Nutritionist Emma Scott says that three main vitamins and minerals we should concentrate on eating at the moment - no supplements required:

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a vital antioxidant that helps to strengthen your immune system. It stimulates both the production and function of your virus-fighting white blood cells to help your body combat infection. This vitamin will help you to produce important antibodies needed to destroy invading microbes and help to protect certain white blood cells from the toxic compounds they produce in their fight against pathogens.

Good sources: frozen spinach and broccoli, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, mango, canned tomatoes.

Selenium

Selenium is a trace mineral that plays a vital role in supporting individual health, including the potential to slow the body’s over-active immune responses to aggressive foreign invaders by enhancing the immune system. Selenium plays a vital role in DNA formation and repair, oxidative damage and has been found to play a vital role in immune treatment for fighting off viral and bacterial body infections. It acts by assisting the T-lymphocytes, white blood fighter-cells, to multiply more rapidly to target an attack on the infection.

Good sources: tinned or frozen sardines, tuna, seafood, Brazil nuts., barley, eggs and canned mushrooms.

Zinc

This vital trace mineral is essential to almost all cells within the body. It helps to control the level of inflammation in your body as it steadies your immune response. It plays a vital role in the regulation of cell metabolism and is required by hundreds of enzymes within the body, and is needed for antioxidant activity, DNA repair and healing. It is essential to support the immune system to function effectively to control its effects when the immune system is on overload fighting an infection, to prevent the body from attacking its own body cells.

Good sources: canned crab, baked beans, frozen yoghurt and chickpeas.

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