Immunity boosting foods

Carina Norris (www.carinanorris.co.uk) is a registered nutritionist, and her book, The Food Manual, is published by Haynes. Carina shares her advice on the top 5 immune system boosting foods for kids which will help to protect them from coughs and colds when they go back to school (and they won’t do parents any harm either!)
Good nutrition is vital for keeping bugs at bay, and if your child’s diet isn’t what it should be, their immune system will be below par as well, making them more vulnerable to every cough and sniffle going around.
This means adopting a good balanced diet, based around lean protein, moderate amounts of healthy unsaturated fats, and reducing the amounts of unhealthy saturated fats (the kind you get in fatty meat and full-fat dairy products). Add starchy carbohydrates (wholegrain rather than refined where possible) which are the body’s preferred energy source, and plenty of fruit and vegetables, to give them all the vitamins and minerals they need.
There are some nutrients that have particular immune-boosting properties, so try to get these inside your children.
Citrus fruit - packed with vitamin C, the best-known immunity vitamin. Vitamin C is also involved in wound healing, which is important for all those playground scrapes and grazes. If your child is too small to manage big oranges, try easy-peeling clementines.
Lean meat  - lean meat and poultry, (and to a lesser extent, fish), is an excellent source of the mineral zinc, which plays an important role in supporting the immune system. If your child is vegetarian, eggs can be a valuable source of zinc.
Nuts and seeds - nuts and seeds (especially pumpkin seeds and Brazil nuts) are another source of zinc, as well as the mineral selenium, which is also a good immune booster. Nuts and seeds are also great for vitamin E, which is important for immunity, as well as healthy skin. Sunflower seeds and almonds are particularly good for this vitamin. Remember that small children can choke on nuts and seeds; but you can still give them the benefits by grinding the seeds and sprinkling them on cereal or blending them into a smoothie. Also bear in mind that some children may be allergic to nuts and seeds.
Wheatgerm - another fantastic source of vitamin E. Sprinkle it on cereal, or blend into smoothies, or add it to baking recipes.
Red peppers - packed with vitamin C (orange and yellow peppers are good too), and also antioxidants which help protect the body’s cells from damage. Serve them raw and sliced into strips as a snack, perhaps with a low-fat yogurt dip, or a mild tomato salsa. Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C too.
Garlic - don’t assume that children won’t like spicy foods – but ease them in gently if they’re not used to the taste, perhaps by putting a little bit of garlic in a pasta sauce, or mixing it into the topping of a healthy home-made pizza. Garlic has antibacterial and antiviral properties, and as a bonus, it’s good for the heart. If your family really won’t eat garlic, you can get some of the benefits from onions.
Strawberries - although oranges and other citrus fruits are the best known sources of vitamin C, strawberries are good too, and few children can resist them! Make the most of the summer when they’re in season in this country, and serve them as they are, sliced onto cereal, or crushed and stirred into low-fat natural yogurt (with a teaspoon of honey if you like) to make a healthy fruit fool.
Try this yummy bug-busting smoothie
Blend about six strawberries with half a banana, and thin it down with some fresh orange juice (use as much as you like – it depends whether you want a thin ‘drinking smoothie’ or a thicker one). Stir in (or sprinkle on top) a heaped teaspoon of wheatgerm, and / or another of ground seeds. You can throw in other berries if you like – blueberries work well (and the frozen ones, which are generally cheaper, are just as good for recipes like this). If the portion looks too big for your child, just use a smaller chunk of banana and fewer strawberries. It’s best not to have a massive portion, anyhow, as although they’re power-packed with nutrients, fruit juices and smoothies are also high in sugars (even though they’re natural). So don’t let your child drink this and nothing else – even though it’s delicious!