How to Avoid Colds and Flu


Ah yes, it's autumn again. Cooler temperatures and changing leaves.

But, unfortunately that also means cold and flu season is upon us as well. It's not inevitable that you get sick, and you don't have to resort to a chemical-laden flu shot to stay healthy either.

I generally don't get sick. How? Well I avoid sugar, try to keep stress out of my life as much as possible, get regular exercise and eat a healthy diet.

Can you really avoid getting sick? Absolutely.

Check out this great article from my friend, Mike Geary, fitness and nutrition expert and best-selling author of The Truth About Abs:

 

7 Tips to STOP Getting Sick

Understand the REAL cause of sickness, and strengthen your immune system with these unique tips

by Mike Geary – Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of best-selling program:  The Truth about Six-Pack Abs

 

Note: The tips in this article can work anytime of the year to keep you healthy, strengthen your immune system, and prevent you from getting sick…not just in the winter months!

First of all, let us clear up a HUGE misconception about why more people get sick in the winter compared to warmer times of the year.  Let's talk about cold temperatures first.  You should realize that there's no such thing as "catching a cold".   I can't believe how many people still have this huge misconception that cold temperatures can make you sick…

This is blatantly false… Cold temperatures do NOT make you sick!

In fact, did you know that there are multiple studies that actually show that exposure to cold increases your immunity?  It's true!  One study I read recently even showed that cold therapy such as ice water baths or other cold water exposure (such as cold water swimming) stimulates an improvement in your immune system.

What about so-called "germs"?

So are there really more germs and cold & flu viruses floating around in the winter?  No, of course not!  In fact, some medical articles I've read have indicated that there might actually be a slightly larger amount of cold and flu viruses all around us in the summer due to more favorable conditions for their survival on surfaces.

So then why do more people get sick in the winter?  Well, I'll give you a hint… it's not the temperature, but rather the strength of the suns rays, and how this affects your health… In winter in the northern hemisphere (Canada, US, Europe, etc) sicknesses spike, but at the same time, it's summer in the southern hemisphere (South America, Australia, New Zealand, etc), and while sicknesses are spiking in the northern hemisphere, sicknesses are at their lowest point in the southern hemisphere since it's their summer.

And then when we're in summer in the northern hemisphere and most sicknesses go away, it's winter in the southern hemisphere, so colds, flu, and other sicknesses spike in the southern hemisphere.

So is it the warm temperatures that decreases sickness?  Nope… It's actually all about the strength of the suns rays, and how much vitamin D your body produces due to the UV rays on your skin!

There are 2 theories that many people pass around as to why more colds, flu, and sickness occur in the winter depending on which part of the world you're in…

Theory 1.  It may have to do with people generally spending more time indoors in the winter and thereby being exposed to more germs in enclosed buildings.  It's a nice theory, but people are generally still in offices from 9-5 all week long whether it's summer or winter.  As you'll see, theory 2 is the REAL culprit!

Theory 2.   The reason people get sick more in the winter is mostly due to a drastic reduction in their body's production of Vitamin D, which is directly responsible for how strong their immune system is. 

The suns rays are too weak in the winter generally (depending on the latitude that you live), and therefore, Vitamin D levels in the body drop significantly, which reduces immunity. Most people don't realize how important sunlight and Vitamin D levels really are towards so many functions inside their body, including immune system and hormone production and balance.

Even for people that get outdoors in the winter often, if you live in the northern hemisphere to the North of an imaginary line from approximately Atlanta to Los Angeles, the suns rays are not strong enough in the winter months (approximately November through end of February) to stimulate any significant Vitamin D production inside your body.

This aspect of lack of Vitamin D production and lowered immune strength in the winter months is what is actually the REAL reason why more sickness goes around in the winter.  So you can silently chuckle to yourself the next time that someone tells you to "bundle up" so you don't catch a cold.

So how can you boost your immune system so that your body fights off sickness before it takes hold of you?

So here is my little ritual that I have been using for a few years now and really seems to keep me from getting any colds, flu, or any sickness at all.

As a matter of fact, I can't remember the last time I was legitimately sick. I think it's been 6 or 7 years since I've actually been sick.  How many times have you been sick in the last 7 years?

Every time I feel a cold or something starting to come on, I do this ritual, strengthen my immune system, and my body always fights off the cold or sickness before I actually get full-blown sick.


1. Focus on Vitamin D (but NOT in pill form or "fortified" foods)

This is probably THE most important of all of these tips! 

When it comes to Vitamin D, you need to be careful about artificial forms of vitamin D in many vitamin pills, as artificial vitamin forms are almost always either ineffective or possibly even detrimental compared to natural forms.

