Understand the REAL cause of sickness, and strengthen your immune system with these unique tips
by Mike Geary - Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Note: The tips in this article can work anytime of the year to keep you healthy, strengthen your immune system, and prevent you from getting sick...not just in the winter months!
First of all, let us clear up a HUGE misconception about why more people get sick in the winter compared to warmer times of the year. Let's talk about cold temperatures first. You should realize that there's no such thing as "catching a cold". I can't believe how many people still have this huge misconception that cold temperatures can make you sick...
This is blatantly false... Cold temperatures do NOT make you sick!
In fact, did you know that there are multiple studies that actually show that exposure to cold increases your immunity? It's true! One study I read recently even showed that cold therapy such as ice water baths or other cold water exposure (such as cold water swimming) stimulates an improvement in your immune system.
What about so-called "germs"?
So are there really more germs and cold & flu viruses floating around in the winter? No, of course not! In fact, some medical articles I've read have indicated that there might actually be a slightly larger amount of cold and flu viruses all around us in the summer due to more favorable conditions for their survival on surfaces.
So then why do more people get sick in the winter? Well, I'll give you a hint... it's not the temperature, but rather thestrength of the suns rays, and how this affects your health... In winter in the northern hemisphere (Canada, US, Europe, etc) sicknesses spike, but at the same time, it's summer in the southern hemisphere (South America, Australia, New Zealand, etc), and while sicknesses are spiking in the northern hemisphere, sicknesses are at their lowest point in the southern hemisphere since it's their summer.
And then when we're in summer in the northern hemisphere and most sicknesses go away, it's winter in the southern hemisphere, so colds, flu, and other sicknesses spike in the southern hemisphere.
So is it the warm temperatures that decreases sickness? Nope... It's actually all about the strength of the suns rays, and how much vitamin D your body produces due to the UV rays on your skin!
There are 2 theories that many people pass around as to why more colds, flu, and sickness occur in the winter depending on which part of the world you're in...
Theory 1. It may have to do with people generally spending more time indoors in the winter and thereby being exposed to more germs in enclosed buildings. It's a nice theory, but people are generally still in offices from 9-5 all week long whether it's summer or winter. As you'll see, theory 2 is the REAL culprit!
Theory 2. The reason people get sick more in the winter is mostly due to a drastic reduction in their body's production of Vitamin D, which is directly responsible for how strong their immune system is.
The suns rays are too weak in the winter generally (depending on the latitude that you live), and therefore, Vitamin D levels in the body drop significantly, which reduces immunity. Most people don't realize how important sunlight and Vitamin D levels really are towards so many functions inside their body, including immune system and hormone production and balance.
Even for people that get outdoors in the winter often, if you live in the northern hemisphere to the North of an imaginary line from approximately Atlanta to Los Angeles, the suns rays are not strong enough in the winter months (approximately November through end of February) to stimulate any significant Vitamin D production inside your body.
This aspect of lack of Vitamin D production and lowered immune strength in the winter months is what is actually the REAL reason why more sickness goes around in the winter. So you can silently chuckle to yourself the next time that someone tells you to "bundle up" so you don't catch a cold.
So how can you boost your immune system so that your body fights off sickness before it takes hold of you?
So here is my little ritual that I have been using for a few years now and really seems to keep me from getting any colds, flu, or any sickness at all.
As a matter of fact, I can't remember the last time I was legitimately sick. I think it's been 6 or 7 years since I've actually been sick. How many times have you been sick in the last 7 years?
Every time I feel a cold or something starting to come on, I do this ritual, strengthen my immune system, and my body always fights off the cold or sickness before I actually get full-blown sick.
1. Focus on Vitamin D (but NOT in pill form or "fortified" foods)
This is probably THE most important of all of these tips!
When it comes to Vitamin D, you need to be careful about artificial forms of vitamin D in many vitamin pills, as artificial vitamin forms are almost always either ineffective or possibly even detrimental compared to natural forms.
