Yes, I know we get the odd sunny, frosty and crisp day where lovers of the great outdoors can enjoy the scenery without hoards of summer tourists. And yes, there are other pleasures too, such as the feeling you get when snuggled up by a log fire with a wee dram on a snowy or frosty night.

Wet, gmy, dark and depressing days are the norm, and when it does snow, the half an inch of muddy-coloured slush that results rapidly brings the transport system to a grinding halt. And just to add injury to insult, there is the dreary assortment of winter illnesses that inevitably do the rounds - coughs, colds, flu, chest infections and even the odd dose of the winter vomiting virus!

Why does immunity suffer in the winter? The first and most obvious question to ask is why coughs, colds and flu collectively known as upper respiratory tract infections, or URTIs are rife in the general population during winter, yet almost disappear during the summer months.

The answer has a lot to do with the structure of your immune system and the way it interacts with the environment. The immune system Your immune system is a miraculous defence network whose job is to protect you against the thousands upon thousands of potentially harmful bacteria and viruses that buzz around throughout the year.

The innate system is made up of physical barriers eg the skin and epithelial tissues of the lungs, nose and intestinal tract , chemical barriers eg the high acidity of the stomach, and the fluid secreted by the tear ducts and cellular barriers eg phagocytic cells, whose job is to engulf invaders.

Even when an unfamiliar pathogen breaches your initial defences, a healthy acquired immune system can ensure that any subsequent illness is far shorter in duration and less severe than it would otherwise be. This tends to dry out the epithelial tissues, which form part of your innate immune system and are especially protective against URTIs.

This in turns reduces their efficiency, making an infection more likely. The situation is made even worse by central heating, because cold dry air becomes even drier when warmed. Note too that, contrary to popular belief, exercising outdoors in wet and windy weather is less likely to precipitate an URTI, because wet or damp air is moist and so less drying for the throat and nose than crisp, cold air!

This means that in most homes and offices, the windows are firmly shut, which not only recycles the air, but also the bugs floating around in that air, increasing your risk of exposure to pathogens.

Nutrition — is extremely important for immunity. Unfortunately, the quality of our nutrition often nosedives during the winter months — at the very time it really needs to be optimised!

For example, an ample supply of vitamin A is essential for the innate immune system to operate at full capacity. However, in winter, nutrients like vitamin A found in red, orange and dark green fruits and vegetables tend to be in shorter supply in the diet because many people consume much smaller quantities of fruits and vegetables, preferring warm, stodgy and comforting foods instead.

The same is true of the acquired immune system, which needs an amply supply of a wide range of nutrients to operate at full potential. Any shortfall in just one single nutrient can adversely affect immunity.

This explains why your immunity can be used as an excellent barometer of your overall nutrition status. Key nutrients for immunity OK, given the above facts, what are the basic rules for bolstering immunity during the winter months?

Make sure too that your alcohol intake is within recommended limits for health, as too much can result in significant immune depression. The following nutrients and foods are especially important for maintaining maximum immunity: Vitamins Vitamin A — well supplied in liver, eggs, all orange and red fruits and vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots.

Vitamin C — found in citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruits, kiwis, all the berries, also well supplied in tomatoes and peppers. Vitamin D — good sources include eggs, milk, butter, cod liver oil see box on supplements and some other fish oils. Essential fatty acids ie omega-3 and omega-6 oils — good sources include all the fatty fish trout, sardines, herrings, salmon, mackerel, pilchards, etc as well as unrefined whole grains and nuts and seeds, especially, hemp, flax, walnuts and pumpkin seeds.

Minerals Zinc — a vital immune nutrient; good sources are high quality, lean cuts of meat and fish and shellfish; also found in whole grains and some nuts and seeds, such as walnuts and pumpkin seeds. Selenium — well supplied in unrefined whole grains eg wholemeal bread , all seafood and some nuts and seeds, especially Brazil nuts.

Post-exercise nutritional strategy In recent years, a number of studies have shown that low carbohydrate consumption is associated with increased levels of stress hormones and lowered immunity. The reason is that when carbohydrate stores are low, vigorous exercise promotes a process known as catabolism, where body tissue such as muscle is broken down in order to provide energy.

