How to Strengthen Your Immunity and Support Your Energy This Winter

Learn how to strengthen immunity and boost winter energy with nourishing foods, vitamin D, sleep, outdoor time, and stress support.

Every year, as the days shrink and the mornings turn frosty, the same thought seems to echo through conversations, WhatsApp chats, and office kitchens: “Everyone is ill again.” There’s something about the cold months that can make even the most resilient among us feel like we’re one sniffle away from the next lingering virus.

If you’re heading into winter already a little depleted, whether from a demanding year, stress, caring for others, or simply doing life at full speed, it can be hard not to brace yourself. That quiet fear of “will I be able to cope?” is more common than you think.

Here’s the good news: while winter bugs will always be part of the season (I’d never promise a life free from snotty noses!), there are simple, realistic ways to support your immune system and lift your energy at the same time.

These aren’t extreme lifestyle overhauls. They’re grounding, nourishing, doable shifts that give your body what it needs to feel stronger, more resilient, and more balanced over the winter months.

Let’s dive in.

1. Nourish Your Body With Immune-Supporting Foods

Your immune system is a beautifully complex network. It relies on a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, proteins, and phytonutrients to do its job, not just to fight off infection, but to keep inflammation balanced, maintain energy, and support healing.

A whole-food, diversity-rich diet is one of the most powerful ways to give your body what it needs. But it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Start With Breakfast: A Powerful Foundation

Breakfast sets your blood sugar rhythm for the entire day. A balanced breakfast helps you feel steady, energised, and less prone to the 3pm slump that leaves you vulnerable to fatigue and cravings.

Try options like:

Porridge topped with berries, pumpkin seeds, and almond butter, rich in fibre, vitamin C, zinc, and healthy fats.
Eggs on sourdough with cooked tomatoes or spinach, offering protein, vitamin A, and antioxidants.
A quick smoothie made with berries, a handful of spinach, oats, nut butter, and a scoop of protein powder, perfect for busy mornings.

These breakfast choices support your immune cells, balance blood sugar, and provide the nutrients your energy systems rely on.

Snack Smart for Steady Energy

When energy dips, your immune system feels it. Consistent blood sugar and regular nourishment help keep cortisol more balanced, especially important during the darker months when stress and tiredness can run high.

Helpful snack ideas include:

Veggie sticks with hummus
A handful of mixed nuts
Greek yoghurt with chia seeds
Homemade cookie dough balls – grab the recipe here.

These small choices add up, giving your body sustained fuel rather than sugar spikes and crashes.

Dinner: Think Colour and Variety

A colourful plate is a strong immune-supporting plate, featuring deep orange vegetables (beta-carotene), green leafy vegetables (folate and magnesium), red onions and garlic (quercetin), and spices like turmeric and ginger (anti-inflammatory compounds).

Winter-friendly meal ideas:

Turkey or chicken chilli with beans, tomatoes, and peppers
Moroccan-style chickpea stew with apricots, cinnamon, and turmeric
Traybake salmon with broccoli, lemon, and sweet potato
Lentil dhal with garlic, ginger, and spinach

The variety and colour feed your gut microbiome, a major player in immune function, in fact about 70-80% of immune cells reside in the gut, and help build resilience from the inside out.

2. Vitamin D: The Winter Essential

The UK government recommends that everyone supplements with vitamin D from October to March. There’s a simple reason for this: the sun is too weak for our skin to make enough.

And vitamin D isn’t just another nutrient, it’s essential for:

immune function
mood regulation
energy production
muscle strength
inflammation balance

Low levels are incredibly common. In my clinic, I see deficiency or sub-optimal levels in the majority of clients through winter.

Why It Matters for Immunity and Energy

Vitamin D helps regulate the immune response, particularly the activity of T cells, the ones responsible for fighting infection. When levels are low, your immune system can be slower to respond and quicker to fatigue.

It also influences serotonin pathways, which means low levels can make you feel low, flat, or less motivated.

Testing Matters

If you’ve always wondered whether your vitamin D is low, a simple blood test can give you clarity. Testing allows you to:

check your baseline
supplement at the right dose (instead of guessing)
retest later to ensure levels are optimal

This is especially helpful if you struggle with low mood, fatigue, frequent infections, or autoimmune conditions.

A standard daily dose of 10 mcg (400 IU) is suitable for many people, but personalised guidance is best if you take medications or have existing health issues.