For this reason, you need to get your vitamin D naturally. The sun is the best source, and leads to a powerful strengthening of your immune system when your body can naturally produce Vitamin D from moderate sun exposure. Here is a previous article I did on how to get sun exposure in a healthy way without damaging your skin
I know not everybody can take a tropical vacation every winter, but if you can, it's best to try to take it right smack dab in the middle of the winter (when your vitamin D levels have dropped to their lowest)... getting even a few days of good sun closer to the equator in the middle of winter can really help increase your vitamin D and strengthen your immune system.
Remember that this does NOT mean getting burned in the sun... it means getting a moderate amount of sun on large portions of your body (not just your face) for approx 15-40 minutes per day WITHOUT sunscreen on (since sunscreen blocks the UV rays that directly stimulate the vitamin D increase in your body). Also, as a warning about sunscreens, see this article here about why sunscreens can cause cancer and increase body fat.
Everybody is different based on their skin tone... very pale skin tones may only need 10 minutes or so in full sun in the middle of the day to get adequate vitamin D before any skin damage occurs, but darker skin tones may need a slightly longer time (sometimes 30-40 minutes) in the sun to produce adequate vitamin D. To protect your skin, it's essential to get enough sun without sunscreen on, but NOT get burned.
In general, the UVB rays are only strongest from about 10 am to 3 pm to trigger Vitamin D production in your body (depending on time of year, latitude, and altitude).
With that said, I understand that a tropical vacation in the winter is not possible for everybody's schedule based on either work or finances, so...
Since you may not be going on a tropical vacation this winter, how can you still keep Vitamin D levels from falling dangerously low in your body?
Well, the best food sources of natural Vitamin D are egg yolks, fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel, organ meats, and some mushrooms (some portobella mushrooms and maitake mushroom are fairly good sources of vitamin D).
But what I do to make sure I'm at least getting a decent amount of the best absorbed vitamin D is to take a SMALL dose of cod liver oil daily in the deepest months of winter to make sure my vitamin D levels don't fall too low. Make sure to take only small doses of cod liver oil (enough for 50% to 100% DV of vitamin D), as large doses can give you an overdose of Vitamin A. I take about half to 2/3rds of the recommended dose on the bottle.
I'm also a big fan of Prograde Nutrition's natural VGF-25 multi-vitamin, which derives it's vitamin D from natural fish liver oil instead of a synthetic form of vitamin D. All of the other vitamins in VGF-25 (which stands for "25 veggies, greens, and fruits") are naturally derived too instead of most multi-vitamins that you find at your corner store that are synthetic.
By the way, fortified milk has added synthetic vitamin D, so it is NOT a good source. In fact, I don't trust any "fortified" foods at all, including crappy breakfast cereals which claim to be good sources of vitamin D... not so! Also make sure to read this article, which explains how our food supply has been modified in recent decades and now lacks the vitamin D that it used to contain.
2. Garlic to strengthen your immune system!
Garlic is one of the most potent of all superfoods! Not only does high dose garlic go back thousands of years for treatment of sickness, but recent studies back up the legendary claims for garlic boosting your immune system.
What's best though -- "aged" garlic pills, whole garlic in foods, capsules, etc? I can't seem to find a consensus on this one, so what I simply try to do is use a variety of sources, including garlic powder on a lot of my foods, fresh chopped garlic in meals, and also a garlic capsule or two each day.
If I feel a possible cold or sickness coming on, I really start loading garlic into my foods heavily and I take a few extra garlic capsules that day too.
3. Kombucha tea (and other probiotic drinks) strengthen your immune system
Kombucha tea is a fermented tea (naturally effervescent) that contains billions of friendly gut organisms (probiotics) that help to strengthen your immune system by bolstering your levels of good organisms in your gut.
Remember that 70% of your immune system lies in your gut and the health of the friendly organisms in there to protect you against pathogens and sickness.
