Don’t Let the Holidays Derail Your Health! How to Support Your Immune System During Cold and Flu Season
Winter is here, which means colder temperatures, less sunlight, more time indoors, and plenty of opportunities to come into contact with the viruses and bacteria that seem to make their way around every school, office, airplane, and family gathering.
I get a lot of questions this time of year about how to stay healthy and support the immune system through the winter months.
The good news is that your immune system is already working around the clock to protect you. You don't have to wait until you're sick to start supporting it.
There are several simple things you can do to give your immune system the nutrients and support it needs to function properly. Some of the most important are also some of the easiest to overlook.
Your Immune System Needs More Than Just a Supplement
Before we talk about supplements, it's important to understand that immune health isn't dependent on one vitamin, one food, or one product.
Your immune system relies on adequate nutrition, healthy sleep, appropriate stress management, and normal function throughout the body.
That means supporting your immune system starts with the basics:
Eating a nutrient-dense diet
Getting adequate sleep
Staying hydrated
Managing chronic stress
Getting regular movement
Correcting nutritional deficiencies when they are present
Supporting healthy digestive function
For some people, however, those basics aren't enough.
If you are frequently getting sick, seem to stay sick longer than everyone else, or feel like your immune system isn't keeping up, it may be worth looking more closely at whether you are actually getting the nutrients your body needs.
Here are several of the nutrients and approaches I commonly consider with my patients.
1. Vitamin D3
Vitamin D3 plays an important role in immune function. Research has shown that vitamin D is involved in regulating immune responses and that inadequate vitamin D status is associated with an increased risk of certain respiratory infections and other health concerns.
But there's an important distinction between being above the laboratory's deficiency cutoff and having a vitamin D level that may provide the full benefits associated with adequate vitamin D status.
Many laboratories consider a 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of around 20-30 ng/mL or higher to be sufficient. However, research has suggested that some potential health benefits may occur at higher levels, and some studies and clinical guidelines suggest that levels above 30 ng/mL may be preferable for certain individuals. In our practice, we generally look for a level of at least 50 ng/mL when evaluating vitamin D status, taking the individual patient's health history and circumstances into account.
This is one reason we frequently evaluate vitamin D levels in our office. Rather than assuming that a result is adequate simply because it falls within the laboratory's reference range, we look at the actual number in the context of the patient's overall health.
If you don't know your vitamin D level, testing can help determine whether supplementation may be appropriate for you and what level of supplementation makes sense.
2. Vitamin C
Vitamin C is probably one of the first nutrients people think of when they hear "immune support," and for good reason.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant and plays several important roles in normal immune function. It supports several aspects of immune function and helps protect cells from oxidative stress.
Your body cannot make vitamin C on its own, so you need to obtain it from your diet.
Good food sources include:
Bell peppers
Citrus fruits
Kiwi
Strawberries
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Other fruits and vegetables
For some patients, supplementation may also be appropriate.
There are many different forms of vitamin C supplements available. We often use liposomal vitamin C with our patients when supplementation is indicated.
The important point is that vitamin C is not a magic shield against every winter illness. It is one piece of the nutritional support your immune system needs to function properly.
3. Zinc
Zinc is essential for normal immune function. It plays a role in the development and function of immune cells and helps support the body's response to infections.
Adequate zinc is necessary for normal immune cell development and function, and zinc is involved in many processes throughout the body.
Zinc is found naturally in foods such as:
Meat
Shellfish
Eggs
Dairy products
Nuts and seeds
Legumes
If your diet is not providing enough zinc, or if there are other reasons you may not be absorbing nutrients effectively, supplementation may be worth considering.
But more is not necessarily better with zinc.
Zinc can be over-supplemented, and taking excessive amounts for an extended period can interfere with copper absorption and potentially create other problems. That's why we recommend paying attention to both the amount and duration of supplementation rather than simply taking a high-dose zinc product whenever you're trying to support your immune system.
For people who may benefit from additional zinc, we use Zinc Plus from SFI Health, which is available through The Doctors Supplement Store along with many of our other recommended supplements.
4. Support Your Digestive Health
Here's one that often gets overlooked when people talk about immunity:
Your digestive tract plays an important role in immune function.
Your digestive system isn't simply responsible for breaking down food. It is also home to a large and complex community of microorganisms and plays an important role in regulating immune activity.
This means that digestive problems can be relevant when we're trying to understand why someone seems to struggle with their overall health.
