Don’t Get Sick: A Guide to Your Body’s Immune System Through the Cold and Flu Season
By: Brock Reichert
I want you to picture this all-too-common scenario: you’re getting ready for an important event. Maybe it’s a big work presentation, a trip you’ve been planning for months, or meeting your partner’s parents for the first time. You need to be at your best.
Then, you walk into the office and your colleague is coughing up a lung and sneezing all over the coffee machine. Your first thought is the same one millions of people have every year: “Oh sh!t, I can’t get sick.”
Some people call their doctor and beg for a Z-pack to “nip it in the bud” (wrong move). Others just treat symptoms with NyQuil or Emergen-C (better, but not enough). A small minority have already done the base work so they can walk into flu season relatively stress-free. That can be you.
Your immune system is a reflection of ALL your current stress: training load, poor sleep, family arguments, late nights working, not enough nutrients, alcohol. Your body doesn’t fully distinguish between “life stress” and “virus stress;” it just knows resources are being used.
Because your immune system is shaped by so many inputs, I like to keep things simple with a 3-part framework:
Manage your total stress load
Give your immune system the right building blocks
Lock in daily habits that support your defenses
Okay, let’s move on to each step:
Manage your total stress load
Psychosocial Stress holds an increased infection risk. A landmark body of research by Cohen and colleagues demonstrated that individuals experiencing chronic stress (e.g. caregiving stress, chronic work stress) are far more likely to develop colds when experimentally exposed to common cold viruses. A meta-analysis of prospective studies confirms that psychological stress is associated with increased susceptibility to upper respiratory infections. These findings underscore that managing stress isn’t just about mental well-being, it is directly tied to immune resilience.
You worrying about that upcoming presentation or losing sleep over proposing to your partner is only going to paradoxically increase your risk of suppressed immune function.
If you’re stacking poor sleep + high training + deadlines, you’re spending immune “budget” everywhere but defense.
Give your immune system the right building blocks
I want to use a “resource” analogy to help explain this. This is where the body shifts priority of its raw materials in order to build the necessary cells for survival. It’s resource intensive for your bone marrow to pump out immune cells and proteins day after day. This is exactly why people who are trying to lose weight and are in a caloric deficit get sick more than those who are not. They simply don't have the materials to produce a robust immune system. So, while it's glamorous to try to lose weight in the new year, a heavy calorie deficit does not bode well for fighting off illness. Instead get plenty of protein and micronutrients
Avoid aggressive calorie deficits during peak flu season. Deep calorie cuts = less raw material to make immune cells.
Prioritize protein so your body has amino acids to build antibodies and immune cells.
Micronutrient basics that matter: Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin D, B- Vitamins, Zinc, Selenium, Magnesium
You don’t need exotic powders before you nail these fundamentals.
Lock in daily habits that support your defenses
Hydration:
Adequate water intake is often overlooked but is essential. Mucosal surfaces (respiratory and gastrointestinal) are the first contact with pathogens and must stay moist to trap and clear microbes effectively. Dehydration can impair the mucociliary clearance in airways and reduce immune cell trafficking. Ensure you drink plenty of fluids throughout the day, especially during illness or intense exercise when fluid loss can be high.
Basic hygiene (unsexy but major rocks to move):
Wash your hands regularly, especially in shared spaces.
Avoid touching your face, eyes, and mouth after public surfaces.
So to overview, here's my fail-proof personal immune protocol:
Know your risk windows and add. When I’ve just gotten poor sleep or have been working hard, I like to recognize this risky period early and add in more nutrient rich foods like fruits and veggies. I don't think you can overdo this step. Good luck overdosing on fruits and veggies.
Sleep like it's my job. This should be #1 priority.
Additional sunlight and circadian alignment. Once I’m run down and the risk of getting sick increases, I make it a point to get outside and get sunlight on my body. This includes winter months. Luckily I live in Colorado and this is possible year round. Sunlight is your friend here.
Supplements: 3 staple supplements I use when illness could be around the corner are Zinc, Vitamin C and a lesser known friend of mine: Black Seed Oil, otherwise known as Nigella Sativa. Talk to your doctor about safety and dosing strategies on these. There is good clinical data around them.
Assess where I went wrong. If I do get sick, I can typically track it back to complacency or mistakes I made along the way. Maybe I let my diet slip. Stayed up too late watching a movie or decided that 8 mile run should be 15 instead. Either way, I want to learn from that overreaching for next time.
This isn’t an exhaustive list. The immune system is insanely complex, and we didn’t even touch things like colostrum, elderberry, IV therapy, or peptides, etc
But if you:
Manage your stress load
Give your immune system the raw materials
Lock in simple habits and a personal protocol
…you’ll be ahead of 90% of people this cold and flu season.