Catabolism is associated with higher levels of circulating stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which have a negative effect on immunity. This will help to reduce the extent of carbohydrate depletion during exercise.

Do supplements help boost immunity? However, some products have been scientifically investigated and are worth considering see below.

Bear in mind, however, that no amount of supplementation can make up for an inherently poor basic diet! Indeed, because we can synthesise and store vitamin D in the skin when exposed to spring and summer sunshine, some researchers now believe that this increased level of vitamin D is a major factor in our improved immunity during the summer months.

Vitamin C —The notion that vitamin C might be beneficial for combating URTIs is regarded as a universal truth by much of the general public, but unfortunately the evidence is somewhat mixed; some studies have shown that vitamin C supplementation reduces the incidence of URTIs, while other studies have reported no benefits.

On balance, though, the evidence suggests that some modest daily supplementation around mg is worthwhile. Garlic, chilli and ginger — these products have known antiviral and antibacterial effects — great news for curry lovers out there!

They can also be used in a number of other dishes. However, we really need more research in this area before we can confidently recommend routine daily use of these products specifically to boost immunity. Andrew Hamilton Andrew Hamilton BSc Hons, MRSC, ACSM, is the editor of Sports Performance Bulletin and a member of the American College of Sports Medicine.

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Athlete nutrition isn't just about weight loss. It is important to fuel the body optimally before , during and after exercise , as well as to stay hydrated. Supplements may also be required. There are no simple answers. You should keep a healthy weight , consider one of these diets , though exercise is also important.

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Vitamin D helps faster recovery from muscle injury and inflammation after high-intensity exercise , , whereas vitamin D-deficient athletes show a delayed recovery. Generally, it can be stated that vitamin D affects almost all stages of the myogenic program toward regeneration, also acting on satellite cells.

Interestingly, regularly exercising maintains and enhances this functional feature Exercise is a well-known strategy against muscle wasting and atrophy, not only because it counteracts mass loss but because it exquisitely regulates the mitochondrial function and the internal immune component, both critical for muscle integrity maintenance during stress, as shown by multiomics analysis in astronauts during spaceflights Of note, exercise- and vitamin D-induced signals converge in the dynamic remodeling of mitochondria, promoting correct genomic reprogramming and skeletal muscle cell remodeling Beyond those beneficial effects, it is mandatory to highlight the function of vitamin D in maintaining the immune-secretory function of skeletal muscle, which is closely in line with the topic of this review.

Nowadays, the renewed and proven concept is that skeletal muscle is a proper secreting organ with immunoregulatory function. Currently, more than myokines are identified by the proteomic analysis of the muscular secretory profile, which is constantly updated Among this plethora of biomolecules, some myokines drew attention due to their ability to modulate the immune response, introducing a novel view of immunity-muscle crosstalk, which was previously considered to be a unidirectional route, with muscle being under immune system control and not vice versa.

Indeed, like other tissues, skeletal muscle has its resident immune cell population to warrant the regenerative potential and tissue homeostasis. Fiber damage due to different injuries, including contusions, strains, hyperextensions, avulsions, or ruptures, promptly activates neutrophils resident in skeletal muscle to release within the microenvironment high concentrations of inflammatory factors necessary for repair , Indeed, after neutrophils, macrophages represent the second subpopulation reaching the injured areas peak at 3 to 6 days and persisting 2 weeks after extensive damage , gradually shifting from a phagocytic to pro-myogenic phenotype, from M1 to M2 macrophages, respectively The shift in macrophage phenotype orchestrates the time of myogenic sequence, supporting first cell proliferation and migration, while delaying differentiation, and then facilitating alignment and fusion , During regenerative processes, soluble molecules as growth factors, cytokines, and prostaglandins regulate immune and muscle cell communications, but interestingly, close cell-to-cell contacts between myogenic cells and macrophages occur via adhesion molecules, macrophage pseudopodial extensions, and myogenic cell cytoplasmic protrusions , , T cells show a delayed response, roughly 4 days after the initial damage , Interleukin-6 is the prototypic myokine, the first one and most extensively studied.

