How to Strengthen Immunity: Old and New Facts

With the onset of cold weather, we begin to take special care of our health and take many vitamins, herbs or medicines that, we think, will help to increase immunity and cope with colds and other evil spirits, which are a dime a dozen around in the autumn-winter time. But everything is not so simple and many of our standard beliefs turn out to be wrong.

Let's start by reviewing the basics and ask your doctor. Who else, if not doctors, who take the brunt of colds and other winter delights, know about preventive measures and precautions? So we will ask them.

Healthy sleep

We already know that our well-being is directly dependent on the amount of quality sleep. But we very often ignore this fact, and if in the summer we are surrounded by additional sources of energy in the form of a warm sun and a huge amount of correct, fresh fruits and vegetables, then in winter there is neither the first, nor the second, nor the third.

According to a study published in Arch Intern Med (and also on Eric Barker's blog), an experiment was conducted with a group of one hundred and fifty-three people. Healthy people were injected with rhinoviruses (the main cause of all colds). Those who slept 7 hours a day were three times more likely to get a cold than people who slept for 8 hours. The difference in sleep duration is only 1 hour, and the risk of getting sick is three times higher!

Wash your hands

Even small children know that they need to wash their hands. Especially after being on the street or holding money in your hands.

I think that a few useful facts will not hurt.

Studies have shown that washing your hands at least 5 times a day reduces your chances of getting sick by 45%. Disease-causing microbes can live on your hands for several hours, so washing your hands or treating with a special alcohol solution (sold in pharmacies or household chemicals and cosmetics stores) can significantly reduce the likelihood of a cold.

If you think that nothing terrible will happen if you forget to wash your hands, then here are some more interesting facts for you, after which you will wash your hands after each answering a phone call!

Based on surveys (USA and Canada), 47% -60% of adults sometimes wash their hands without soap, and about a quarter of the respondents do not wash their hands at all after sneezing or coughing. And about 45% of students do not wash their hands at all after using the toilet.

I think that if you conduct research among our population, the numbers will not be very different (and I think that the picture will be even more "colorful"). Need some extra motivation?

Less cigarettes and alcohol

Yes, everyone knows that drinking alcohol and smoking reduces immunity. I'm not talking about a glass after you get wet or frosty for 5-6 hours, or a hot mulled wine. Here, rather, we are talking about long-term and frequent use.

In our nose there are special cilia (thin villi that cover our nasal passages), which play a rather large role in protecting our body from colds. They are a kind of filters that prevent viruses from entering. The smoke inhaled from cigarettes paralyzes their work and you open up infections. One cigarette stops these cilia from working for 30-40 minutes.

Physical activity and visiting the sauna (baths)

Studies have shown that people who use the sauna (bath) twice a week are 50% less likely to catch a cold. The flu and cold viruses cannot withstand temperatures higher than 80%, so this is not only an opportunity to have a good time with friends. Thus, you also do the prevention of colds.

The same goes for physical activity. The onset of cold weather does not at all mean the cessation of physical activity. We are not bears that hibernate in winter ?! A daily charge of about twenty minutes will be enough to reduce your chances of snot by two to three times.

Chicken bouillon

Chicken soups and broths are the most common food that doctors around the world recommend to their patients with a cold. It moisturizes, nourishes and warms the body well. Chicken broth works especially well, to which garlic was added, which, in fact, is the main anti-cold remedy. It just works even better when combined with chicken soup.

More sunshine and vitamin D

Sunlight has a truly healing power. Not only physically, but also emotionally. The fewer sunny days, the more we are prone to depression and stress. And this, in turn, reduces immunity even more. Under the influence of the sun, our body produces vitamin D, which also plays an important role in the fight against viruses. Little sun = vitamin D deficiency. Therefore, it is worth looking for other sources. For example, take in the form of vitamins and eat more orange juice, salmon fish, eggs, shrimp and milk.

