Winter proof your body

This time of year I remind everyone about the good habits we can employ to minimise the risk of getting a cold or flu which then derails your training for a few days or even a few weeks. This year we have obviously had constant reminders about washing hands, distancing, etc. But even with our increased awareness of how to reduce your risk of picking up a virus, we’ve still had a few of the team pick up the usual colds / bugs over the past couple of weeks. So what else can we do to reduce the risk of getting sick?

Wash your hands

I’ll say it again, because this is one of the biggest things you can do. But we all know the drill now; regularly with soap and water for 20seconds+

Sleep

8hrs+ per night should be the target. The occasional reduced sleep is OK, but if we start to see a pattern of less than 8hrs per night this is when your immune system will get compromised and we risk getting sick (or injured).

VitD

Vitamin D levels have been shown to correlate with immune system function; lower levels resulting in poor immune system function. With less sunlight available the chances are you’ll be deficient even with an excellent diet. If you can get a blood test to check your levels great, but if not then consider a basic supplement over the winter months and ensure you are having a diet with rich sources of VitD. For highly active athletes the general advice is to supplement with 1000-4000iu vitD3 daily. Remember to check any supplements you take on the Informed-Sport website

Gut microbiome

This is another area with a growing research base behind it. Improving the health of the gut microbiome (all the friendly bacteria in your gut) can improve your immune system function. Therefore consume a diet with good sources of pre and probiotics. For those who consume dairy, look at probiotic yoghurts and/or supplement with colostrum powder (I and a few others on the team use neovite) although the evidence base for this is mixed, there are a number of studies shown reduced incidence and duration of upper respiratory tract infections in athletes who consume colostrum, as well as improvements in gut health.

General diet - Eat the rainbow.

We all know we should be getting 5+ pieces of fruit and veg per day, but are you getting sufficient variety? Over the course of a week you should be getting 35+ different types of fruit and vegetables in order to get the necessary micronutrients. Thus 5 banana’s and 5 oranges a week only counts for 2 items, not 10. Look to consume a wide range of fruit and vegetables daily in order to get he micronutrients needed to support your immune system.

So there as you can see, there isn’t anything magical here - just good common sense. Eat well, sleep well, and you’ll minimise your risk of getting sick. Once you’ve mastered these basics, the big rocks, then we can look at some of the additional elements such as supplementation (VitD, probiotics) and additional stress reduction (meditation)