Does cold weather affect your immune system causing you to be more vulnerable to illnesses?

Question

Or do you get sick more often in winter because you're inside around people and in close contact with more bacteria more often?

Answer 1

Cold weather might put some stress on your immune system, but if your immune system is strong, you will not get sick.
Little things like weather changes, stress, exposure to germs can make you sick because your immune system is weak.

Take a look at some things that make your immune system weak....

1) Toxins: Most people today have excess accumulation of toxins and waste material in their bodies causing their body to be acidic and adding stress to their immune system function. The two main reasons for this is
a) People are putting huge amounts of toxins (mostly unknowingly) in their bodies on a regular basis and
b) their elimination channels are clogged, slow or sluggish.
c) toxins like "junk" food, medications(drugs), sugars, excess alcohol, allergens all stress your immune system, thus making it weak and unable to fight the germs when exposed to them.

2) Nutritional Deficiency:
When your body lacks nutrition, you will have a weak immune system.
Since our bodies can not produce nutrients needed for optimal health, quality food plays a major factor in keeping our cells healthy and our immune system strong. Food not only provides energy to your body, but all the nutrients that are essential for a healthy immune system.

3) Lack of drinking healthy water:
Dehydration means the cells just simply do not have enough fluid. Dehydration cause medical problems including pain, arthritis, asthma, and allergies, among other medical issues. It can affect your energy and your sleep, and the ability to get toxins/waste material out of the body.

4) Lack of physical activity:
Lack of regular, moderate exercise appears to slow down cleansing the body of certain toxins and waste products

5) Lack of sufficient rest:
lack of sleep will stress your immune system and thus increase the risk of catching a bug.
The good news is that I think you can help control or reverse your condition by doing as many as possible of the following list.

6) Chronic stress
People who are under chronic stress have lower than normal white blood cell counts, are more vulnerable to colds and other viruses and take longer to recover from them. They are more likely to experience more severe symptoms than people who are not under a great deal of stress.

The good news is you can strengthen your immune system by doing as many of the following list as possible....

1) keep practicing good personal hygiene care, wash your hands! The great plague of 1918 could have been avoided by practicing good personal hygiene.

2) get plenty of rest. During deep sleep, our body release potent immune-enhancing substances that strengthen your immune system function. By not allowing our body sufficient rest, the immune system will sputter, and as a result, not function at full capacity. We then are more likely to become ill with common illnesses. A healthy, deep sleep allows our body to release a significant amount of growth hormone that boost the immune system and aids in the growth and repair of the body.

3) get moderate and regular exercise
An increase in blood flow associated with moderate exercise helps to circulate antibodies along with white blood cells necessary to fight infection more quickly. As a result, this provides our bodies with an early warning system to ward off potentially damaging germs. In addition, the increase in body temperature as a result of physical activity may aid in inhibiting the growth of bacteria; thus allowing the body to fight infection more effectively.

4) Receiving a Regular Body Cleansing.
Body cleansing is essential because our bodies need to properly eliminate the toxic build up that has formed in our intestines (colon), which may lead to sickness and disease. Our body organs and tissues must be free of toxins for the immune system to function optimally thus enabling our bodies to receive the essential nutrients our bodies need.

5) Boost immune system by drinking plenty of filtered water.
Water is essential for all living things and keeps our immune system operating optimally while improving the way we feel, look and live. Without sufficient amounts of water, you may experience routine fatigue, dry skin, headaches, constipation, and a decrease normal bodily function which may lead to your body unable to fight off diseases. Without water we would literally dehydrate which could result in the shutting down of vital organs and ultimately end in death.

6) Eliminate all sugar and allergens from your diet.
Just a small amount of sugar has been proven to impair white blood cells up to 50% for very short periods of time. By discovering what our personal food allergies are, then eliminating or desensitizing them will help strengthen your immune system. By removing these triggers, our immune cells are strengthened in order to combat other invaders such as influenza rather than the allergen. The elimination of sugar from your diet can also strengthen immune system.