Massage

The massage is pleasantly relaxing and relieves stress. Thus, you kill two birds with one stone: you get good prevention from back diseases and increase the body's resistance to colds.

The relaxation that you get during the massage activates interleukins in your immune system, which are leading in the fight against cold and flu viruses.

Now let's talk a little about common misconceptions!

What we think works but doesn't really help quite

If you follow all the instructions in the complex, you, of course, most likely will not get sick. But whether all this works separately has not been proven. This does not mean that you need to give up this and start looking for alternative options. All of these tools work to one degree or another. You just don't need to take them as a panacea for winter viruses and rely on them 100%.

Vitamin C. Nobody can change the importance of this vitamin in strengthening our health. The fact that you start to eat ascorbic acid in batches (within the permitted limits, of course) does not help at all. Studies in 11,000 participants have shown that taking a 200 mg dose of vitamin C increases resistance to the common cold by just a few hours.

That is, if you are going to the clinic for help in the midst of an epidemic, it will help, but it does not guarantee protection for the whole day. Remember, you only have a few hours!

EchinaceaIn principle, it all depends on the processing that the plant has undergone. But it can be safely considered a kind of placebo among cold medicines. Echinacea works no better or worse than other herbal teas for colds.

But we remember that self-hypnosis is a great power.

Zinc. Some studies have shown that if you take zinc when the first symptoms of a cold appear during the first day, the cold can recede. But then the results of these studies were questioned. Another study was conducted and more than fourteen placebo-controlled studies on the effects of zinc on the body in the fight against colds showed an interesting result: 7 showed a positive effect, the other 7 showed no effect.

That is, when taking zinc, you have a 50% to 50% chance of getting sick - you either get sick or not.

Saline and other saline nasal sprays. These nasal sprays can help deal with the overall stress on the body, but they do not guarantee you reliable protection. That is, if you think that after spraying with a spray before going outside, you put an invisible shield against viruses in front of you, you are mistaken. In the complex, their help will play a large role, but by themselves they will not help you much.

Over-the-counter prophylaxis and antihistamines. Like saline sprays, they can help relieve your general condition, but they won't protect you from viruses. In the same way, they will not shorten the time of illness.

Here everyone immediately remembers the "favorite" folk saying that if you treat a cold, it will go away in seven days, and if you do not treat it, then in a week.

Antibiotics Antibiotics also do not work, since the common cold is a virus, and their main task is to fight bacteria. That is, heavy artillery is used only when the cold drags on and smoothly turns into pneumonia, especially severe bronchitis or bacterial sore throat.

But at the same time, for some reason, every time an epidemic approaches, antibiotics are simply blown off the shelves of pharmacies by a magic wind.

An increase in the number of people with colds. When young children just start going to the garden, they are very often sick. After about a year, maximum two, the option “we walk for a week, we get sick for two” changes to “we get sick several times a year”. The body acquires immunity to various viruses and becomes stronger. The older a person is, the more often he has a cold, the more he has developed immunity to large types of viruses. Provided, of course, that he leads a more or less healthy lifestyle.

Therefore, despite the huge accumulation of sick people in clinics and hospitals, doctors do not get sick so often compared to other people.

All of the above may or may not be true. Each of us has our own immunity and health status is also different for everyone. But following at least basic hygiene rules, getting enough sleep, an active lifestyle, healthy food and a good mood will help you cope with the coming cold weather.

From myself I can add that lately ginger tea has become one of the proven home and delicious remedies in the fight against colds. Moreover, in several versions: simple black tea with the addition of a pinch of dry ginger or a piece of fresh root and ginger milk tea (sometimes also called Tibetan) with the addition of cardamom and ground nutmeg.

Ginger is a wonderful natural antiseptic and, in combination with cardamom and nutmeg, is a wonderful fight against colds and bad moods. Every time my throat starts to sore, I brew myself this tea. And drinking it just like that at least a few times a week can become a very good winter habit.