If you regularly experience:
Bloating
Gas
Constipation or diarrhea
Food sensitivities
Recurrent digestive discomfort
Changes in bowel habits
Reactions to foods that didn't bother you in the past
it may be worth looking beyond the symptoms themselves.
Poor digestion, an imbalanced gut microbiome, nutritional deficiencies, and other digestive problems can all affect the environment in which your immune system is functioning.
You can learn more about our approach to digestive health.
5. What About NAET?
If you've never heard of NAET, you're certainly not alone.
NAET stands for Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques and is an approach that uses acupressure and other techniques to address sensitivities to substances such as foods and environmental allergens.
This is one of the more unique approaches we offer at Whole Health & Wellness.
We use NAET protocols in our office to help the body respond to immune stress associated with allergies, sensitivities, and infections.
I often introduce patients to NAET when they have a history of food or environmental sensitivities and are interested in an integrative approach to addressing those reactions.
If you are dealing with significant food or environmental sensitivities, you can learn more about NAET here.
Don't Forget About Sleep and Stress
It's tempting to focus on supplements because they're easy to buy and easy to add to your routine.
But some of the most powerful things you can do for your immune system aren't found in a bottle.
Sleep and stress deserve just as much attention.
When you're consistently sleep deprived or under chronic stress, your body has to continually adapt to those demands. Getting adequate, consistent sleep and finding ways to manage stress are important parts of maintaining healthy immune function.
During the winter, I encourage my patients to look at the whole picture:
Are you sleeping enough?
Are you eating real, nutrient-dense foods?
Are you getting enough protein, vegetables, healthy fats, and other essential nutrients?
Are you drinking enough water?
Are you constantly running on empty?
Are you giving your body enough time to recover?
Sometimes the simplest changes can make a surprisingly big difference.
When It May Be Worth Looking Deeper
If you are generally healthy and occasionally catch a cold, there's usually no reason to panic or start taking a long list of supplements.
But if you're frequently sick, dealing with recurrent infections, taking a long time to recover, or experiencing other ongoing symptoms, it may be worth asking whether something may be affecting your body's ability to function normally..
Nutritional deficiencies are one possibility.
Digestive problems can be another.
Chronic stress, inadequate sleep, medication use, and other health factors may also play a role.
This is where testing can sometimes be helpful.
Rather than guessing which supplements you need, laboratory testing can provide objective information about certain aspects of your nutritional and overall health status.
We use functional laboratory testing when appropriate to help identify patterns that may be contributing to a patient's symptoms.
Our Favorite Immune Support Supplements
If supplementation is appropriate for you, these are some of the products we commonly use with our patients.
Many of our preferred supplements are available through The Doctors Supplement Store. For this site, use registration code CR1735.
Vitamin D3
Ortho Molecular Liquid Vitamin D3 with K2
DesBio Liposomal D3-K2, Orange Dreamsicle
Vitamin C
DesBio Liposomal Vitamin C
Designs for Health Liposomal Vitamin C
Zinc
We frequently use:
SFI Health Zinc Plus
Additional Immune Support
Another combination product we frequently use during the winter months is:
Apex Energetics Immu-Zyme
This is available through Apex Energetics using registration code DrC.
You don't necessarily need every supplement on this list. The right approach depends on your diet, health history, laboratory findings, medications, and individual needs.
If you have questions about whether a particular supplement is appropriate for you, contact us.
Supporting Your Immune System Is About More Than "Boosting" It
Your immune system is incredibly complex.
The goal isn't to constantly "boost" it as much as possible. Your immune system needs to be appropriately regulated and supplied with the nutrients and support required for normal function.
For some people, that may simply mean eating better, sleeping more, and correcting a nutritional deficiency.
For others, recurrent illness or chronic symptoms may be a sign that something deeper needs to be investigated.
That's why I don't believe there is one immune-support protocol that works for everyone.
The goal is to understand what your body needs and provide the appropriate support.
If you're tired of getting sick every winter or you're dealing with ongoing symptoms that make you wonder whether your immune system is functioning the way it should, it may be worth looking beyond another bottle of supplements and taking a closer look at the bigger picture.
Start Your Personalized Care Plan
If you're ready to better understand what's contributing to your symptoms and take a more complete, natural approach to your health, we're here to help.
About the Author
Dr. Caroline Ricker, DC, DABCI, MTAA, is the founder of Whole Health & Wellness in St. Louis. Her practice combines functional medicine, clinical nutrition, functional laboratory testing, chiropractic care, acupuncture, and other integrative approaches for patients with chronic and recurring health concerns.
Learn more about Dr. Caroline Ricker and Whole Health & Wellness