Your immune system plays a crucial role in keeping your body healthy. And the really amazing thing? Most of the time, you don’t even realise how much work it’s doing behind the scenes as you go about your daily life.

Because your immune system is doing such a great job, it’s essential to do what you can to keep it in good working order, and if you’re asking, ‘How can I help my immune system?’, you’re in the right place.

Regular exercise, reducing stress, and getting plenty of rest are just a few ways to support your immune system, but making healthy food choices and maintaining a balanced diet are also crucial. Here we’re looking at the vitamins and minerals that can help you support the normal function of your immune system.

There are many types of vitamin B, but when it comes to your immune system, vitamins B6 and B12 in particular play an important role.

To successfully fight off harmful viruses, bacteria and fungi (otherwise known as pathogens¹), your body has to produce antibodies¹. Vitamin B6 and B12 help it do just that, ensuring your immune system is equipped to do what it does best: keep you healthy. Vitamin B6 is important in the production of antibodies and vitamin B12 for the production of red blood cells, all of which help to support the immune system.

Most adult men need around 1.4mg of vitamin B6 a day, with the recommended daily intake for women 1.2mg². Our bodies don’t naturally produce a lot of Vitamin B6, so we need to get it from the foods we eat³. Vitamin B6-rich foods include pork, chicken and turkey, oats, milk and bananas². Enjoying our Actimel Yogurt shots is another great way to get a dose of vitamin B6 into your daily diet.

As for vitamin B12, all adults between the ages of 19 and 64 need around 1.5mg a day². You’ll find plenty of vitamin B12 in foods like³:

• Meat and fish 
• Milk
• Eggs
• Some types of fortified breakfast cereals 

Another one of the many immune-supporting vitamins is vitamin D, sometimes referred to as the ‘sunshine vitamin’. So, how does it help?

Your immune system is made up of two parts: the innate immune system (the quick-acting first line of defence against things like cuts and wounds) and the adaptive immune system (the slower-acting response that helps you develop long-term immunity)¹.

Vitamin D’s role is to balance the two parts of your immune system, strengthening your innate response and calming any overactive parts of your adaptive immune system that might attack your body’s healthy cells⁴.

Adults and children over the age of 1 require 10mg of vitamin D each day⁵, and our mighty Actimel yogurt shots contain 33% of your daily reference intake. Other vitamin D-packed foods include⁵:
 

• Egg yolks
• Some fortified breakfast cereals and fat spreads
• Liver
• Oily fish - salmon, sardines and mackerel are all good options

Vitamin A supports your immune system to fight infections and illnesses⁶. 

Your skin, gut, lungs and eyes all make up essential parts of your innate immune system. They form that first-line defence and stop harmful things from getting into your body. Vitamin A’s job is to keep these things strong and moist. Without it, your skin can become dry and start to crack, making you susceptible to common infections like colds and stomach bugs⁷.

The recommended intake of Vitamin A is around 700 µg (micrograms) a day for men, and 600 µg a day for women⁶. Good sources include oily fish, liver, eggs, milk and yogurt⁶. Foods containing beta-carotene are also good options, as your body can then convert this into retinol (a form of vitamin A). Pack your diet with green, leafy vegetables, sweet potatoes, and peppers, as well as juicy fruits like papaya, apricots, and mangoes⁶.

Your immune system is made up of many different cells, including neutrophils and monocytes⁸. Between them, these immune cells absorb over 100 times the amount of Vitamin C than your blood⁸, so you need plenty of it to keep your immune system running smoothly.

When it comes to supporting your immune system, vitamin C helps to keep your cells, skin, blood vessels, and bones healthy, and also helps your body to heal from wounds⁹.

It’s recommended that adults try and get around 40mg of vitamin C a day⁹, and you should be able to get this amount from your daily diet. You’ll find this immune-supporting vitamin in food such as strawberries, broccoli, potatoes, and citrus fruits⁹.

Your skin and eyes are some of the most crucial parts of your immune system. Vitamin E is responsible for keeping them nice and healthy, so they can keep out anything that might be harmful to your health¹⁰.

The immune system’s ‘messenger cells’ (T-cells and B-Cells) are also maintained by Vitamin E. These important cells alert your body to intruders and trigger your immune responses¹¹.

The recommended daily Vitamin E intake is 4mg a day for men, 3mg a day for women¹⁰, and you can find it in¹⁰:
 

• Seeds and nuts
• Cereals containing wheatgerm
• Plant oils such as olive, sunflower and soya

Found in meat and shellfish, zinc plays a key role in immune system functioning properly. 

Not only does it help your body signal it needs an immune response, your immune system cells need it to grow, divide, mature, and survive (including your T-Cells, B-Cells, neutrophils and monocytes)¹².

Currently, around 2 billion people around the world don’t get enough zinc in their diet – those in developing countries particularly are at risk. This could have an impact on the effectiveness of their immune systems, putting them more at risk of common (and more severe) infections.

In healthy adults, the recommended intake of zinc is 9.5mg a day for men and 7mg a day for women¹³. Get the amount you need by adding dairy products, shellfish, meat and fortified products, like cereals to your diet¹³.

Selenium plays an important role in inflammation and immunity. There’s evidence to suggest that selenium is involved in regulating excessive immune responses and chronic inflammation¹⁴.