7) Eat nutritiously
Good foods to eat include organic fruits and vegetables, chloretta, medicinal mushrooms like maitake, shiitake, reishi, or turkey tail. Besides water, wheatgrass juice, aloe vera juice, or green tea are good drinks.

8) Take supplements
Supplements are needed because our bodies can not produce the nutrients necessary to maintain optimum health. There are many nutrients needed in order to maintain a strong immune system. It is very challenging in the world we live in to obtain sufficient nutrition with the foods available to us. They are over processed and void of many essential nutrients. Additionally, food is grown in soils that have been over-planted and saturated with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Vitamin and mineral deficiency subjects us to more diseases, aging, sickness, and the weakening of our immune system.

Best herbs include echinacea, goldenseal, garlic, olive leaf extract, elderberry, or astragalus.

Best vitamins include Vitamin A, C, or E. These are a good source of antioxidants, which will boost your immune system.
The minerals zinc and selenium also help with boosting your immune system.

As you can see, there is no one magic cure, one supplement, or one way to keep your immune system strong, but if you do most of these suggestions, you may never get sick again even when everyone around you is sick.

More details can be found at the website in the source box.

Answer 2

No, in fact being cold, like going outside in cold weather without a coat, stimulates the immune system. Scandinavians are correct that this is actually good for you.

That is, however, precisely why your nose runs when you're outside in the cold; your healthy immune system is protecting your nose from possible infections. Your body produces more norepinephrine when it's cold, which makes your nose produce mucus, helping clean pathogens from the air you're breathing.

Because old wives were ignorant of that, however, they ASSumed that the runny nose meant you'd "caught a cold". In fact, the opposite is true...if your immune system is unhealthy, your nose will run LESS when you're cold, but you're more vulnerable to infection.

The capilary contraction, when you breath cold air outside for a while, is also reversed when you come inside and breath warm air. This can cause the lining in your nose to swell slightly, and to produce even more mucus. If left alone, this will go away by itself.

Repeatedly blowing your nose, on the other hand, can give you a long-term runny nose, because it stimulates your tissues to produce more mucus. This is one reason that a person can go out into the cold, get a runny nose (a healthy immune response), come inside, it runs worse (from the healthy, temporary capilary expansion) and then suffer from it for a prolonged period after coming inside (their blowing irritates their nasal lining, making it produce ever-more mucus).

Answer 3

this is never ending discussion "chicken egg" style.

we all breath in viruses, germs etc. its our immune system that eliminates them a we stay healthy. What can compromise our immune system. Cold weather - yes extended time on a cold rain with no dry cloths... Our skin is an organ and it needs to be comfy... so putting one organ out of balance can bring our immunity down and also let the viruses take over... look at little kids 1 yo... when after bath they start shivering no matter summer or what... of course they dont get sick being 5min not comfy but if you let them be like that for whole day i can guarantee they will...

Answer 4

The cold can affect your immune system, but changes in the weather really seem to affect a lot of people. We got a cold snap here within the last week and we have three people from our office out sick (and a fourth who really should be staying at home but is toughing it out).

Answer 5

I don't think it is. If you eat healthy, work out 4-5 times a week, then you are less likely to be sick.

If the weather suddenly changes dramaticly then it probably caused some people to feel sick or be sick. If you have a strong immune system, then it doesn't really have that much affect.

I think it's what people believed in their mind.

Answer 6

Personally speaking I always find the cold weathe bring my immunity lower, as I am more often poorly in the winter than summer.

Answer 7

1

Answer 8

mood affects our immune system aswell we don't get out in fresh air as much and people arent to sure if its lack of fresh air or constant close proximity to other people

Answer 9

I think it's probably a combination of both, actually.

Answer 10

No..........Not at all. You get cold because of virus like rhinovirus