Fed up of catching every cold in the office? Tired of holding your breath next to sick people on the bus? Your immune system is an expert defender, keeping bugs at bay week-in, week-out. But sometimes it falls short and a germ sneaks through, leaving you with a week of snotty tissues, achy limbs and chicken soup to get through.
With autumn here and a predicted snowy winter just around the corner, mark this month’s Flu Awareness Campaign by supercharging your immune system in an attempt to avoid the dreaded lurgy. Follow our 7-point plan to jump-start your natural defences.
Like any system, your immune system needs balance and harmony to function at its best. While there is no proven direct link between lifestyle and improved immune performance, researchers are studying the effects of diet, exercise, age, psychological stress, herbal supplements and more on the immune response and preliminary results are emerging.
According to The Truth About Your Immune System, published by Harvard Health Publications, “Your first line of defence is to choose a healthy lifestyle”.
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Makeover your diet
Find sneaky ways of padding your diet with extra cereals, wheat germ, nuts – especially sunflower seeds and almonds – and leafy green vegetables. These foods are rich dietary sources of vitamin E, which scientists at the Agricultural Research Service found reduced the chance of older adults contracting coughs and colds by around 20%. These nourishing foods also benefit the rest of us, including children, so make sure the whole family is eating their greens.
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Become stress resistant
When your body is stressed it produces a hormone called cortisol. This is known as the ‘fight or flight’ hormone. When it is released into the blood stream by the kidneys, it has the effect of suppressing other, non-essential bodily functions until circulating levels return to normal. As well as slowing your metabolism, the presence of cortisol inhibits your immune system. Chronic stress becomes a problem because it leads to an immune function that is always in a low gear. Identify your own stress triggers and find practical ways to stay calm when you’re under pressure.
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The immunity workout
We all know exercise makes you feel good, look good and gives you energy. But did you know it could help stave off a virus too? Research from the Appalachian State University in North Carolina found that people who walked briskly several times a week reduced the number of sick days they took by about 40%. "Regular aerobic exercise, 5 or more days a week for more than 20 minutes a day, rises above all other lifestyle factors in lowering sick days during the winter cold season," says Professor Michael Nieman, one of the authors of the study who is an expert on exercise immunology. However, be careful not to overdo it. Super-strenuous exercise can put the body under stress, leading it to produce more cortisol, which, as we learned in point 2, can lower your immune function once more.
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Protect yourself with a positive attitude
Whistle while you work and always look on the bright side ... not the advice you expect from your GP when you go in with a runny nose. But there’s truth in the idea that a positive outlook can strengthen your body’s defences. Psychological scientists Suzanne Segerstrom of the University of Kentucky and Sandra Sephton of the University of Louisville studied how law students' expectations about the future affected their immune response. Their conclusion: optimism may be good for your health. The study interviewed 124 law students 5 times over 6 months to find out how optimistic they were about their studies. Each time their immune response was measured. As their outlook about law school waxed and waned, so did their ability to fight disease.
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Natural remedies
Traditional herbs such as ginseng and astragalus are acclaimed as over-the-counter flu and cold remedies, but research hasn’t proven their worth just yet. However, garlic and Echinacea have both come up trumps in preliminary studies as immune-boosting warriors. A study in the Journal of Nutrition said: “Currently available data strongly suggest that garlic may be a promising candidate as an immune modifier that maintains the homeostasis of immune function.” Meanwhile, the College of Family Physicians of Canada’s review of evidence supporting complementary medicine found echinacea to be “most consistently useful” in combating a cold, being effective in 5 out of 6 trials.
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Sex: the cold cure
Sound too good to be true? Psychologists at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania have found that people who have sex once or twice a week get a boost to their immune systems. Scientists measured the levels of immunoglobulin A (igA) in 111 university students. The results showed that participants who had sex less than once a week had a tiny increase in IgA over those who abstained completely. Those who had one or two sexual encounters each week had a 30% rise in levels. But students who had very frequent sex – three times a week or more – had lower IgA levels than the abstainers. So don’t get too excited!
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Get enough sleep
Did you know if you don’t get enough sleep you are more susceptible to viruses? A study from Carnegie Mellon University, also in Pennsylvania, found that people who sleep fewer than 7 hours a night are nearly 3 times more likely to get a cold than those who average 8 hours or more. Broken sleepers and those who lie in bed struggling to nod off have an even worse time of it. People who spend more than 8% of their time in bed awake are 5.5 times more likely to get the sniffles than those who sleep through the night.