6 Immunity Booster Tips for the Winter Holiday Season
Healthy immune system helps protect against colds and flu
Healthy immune system helps protect against colds and flu
There’s a lot of hype on how to stay healthy through the holiday season. Store shelves are lined with supplements claiming to help your body ward off colds, flu and other common viruses, but the vast majority aren’t actually beneficial.
Chandini Rathee, MD, a family medicine physician at Scripps Coastal Medical Center Encinitas, has some commonsense tips to support immune health through the holidays and beyond.
“Keeping your immune system at optimum levels gives you the best fighting chance against viruses,” she says. “Most of us will get different colds and flus over time, but the more we can keep our body healthy, the better equipped we are to fight them and have fewer complications.”
Here are six ways to enhance your immune function:
1. Try vitamin C
Supplements like zinc, elderberry and echinacea have been recommended for years to fight cold and flu, but there’s evidence that they probably don’t help. But tried-and-true vitamin C on a regular basis might lead to less severe cold symptoms. The best way to get enough vitamin C is by eating fruits and vegetables.
2. Stay hydrated
Water helps your body naturally eliminate toxins and distributes blood, lymph and nutrients throughout the body. There are plenty of ways to stay hydrated and prevent problems like dehydration.
3. Eat healthy
A nutrient-rich diet that includes a variety of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, legumes and whole grains fuels immune cells to function properly. Remember, you don’t have to spend a lot to eat healthy.
4. Wash your hands
Handwashing with soap and water (or using hand sanitizer in a pinch) removes germs that cause common viruses. Health experts recommend washing your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds, especially before and after eating food and after using the bathroom.
5. Mind your sleep schedule
Magnesium glycinate can be helpful for occasional sleeplessness, as can mindfulness and meditation. Mindfulness and meditation help you decompress at the end of the day and reduce stress, which can negatively impact your immunity.
The winter season can also disrupt your sleep and even cause depression, but this too can be managed or fixed.
6. Get vaccinated
Vaccines are perhaps the most effective defense against the flu, COVID-19, pneumonia and RSV because they work by training your immune system to recognize and fight off infections. Ask your doctor which vaccines or boosters they recommend.
This content appeared in San Diego Health, a publication in partnership between Scripps and San Diego Magazine that celebrates the healthy spirit of San Diego.