For this reason, you need to get your vitamin D naturally. The sun is the best source, and leads to a powerful strengthening of your immune system when your body can naturally produce Vitamin D from moderate sun exposure. Here is a previous article I did on how to get sun exposure in a healthy way without damaging your skin

I know not everybody can take a tropical vacation every winter, but if you can, it's best to try to take it right smack dab in the middle of the winter (when your vitamin D levels have dropped to their lowest)… getting even a few days of good sun closer to the equator in the middle of winter can really help increase your vitamin D and strengthen your immune system.

Remember that this does NOT mean getting burned in the sun… it means getting a moderate amount of sun on large portions of your body (not just your face) for approx 15-40 minutes per day WITHOUT sunscreen on (since sunscreen blocks the UV rays that directly stimulate the vitamin D increase in your body).   Also, as a warning about sunscreens, see this article here about why sunscreens can cause cancer and increase body fat.

Everybody is different based on their skin tone… very pale skin tones may only need 10 minutes or so in full sun in the middle of the day to get adequate vitamin D before any skin damage occurs, but darker skin tones may need a slightly longer time (sometimes 30-40 minutes) in the sun to produce adequate vitamin D. 

To protect your skin, it's essential to get enough sun without sunscreen on, but NOT get burned. 

In general, the UVB rays are only strongest from about 10 am to 3 pm to trigger Vitamin D production in your body (depending on time of year, latitude, and altitude).

With that said, I understand that a tropical vacation in the winter is not possible for everybody's schedule based on either work or finances, so…

Since you may not be going on a tropical vacation this winter, how can you still keep Vitamin D levels from falling dangerously low in your body?

Well, the best food sources of natural Vitamin D are egg yolks, fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel, organ meats, and some mushrooms (some portobella mushrooms and maitake mushroom are fairly good sources of vitamin D).

But what I do to make sure I'm at least getting a decent amount of the best absorbed vitamin D is to take a SMALL dose of cod liver oil daily in the deepest months of winter to make sure my vitamin D levels don't fall too low.  Make sure to take only small doses of cod liver oil (enough for 50% to 100% DV of vitamin D), as large doses can give you an overdose of Vitamin A.   I take about half to 2/3rds of the recommended dose on the bottle.

I'm also a big fan of Prograde Nutrition's natural VGF-25 multi-vitamin, which derives it's vitamin D from natural fish liver oil instead of a synthetic form of vitamin D.  All of the other vitamins in VGF-25 (which stands for "25 veggies, greens, and fruits") are naturally derived too instead of most multi-vitamins that you find at your corner store that are synthetic.

By the way, fortified milk has added synthetic vitamin D, so it is NOT a good source.  In fact, I don't trust any "fortified" foods at all, including crappy breakfast cereals which claim to be good sources of vitamin D… not so!  Also make sure to read this article, which explains how our food supply has been modified in recent decades and now lacks the vitamin D that it used to contain.

2. Garlic to strengthen your immune system!

Garlic is one of the most potent of all superfoods!  Not only does high dose garlic go back thousands of years for treatment of sickness, but recent studies back up the legendary claims for garlic boosting your immune system.

What's best though — "aged" garlic pills, whole garlic in foods, capsules, etc?  I can't seem to find a consensus on this one, so what I simply try to do is use a variety of sources, including garlic powder on a lot of my foods, fresh chopped garlic in meals, and also a garlic capsule or two each day.

If I feel a possible cold or sickness coming on, I really start loading garlic into my foods heavily and I take a few extra garlic capsules that day too. 


3. Kombucha tea (and other probiotic drinks) strengthen your immune system

Kombucha tea is a fermented tea (naturally effervescent) that contains billions of friendly gut organisms (probiotics) that help to strengthen your immune system by bolstering your levels of good organisms in your gut.

Remember that 70% of your immune system lies in your gut and the health of the friendly organisms in there to protect you against pathogens and sickness.

You can find bottles of Kombucha tea at health food stores such as Whole Foods.

When I feel any sickness coming on, I start loading up on Kombucha tea or another probiotic drink, drinking it throughout the day. It has a strong taste, so I mix it with my normal iced teas at 1/3 Kombucha and 2/3 regular iced tea.  I've started seeing other probiotic drinks on the market recently too, so just make sure to look for one that has very minimal sugar per serving (3-6 grams per 8 oz serving is acceptable, but much more than that is too sugary).


4. Green tea, Chamomile Tea, and other teas

There is evidence that green tea and chamomile tea can help aid in strengthening the immune system.

Even if the effect is small, you can't go wrong because both are loaded with powerful antioxidants unique to each tea.

For that reason, I try to drink a couple cups of green tea with a small bit of raw honey early in the day, and then at night, I have a couple cups of chamomile tea.

This isn't a bad idea even for a regular habit, but it's even more important when you feel a sickness possibly coming on.  I also drink a lot of other teas too such as Rooibos tea, which is thought to be even higher in antioxidants than green tea.

