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Arete Warriors – spirit, mind, body strong
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How To Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones
Nadia likes to be in my arms when she’s sick, practically french kissing me while snuggling, yet she didn’t give me Covid when she had it.
She drank out of my water bottle a couple hours before she woke up puking with norovirus and I didn’t get that either.
In the last month, every member of my family has been sick. I was the one caring for each, with no excuse to stop because I have the immune system of a rhinoceros.
Ok, I don’t actually know if rhinos have strong immune systems but I’ve never known one to be sick, so… (I looked it up. I guess sharks and ostriches are known to have strong immune systems… I’m sticking with my rhino.)
As we head into this season, I feel compelled to share with you the obvious, and not so obvious, ways to keep everyone in your house healthy.
Your immune system is not a single thing to boost, but rather a network. Gut health, sleep, hormones, nutrition, inflammation, stress levels, temperature exposure, and daily sugar intake all impact your frontline defenses.
Lower chronic inflammation and feed the right internal systems and you’ll have a Navy Seal defense.
Let’s Prepare – the warm up
Let’s start with the obvious.
“Wash your hands” and “get sleep” is still excellent advice.
✔ 80% of infectious diseases are spread by hands. People touch their face 16-20 times per hour!
✔ Plain soap for 20+ seconds literally breaks apart viruses.
✔ Just one night of poor sleep can equal a 70% drop in natural killer cell activity. (Your first responders to viruses and tumors.)
✔ People who sleep under 6 hours are 4 times more likely to catch a cold after exposure compared to those sleeping 7+ hours.
✔ During sleep, the body releases cytokines (proteins that target infection and inflammation).
⚠ Naps can help, but it’s better to get a good night’s sleep.
D, C, Zinc
✔ Vitamin D = immune regulation + inflammation control
✔ Vitamin C = antioxidant + supports immune cell production
✔ Zinc = helps immune cells communicate
⚠ Dose matters. Too much zinc? It competes with copper and backfires.
Sugar Intake
Nadia’s sweet tooth = immune system sabotage. Excess sugar reduces white blood cell activity for up to 5 hours after eating it. Immune cells get sluggish… like teenagers at 6am.
The good news is, the less sugar you eat, the less you’ll crave. Your taste buds regenerate every 10 – 14 days so if you can cut back or even go cold turkey, blueberries will start to taste like Skittles. 😋
Gut Health
A couple years ago I would probably have had to put this in the Not-So-Obvious category, but I feel like by now, we all know that about 70% of our immune system resides in our gut.
✔️Probiotic pills help, but sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, or real kombucha are better.
✔️Aim to consume 30+ plant types per week. (Yes – count herbs, spices, beans, oats.)
✔️Include fermented foods (probiotics) and foods high in fiber (prebiotics).
Lower Chronic Stress
Stress doesn’t “weaken” immunity, it distracts it. Cortisol shifts immune resources toward survival instead of repair.
✔️Exercise is stress. Excessive amounts will hurt more than help. TOO MUCH of a good thing IS still too much.
✔️Try some of these tools –
- 4-7-8 breathing (inhale for 4, hold for 7, exhale for 8) or box breathing
- Relaxing music
- 5 min gratitude journal before bed (rewires inflammation pathways – yes, it’s really been studied!)
Elderberry
Randomized trials show elderberry syrup or lozenges shorten flu duration by 3–4 days and reduce symptom severity by ~50%. It’s one of the few herbs with consistent clinical evidence against viruses.
Prioritize Keeping Your Neck, Ears, and Low Back Warm
Grandma was right. Letting those areas get cold increases upper respiratory infections. Scarves, high-neck tops, and keeping feet warm reduce the body’s energy spent on thermoregulation so it can fight pathogens instead.
Humidifiers
Keeping indoor humidity between 40-60% reduces the survival and transmission of influenza and other respiratory viruses, especially in winter.
Once the heat comes on it’s common for a home to drop to 15-30%. (Like desert air.)
This is a good place to transition into lesser known blocks for building that wall…
Nasal Breathing (especially during sleep!)
Seriously, mouth breathers get sick more often. (PLEASE sneak into your kids’ bedrooms some night and see if they are breathing through their mouths.)
Mouth breathing dries tissue, lets more pathogens in, and reduces nitric oxide levels (up to 6 times!) which weakens your antiviral protection.
