Immune Health for Cold and Flu Season and Beyond
As the cooler months (quickly) approach, I find that I’m hearing a lot of the same things to the tune of:
“I’m sick, all of my friends are sick, my child is sick, my dog is probably sick….”
This may be your reality this cold and flu season, but it doesn’t have to be. There are so many things that you can start doing right now that will stave off those pesky illnesses for good. If the worst does happen and you do get sick, these tips and tricks will also help keep symptoms to a minimum.
Okay, I am going to start with one that most people don’t want to hear. A healthy lifestyle is going to be hugely effective here. And listen guys I know it’s hard. It’s hard for me too. That being said, the absolute best things we can do for ourselves is maintain healthy daily lifestyles. A healthy lifestyle will not only keep you feeling food day to day but will keep it that way for years to come.
Sounds daunting, I know, but several small changes really do have a high yield impact. And don’t worry, were in this together. I’m going to tell you exactly what to do.
SLEEP
The first pillar we are going to discuss is a BIG one. Sleep is incredibly important to a high functioning immune system. In fact, most of our antibodies are made during sleep and sleep deprivation can significantly worsen illnesses by turning off our natural anti-viral function.1 In fact, one study found that those who slept less had higher inflammatory markers as measured in the blood as well as more symptoms of inflammation such as joint pain, mental health struggles, and digestive issues2.
It is recommended that we all get 7-9 hours of sleep per night. The perfect number varies from individual to individual so experiment and see which duration makes you feel best. If you’re having trouble achieving these numbers, it may be time to speak to a healthcare professional.
To emphasize the importance of sleep, I often try to describe the following scenario to my patients. Sleep is an incredibly vulnerable time for us. We are effectively unconscious, unable to defend ourselves against potential attacks. While this may work for us now in our modern-day safe homes tucked away in bed, this was not the case several hundred years ago. For humans to have evolved to have to remain defenseless for a significant portion of our day amid so many potential threats, sleep must be one of the most important things that we can do.
STRESS
I would be remiss if I got through this whole article and did not mention stress. I’ll need another entire post for this one, but just trust me- stress is NOT GOOD. Stress is a risk factor for almost every single chronic condition such as heart disease, diabetes, and you guessed it… immune dysfunction.
Stress, in our evolutionary past, was a fabulous tool to mobilize our available resources and get moving in life or death situations. Today, we have that exact same chemical cascade from our day-to-day stress, but the body cannot discern the severity of the situation. We have this massive response in the body for in fact, mostly non-life-threatening situations.
The link between stress and the immune system is as follows:
Stressful situation -> cortisol release -> Release of epinephrine, adrenaline, and a bunch of other hormones -> blood/resources to muscles and brain and not so much left over to make immune cells.
The main aim of all these hormones is shunting blood (aka resources) to our brain and muscles so we can fight or flight. This is the “Sympathetic Nervous System” response. However, this situation becomes complicated because our other system, the parasympathetic nervous system, cannot coexist simultaneously. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for resting and digesting and can only work when we are calm.
When our body perceives the stress of a tiger attack, it stops doing immediately unnecessary actions such as resting, digesting, and – yes making immune cells such as antibodies. If you need further convincing, I will share the example of how medicine uses this link to its advantage. Corticosteroids act identically to cortisol in the body and are used to combat inflammation and autoimmune conditions. They supress the immune system in situations where it is too active.
Hopefully, I have driven the message home that stress management is monumentally important. Where we cannot always eliminate stressors, we can (and must!) learn management techniques. Psychotherapy, meditation, yoga, other forms of mindfulness, and exercise can all be profoundly helpful here!
FOOD
The food we put into our mouths daily also makes a very meaningful difference.
Some general guidelines to follow are:
1. Eat vegetables at every meal. It was found that those who consumes 30 or greater plant products per week had better gut microbiome profiles and got sick less frequently3. Thirty may sound like a lot of vegetables but this can include not just leafy and root vegetables but also seeds, nuts, grains, and fermented vegetables. I encourage you to do a tally this week. If you feel that you are struggling to get in your veggies day to day, a holistic nutritionist or naturopathic doctor can help you fit these foods into your lifestyle!
2. The second basic recommendation is very similar to above: EAT THE RAINBOW!!! It’s not only about quantity but also about healthy variety! These colours can make a big difference. For example, the blues and purples are incredibly powerful antioxidants. The yellows and oranges contain carotenoids which are wonderful for eyesight, skin health, and the immune system. Dark, leafy greens contain many vitamins and minerals. ALL vegetables contain fibre and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals to keep you healthy from the inside out.
3. Finally, try to eat foods that most closely resembles how they came out of the ground. Less/no processing and if you can eat local produce, that’s even better.
Worst case scenario:
If the worst does happen and you or your child gets sick, here are some home remedies that can help you kick that illness to the curb.
1. Lots of fluids- at least 2L
2. Recommended, age-appropriate doses of vitamins C and D
3. Green tea. Has been shown to have antiviral properties and can reduce mean illness length in viral infections. ** Keep in mind with youngsters, that green tea does have caffeine. Echinacea might be a helpful alternative/addition.
4. This last one may sound a bit out there, but it is tried and true and trust me- IT WORKS. It is a practice of traditional hydrotherapy, and this is how you do it.
Step 1: Gather materials. You’ll need 1 pair of tall cotton socks, 1 pair of taller wool socks (must be wool), and some cold water.
Step 2: Wet the cotton socks in cold water and (this is the worst part) put them on.
Step 3: cover up the wet cotton socks with the wool socks and go to bed! Optional towel placed under the feet to protect sheets from getting wet.
That’s all! The idea/theory is that, as your body works to heat and dry the cold, wet socks, the wool traps all that heat in, and you sweat out that virus through the night.
This has been an immunity crash course on how we can make a very real impact just by tweaking a few things in our lifestyle. My hope is that you find it just as empowering as I do that, we all have the capacity to improve our health with just a few simple tools!
Note: nothing in this article is intended to be medical advice. If you find that you are still struggling with poor immunity and frequent illnesses, it may be time to seek out additional help from and MD or ND for further testing.
References:
Besedovsky L, Lange T, Born J. Sleep and immune function. Pflugers Arch. 2012 Jan;463(1):121-37. doi: 10.1007/s00424-011-1044-0. Epub 2011 Nov 10. PMID: 22071480; PMCID: PMC3256323.
Irwin MR. Sleep and infectious disease risk. Sleep. 2012 Aug 1;35(8):1025-6. doi: 10.5665/sleep.1976. PMID: 22851795; PMCID: PMC3397805.
Zhu F, Du B, Xu B. Anti-inflammatory effects of phytochemicals from fruits, vegetables, and food legumes: A review. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2018 May 24;58(8):1260-1270. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2016.1251390. Epub 2017 Jun 12. PMID: 28605204.
Slavin JL, Lloyd B. Health benefits of fruits and vegetables. Adv Nutr. 2012 Jul 1;3(4):506-16. doi: 10.3945/an.112.002154. PMID: 22797986; PMCID: PMC3649719.