Its immune-supporting qualities don’t stop there. Selenium has an interesting role in your adaptive immune system in that it helps your T-Cells and B-Cells to store information when it comes into contact with new, harmful antigens. This means that it can recognise them if they come around again¹⁴.

To get enough selenium, men need around 75μg a day for men and women need 60μg¹³. Incorporate the following into your diet to make sure you’re getting enough³:

• Seeds - sprinkle sunflower seeds into your soups, sauces and salads for a tasty twist
• Nuts - enjoy a handful of Brazil nuts or cashews as a tasty snack
• Fish
• Shellfish
• Poultry

Iron plays a key role for a healthy immune system, and not getting enough can leave you more prone to illness and infection¹⁵.

The neutrophils, a type of immune system cell, rely on iron to create the powerful molecules they need to attack anything that might be harmful to your health quickly and effectively¹⁶.

When your body lacks iron, immune cells like T-cells and neutrophils can’t function properly. This weakens both the immediate response to infections and the long-term ability to build immunity.

The daily iron recommendation varies by age in adults. Men aged 19 and over require approximately 8.7mg per day, while women aged 19-49 need around 14.8mg per day. This drops down to 8.7mg a day for women aged 50 and over¹⁷.

Red meat, beans and pulses, dried fruit, and wholemeal bread are all good sources of iron³.

Copper can be found in foods like shellfish and nuts. It plays a role in your immune system’s development, and also helps your body to produce both red and white blood cells¹³. It also plays a key role in antioxidant defence.

A copper deficiency can mean your body produces fewer immune-system cells known as neutrophils, meaning that its ability to produce those all-important germ-killing chemicals is reduced. In fact, a copper deficiency can impact just about every part of your immune system, from the innate and adaptive to the signals that trigger your immune responses¹⁸.

Healthy adults need 1.2mg of copper a day¹³.

If you’re worried about any deficiencies in the vitamins and minerals we’ve talked about here, please speak to your GP or healthcare professional before you make any big changes to your diet.

1. InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. In brief: How does the immune system work? [Updated 2023 Jun 6]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279364/
2. NHS. B vitamins and folic acid [online 2020]. Available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-b/. [Accessed June 2025]
3. British Nutrition Foundation. Vitamins and Minerals [online]. Available at https://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutritional-information/vitamins-and-minerals/. [Accessed June 2025]
4. Aranow C. Vitamin D and the immune system. J Investig Med. 2011 Aug;59(6):881-6. doi: 10.2310/JIM.0b013e31821b8755. PMID: 21527855; PMCID: PMC3166406.
5. NHS. Vitamin D [online 2020]. Available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/. [Accessed June 2025]
6. NHS. Vitamin A [online 2020]. Available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-a/. [Accessed June 2025]
7. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Military Nutrition Research. Military Strategies for Sustainment of Nutrition and Immune Function in the Field. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1999. 12, Vitamin A and Immune Function. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK230968/
8. Moore A, Khanna D. The Role of Vitamin C in Human Immunity and Its Treatment Potential Against COVID-19: A Review Article. Cureus. 2023 Jan 13;15(1):e33740. doi: 10.7759/cureus.33740. PMID: 36793827; PMCID: PMC9925039.
9. NHS. Vitamin C [online 2020]. Available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-c/#:~:text=Vitamin%20C%2C%20also%20known%20as,helping%20with%20wound%20healing, [Accessed June 2025]
10. NHS. Vitamin E [online 2020]. Available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-e/. [Accessed June 2025]
11. Lewis ED, Meydani SN, Wu D. Regulatory role of vitamin E in the immune system and inflammation. IUBMB Life. 2019 Apr;71(4):487-494. doi: 10.1002/iub.1976. Epub 2018 Nov 30. PMID: 30501009; PMCID: PMC7011499.
12. Wessels I, Maywald M, Rink L. Zinc as a Gatekeeper of Immune Function. Nutrients. 2017 Nov 25;9(12):1286. doi: 10.3390/nu9121286. PMID: 29186856; PMCID: PMC5748737.
13. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: Others [online 2020]. Available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/others/. [Accessed June 2025]
14. Huang Z, Rose AH, Hoffmann PR. The role of selenium in inflammation and immunity: from molecular mechanisms to therapeutic opportunities. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2012 Apr 1;16(7):705-43. doi: 10.1089/ars.2011.4145. Epub 2012 Jan 9. PMID: 21955027; PMCID: PMC3277928.
15. The Association of British Dietitians. Iron [online 2024]. Available at https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/iron-rich-foods-iron-deficiency.html. [Accessed June 2025]
16. Ni S, Yuan Y, Kuang Y, Li X. Iron Metabolism and Immune Regulation. Front Immunol. 2022 Mar 23;13:816282. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.816282. PMID: 35401569; PMCID: PMC8983924.
17. NHS. Iron [online 2020]. Available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/iron/. [Accessed June 2025]
18. Cheng F, Peng G, Lu Y, Wang K, Ju Q, Ju Y, Ouyang M. Relationship between copper and immunity: The potential role of copper in tumor immunity. Front Oncol. 2022 Nov 7;12:1019153. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1019153. PMID: 36419894; PMCID: PMC9676660.