Preparing your immune system for Winter

Autumn is here and winters on its way. With the change in temperature also comes a change in how we live, what we eat, our moods and our most of all our health.

Here’s 5 things that can impact our immune system and some important considerations.

Image: Genessa Panainte genessapanaintephotography.com

1.Digestion

Much of how we feel comes back to how efficient and balanced our digestive system is. It acts as our first-line of defence as well as supporting the modulation of our immune system. An imbalance in the gut has profound knock-on effects throughout our body.

• Look after your microbes.

  Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium species in particular are crucial for our immune system (1). Research has shown they stimulate production of Secretory IgA, your mucosal lining, which if depleted can drive low immunity (2). Covid specifically has been shown to knock back bifidobacterium in particular. Managing stress and eating the right foods can change your microbiome. In particular, feeding these good bacteria with prebiotics foods such as Onions, Garlic, Apples, Bananas, Cabbage, Oats, Artichokes, Asparagus, Leeks, Chicory; supplementing with GOS, FOS or Inulin and using probiotics which contain these strains can also help.

• Make sure you have DAILY complete bowel movements.

  Backed up poop can result in recycled toxins and hormones and overgrowth of bacteria (3,4), which can create symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue, IBS, poor concentration, depression, flatulence, reduced immunity and if left can increase risk of autoimmune conditions (5,6,7,8).

• Pay attention to your digestion.

  If you’re having reflux, heartburn, bloating, less frequent bowel movements, changing bowel habits, heavy post-food fatigue, it’s likely your digestion needs some attention. Don’t ignore it, these can all be resolved by understanding what’s causing the symptoms and improving them with the right nutrition and lifestyle adaptations. Believe me, you’ll feel better for it!

2. Sleep

This is when our bodies rest and restore. It's when our liver is clearing out, our brain stores memories and learns (10), our immune system fires up and focuses energy on healing (9). Lack of sleep can reduce immunity as it is unable to do its overnight functions (11) and daytime cortisol levels increase to combat fatigue. All levels of sleep are important, as they play a role in our restoration; however, deep sleep is crucial and something many of us can be short on. Investing in our sleep pays dividends long term.

• Reduce/remove evening screen activity.

  Blue screens and TVs heighten our synaptic activity, stimulate cortisol and make it hard for our system to calm things down and reach a deep sleep state. Increase the chances of more restful sleep by:

  • Removing blue screens for 2hrs before sleep.

  • Opt for a light managing apps like Flux for your computer. Or invest in some blue-light blocking glasses

  • Many phones and laptops now have night time settings so make sure its switched on

  • Ask yourself, do you really need to be on your phone or your laptop now?

• Find a pre-bedtime relaxation activity.

  Reading, breathing exercises, hot baths, drawing, sewing, yin yoga, knitting, puzzle, jigsaws. Choose something mindful which will help your nervous system relax.

• Create a bedroom routine.

  Our circadian rhythm is supported by routine, going to bed at a similar time, and conducting a calming bedtime routine helps our body to recognise it’s moving towards sleep, switching cortisol production for melatonin production, which we need for our sleep.

• Eat dinner at the right time.

  We’re all different and for some people eating late can mean restless nights as our bodies digest food, for others eating later can help maintain blood sugar levels preventing that sudden wakefulness in the middle of the night. What we eat also impacts how we sleep, consider how your sleep might change and work out what works for you.

3. Vitamin D

COVID highlighted the importance of this nutrient's immune-modulating function to everyone. Low levels can impact our mental health as well as our physical health (13). Whilst we can create and store it over the summer, being in the northern hemisphere means we have short windows of sun exposure (May-Sept) which is needed for our bodies to produce it. So there’s a strong chance that what we are storing now might not last us the winter, depending on diet and individual capacity to store, transport and use it. Now is a good time to get tested and check your levels so you can respond with supplemental support where needed. Don’t automatically supplement until you know your levels as this can have an adverse effect if your levels become too high.