✔️Train nasal breathing by taping your mouth shut at night.
Cold Exposure (cold plunge OR cold showers)
Cold exposure is like a micro-stress training session for the immune system. You become harder to knock down.
✔ Increases norepinephrine → decreases inflammation
✔ Activates brown fat → improves metabolic health + resilience
✔ May enhance immune cell activity (specifically NK cells)
⚠ Needs consistency; occasional cold plunges or showers don’t do much.
Colostrum
✔ Rich in immunoglobulins (IgG), lactoferrin & growth factors
✔ Studies show reduced respiratory infections & gut permeability
✔ Helps gut lining stay “sealed” – less immune overreaction
L-Glutamine
✔ Essential fuel source for intestinal cells
✔ Helps repair “leaky gut,” which otherwise triggers inflammation
✔ Modestly linked to stronger immune response after illness
Glutathione
Glutathione is your body’s “master antioxidant.” Low levels are linked with respiratory vulnerability.
✔Foods that raise it: asparagus, avocado, spinach, turmeric, whey protein.
Green Tea (or Matcha)
EGCG in green tea has direct antiviral effects and increases gamma-delta T cells. Studies show 3–5 cups daily reduces cold/flu incidence by 20–30%.
Medicinal Mushrooms
Reishi, turkey tail, maitake, cordyceps, and shiitake contain polysaccarides and beta-glucans that directly stimulate macrophages, dendritic cells, and NK cells. Multiple human trials show fewer infections and faster recovery.
Heat Exposure (sauna or hot bath)
✔2–3 sauna sessions/week = up to 40% lower risk of respiratory illness
✔Heat shock proteins improve immunity
Light in the Morning
✔Early daylight → sets circadian rhythm → improved sleep and immune coordination. Even a 10-minute walk can make a difference in your immunity!
✔ Here is the link to the light I recently bought for our kitchen while we’re getting ready in the morning.
Daily Skin-to-Skin or Prolonged Hugging
Skin-to-skin raises prolactin and oxytocin while lowering cortisol; studies on new moms show higher immunoglobulin levels and fewer illnesses when they keep babies close. The same mechanism works with older kids and partners.
✔It’s FREE and has so many more advantages than just boosting immunity. 🥰
Music + Movement / Deliberate Laughter
Listening to your favorite music for 30–50 minutes or having a short dance party raises salivary IgA and lowers stress hormones.
Laughter studies show similar boosts in NK activity and fewer illnesses.
Acupuncture or Simple Acupressure
Acupuncture has good evidence for reducing frequency of colds, allergies, and sinus infections by regulating the autonomic nervous system.
Squeezing the web between your thumb and index finger on one hand with the thumb and finger of the other is a pressure point technique used for quick relief from headaches, sinus pain and general stress. Squeezing for 30 – 60 seconds can ease stress, relieve tooth, head or sinus pain, and can sometimes help with cold symptoms or nasal congestion.
Intentional Time in Green Spaces
Japanese studies since the 2000s have repeatedly shown that 20–120 minutes in a wooded or green area dramatically increases natural killer (NK) cells and anti-cancer proteins, with effects lasting up to 7–30 days.
Let’s Work – the exercise
We all know alcohol is not going to help us here but lets be honest, ’tis the season to do a bit more “cheersing” than usual. Because alcohol destroys gut flora & lowers immunity try to at least follow the 1-for-1 hydration rule and add extra probiotics.
If anyone in your home is prone to recurring respiratory issues like Izak, really focus on the nasal breathing habit, make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D, glutathione & perhaps talk to your doctor about nebulizing saline.
Kevin Housley gives us a game-changing breathing technique in this quick 11 minute episode on his Firefighter Craftsmanship Podcast. He explains how to activate our own nitric oxide (a vasodilator) to clear your nasal passages. Exhale all your air and hold your breath until you really want to breathe. Then, breathe in through your nose. Repeat 3 – 4 times.
Clearly, there are a lot of bricks that go into building a strong wall.
Are any of these new to you? Do you have any to add that I have left out? This is when I wish we were a community so we could all share, but I’m happy to include any great recommendations in future emails so spill the tea girls!
Just don’t spill the GREEN tea, because we need to be drinking that! 😁
