Get fit for Winter
Whether we get a Covid-19 spike this Autumn as predicted is irrelevant, because in a couple of weeks, over 10 million children are going back to school after 5 months with little socialising, returning to the herd with lowered immunity.
Our immunity is maintained by constantly being challenged by invaders. If we isolate, then our immune systems aren’t challenged and they don’t have to upgrade their software to deal with whatever pathogens are out there. Put us back out there with this reduced immunity and it is very likely that whatever bugs are out there are going to hit us harder, especially when the weather turns. The normal run of autumnal coughs and colds are likely to be much more severe and will be brought back into homes where the adults have also been isolating. Flu and other seasonal viruses will be back, affecting older people and those with poor health throughout the winter. It isn’t just covid-19 which affects those with underlying health conditions or are overweight more than those who are in good health!
Winter is a time of greater illness for several reasons:
Living at this latitude means that once we get to October, the sun isn’t high enough in the sky for us to metabolise vitamin D, even if it was warm enough to expose large enough swathes of skin for this to be possible. Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for a healthy immune system.
We spend more time indoors, in close proximity, allowing bugs to spread more easily, and less time outdoors, which improves our immune system.
We turn the central heating on, providing a warm and damp environment, perfect for bugs to multiply.
We eat less fresh fruit and vegetables, consuming more comfort foods and items high in calorific value to keep us warm, so getting fewer vitamins and minerals, essential for keeping not only the immune system, but the whole body in tip top condition.
On top of this, I for one have drunk more alcohol and baked more cakes over recent months, through anxiety and boredom and a feeling that I deserved a treat! and I imagine the majority of us have put on a few pounds. We know this puts us at greater risk of covid-19, and it will undoubtedly cause us to be more at risk from any ailments which come our way this winter.
So, what am I going to do over the coming months to keep my body in shape, to give myself the best chance of avoiding illness, to be able to enjoy all that winter has to offer, to ‘Get Fit For Winter’?
Get outside every day.
Fresh air and exercise is vital for a good immune system. This is in part due to some amazing chemicals released by plants called phytoncides, which have antimicrobial, antiinflammatory and antioxidant properties, and increase the natural killer cells in our blood. Amazing, I know!!! Outdoor activities also stimulate rest and repair, rather than the fight or flight mechanism, which damps down any activity in the body which isn’t essential to escaping or fighting a physical stress, including our immune system.
Do high intensity training for 10 minutes at least three times a week.
Research has shown that high intensity exercise - exercise which gets your heart rate up to 85% or more, makes you puff and pant, makes you hot and sweaty - increases the diversity of the microbiome, the microbes which live on and in us and are responsible for a huge part of our immune system.
(NB. This doesn’t need to be continuous exercise for 10 minutes, it can be interval training or 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes at night etc)
Get more sleep.
Sleep is essential for good immunity. Lack of sleep is stressful on the body and as such reduces the immune response as the body is put into fight or flight mode. Poor sleep also means that the liver isn’t given adequate time to detoxify. The liver is vital for toxin removal from the body, for fat and carbohydrate metabolism, and for hormone balance. With a compromised liver due to poor sleep, weight gain and inflammation is more likely and our body’s reaction to illness is likely to be more severe.
Work on my stress levels by being more mindful on my dog walks and while doing the daily chores, using box breathing to reduce anxiety as it happens and drinking less coffee.
Stress compromises the immune system because when the body is in fight or flight mode it puts all its energy into fleeing or fighting and takes all nutrients and energy away from the other systems, including the immune system. Being mindful and box breathing induce the parasympathetic nervous system - that which induces rest and repair and counters the effects of stress. We often can't remove stress from our lives, but we can change the way we react to it and introduce practices which can reduce the effects. Caffeine induces the stress response so reducing coffee also reduces stress.
Avoid medication.
Antibiotics kill bacteria and as such, a course of antibiotics can be really detrimental to the health of our gut bacteria. 80% of our immune system is in the gut, and the microbiome is responsible for much of this by protecting the lining of the gut wall, acting as an early warning system for the immune system in the bloodstream and killing pathogens or digesting toxins before they even get through the gut wall. If we kill the bacteria in our gut, we compromise our immunity hugely.
Painkillers such as paracetamol are detrimental to the health of the liver and as such prevent it doing its job of detoxification which puts the body in a compromised state, more susceptible to illness.
(NB. I’m obviously not suggesting you quit taking your medication!! But avoiding unnecessary use of antibiotics or pain meds is definitely a good thing)
Reduce alcohol consumption.
Alcohol is toxic to pretty much all the good bacteria which reside in the gut. If we drink consistently, then the microbiome suffers and hasn’t time to recover, no matter how good our diet and lifestyle is otherwise. Giving your body a break of 5-6 days each week can really help to maintain a good immune system by keeping the microbiome happy and healthy. It will also improve your sleep!
Eat a rainbow.
Colourful food is full of nutrients, vital for a healthy body. By eating a rainbow at each meal and avoiding anything beige, (foods which are generally high in calories and low in nutrients) you will feed your microbiome and feed all your organs, as well as reducing empty calorie intake which inevitably leads to weight gain.
Supplement with good quality supplements chosen for my particular needs.
Our food is lacking in nutrition due to our intensive farming methods which deplete the soil of minerals. Crops are picked too early to have assimilated enough nutrients and are then transported long distances and held in cold storage for long periods of time before they hit the shelves, losing any small amount of nutrients they had in the first place. The low level of the sun through the winter means we are all deficient in vitamin D, and poor gut health means absorption of nutrients is reduced.