You can find bottles of Kombucha tea at health food stores such as Whole Foods.
When I feel any sickness coming on, I start loading up on Kombucha tea or another probiotic drink, drinking it throughout the day. It has a strong taste, so I mix it with my normal iced teas at 1/3 Kombucha and 2/3 regular iced tea. I've started seeing other probiotic drinks on the market recently too, so just make sure to look for one that has very minimal sugar per serving (3-6 grams per 8 oz serving is acceptable, but much more than that is too sugary).
4. Green tea, Chamomile Tea, and other teas
There is evidence that green tea and chamomile tea can help aid in strengthening the immune system.
Even if the effect is small, you can't go wrong because both are loaded with powerful antioxidants unique to each tea.
For that reason, I try to drink a couple cups of green tea with a small bit of raw honey early in the day, and then at night, I have a couple cups of chamomile tea.
This isn't a bad idea even for a regular habit, but it's even more important when you feel a sickness possibly coming on. I also drink a lot of other teas too such as Rooibos tea, which is thought to be even higher in antioxidants than green tea.
5. Loading up on antioxidants
We already know how important antioxidants are to overall health as well as immune system support.
For this reason, I make sure to really load up on antioxidant-rich fruits, berries, teas, unsweetened cocoa (in smoothies, etc), and veggies to help prevent sickness.
I also make sure to take my daily Longevity Antioxidant blend from my friends at Prograde, which is a powerful synergistic antioxidant mixture of green tea, wolfberry, acai berry, Biovin grape, coffeeberry, and pomegranate.
I get that here: Prograde Longevity Synergistic Antioxidant blend
6. Light exercise (yes - light exercise, not hard)
When you feel a sickness coming on, a super-high intensity workout is not a good idea, as hard training forces the body to do a lot of recovery, this at a time when your body needs all of it's efforts on trying to fight off the oncoming sickness.
Although I usually recommend high intensity training, when sickness might be coming on, it's just a good idea to get some light exercise instead.
Personally, I like to get outside for some fresh air and go for a hike or go snowshoeing in the winter. These aren't very strenuous for me, so they won't cause my body to be forced to do a lot of recovery... but just getting out in the fresh air and getting the circulation going I feel is good to help the body fight off the sickness.
7. Avoid ALL processed foods and sweetened soft drinks
If you're serious about your health and getting lean for life, this should be an everyday rule for you anyway (except maybe for cheat meals)...
However, when you might have a sickness coming on, this is no time to bombard your body with processed foods, inflammatory omega-6 oils (soybean oil, corn oil, etc), fried foods, high fructose corn syrup, refined sugars, and chemical additives.
All of these force your body to do extra work to deal with all of this junk and the internal inflammation that they cause in your body. And by the way, grain-based foods like bread, cereal, muffins, pasta, and bagels are a big culprit in causing internal inflammation and disrupting normal gut function, so avoid grains as much as possible. In case you're new to the science of Paleolithic nutrition, humans don't actually need grains to survive...grains were never a part of the ancient human diet until agriculture came around just a few thousand years ago.
Instead, (especially when you might be getting sick) you need to give your body only wholesome unprocessed foods that are only 1 ingredient and that we were meant to digest most efficiently...fruits, berries, veggies, eggs, nuts, seeds, grass-fed meats, etc.
I also have a daily serving of immune system boosting Athletic Greens, which is surprisingly delicious, plus contains loads of probiotics and antioxidants, and other immune supporting superfoods.
These 7 tips will go a LONG way to helping to ward off that sickness that is trying to get a hold of you... Here's to a healthy strong body!
Note: I'm not a doctor, and none of these tips are prescriptions for any individual person... they are simply the steps I've personally used over the years to successfully fight off sickness pretty much every single time. Again, I haven't been legitimately sick in at LEAST 6 or 7 years now that I use these steps!
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