Exercise-related pulsatile release of IL-6 promotes the anti-inflammatory macrophage subset M2-like , involving suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 SOCS3 ablation, and IL-1 receptor antagonist IL-1ra and IL, resulting in overall downregulation of inflammatory responses 52 , Interleukin-6 likely plays a central role in exercise-induced leukocytosis and late lymphopenia mediated by cortisol, as shown by IL-6 infusion in athletes In humans, IL-6 is known to counteract TNFα production and signaling from monocytes , Thus far, the myokine IL-6 likely characterizes exercise adaptation, as it is involved in long-term beneficial effects, related to an exercise-training reduction in abdominal fat and anti-inflammatory actions Vitamin D can enhance the biological effects of IL-6, as shown by the improved metabolic function observed in vitamin D-deficient trained men after a single intramuscular injection of vitamin D, which was associated with a significant rise of IL-6 1 h after resistance exercise The lack of modification in inflammatory parameters is likely due to the short duration of the treatment and the use of a single dose.

Interleukin-6 output from human skeletal muscle cells maintained in nutrient restriction, to mimic energy-demanding conditions such as postexercise, was significantly increased after the treatment with a VDR agonist Conversely, the addition of a VDR agonist to human muscle cells challenged by a strong proinflammatory environment significantly counteracted inflammation-induced intracellular cascade underlying Th1-type chemokine release Thus far, vitamin D modulation seems to be beneficial with prometabolic or anti-inflammatory effects, depending on the microenvironmental needs of skeletal myocytes.

Muscle-derived IL regulates macrophage differentiation, B-cell proliferation, neutrophil migration, and naïve T-cell survival This myokine tightly cooperates with vitamin D, promoting the conversion into the active hormone, the upregulation of VDR, and the induction of cathelicidin , IL-7 also plays a pivotal role in first-line immune defense; the age-dependent decline of this myokine can be counteracted by exercise and by vitamin D, which can help to restore aberrant ILdependent signal, i.

The main immune regulatory effects of vitamin D on intraorgan immunocytes and myocytes are depicted in Figure 1. Athletes are thought to be in good health almost by definition, considering that many human diseases are tightly related to sedentary behavior and inflammation; importantly, the latter is a well-recognized bridge linking different and clustering illnesses.

Nevertheless, the condition of overexercising, too often experienced in several sports disciplines, exposes athletes to a higher risk of inflammation and, consequently, a higher risk of diseases.

In this scenario, vitamin D status plays a critical role in immune health, as possible exercise-induced detrimental effects might merge with the poor immune health status determined by hypovitaminosis D. Conversely, vitamin D adequacy counteracts inflammation, enhancing the immune defense and shaping the immune response of skeletal muscle, which is recognized to be a proper secreting organ with immune-like features.

Thus far, screening for vitamin D status would be mandatory in the athletic population as well. The lack of discussion on these aspects is among the limits of this review, which does not include sex-dependent differences in immune response or in vitamin D levels, or cardiovascular features.

The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication. The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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A paper published in the Journal of Immunology Research looked at physiological and inflammatory responses to a strength training session that emphasized eccentric contraction during three lower body exercises.

Bloodwork showed that this short workout prompted an increase in neutrophils, similar to the endurance study. The activity of lymphocytes also went up post-exercise, as did the level of monocytes, which are involved in immunovigilance keeping a lookout for viruses and change into dendritic cells or macrophages when your immune system detects invading germs to neutralize the threat.

The authors highlighted arginine, glutamine, and cysteine — all of which are found in complete animal protein sources and those with a combo of plant sources like pea and rice that contain all nine essential aminos — as being particularly beneficial. Another study published in Nutrients seconded the glutamine recommendation, stating that increasing intake of this amino acid can help produce enough antibodies to keep viruses, bacterial infections, and more at bay.

It would be irresponsible to suggest that there are any measures that will prevent you from ever getting sick again. Cohen, S.

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