Keeping your immune system healthy during winter is critical with COVID and the flu being so virulent this year. 

Sleep 

Not getting enough sleep can make it more likely to catch anything that comes your way. And, it takes sleep time to catch up and then to get better. 

Your body releases certain proteins that help the immune system, called cytokines, only during sleep. 

Beyond going to bed at a regular time, try keeping all your electronics out of the bedroom. No cell phone. No TV. No electronics. Between the blue light coming from your devices and the EMF waves, the disruption to sleep is real. 

Anxiety 

Anxiety, stress and worry are counter productive to a strong immune system. Constant stress makes it hard to fend off the flu, herpes, shingles and other viruses.  

Talk to your doctor if you can't shake your anxiety. Try a therapist for long term help. But if your anxiety is normal daily stress, try meditation, or yoga.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is an amazing bonus for your immune system. It also impacts strong bones, and a healthy cardiovascular system. 

You can get Vitamin D from sunshine and diet. Try eggs, fatty fish and fortified foods. 

However, most Americans are still Vitamin D deficient. Try a supplement to get your Vitamin D. 

More Fruits and Vegetables

Whole fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts replace fast foods to give you better nutrition. This helps you fight off colds and flus. 

Smoking

This goes for all types of smoking. Tobacco, marijuana and vaping. 

Smoking pot inflames your lungs. Smoking regularly can give you breathing issues, phlegm build up and damages your lungs making them more susceptible to viral infection. 

 Nicotine and e-liquids in vaping also damage the lungs. Everything you inhale gives you a better change of catching a virus and having the infection time and severity be worse. 

Quitting smoking is the only fix to allowing your lungs time to repair. 

Prescription Medications

Talk to your doctor about the medications you take if they are impacting your breathing. Do not change your medications without medical supervision. 

Drinking

Water good. Alcohol bad. Sorry but that's just true. 

Drink at least your 8 glasses of water a day. This doesn't include teas, sodas or other drinks. If you are looking for variation, try hot water with lemon after dinner instead. 

Alcohol in a very small moderation for example, one drink a day for woman and two drinks a day for men. Otherwise, a large consumption of alcohol blunts your body's' ability to repair itself. And it impacts the liver, pneumonia, tuberculosis and certain cancers. 

Exercise

Aerobic exercise helps the body fight illness. Science is not sure yet on all of the effects of regular exercise but we do know that going into an illness fit helps reduce the recovery rate. 

Find an exercise that work for you. Start with a buddy. Join a class, league or other regular participation option. 

Sex

Saving the best for last! Weekly intimacy seems to help boost your immune system. 

Sex raises the levels of germ fighting substance call immunoglobulin A or IgA. Once per week seems to raise IgA but twice a week had lower levels of IgA than those who had no sex at all. More research is obviously being done on this.