4. Nutritional support

Making sure our immune system is as robust as possible means we can respond appropriately to bugs & viruses that come our way. Important nutrients for this include Vitamin A , Zinc, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Selenium, Iron and protein so make sure you are getting enough from your diet (14, 15). Vegetarians and vegans should pay particular attention to these as it can be harder to reach adequate levels of some. Medicinal mushrooms have also been shown to positively impact our immune system (16).

5. Reduce stress and support your Mental health.

Stress creates cortisol, long term cortisol production is inflammatory and impacts our digestive processes, reducing the ability for us to digest and assimilate nutrients effectively from our food as well as affecting how our immune system functions (12). We often think of mental and physical health separately but they are very intertwined, you can’t have one without the other. So invest time in reducing stress and supporting your parasympathetic (rest & digest) state. Gentle exercise, regular screen breaks, mindful daily tasks, reading, walking in nature, puzzles, drawing and cooking are all good examples of activities which can help reduce stress levels. Meditation is a powerful tool but many people feel it’s a hard practice to jump straight into so find the thing that works for you and invest 20-30mins a day.

---

Your health is important. It’s something we can take for granted until we lose it for some reason. So next time you think I don’t have time for this, I challenge you to stop for a moment longer and and think about why. Why don’t you have time? Is that thing more important than taking a some time to invest in your health?

As always please seek support from a healthcare professional if you are suffering symptoms or considering supplementation.

Feeling run down and not sure where to start? Get in touch

References:

1. Macfarlane GT, Steed H, Macfarlane S. Bacterial metabolism and health-related effects of galacto-oligosaccharides and other prebiotics. J Appl Microbiol. 2008;104(2):305–44.

2. Segerstrom SC, Miller GE. Psychological stress and the human immune system: A meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychol Bull [Internet]. 2004 Jul [cited 2020 Dec 21];130(4):601–30.

3. Lewis, S., Heaton, K., Oakey, R., & McGarrigle, H. (1997). Lower serum oestrogen concentrations associated with faster intestinal transit. British Journal of Cancer, 76(3), 395–400

4. Zhu, L., et al. (2014). Structural changes in the gut microbiome of constipated patients. Physiol Genomics. 46(18), 679-86

5. Giloteaux, L., et al. (2016). Reduced diversity and altered composition of the gut microbiome in individuals with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. Microbiome, 4, 30

6. Krajmalnik-Brown, R., Ilhan, Z.-E., Kang, D.-W., & DiBaise, J. K. (2012). Effects of Gut Microbes on Nutrient Absorption and Energy Regulation. Nutr Clin Pract, 27(2), 201–214

7. Wu, H.-J., & Wu, E. (2012). The role of gut microbiota in immune homeostasis and autoimmunity. Gut Microbes, 3(1), 4–14

8. Galland L. (2014). The gut microbiome and the brain. Journal of medicinal food, 17(12), 1261–1272.

9. Besedovsky, L., Lange, T., & Born, J. (2012). Sleep and immune function. Pflugers Archiv: European journal of physiology, 463(1), 121–137.

10. Kurinec, C. A., Whitney, P., Hinson, J. M., Hansen, D. A., & Van Dongen, H. (2021). Sleep deprivation impairs binding of information with its context. Sleep, 44(8), zsab113.

11. Krueger, J. M., Majde, J. A., & Rector, D. M. (2011). Cytokines in immune function and sleep regulation. Handbook of clinical neurology, 98, 229–240.

12. Godbout, J.P., Glaser, R. (2006) Stress-Induced Immune Dysregulation: Implications for Wound Healing, Infectious Disease and Cancer. Jrnl Neuroimmune Pharm 1, 421–427.

13. Sizar, O., Khare, S., Goyal, A., & Givler, A. (2022). Vitamin D Deficiency. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.

14. Childs, C. E., Calder, P. C., & Miles, E. A. (2019). Diet and Immune Function. Nutrients, 11(8), 1933. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11081933

15. Chandra R. K. (1997). Nutrition and the immune system: an introduction. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 66(2), 460S–463S.

16. Venturella, G., Ferraro, V., Cirlincione, F., & Gargano, M. L. (2021). Medicinal Mushrooms: Bioactive Compounds, Use, and Clinical Trials. International journal of molecular sciences, 22(2), 634.