# What's the best way to strengthen the immune system? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 23, 2004, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-strengthen-the-immune-system/265646 "2004-09-23T09:23:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-strengthen-the-immune-system/265646/1 "2004-09-23T09:23:50Z")
I’ve heard from doctors that fruits and vegetables are good for the immune system because of the vitamins and minerals supplied. But which vitamins and minerals are the most crucial? Which specific fruits/veggies are the best providers of those? Would multi-vitamins work just as well? Any other tips? For example, I’ve heard that stress, alcohol, and fat are bad for the immune system… I tend to get sick more than the average Joe, and anything to improve the odds would be great. ---
**Author:** ![ceptimus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@ceptimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ceptimus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-strengthen-the-immune-system/265646/2 "2004-09-23T09:56:28Z")
There is a theory that the immune system needs to stay in training, so perhaps you need to eat a few grains of dirt each day - maybe build up to a half-teaspoonful of dirt eventually. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-strengthen-the-immune-system/265646/3 "2004-09-23T10:23:39Z")
[Apparently](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1809450.stm) you can get some help from eating particular kinds of ants. > [@](#): > > The Chinese ant is drunk mainly among the elderly in China. It is made into wine and Chinese beer and also eaten with meals. But, as far as the fruits and vegetables, the University of Cincinnati says: > [@](#): > > There are nutritional things a person can do to help strengthen his/her immune system. Vitamins A, C, and E area collectively known as the anticancer vitamins. The immune system needs these plus minerals like zinc (Zn) and selenium (Se) to do its job. Dark green leafy vegetables, especially cabbage relatives like broccili and kale and orange vegetables like carrots are high in ACE. In research where AIDS patients were given much larger than “normal” amounts of these nutrients, especially vitamin C, it was found that the people taking the “extra” nutrients had more and healthier helper T-cells. These nutrients also are valuable in fighting colds, flu, etc. Many knowledgable nutritionists feel that the RDA for vitamin C (currently 100 mg for non-smokers) is way too low, and often recommend anywhere from one to three grams a day. I haven’t been able to find much corroboration for that, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-strengthen-the-immune-system/265646/4 "2004-09-23T10:36:40Z")
Fruits and vegetables are good for the body for a number of reasons additional to their vitamin content; -they contain fibre, which is essential to the proper function of the digestive system. -they contain _food_, in the form of sugars, starches, fats - of course you can get this from processed sources. -they contain minerals and other beneficial compunds that aren’t necessarily classified as vitamins; some of these are directly beneficial to your body - in that they play a first-hand role in some routine bit of body chemistry or other. Others are indirectly beneficial - perhaps stimulating the secretion of some digestive enzyme, which in turn might enable you to process a different nutrient more effectively. I don’t think it would even be too much of a stretch to suggest a _psychological_ benefit from eating fresh fruit and veg, with a real _physiological_ knock-on effect - the mere _smell_ of fresh, natural food can be enough to kickstart your digestion that a handful of pills would. The human body is adapted to receiving its nutrition (in the broader sense of the word that includes more than just calories) in the form of a varied, realtively unprocessed diet, it is very adaptable though and can actually cope with all sorts of imbalances and temporary deficiencies. It would probably be possible for an artificial processed diet to fulfil all of the body’s needs but in practice, I think processed foods and supplements tend to fall short of this - perhaps not in a _dangerous_ way, maybe just in a way that could be described as _suboptimal_ (although it is of course entirely possible to have a suboptimal _natural_ diet). If I had to sum it up as briefly as possible, I’d say ‘wide variety’ is the best diet. Although I do feel quite confident about the above, IANANutritionist, so none of what I’ve said is the law. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-strengthen-the-immune-system/265646/5 "2004-09-23T10:38:47Z")
Correction: > [@Mangetout](#): > > the mere _smell_ of fresh, natural food can be enough to kickstart your digestion **in a way** that a handful of pills would **not** ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-strengthen-the-immune-system/265646/6 "2004-09-23T10:42:51Z")
> [@wolfstu](#): > > But, as far as the fruits and vegetables, the University of Cincinnati says: Here’s the link, for completeness: [http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio105/immune.htm](http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio105/immune.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Pablito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@Pablito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablito)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-strengthen-the-immune-system/265646/7 "2004-09-23T22:26:28Z")
You can also strengthen your resistance to illnesses by getting them and then recovering from them. You never have the same cold twice. Course, there are lots of variations, so it may take you some time to get through them all. But I doubt this is quite what you are lookiing for. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-strengthen-the-immune-system/265646/8 "2004-09-23T22:41:25Z")
> [@Pablito](#): > > You never have the same cold twice. I was under the impression that the immunity to a given strain of cold virus lasted only a few years, after which you can indeed get the same cold again. I managed to get through the last few years without catching any at all, but the one that hit me last month was nasty… ---
**Author:** ![ninetypercent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@ninetypercent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninetypercent)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-strengthen-the-immune-system/265646/9 "2004-09-23T23:26:58Z")
eat much less. (caloric restriction) exercise. possibly, synthesized chemicals or natural herbs.