This time of year, it seems like just about everyone comes down with some kind of illness. From sore throats to stomach bugs, the winter always seems to come with a vengeance of viruses.
Dr. Ming Wu, a family medicine physician with AdventHealth Littleton, has seen a dramatic uptick in viral illnesses in recent weeks.
“Flu, COVID — I definitely have positive cases in my clinic,” he said. “But even beyond that, just viral illnesses that can’t be identified.”
Wu said there are millions of viruses, but doctors tend to only test for a handful of specific ones.
With viral illnesses generally rising among patients in Colorado in the winter months, Wu said there are steps you can take to strengthen your immune system. Although it’s hard to entirely prevent illnesses, these tips can give you a better chance of fighting off infection.
Wash your hands
Wu said practicing self-hygiene by washing your hands is one of the best ways to prevent getting a viral illness.
“Viruses are spread through airborne particles — sneezing, coughing, those kinds of things,” Wu said. “Touching a surface exposes you to all of those viral particles.”
For a virus to infect a person, it needs to contact a “mucous membrane,” Wu said, such as your mouth, nose or eyes.
“If you touch a surface and then you eat a piece of food or you brush your nose — anything like that — it exposes those viral particles to the mucous membranes,” he said. “If you’re able to wash your hands, keep your hands clean, you’re not exposing yourself.”
Keep your distance from sick people
Although many people associate the term “social distancing” with COVID, Wu said this practice can help a person stay healthy no matter what virus is at play.
“If someone sneezes in your face, you have a higher likelihood (of getting sick) than if you’re six feet away and someone sneezes,” he said.
He said that people who are sick can help protect their community by wearing a mask, even if they do not have COVID. Although it is not as common in the United States, Wu said masking when sick is part of the social contract in many other places in the world.
“If you are sick and you wear a mask, you are protecting your neighbors,” he said. “You are helping prevent the spread of illness in the community.”
Health experts also often recommend that people should stay home, if they are able, to avoid infecting others while ill.
Get rest
To keep your immune system strong, rest is crucial, Wu said.
“Proper sleep and rest allow your immune system to kind of recover from the day,” he said, by giving it time to replenish white blood cells to recharge the immune system.
He said lack of sleep puts your body under stress, which can weaken your immune system.
“Stress has been shown to prevent your immune system from working as well,” he said. “If you’re exposed to a virus, it is more likely that you will get sick because your immune system is not as strong as it could be.”
Drink water
Staying hydrated is another important way to keep your body strong to fight illness, Wu said.
“Think of (water) as the highway that allows everything to travel,” he said. “If you are not properly hydrated, your immune system cannot travel to the places it needs to go.”
Water carries blood cells and elements of the lymphatic system throughout your body, Wu said.
He said many physicians recommend drinking eight to ten glasses, or 64 to 80 ounces, of water per day. But more important than following strict number guidelines, Wu said, people should listen to their bodies and drink water when they are thirsty.
Eat a balanced, healthy diet
Although there are no individual foods that have every nutrient, Wu said it is important to eat a balanced, healthy diet that provides all of the nutrients your body needs.
Vitamin C — which is found in grapefruit, oranges, broccoli, strawberries and kale — enhances the immune system and is an antioxidant. Wu said some studies have shown that very high doses of Vitamin C can help improve and shorten viral symptoms.
Vitamin A, an anti-inflammatory substance that helps antibodies respond to viruses, can be found in carrots and spinach, he said.
Wu said Vitamin D can also help strengthen the immune system.
“Going outside and getting sunlight — 15 minutes of sunlight, three times weekly — your body can produce the vitamin D that it needs,” he said. “But believe it or not, here in Colorado, Vitamin D is actually chronically low — I’ve seen in a lot of my patients.”
In addition to spending time in the sun, people can also consume salmon, fortified milk, mushrooms or Vitamin D supplements to boost their levels.
Beyond vitamins, Wu said some studies have shown that probiotics can help stimulate the immune system and promote the good bacteria in the gut. In doing so, probiotics can help with nutrient absorption, Wu said.
Specifically, a probiotic called Lactobacillus casei has been shown to reduce the number of days a person is sick.
“You can get that through yogurt, kombucha, live culture cheese (or) taking a probiotic pill,” he said.
A lot of the vitamins and minerals that are required for proper immune function can be found in various foods, but no one food has them all. That’s why, Wu said, it’s important to make sure you are consuming a variety of healthy foods and staying away from processed foods when possible.
“Eating the healthier foods will be more beneficial,” he said. “I know, in our day and age, that is sometimes difficult with our running around, trying to do what we can. But just doing what you can, when you can, is always more beneficial than not.”