why natural supplements are key to cold and flu prevention
7 minute read
naturopaths say that when you're deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, you can be constantly stuck in the inflammatory phase of cold or flu and it drags on and on.
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as the temperatures drop and the days shorten in winter, people are more prone to respiratory illnesses and mood swings. this happens even if you’re focused on eating a healthy diet, prioritizing regular exercise and getting the sleep you need (despite the holiday season demands). good lifestyle habits at this time of year might not be enough.
experts say that certain natural supplements can give your health the boost you need to reduce your chances of getting sick, reduce the severity if you do and speed recovery.
when eating healthy is not enough
“some people may be skeptical and say, ‘well, i can get everything through diet,’ but this is one of those times of the year that everybody is more susceptible to getting upper respiratory tract infection, colds and flus,” says dr. paul hrkal, naturopathic doctor and advocate for integrative medical education for healthcare providers and the public. his practice is based at the pain and wellness centre in vaughan, ontario.
“my kids have been sick in november, and then again, we got some kind of gastro bug in the last couple of weeks. it’s really common that a lot of my patients are experiencing the same type of thing, and it happens around this time of the year. there’s a lot of reasons for that,” he says, highlighting one of the big ones, less time spent outdoors.
“i do try to give prescriptions of telling people to go outside as much as possible,” he says. the exposure to uvb rays increases vitamin d, and vitamin d has a whole host of documented immune benefits.
“in many ways, it’s a hormone because it has a receptor on almost every cell in the body. and there’s a lot of receptors on our immune cells. one of the most well-known effects of vitamin d, over and above bone health, would be its effect on improving immunity, especially when it’s deficient now.”
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vitamin d is critical in winter
while it’s almost impossible to get too much vitamin d from sunlight or food, you can develop vitamin d toxicity if you take too high a dosage of vitamin d supplements. too much can hinder processes like calcium absorption.
hrkal recommends talking with your healthcare provider about the appropriate daily dose. you can also have your vitamin d levels tested.
dr. christine cho-d’souza, also a naturopathic doctor at the pain and wellness centre, agrees that vitamin d tops her list of important natural supplements for winter.
“vitamin d is a very critical nutrient to the immune system. we know that low vitamin d status is linked with many chronic diseases as well as cold and flu sort. and it’s a nutrient that acts on so many different processes in the body so that if it’s low a whole number of things, including compromised immune system, can happen.”
she, too, emphasizes bone health, especially for post-menopausal women who are at increased risk of osteoporosis, and vitamin d’s role in combating autoimmune dysfunction in multiple sclerosis and improving pain sensitivity in her patients with chronic pain.
probiotics build immune tolerance
next for supplementation, dr. hrkal advises probiotics, backed by emerging research on the gut microbiome and its impact on the whole body.
“basically, with the collection of bacteria and other organisms we have in our intestines and in almost every tissue of our body, there’s a lot of fascinating connections between what the gut does, but specifically when it comes to immunity there’s good evidence showing that some specific strains of probiotics can actually help reduce the incidence of the common cold and flu.”
he explains that probiotics help support the body’s immune system by training the new immature immune cells, which are located around the digestive tract, to recognize bacteria or foreign invaders that should be attacked and which should be tolerated. this builds what he calls immune tolerance.
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finding the right probiotic can be challenging with the variations available, so talking with a healthcare provider is a good place to start. hrkal also points out the assurance that every natural product sold in canada has demonstrated some degree of therapeutic dosage and ingredients approved by health canada. look for the natural produce number (npn) on the label from canada’s natural product number database.
for effective prevention, take supplements before a cold hits
while you might head to the pharmacy to get zinc lozenges and vitamin c when a cold strikes, zinc and vitamin c need to build up in your body to be most effective. plan ahead and get started on these supplements as prevention for the respiratory illness season.
“there’s research showing deficiencies in zinc lead to poor immunity,” says hrkal. “naturopaths like to focus on insufficiencies, meaning you’re not deficient to the point that it’s zero or far below the lab range, but you may not have enough.” he notes that getting enough zinc from food can be challenging, especially for vegetarians and vegans, because it’s most available in animal meats. pumpkin seeds are one alternative for zinc, so add these into your diet (and trail mix).
when it comes to vitamin c, vegetarians have an advantage because they have lots of vitamin c in their diet with plants, he says. “the immune cells, which are the viral and bacterial fighters, use lots of extra vitamin c when they’re fighting these. so it’s like i’m supplying my battle defence system against pathogens.”
cho-d’souza notes the impact of positive marketing around vitamin c that has encouraged people to supplement, and the science shows that it helps reduce the duration and severity of colds, although it won’t prevent the occurrence.
medicinal mushrooms in soup and supplements
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another natural source that’s gaining popularity is the class of herbs called medicinal mushrooms. these are not hallucinogenic types, but ones that have been used for thousands of years in chinese medicine, for example, to support immune function.
“mushrooms have this unique compound called beta-glucans that increase the classes of white blood cells that fight off bacteria and viruses,” hrkal says, suggesting choices like shiitake, reishi and oyster mushrooms. even white button mushrooms have some research showing that they have some benefits for health outcomes.
they are best eaten in soup because you have to use hot water to extract them, he adds, “so this is where supplements can be a big advantage because you may not get enough through diet. at this time of year, supplementing for maybe two months will allow you to raise your immune resilience with something like reishi mushroom or maitake mushroom or shaga mushroom, which is native here to canada and grows on birch trees in forests.”
a final supplement to consider are omega-3 fatty acids that are extremely effective at helping to balance immune reactions, so a key strategy as part of immune resilience and inflammation resilience, hrkal says.
omega-3 fatty acids regulate inflammation and speed recovery
“where this comes in is ‘okay, i have a cold or a flu, but if i’m deficient in omega-3s, i’m constantly stuck in this inflammatory phase and it drags on and on. when the omega-3s get incorporated into your cells, your body can initiate inflammation and then resolve it really well. they produce substances that are appropriately called resolvins and they play a key role in regulating inflammation, even in more serious infections like covid-19 where there was such a strong inflammatory component at the end of it. so omega-3s have a great balancing effect for overall health, which is just so fundamental.”
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natural supplements can be game-changers in people’s well-being. hrkal points to one patient who was experiencing what he calls “the mom syndrome.” the woman, 48, had spent the last 20 years taking care of everyone else around her. sound familiar?
“she’s finally coming up for air and realizing she’s 20 lbs. overweight and she’s tired and she’s stressed out.”
as a teacher, every fall she got sick two or three times each semester. hrkal discovered that her hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, or hpa axis, was dysfunctional, which means you either produce too much cortisol, which is the main hormone, or too little cortisol. testing determined that she wasn’t producing enough cortisol.
supplementation of select herbs and mushrooms was prescribed to support her adrenal system, which is responsible for producing hormones that regulate metabolism, blood pressure and the body’s response to stress. “when we corrected that, her immunity absolutely improved and she didn’t get sick anymore. this is an example of a root cause immune issue.”
in other words, if she just kept popping zinc lozenges, she wouldn’t really get better. compromised immunity can be caused by underlying hormonal issues or deficiencies.
the point is, see your healthcare provider, hrkal says. sometimes the answer to wintertime well-being is “not as simple as just going online and buying immune supplements.”
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