty of fresh air (although in Hong Kong, he observes, “that’s easier said than done”), eat a balanced diet, don’t smoke, don’t drink too much alcohol, and breast feed babies to promote good health.
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Can antioxidants and superfoods supercharge our defences? Dr Wu is not convinced.