THE ARTICLE
Your immune system is the number one tool used in guarding against flu viruses. The stronger you make it, the better it does its job of keeping you from getting sick. Unfortunately, our modern western lifestyle filled with stress, lack of sleep, unhealthy eating and long hours spent indoors has contributed to weakening our immune system. Here are a few ways you can help strengthen it:
Eliminate or cut down on sugar – Studies have shown that the consumption of excessive amounts of sugar suppresses the immune system. Eating 75 to 100 grams of sugar in any form (sucrose, glucose, fructose, honey, or even orange juice) has been shown to cause a 50 percent reduction in the ability of white blood cells to capture and destroy bacteria. This is the average amount in two 12-ounce cans of soda. The immune system is suppressed within 30 minutes of ingestion, and the effects last up to five hours.
In addition, sugar and vitamin C have a similar chemical structure and compete for absorption by our cells in the same way, so too much sugar will reduce the rate of absorption of vitamin C into your cells, a vitamin vital to helping ward off viruses.
Get out in the sun – The role of vitamin D in immune system support is more important than previously thought. It is now believed that a deficiency in vitamin D is the most likely cause of seasonal viruses. In a large-scale study, it was found that those most deficient in vitamin D were 36 percent more likely to suffer from respiratory infections than those with sufficient levels. Lab studies showed that a lack of vitamin D is associated with weaker production of the antimicrobial peptide hCAP-18, a protein that works with immune-system cells to kill pathogens.
The optimal level of vitamin D is 50-65 nanograms per millilitre of blood. More than half the participants in the study were found to have suboptimal levels of the vitamin. Though supplements help, the best way to get adequate vitamin D is to get out in the sun from 5 to 20 minutes per day, depending on the fairness of your skin and your proximity to the equator, where the sun is strongest.
Eat probiotics or take a probiotic supplement – Probiotics, the “good” bacteria that live in our digestive tracts, are indispensable to our health because they not only help the digestive system work properly, they also stimulate the immune system. Though antibiotics are sometimes necessary in order to kill off the bad bacteria in our body, they kill the good bacteria as well, weakening our immune system. Fermented foods and cultured milk products such as yogurt, kefir, miso, tempeh, and sauerkraut provide a way of getting probiotics in our diet. The two most common types are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which can be found in the foods mentioned, or can be taken in supplement form.
A study in China involving 326 children, ages 3 to 5 years, were divided into three groups: one was given milk with Lactobacillus acidophilus, another a combination of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium animalis, and the third received just milk with placebo. These were given twice a day for six months.
Researchers reported that, that compared to the placebo group, the Lactobacillus group had 53 percent fewer fevers, 41 percent fewer cough episodes, and 28 percent fewer runny noses. The Lactobacillus/Bifidobacterium group had even fewer symptoms: 72 percent fewer fevers, 62 percent fewer coughs, and 59 percent fewer runny noses.
In addition, when the children did get sick, the ones taking the probiotics recovered significantly faster. Illnesses were 32 percent shorter in the Lactobacillus group and 48 percent shorter in the Lactobacillus/Bifidobacterium group.
Get enough rest – Sleep is an essential element in keeping your immune system strong. A lack of sleep has been associated with alterations in cellular immune function. Even a modest sleep disturbance has been demonstrated to reduce natural immune function and production of T cell cytokines that battle infection.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University inoculated 150 people with nasal drops containing a common cold virus after having observed their sleep patterns over two weeks. Five days later, nasal secretions were taken from the subjects and 28 days later blood tests were taken to look for antibodies to the virus.
Nearly 90 per cent of people exposed to the virus became infected, but only 35 per cent actually developed cold symptoms, mostly those who recorded poor sleeping patterns. People were almost three times more likely to develop symptoms if they slept less than seven hours, and those who spent more than 8 per cent of the time actually awake while they were supposed to be asleep were 5.5 times more likely to develop cold symptoms.
Exercise regularly and moderately – Moderate exercise has been shown to produce a positive immune system response and a temporary boost in the production of macrophages, the cells that attack bacteria. It is believed that regular, consistent exercise can lead to substantial benefits in immune system health over the long-term.
Because immune cells circulate through the body more quickly during moderate exercise, they are better able to kill bacteria and viruses. The immune system generally returns to normal within a few hours after exercise ends, but consistent, regular exercise seems to make show a longer-lasting effect. A study showed that those who walk at 70-75 percent of their VO2 Max for 40 minutes per day had half as many sick days due to colds or sore throats as those who don't exercise.
However, intense exercise seems to cause a temporary decrease in immune system function, so if you are training for ultra-endurance events, a key component of your training should be to include enough rest and recovery days in order to allow your immune system to recover.
Last, but not least, don’t forget to wash your hands. Give your immune system less of a job by reducing the viruses it has to deal with in the first place. Infection is spread most commonly through hand-to-hand contact, so be sure to wash your hands regularly with simple soap and water and it will reduce your risk of contracting the flu.
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