3. Prioritise Quality Sleep (Your Immune System Depends On It)

Sleep is the silent pillar of winter wellness. When you sleep, your body repairs tissues, produces immune cells, balances hormones, and clears metabolic waste from the brain.

But when sleep is inconsistent or cut short, even by an hour or two, the immune system becomes less efficient. Research shows that repeatedly getting under six hours a night can increase cortisol levels by 50–80%, which suppresses immune function.

Ways to Improve Winter Sleep

Limit caffeine after 2pm — it stays in your system far longer than most people think.
Keep a consistent bedtime, even at weekends, to support circadian rhythm.
Dim lights in the evening and avoid bright screens for at least an hour before bed.
Create a wind-down routine — reading, journaling, stretching, or a warm shower.
Keep your bedroom cool — a cooler room supports deeper sleep.

These changes sound small, but your body notices them more quickly than you may expect.

4. Get Outside Daily: The Overlooked Immune Booster

Spending time outdoors in winter might feel unappealing at first, but it’s one of the most powerful, grounding habits for both immunity and energy.

Even a 10–20-minute walk offers benefits:

fresh air and lung expansion
gentle movement without pressure
natural light exposure to regulate circadian rhythm
lowered cortisol
boosted mood through increased serotonin

Walking is one of the simplest ways to support your immune system, it increases blood flow, moves immune cells throughout the body, and reduces inflammation over time.

The Joy of Winter Walking

What I see often in clinic is that people underestimate the emotional impact of light. Natural daylight, even on a cloudy winter day, may be up to 10 times brighter than indoor lighting.

A short walk in the middle of the day can:

lift mood
support energy in the afternoon
break the cycle of stress
help regulate appetite
improve sleep later that night

If you can, find a walking route that feels nourishing, even if it’s just a quiet street, a local park, or a favourite loop. You don’t need hiking boots or a personal best. Just step outside, breathe, and let your nervous system settle.

5. Keep Stress Manageable to Protect Your Immune System

Chronic stress suppresses immune function, increases inflammation, and drains energy. When cortisol remains high day after day, it disrupts sleep, appetite, digestion, and hormonal balance, all of which influence winter resilience.

Many women I work with don’t realise how much stress is affecting their energy until they start supporting their nervous system. Even tiny adjustments can create a noticeable shift.

Simple Stress-Reducing Practices

Try choosing one of these to begin with:

Five mindful breaths before meals
A short evening journal prompt, such as: “What’s one thing I want to let go of today?”
A weekly no-tech hour
Gentle stretching to release tension
Listening to an uplifting podcast while walking
Saying no to one thing you would usually say yes to

Stress management doesn’t need to be dramatic. What matters is consistency and compassion, meeting yourself where you’re at.

6. When Lifestyle Tools Aren’t Enough

Sometimes, despite eating well, taking vitamin D, walking regularly, and reducing stress, you may still feel flat, tired, or overwhelmed. This is where deeper, personalised insight can make all the difference.

Blood tests can reveal patterns you can’t see from the outside, such as:

low vitamin D
low B12 or folate
underactive thyroid function
inflammation markers
blood sugar imbalances
iron deficiency
low magnesium or zinc
hormonal shifts
viral reactivation patterns
nutrient absorption issues

Your blood work tells a story, and when interpreted well, it becomes a set of clues that explain why you’re not feeling your best. This is something I can support with and to find out more head to https://www.nourishtosoar.co.uk/nutritional-therapy.

Supporting your winter immunity and energy isn’t about being perfect. It’s about understanding what your body needs, honouring your limits, and replacing pressure with nourishment.

Winter will always bring its share of coughs, colds, and darker days. But you’re not powerless. The more you understand your body and support it with simple, meaningful choices, the more resilience you build, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Start small. Take what feels doable. Add one or two changes each week. Your immune system is incredibly adaptable, and even gentle steps can help you feel clearer, stronger, and more steady as the season unfolds.

About Claire

Claire Thomas is a Nutritional Therapist, NLP Practitioner, and Phlebotomist with a background in Children’s Nursing. She specialises in supporting ambitious women who feel exhausted, burnt out, or stuck in survival mode. Through personalised nutrition, mindset coaching, and functional testing, Claire helps her clients increase their energy levels, find clarity, and do more of what they love. Based near Cullompton, Devon, she works both in-person and online through her clinic, Nourish to Soar

Categories: : blood testing, boost your energy, boost your immunity