ML Coaching
Winter means cold and flu season. If you want to stay unaffected, you should strengthen your immune system! And with new coronaviruses added into the mix, easily transmitted and contagious since we haven't built up antibodies against these pathogens yet, it's even more important to make sure you're well protected. A strong immune system is the prerequisite for solid protection against viruses.
A strong immune system through strength training
Your immune system is a complex system in your body that protects you from pathogens. With a few simple measures, you can strengthen your immune system and fend off nasty viruses. In this article, I'll show you what you can do so a runny nose, cough and fever can't knock you out.
Exercise has many positive effects on your health: if you exercise regularly, you don't just get your body into shape, strengthen your muscles and improve your coordination and cardiovascular performance. Exercise also helps you build strong immune defenses and fend off colds. Numerous studies prove it: people who exercise a lot prevent colds and get sick less often.
After physical exertion, the number of defense cells in your body rises. Other systems involved in the immune response, like your lymph nodes and spleen, also get better blood flow and become more effective. Just two training sessions a week can make your muscles more capable, which naturally strengthens your immune system and effectively lowers your risk of catching a cold.
Exercise also actively reduces stress of every kind, which likewise strengthens your immune system. Because when you're under acute stress, your immune system suffers from constant strain. As a result, your blood contains fewer active immune cells, and bacteria, viruses and germs face less resistance. So you get sick faster.
Take it easy at the first signs of the flu
I keep getting asked whether you should still go to the gym with a simple cold, or skip training instead. If you notice a sore throat or fever coming on and feel generally exhausted, I recommend skipping exercise. Because these signs indicate that your body is already compromised.
When you exercise, your blood flow and circulation are stimulated, which makes it easier for pathogens to spread through your body. It's better to take it easy and not put extra strain on your body. Your immune system can then fight the pathogens more effectively, so you don't end up getting properly sick in the first place.
With a mild cold, you don't have to give up exercise entirely, but you should still be careful not to overdo it. If you had a feverish cold, it's better not to jump straight back into exercise right after. Take a break first. Depending on how long the infection lasted, this should last several days.
Strengthening your immune system with the right nutrition
As you know, effective fitness training always goes hand in hand with a healthy diet. Not just to achieve optimal results in a short time! But also to boost your overall wellbeing. Your body needs nutrients, vitamins and healthy fats to build a strong immune system. Work as many vegetables, low-sugar fruit, nuts and berries as possible into your meal plan to supply yourself with enough nutrients. And avoid ready meals, which don't contain valuable vitamins and nutrients.
If your body lacks nutrients over a longer period, or loses too many of them, your immune system's defenses drop, making you more susceptible to illness.
Preventing inflammation with acid-base balance
Colds often come with a respiratory infection, causing inflammation of the nasal and throat mucous membranes. The result is a sore throat, sniffles and a runny nose. Joint pain is also a common symptom of a cold. With a good diet, you can create a good acid-base ratio that helps you reduce and prevent inflammation.
Acid-base balance plays an important role in your health. If your body is too acidic, your immune system is automatically weaker. That's because bacteria and viruses multiply much more easily in an overly acidic environment.
A poor diet, made up of too much animal protein, refined flour products and industrial sugar, exposes your body to a high acid load, which encourages inflammation to develop. A lack of exercise can also have a negative effect on your acid-base balance.
A balanced ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids strengthens your immune system
To bring your acid-base balance back into equilibrium and thereby strengthen your immune system, you should eat enough alkaline-forming foods. Eat more plant-based food where possible, and avoid animal products and grain products. Meat, sausage and dairy products also contain a high proportion of omega-6 fatty acids, which likewise encourage inflammation.
Omega-3 fatty acids, on the other hand, have anti-inflammatory properties. The higher the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3, the weaker your immune defenses and the more your body tends toward inflammation. So pay attention to a balanced ratio between the two fatty acids. Eat more omega-3-rich fats, found for example in plant oils like flaxseed oil, as well as in algae and fish.
Fatty fish in particular, like salmon, herring and mackerel, are known as a significant source of omega-3 fatty acids. However, farmed fish contain significantly less omega-3 fatty acids than wild-caught fish.
Eat more omega-3-rich fatty acids
To create a balanced ratio between omega-6 and omega-3 in your body, a daily intake of at least 2g of omega-3 is recommended. To get this amount from fish alone, you'd need to eat 100 to 3,000g of fish daily, depending on the type. But given the increasing pollutant load in ocean fish, such high consumption is no longer advisable these days.
You can also cover your daily omega-3 needs through foods like avocados, walnuts, soy, beans and spinach, or natural supplements made from algae or fish oil. Also make sure to drink plenty of fluids in the form of water, herbal tea or alkaline tea - that way viruses, bacteria and the like don't stand a chance, even during cold season.
I'll help you strengthen your immune system through fitness and nutrition
In online fitness coaching, which works completely independent of location, I place great value on holistic guidance: I don't just create a training plan for you, tailored individually to your needs and adjusted monthly based on ongoing body analysis, I also advise you on your nutrition. I'll show you delicious recipes that make your immune system strong and give pathogens no chance, so you can keep doing your fitness training with full power as usual, and I'll put together an nutrition plan for you that will take your training to the next level.
Want to learn more about how online coaching works? Then click the image below and sign up for a free 15-minute phone consultation. I look forward to hearing from you!