Fall is my favorite time of year. To me it means sweaters, snuggling under blankets, warms drinks and soups and lots of time with family. I’m happy it’s here and actually look forward to snow because building forts, snow angels and snow ball fights are so much fun. However, with the change of season comes the threat of “seasonal” illnesses like colds and flus. Have you ever considered why there is such a thing as “flu season”? Does a virus or bacteria really only appear during the fall and winter months? If so, where does it goduring the summer months? The answer is it doesn’t go anywhere. This thought is a MYTH!
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Viruses and bacteria exist and surround us every day of our lives – including those that cause colds and flus. We are constantly exposed, not just when someone next to us has the sniffles. The one thing that determines who gets sick and who stays well is NOT the presence of the virus or bacteria “going around” – it is the strength of our IMMUNE FUNCTION. This has been proven true many many times and has been known for decades. In 1991, Cohen et al. exposed ALL study subjects to the cold virus, yet not every participate got sick! Only those who were “stressed” developed a cold. (1)
The strength of your immune system is influenced by two main factors. The first is the amount of stress in your daily life – the toxicities or deficiencies in what you eat, how you move your body and your thought processes. These toxicities and deficiencies result in (big word warning) neurobiochemical down-regulation of our immune system via the sympathetic nervous system and the stress hormones cortisol and catecholamines (adrenaline). In real people words, eating poorly, while you sit for 8+ hours a day and disliking your job/boss/coworker/self/spouse/whatever effects how your immune system functions in a bad way.
You don’t have to be a neuroscientist to know that the amount of stress in our lives is NOT SEASONAL. Surely you’ve experienced a cold or flu even in the summer months. But it’s true that more people do get colds and flus in the fall and winter months. Why? What is different during fall and winter that can explain a change in our immune function? Vitamin D! (2).
Vitamin D isn’t actually a vitamin. It’s a hormone that our body can produce when exposed to sunlight. In the fall and winter, we significantly reduce our exposure to sunlight by wearing clothes that cover our bodies and spending more time indoors. This is important because Vitamin D is ESSENTIAL to proper immune function, in fact this is the second factor that influences your immune system.
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Vitamin D is what turns your immune system on. It activates the army that attack viruses, bacteria and other invaders. Vitamin D also has important roles in the control of insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, inflammation and blood coagulation/clotting and explains why Vitamin D deficiency is a significant contributor to cancer, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, autism, asthma, and diabetes (Garland CF, Garland MT. Vitamin D and its role in immunology; multiples sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel disease. ProgBiophysMol Biol. 2006 Sep; 92(1):60-4.; 3).
Most Americans don’t get enough sun exposure during any time of the year due to not spending enough time outside and when we do, there may be cloud cover, or we cover our skin with clothing or wear sunscreen. This leads to an epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency and partially explains the increases in cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disorders and recurrent colds and flus.
So what’s the best solution to ensure we and our loved ones experience a strong immune system that not only protects us from colds and flus, but many other chronic disease?
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables to ensure your body has all the nutrients it needs to function properly
- Avoid refined sugar. Sugar (glucose) and Vitamin C are almost identical chemically. Because as humans we cannot make our own Vitamin C, we need to consume it. But because vitamin C and sugar (glucose) are almost identical chemically, sugar can attach to the receptor sites on immune cells, effectively blocking Vitamin C and inhibiting proper immune function. This is why sugar decreases your immune function. However, the solution is NOT to consume large amounts of synthetic Vitamin C, the solution is to consume less sugar.
- Supplements with a high quality Vitamin D3. I recommend Innate Choice OmegA+D Cod Liver Oil
and/or Innate Choice D-Sufficiency Liquid Vitamin D3 Drops
.
- Exercise regularly as it has been scientifically proven to increase your immune function.
- Reduce your emotional stress – learn a relaxation technique like meditation or mind quieting.
- Reduce your physical stress. Research shows that physical stress like poor posture and a loss of proper spinal function (vertebral subluxation) also increase stress hormones which decrease immune system function. Research also shows that getting chiropractic adjustments lower these stress hormones and increase immune function. GET ADJUSTED!
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