The best natural cold and flu prevention is…

At least 7 hours. That seems to be the perfect dose your body needs each and every night to fend off seasonal cold and flu viruses.

That’s because sleep is the ultimate immune-booster… and the best way to keep yourself cold and flu-free this season is to put on your pajamas, tuck yourself into bed and sleep for at least seven solid hours. Then do it again, night after night.

In fact, research shows that people who don’t get enough sleep or get poor quality sleep are more likely to catch a virus (like the common cold or flu virus) after being exposed to it than people who are sleeping like babies for eight hours every night.

But why does a restful night’s sleep mean the difference between being healthy as a horse or sick as a dog this cold and flu season? Well, because your immune system really suffers when you don’t sleep…

Sleep and immunity

When you sleep, your body releases cytokines, immune proteins that help you fight disease. When you don’t sleep, however, your body isn’t releasing as many of these proteins, which means it’s easier for a virus to slip past your immune system and take hold in your body.

Of course, if you’re not sleeping enough regularly, a cold or flu virus is the least of your worries. You could have more chronic health problems on your hands…

A lack of quality sleep over a long period of time can lead to serious health issues like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. That’s because it can severely depress your immune system…

Take the latest study from researchers at University of Washington Medical Center as an example. These researchers studied 11 pairs of identical twins and found that the twin who slept less per night had a less active immune system than the twin who slept more.

More specifically, they found that getting less quality sleep than your body needs every night (like getting five to six hours instead of seven to eight) shuts down parts of your immune system responsible for sending out the white blood cells that protect your body from infections and disease.

“The results are consistent with studies that show when sleep deprived people are given a vaccine, there is a lower antibody response and if you expose sleep deprived people to a rhinovirus they are more likely to get the virus,” said Dr. Nathaniel Watson, lead author of the study and co-director of the UW Medicine Sleep Center at Harborview Medical Center. “This study provides further evidence of sleep to overall health and well-being particularly to immune health.”

Sleep your way to a strong immune system

The fact that sleep plays such a huge role in your immune system is great news because it’s almost entirely in your control. It’s free and poses no side-effects as pharmaceuticals and sometimes even nutraceuticals can.

All you need to do is go to sleep an hour or two earlier every night and you could be protecting yourself from everything from a cold to cancer. Of course, if you struggle with insomnia, getting more quality sleep may be easier said than done. But there are ways to overcome even the most chronic sleep issues. You can start by:

• Avoiding caffeine and alcohol within six hours of bedtime.
• Practicing tai chi or mindfulness meditation. They both bust the stress that’s at the root of many chronic cases of insomnia.
• Avoiding brightly lit screens (i.e. T.V., phone and tablet screens) within two hours of bedtime.
• Drinking this sleep-promoting smoothie before bed.
• Taking a natural sleep-aid like melatonin.

Sources:

1. “Lack of sleep: Can it make you sick?” Mayo Clinic. http://www.mayoclinic.org. Retrieved January 29, 2017.

2. Besedovsky, et al. “Sleep and immune function.” Pflugers Archiv. Jan 2012; 463(1): 121–137.

3. “Chronic sleep deprivation suppresses immune system.” MedicalXpress. https://medicalxpress.com. Retrieved January 29, 2017.