Back to school time is basically the unofficial opening ceremony of sick season or “cold and flu” season.
So this is my annual reminder.
To some extent, all the sickness is normal. We’re humans. Back to school means more people indoors, kids back together swapping every germ known to mankind, schedules getting busier, sleep sometimes getting shorter…you get it.
Here’s how viruses work, in very simplified terms…you get sick, your immune system learns something about that particular germ and builds immune memory — basically, an army that now recognizes that enemy, as I tell our kids.
How long that protection lasts varies A LOT depending on the germ, your immune system, how much that particular germ changes over time, and a bunch of other factors that we absolutely do not need to turn into a biology textbook today.
So yes, you can absolutely get sick with something you’ve encountered before. But your immune system isn’t starting from scratch every single time, either. It’s constantly learning, remembering and adapting.
Or, if you seem to be getting sick constantly, it could be that your immune system is in need of a little TLC.
Regardless, remember that we are meant to get sick sometimes. It’s a chance to reset and re-evaluate things. And even though it sucks or is at least inconvenient, our bodies usually fight the germs off without us even having to micromanage. Pretty freaking incredible, huh?!
The beautiful thing is that most of what I do to support a well-regulated immune system overlaps a whole lot with what I do for metabolic health.
And I intentionally say 'well-regulated' instead of 'boosted' here. I know “boost your immune system” is the phrase everyone uses, and I’ve used it too because we all know what it means. But technically, MORE immune activity isn’t always better. I want an immune system that recognizes a threat, mounts an appropriate response, handles the problem, and then knows when to calm itself back down. Very efficient employee. Shows up, does the job, does not start reorganizing departments nobody asked her to touch.
Here are a few of my sick season staples...
When feeling great or otherwise, we wash our hands with fragrance-free soap and water, no Purell or anti-bacterial soap. Rather than mess with our skin’s barrier / microbiome and make our immune system weaker, I prefer to keep that intact. Soap acts to lift germs off of the skin and the friction of rubbing our hands under the water will wash them away without being too harsh.
Nasal breathing. Our nose isn’t just a smaller mouth hole. It warms, humidifies and filters the air we breathe, and our nasal passages are part of our first-line respiratory defenses. Our mouth bypasses a bunch of that. Many people are nasal breathers during the day but mouth breathers at night. Mouth-taping, tongue posture or even myofunctional therapy would be some things to consider.
Tongue scraping. This is one of those tiny things that takes about 15 seconds and makes a HUGE difference, IMO. I scrape my tongue every morning (and have for 20+ years) to physically remove some of the bacteria + buildup that accumulate there overnight as my body was working to push things out. It’s not an immune-system force field, but your mouth is home to a massive microbial ecosystem, and your oral microbiome is part of the body’s first line of defense. Keeping that environment healthy can help support the barrier between all those microbes and the rest of your body.
Sleep! Our immune system function drops pretty dramatically even after 1 night of poor sleep. I know we can’t get great sleep every single night, but most of us can do better in this category.
Resilience. Heat + cold exposure throughout the year helps our body build up resilience. The cold of winter is less of a shock if we have been priming it for cold with intentional exposures a few times a week. Skip this when sleep is low, stress is high, or you’re already under the weather.
Stress. Cortisol is released when we are stressed and while it’s not a bad thing, it does become problematic when it’s elevated too high or too often. It will cause insulin resistance and lower your immunity in the long-run. We have less control over how much stress we are exposed to (though definitely some control there!), and much more over how we train ourselves to deal with it. Just having a regular practice of journaling, meditating, gratitude / spiritual practice, and working on emotional management can be life-changing. Also, consider whether you’re causing excess physical stress with fasts that are longer than your body can healthfully handle, overexercising, too much coffee, or under-eating. These things will all jack up cortisol and lower your immune response.
Nutrition. If you’re eating a bunch of processed food, lots more sugar / carbs than you need, and drinking alcohol, your immunity will be tanked. I’d never suggest skipping ALL of those things ALL the time, but most people need to be more realistic about what moderation looks like for their goals. Blood sugar management is important for a robust (yet not over-reactive) immune system.
I don’t force food for myself or my kids when we’re sick. I lean heavily on appetite. Hungry? Eat. Not hungry? Don’t eat. Your body will let you know when it’s ready for food.
Hydrate! This I do much differently. Even if not thirsty, I will be mindful of staying hydrated. If not able to drink as much volume or if there is sweating (from fevers breaking), vomiting, or diarrhea, or an aversion to plain water, I add electrolytes. I love Redmond’s Relyte brand and LMNT brand for these instances and will often use just partial servings spread out throughout the day.
Exercise. If you have a fever, congested lungs, or are vomiting / diarrhea, definitely skip your workouts until those things have been gone at least a full day or so. If it’s just a little cold or minor, lingering symptoms and you’re making sure you’re eating well, sleeping well, hydrating yourself, and you’re feeling up to getting in a shorter, less intense workout, it’s probably ok.
Sunshine and fresh air. Being out in the sun used to be our default, now it’s something we have to consciously seek out. Sun and fresh air each speak to our body in multiple and specific ways, influencing hormones, fertility, moods, bone health, blood sugar management, metabolic rate, heart health, immunity and more. It even helps remove stains from clothing! Is there anything the sun can’t do?? We make outdoor time a part of every single day, even on the yucky or cold weather days (we still get the benefits of the sun through the clouds).