 
5. Loading up on antioxidants

We already know how important antioxidants are to overall health as well as immune system support.

For this reason, I make sure to really load up on antioxidant-rich fruits, berries, teas, unsweetened cocoa (in smoothies, etc), and veggies to help prevent sickness.

I also make sure to take my daily Longevity Antioxidant blend from my friends at Prograde, which is a powerful synergistic antioxidant mixture of green tea, wolfberry, acai berry, Biovin grape, coffeeberry, and pomegranate.

I get that here:  Prograde Longevity Synergistic Antioxidant blend

6. Light exercise (yes – light exercise, not hard)

When you feel a sickness coming on, a super-high intensity workout is not a good idea, as hard training forces the body to do a lot of recovery, this at a time when your body needs all of it's efforts on trying to fight off the oncoming sickness.

Although I usually recommend high intensity training, when sickness might be coming on, it's just a good idea to get some light exercise instead.

Personally, I like to get outside for some fresh air and go for a hike or go snowshoeing in the winter. These aren't very strenuous for me, so they won't cause my body to be forced to do a lot of recovery… but just getting out in the fresh air and getting the circulation going I feel is good to help the body fight off the sickness.


7. Avoid ALL processed foods and sweetened soft drinks

If you're serious about your health and getting lean for life, this should be an everyday rule for you anyway (except maybe for cheat meals)…

However, when you might have a sickness coming on, this is no time to bombard your body with processed foods, inflammatory omega-6 oils (soybean oil, corn oil, etc), fried foods, high fructose corn syrup, refined sugars, and chemical additives.

All of these force your body to do extra work to deal with all of this junk and the internal inflammation that they cause in your body.  And by the way, grain-based foods like bread, cereal, muffins, pasta, and bagels are a big culprit in causing internal inflammation and disrupting normal gut function, so avoid grains as much as possible.  In case you're new to the science of Paleolithic nutrition, humans don't actually need grains to survive…grains were never a part of the ancient human diet until agriculture came around just a few thousand years ago.

Instead, (especially when you might be getting sick) you need to give your body only wholesome unprocessed foods that are only 1 ingredient and that we were meant to digest most efficiently…fruits, berries, veggies, eggs, nuts, seeds, grass-fed meats, etc.

I also have a daily serving of immune system boosting Athletic Greens, which is surprisingly delicious, plus contains loads of probiotics and antioxidants, and other immune supporting superfoods.

These 7 tips will go a LONG way to helping to ward off that sickness that is trying to get a hold of you… Here's to a healthy strong body!

Note: I'm not a doctor, and none of these tips are prescriptions for any individual person… they are simply the steps I've personally used over the years to successfully fight off sickness pretty much every single time.  Again, I haven't been legitimately sick in at LEAST 6 or 7 years now that I use these steps!

 

If you liked Mike’s information, click below to see more great nutrition and fat burning information from him:

 5 Foods That Fight Abdominal Fat

 

Till next time, stay healthy, happy and lean!

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled "The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation" that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.   

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

Effective Strategies to Battle a Cold or the Flu

It’s cold and flu season once again. How are you doing this winter? Are you fighting off the ‘crud’? Don’t have time to be sick? I mean really who does?

Here are a few things I have found that help that you can do to help avoid colds and flu this winter.

Because colds are caused by a virus, generally you do not need to run to a doctor for medication when you come down with a cold—or even the flu. You are better off letting it run its course and taking good care of yourself so your body can fight it off with its own defenses. However there are a few things you can do to beef up your body’s defenses to help it fight better.

Most colds last about 8-10 days or so, but some may last even longer. The speed at which your body is able to fight off a cold has a lot to do with the state of your health and your immune system.

While many people turn to over the counter remedies to ease the symptoms, did you know that if you take aspirin or Tylenol, these medications actually suppress the body’s antibodies and so prolong the cold or flu? And Tylenol is in many OTC cold preparations. In addition, OTC medications can have a lot of other unpleasant and unhealthy side effects, so it’s best to avoid them if at all possible.  Even though they may ease the symptoms you may be stuck with the cold or flu even longer.

You should be able to easily fight off a cold or flu if your immune system is operating at its peak. In fact, just being around someone with a cold or flu does not mean you will come down with it yourself–as long as your immune system is functioning well. The following are a few suggestions to keep the immune system operating at its best. (And these suggestions work too, if you have already gotten sick, since they help you fight off the virus quicker.)

  • Be sure you are eating a healthy diet-Avoiding sugar and grains will help keep your immune system strong. And if you feel that you are coming down with something, stay away from all sugar and processed grains. We know that sugar and grain turn to glucose in the body. However, this increased level of sugar in the body actually weakens the immune system drastically. So to keep viruses away, avoid sugar and processed foods. 

