Achoo! Your Holistic Flu Season Game Plan
By Dr. Ronald Vaught | Functional Medicine | Beyond Health and Wellness, Oak Forest, IL
It starts with one cough in the break room. Then your kid's classmate comes to school "just a little sniffly." By January, half of Oak Forest sounds like a convention of honking geese.
My Friends, flu season isn't a lottery. Your immune system is your body's defense department, and every day you either fund it or starve it. Whether or not you choose a flu shot (that's a conversation for you and your provider), everything below stacks the odds in your favor. The best part? A lot of it is free.
THE FREE STUFF (DON'T SKIP THIS PART!)
Sleep like it's your job. In one study, researchers squirted cold virus up the noses of 164 volunteers (yes, people sign up for this). Those sleeping 6 hours or less were 4.2 times more likely to get sick than those sleeping more than 7. Under 5 hours? 4.5 times. Aim for 7 to 9 hours.
Move your body. In a study of 1,002 adults followed through fall and winter, people doing aerobic exercise 5 or more days a week had 43% fewer sick days, and their symptoms were 32% to 41% milder. A brisk walk counts. Just don't overtrain without recovery.
Wash those hands. The CDC reports that handwashing cuts respiratory illnesses like colds by about 16% to 21%. Twenty seconds, soap, the whole song.
Gargle with plain water. A Japanese trial of 387 healthy adults found that gargling plain tap water three times a day led to 36% fewer upper respiratory infections. It doesn't get cheaper than that!
Salt water at the first sniffle. In a pilot study from Edinburgh, people who used salt water nose rinses and gargles got over their colds 1.9 days faster, and 35% fewer people in their homes caught it. Use distilled or boiled-and-cooled water for any nasal rinse.
Humidify the house. Chicagoland furnaces turn our homes into the Sahara, and flu viruses survive longer in dry air. Keeping indoor humidity around 40% to 60% helps. In one modeling study, flu virus survival dropped by up to 30%.
Dial down the stress. A landmark study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the more psychological stress people had, the more likely they were to catch a cold after virus exposure. Breathe, pray, laugh, get outside. That's why stress and what you think are part of my 7 Essentials of Healthy Living.
FEED YOUR DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Hippocrates said all disease begins in the gut, and a big share of your immune tissue lives there. Flu season is the worst time to live on sugar and drive-thru. Load up on colorful vegetables, garlic, onions, bone broth and fermented foods.
Probiotics have real data. A 2022 Cochrane review of 23 trials and nearly 7,000 people found:
24% fewer people got an upper respiratory infection.
Infections were about 1.2 days shorter.
42% fewer people needed an antibiotic.
DR. V'S NATURAL MEDICINE CABINET
All season long:
Vitamin D: A 2021 analysis of 43 trials and nearly 49,000 people found that daily vitamin D protected against respiratory infections, while big weekly or monthly mega-doses didn't. Here in Chicagoland, the sun is too low from about October to March for your skin to make much. Test, don't guess, and pair it with vitamin K2.
Vitamin C: I'll be honest. For the average person it doesn't prevent colds, but it shortens them by about 8% in adults and 14% in kids. In marathon runners and soldiers under heavy physical stress, it cut colds in half.
NAC (N-acetylcysteine): In a 6-month trial of 262 older adults taking 600 mg twice daily, only 25% of those who caught the flu virus actually got sick, versus 79% on placebo. Wait for it... wait for it... NAC didn't stop the infection, it helped the body handle it. Shazzzzamm!
At the first tickle in your throat:
Zinc lozenges: Started within 24 hours, these shortened colds by about 33% (around 40% for zinc acetate). Trials used about 80 mg a day total, dissolved slowly, for a week or two. Avoid lozenges made with citric acid, which ties up the zinc. Never use zinc nasal sprays, which have been linked to permanent loss of smell.
Elderberry: A 2019 analysis of four trials found it substantially shortened upper respiratory symptoms, with stronger results for flu than for colds. Start early, and never eat raw or unripe berries.
Honey: A review of 14 trials in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine found honey beat usual care for how often and how hard people coughed. Try raw local honey in hot tea with lemon and ginger. Never give honey to babies under 1 year old.
Echinacea: The research is mixed. It's a maybe in my book, not a must.
You'll find the professional-grade products I recommend in our Fullscript store. Always check with us before starting supplements if you take medications.
WHEN TO STOP BEING A HERO
Natural care is powerful, but know when to get help. Per the CDC, seek care right away for:
Trouble breathing
Chest pain or pressure
Confusion or dizziness
Seizures
Not urinating
A fever or cough that gets better, then comes back worse
For children, also watch for:
Bluish lips
Dehydration
A fever over 104°F, or any fever in a baby under 12 weeks old
If you're 65 or older, pregnant, or have asthma, diabetes or heart disease, call your doctor early. Antiviral medications work best when started within two days.
WANT A STRONGER IMMUNE SYSTEM THIS WINTER?
If you catch everything that goes around, let's find out why. At Beyond Health and Wellness, we test vitamin D and other key nutrients, look at gut health, and build a plan that fits you. We serve Oak Forest, Tinley Park, Orland Park, Midlothian and the south suburbs.
Call (708) 907-0700 or visit our Functional Medicine page.
Stay healthy, My Friends!
Dr. V
Beyond Health and Wellness | 15000 S Cicero Ave, Suite 100, Oak Forest, IL 60452
Beyond Health and Wellness receives a portion of sales made through our Fullscript store. This article is for general education and isn't a substitute for a personal medical evaluation. Talk with your provider before stopping or changing any treatment.
Sources: Prather et al., Sleep 2015; Nieman et al., Br J Sports Med 2011; CDC handwashing data; Satomura et al., Am J Prev Med 2005; Ramalingam et al., Sci Rep 2019; Noti et al. and McDevitt et al. humidity studies; Cohen et al., NEJM 1991; Zhao et al., Cochrane 2022; Jolliffe et al., Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2021; Hemilä & Chalker, Cochrane 2013; De Flora et al., Eur Respir J 1997; Hemilä, JRSM Open 2017; Hawkins et al., Complement Ther Med 2019; Abuelgasim et al., BMJ EBM 2020; Karsch-Völk et al., Cochrane 2014.