Movement. Move everyday if at all possible! Even a little walk or some stretching every hour or so will help keep your lymph flowing so your body can get rid of those germs for you.
Supplements. I maintain my normal supplements as long as I’m able to eat something b/c many (like fat-soluble vitamins) need food to be absorbed and I’d feel nauseous if I took my zinc, for example, on an empty stomach. Some that I take for immunity (you should only take what makes sense for your body, your deficiencies, etc.) are vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, quercetin, magnesium, omega 3s, turmeric, NAC.
Mega-dosing. I typically avoid mega-dosing. My goal when I’m sick is a bit unusual…I don’t necessarily want to get better as fast as possible. I mean, I do in the moment of course lol, but ultimately since I’m already sick I want to make the most of it by mounting an appropriate immune response. Basically, I want a strong “germ army” to form and don’t want to interfere with this process by trying to micromanage everything or supplement my way out of that immune response. TLC, yes. Overriding important cellular processes that would set me up better in the future? No.
And this is another part that I think is fascinating -- a whole lot of what we experience as “being sick” is actually our body’s RESPONSE to the germ, not simply the germ itself. Fever, inflammation, mucus, fatigue, body aches, changes in appetite -- many of those symptoms are being produced or influenced by our immune response, not the germ itself. This is one reason I’m not automatically trying to shut down every symptom the second it appears. Symptoms absolutely deserve management when needed, but I also want to understand what my body is trying to accomplish before I start interfering with everything like an overbearing middleman.
Warm liquids. There’s something to be said for hot tea or chicken soup when you’re sick. Not only can it be comforting and hydrating, but breathing in some of the warm steam into our nose can help kill off some of the germs that are still hanging out there and haven’t affected you systemically, yet.
Fevers. I LOVE a good fever. I know that’s a weird thing to say and I know it doesn’t feel good, but it’s such an intelligent thing our bodies do sometimes…turning up the temperature as part of the immune response to germs. While rare, fevers can occasionally become dangerously high (especially in children), so I just monitor but do not give fever reducers. Exceptions? Sure. It hasn’t happened to us yet (knock on wood), but if one of our children was SO uncomfortable b/c of their fever and needed a little relief to relax their body or get some sleep, I’d consider temporarily reducing it (probably with non-pharmaceutical methods at first and pharmaceutical if we deem it to be necessary). Otherwise we just do lots of comfort in other ways, snuggles, etc.
Important mindset piece... we’re not “sick” or “not sick”, we are constantly encountering and fighting off germs everyday, but sometimes our body handles the battle without us noticing and sometimes it requires a bigger fight and we can feel it.
Another mindset piece ... we can assume we and everyone we know will get sick several times a year. If it ends up being less, great! If it’s more, it’s a good opportunity to consider why. Maybe it’s that there’s been too much sugar and alcohol and not enough sleep and we can tweak those things if we want to. But regular ol’ viruses getting us from time-to-time is just real life. Even the healthiest people still get sick. In fact, some holistic docs say that there’s a health benefit to getting sick at least occasionally. But I don’t subscribe to being a victim when I get sick as if it’s not a normal part of life. It just…will happen sometimes!
And then there’s the after, which I think people mostly skip. I do a little mental debrief. How often am I getting sick lately? How hard did this one hit me? How long did it take me to feel like myself again? If I’m getting sick once or twice a year, handling it pretty well and bouncing back normally, cool. I’m not going looking for a problem that doesn’t exist. If I’m catching every single thing that walks through the front door and each one takes me out for 10 business weeks, I’d start looking at sleep, stress, whether I’m eating enough, nutrient status, training load, recovery, and anything else that might be making it harder for my immune system to do its job well.
Food-wise, I just work my way back to normal as my appetite comes back. I’m getting back to my usual meals, protein, plants, fiber, fluids, all the regular things at a pace that feels right.
Exercise gets the same gradual return. I don’t try to make up for missed workouts, and I definitely don’t use the first day I feel 72% human as an opportunity to test my VO2 max. If I'm coming back from being hit pretty hard with something, I start with walking and normal life, then easier training, and build back toward my usual intensity based on how I actually during the workout and afterward. A few missed workouts have basically zero impact on my fitness. Turning one week of being sick into three weeks because I refused to chill for another 24 hours though is much less efficient.
So there ya have it. We all get sick sometimes. And this is a lot of what I do for myself and my family in general and when any of us are under-the-weather. We have 1 in school and 1 homeschooling, but we like to keep our social calendars full so we are certainly not hiding from the germs.
Hope you found it helpful and hope you get through this “sick season” as smoothly as possible!
And this is also a pretty good example of why I created The Metabolic Edge. We talk a lot about fat loss, muscle, blood sugar, hormones and longevity in there, but none of these things live in their own cute little separate boxes. Metabolic health affects immune function. Sleep affects blood sugar. Stress affects ....well, basically everything.
The goal isn’t just to weigh less or have better labs on paper. It’s understanding your body well enough to know how all of these pieces fit together — and what to actually DO with that information.
Doors to The Metabolic Edge are closed right now, but the October waitlist is open. If this is the kind of stuff you like learning about, you can get on it here.
Stay wild + well,
Tara