  • Add in some extra vitamin C—Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant and works well as an immune enhancer, and you can take up to several grams per hour. While that seems like a lot, vitamin C is water-soluble so any extra will wash out of the body. The only side effect to large doses of vitamin C is loose stools, so just beware. And, as an added note, vitamin C has been shown to be very helpful with depression, so if you are dealing with the winter ‘blahs’, vitamin C will help that too.
  • Eat foods that are rich in antioxidants, including lots of raw fruits and vegetables, and high omega 3 foods like grass fed beef and wild caught salmon. Besides antioxidants, these foods are packed with vitamins and minerals and phytochemicals that are great for the immune system.
  • Be sure to get your vitamin D—Several research studies have shown that catching a cold or flu is actually a symptom of a vitamin D deficiency. Low levels of vitamin D make you much more susceptible to contracting colds, flu and other infections. If you can’t get outside in the sunshine (and that’s hard in the winter when we are all covered up), then go for a good supplement of vitamin D3, which is the must usable source of D.
  • Add lots of spices to your foods—many herbs or spices are extremely high in antioxidants and will help the immune system fight off invaders. The best ones are turmeric (the yellow spice in curry), oregano, cinnamon and cloves. Just add liberally to foods.
  • While it may be difficult to do, avoid stress—Many of us may be stuck in stressful life conditions, but if you cannot avoid stress, then find a way to deal with it. Get exercise, or follow a healthy outlet to relieve stress. Excessive stress will wear you down until your body cannot fight off any invaders.
  • Get enough sleep—Do your best to get a good 7-8 hours sleep if at all possible. If you are having trouble sleeping, be sure not to exercise too late in the evening, avoid caffeine after noon every day, and take a magnesium supplement and a melatonin supplement before bed. Both of the supplements will allow you to relax and enjoy a deeper sleep.
  • Get exercise—Exercise triggers a rise in immune natural killer cells that attack any potential invaders. Plus exercise reduces stress, which in turn is good for the immune system as well. But if you are already sick, exercise can help you fight off any virus, as long as you take it easy and try not to get in a super intense session when you are under the weather.

So what if you end up sick after all?

These are some of the things I have tried that seem to work to either help get rid of it or at least help the symptoms.

  • Green tea or other herb teas-Teas are warm and soothing and green tea is full of antioxidants and these help fight off the free radicals in the body. Other herb teas containing echinacea, goldenseal, ginger, elderflower, peppermint or ginger are also highly effective. Ginger is an immune stimulant, and I like to make my own tea from sliced fresh ginger, steeped in water that has been brought to a boil. Add in honey and a slice of fresh lemon if you desire. Enjoy its spicy kick.
  • Hydrogen Peroxide–This remedy may sound far fetched, but I have tried it and practically swear by it. It has actually stopped a cold in its tracks for me several times, but the key is to get it at the first sign of a cold or flu. While lying on one side or with the head on a table, add a couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide to one ear. You will hear it bubbling around inside and possibly feel a slight stinging sensation. After about 5-10 minutes, drain the ear onto a tissue and repeat with the other ear. You can repeat this procedure every 2-4 hours until the symptoms subside. You may be absolutely amazed!
  • Olive leaf extract--Ancient Egyptians and Mediterranean cultures used it for a variety of health-promoting uses and it is widely known as a natural, non-toxic immune system builder.
  • Also make sure to drink plenty of fresh, pure water. Water is essential for the optimal function of every system in your body and will help loosen secretions. Drink enough water to turn your urine a light, pale yellow.
  • Honey makes a great gargle for sore throats and is antibacterial and antiviral as well.
  • A natural nasal saline irrigates your nose and helps clear thick mucus and relieve pressure from your sinuses. Just use a neti pot and a mixture of sea salt and luke warm water.
  • White and Cider Vinegar—I’m not sure of the science behind this, but wearing a pair of cotton socks soaked in white vinegar is an old, natural remedy that is still used today to reduce a fever—if nothing else, it won’t hurt, other than making your feet smell funny!
  • Don’t forget the chicken soup! Chicken noodle soup has been medically proven to help cure a cold or fever. It is most effective if the soup is made with actual chicken bones in the broth.
  • Garlic—One of my favorite solutions for a cold or flu is to chop up raw garlic and eat it, swallow it, or add it to some olive oil and top your salad with it. Raw garlic is a potent antiviral and is full of powerful antioxidants and other phytochemicals that help your immune system battle viruses. It really seems to work! Of course no one may want to get too close for a while, but you will feel better!

So take care of yourself, don’t overdo, avoid stress if you can or find effective ways to handle it, sleep well and most of all, eat a healthy diet. Hopefully you will escape the creeping ‘crud’ this year!