Winter is a challenging time for our family’s immune health. With one of our kids attending preschool, and our other younger child regularly sharing toys and food with his big sister, the cycle of germs seems at times never ending. Practicing a preventative approach to cold and flu becomes crucial at this time of the year, however my top recommendations for a strong immune system may not be what you would expect.

#1 – Fermented cod liver oil

Ask anyone over the age of 60 about cod liver oil and you will most likely see a reaction that involves a shudder and involuntary gag reflex. A regular dosing of a spoonful of cod liver oil to ward off colds and flu was part and parcel of growing up for that generation, however it is unfortunately a practice that has been largely relegated to the past. Cod liver oil is amazing for boosting immune health, however it is crucial to get the correct form for it to be effective.  Most cod liver oil you can buy these days had been distilled and heated, with naturally occurring vitamins such as A and D destroyed or removed in the process (as well as destabilisation of many of the essential fatty acids). Synthetic vitamin A and D are then added back into the oil before sale.

Fermented cod liver oil on the other hand uses time honored tradition of cold temperature fermentation to extract the natural vitamins and oils from the liver over many months, preserving the nutrition and increasing the bioavailability of these immune boosting elements. I love the Green Pastures brand and take it on a daily basis. Note that because of the cold extraction processing this oil has a strong fishy flavor, and the high level of enzymes present can provoke a mild itchiness on the palate when consumed (consider this a small price to pay for maintaining health through the winter months).

#2 – Bone broth

More and more research is showing the powerful link between the integrity of your digestive system and your state of immune health. Weakness in the barrier of cells that line the gut wall can allow the translocation of both large food complexes and pathogenic organisms into the bloodstream before being appropriately dealt with by digestive processes or local immune defences. This in turn allows these materials to provoke a more severe immune response at the very least, or potentially travel to other tissues or organs where a disease process can take hold. Keeping the integrity of your gut lining in tip top condition is crucial for immune health, and bone broths are a great way to accomplish this. You can view my recipe for bone broths here. Note that beef bone broths are best for healing the gut lining, however chicken bone broths are also excellent for boosting immune health via the excellent provision of cysteine (crucial for a robust immune system).

I recommend working bone broths into your daily dietary routine as a stock base in any soup, stew or risotto. Adding some herbs and spices and drinking it straight can taste pretty good as well!

#3 – Probiotics

In direct contrast with the medical over-prescription of contraindicated antibiotics for the treatment of mostly viral caused colds and flus, the preservation and cultivation of a healthy gut bacteria (called the microbiome) is foundational to a healthy immune system. These little critters can perform many health providing activities in the body, and perhaps their most beneficial when it comes to immune health is the ability to mildly stimulate an immune response on an ongoing basis. Thus your immune system gets a daily ‘work out’ to keep it in good shape (especially the secretory IgA arm of your immune system that resides on the mucous membranes that line your respiratory and digestive system). When a potentially pathogenic infective agent is either inhaled or ingested, your immune response is robust and thorough, mopping up the infection before it gets a chance to breach your barrier defences (that are hopefully in good shape from all the bone broths you are consuming!). Congratulations, you have just remove the potential source of a cold or flu without even getting a symptom.

Unfortunately the reality today is that many have a substandard microbiome. The over-prescription of antibiotics mentioned above, along with excessive alcohol and drug usage (both prescription and illicit), stress, processed foods, sugar, and over sanitisation mean that our microbiomes are a shadow of their former selves. The good news is that you can restore a healthy and effective microbiome. Short term, this can be achieved through supplementation with a good quality probiotic formula, however long term microbiome restoration is only possible through the use of fermented foods and effective pre-biotics (such as fiber rich foods and resistant starches from cooked then cooled potatoes and rice) to help build healthy colonies. You can view my previous post on fermented foods to find out more on fermenting your own vegetables.

So those are my top three recommendations for preventing colds and flu this winter. I’m sure many have their own special recipes and concoctions to do the same – please share your approach in the comments so that we can all have a disease free winter this year!

In wellness,

James

In mainstream medicine, understanding the role of food in possible alterations to immune function is largely confined to food allergy. This is an immediate onset immune reaction to foods, mediated by a class of immunoglobulins called IgE, that can result in severe and sometimes life threatening symptoms such as hives, bronchial constriction, and anaphylaxis. What is often misunderstood (or even worse completely ignored) is the far more prevalent and insidious role of food sensitivities in immune alteration and disease progression. Food sensitivities are mediated by a class of immunoglobulins called IgG, and it is primarily through a misunderstanding of the activity of these IgG immunoglobulins that mainstream medicine often discredits their presence as a marker of immune dysfunction.

IgG antibodies are an important part of the immune system – they bind to pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, making it easier for them to be identified and destroyed. However the presence of IgG to particular food proteins, especially in high quantities, is an indication that something is amiss. Ideally  foods are consumed and digested properly before they are absorbed into the bloodstream. For food proteins, this means the larger protein structures should be broken down into their constituent amino acid building blocks before crossing the gut wall into circulation. However poor digestion (either from mechanical issues such as inadequate chewing, or from a lack of digestive juices and enzymes) coupled with an increased permeability of the gut wall (aka leaky gut) leads to the larger food proteins entering circulation. Over time, the immune system will view these food proteins as a pathogen and mount an immune response to them. This will involve the binding of IgG to the protein complexes, and ideally a clearance of these complexes from the body. However when these IgG food protein complexes reach high levels in the blood, and especially if the immune system is under stress, they are not adequately cleared and can deposit throughout the body. This can then initiate an inflammatory reaction either locally or systemically, producing a range of possible symptoms from sinus inflammation and headache, all the way through to autoimmune disease processes such as rheumatoid arthritis or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

It is important to note that the foods themselves are not the drivers of disease – gut dysfunction is the mediator of larger food proteins entering circulation, and not until the causes of this dysfunction are discovered and addressed will true healing take place. However a crucial step on the road to recovery is to identify those foods to which the immune system is mounting a robust IgG response, and remove them from the diet while healing is in progress. The consumption of these foods will perpetuate a chronic inflammatory process and prevent healing from occurring. Often a low to moderate reactivity food can be reintroduced once gut dysfunction has been addressed, however care must be taken to ensure the immune system has re calibrated to avoid hyper-responsiveness to the food protein in question (especially in the case of long standing high sensitivity reaction).

Trying to ascertain IgG sensitivity through dietary consumption and symptom observation is incredibly difficult, owing to the fact that most IgG reactions are delayed (sometimes by a few days) hence tracing a symptom to a particular food is often close to impossible. An accurate way to measure IgG sensitivity is through an ELISA panel test involving a simple process of obtaining a small quantity of blood through a skin prick and mixing this sample in solution. The solution is then applied to a panel of separated food proteins, onto which a reagent solution is added. If there is IgG present in the blood to the food proteins in the panel, the cell containing that protein will stain. Depth of staining indicates the degree of reactivity to that protein. Removal of these reactive foods will be necessary while causes of gut dysfunction are determined and addressed.

If you suspect you may have food sensitivities, testing for specific IgG reactivity to a range of foods is highly recommended as the first step on the road to recovery. Many complementary health practitioners are able to perform this test (I use a 59 food protein panel in my clinic), and I consider it a crucial component of the healing process for many of my patients.

As per the old naturopathic proverb “It all comes back to the gut”.

In wellness,

James