Don’t Protect Yourself From The Cold, Adapt To It!

Each season of the year has its special climatic characteristics to which it is convenient to adapt. With the arrival of autumn, nature seems to retract: the sap of many trees descends until it sinks into the earth, the bright colors give way to more muted ones, and the temperature gradually drops.

All of this invites you to an interior recollection. According to traditional oriental medicine, the element that corresponds to autumn is “metal”, which is related to the lungs, skin and intestine. Starting in November, the loss of light and heat from the sun is accentuated and we experience the first signs of winter cold and humidity.

More colds and worse mood in the fall

This leads to pathologies such as infections. Microorganisms (bacteria, viruses and fungi) promote various diseases, especially in the respiratory system: colds, asthma and flu make an appearance.

Both mechanical and inflammatory joint pain tend to increase at this time. Some skin conditions (eczema, psoriasis, mycosis) reappear, and also gastrointestinal problems in people with a tendency to gastritis and ulcers. Along with these physical ailments, a mood characterized by a certain melancholy is generalized .

As solar toning decreases, there is a tendency to sadness and discouragement, which leads to a higher rate of depression. Sunlight is also related to a better tone of the metabolism, circulation and the endocrine system. All this also decreases during the cold months and we enter a period in which it is easier to gain weight.

For all this it is important on the one hand that the diet is abundant in fresh foods with micronutrients and, on the other hand, to maintain an adequate psycho-physical tone. In this way the immune system is stimulated and the aforementioned disorders are prevented.

The best prevention: acclimatize to the cold gradually

The best protection against the cold consists of gradually adapting, without being afraid of it. Thus, instead of bundling up excessively and remaining inactive, you should try to practice every morning when you wake up for 10 or 15 minutes of gymnastics or exercise in order to activate circulation.

This can be done inside a room with the window open, to breathe clean air, but avoid drafts. It is important to use water as frictions, baths or showers. It is beneficial to take a hot water bath, during which the body eliminates toxins through perspiration, and above all to end it with a quick friction of cold water (with the hands, a sponge or a towel), after which it is necessary to warm up quickly .

The air bath also stimulates circulation. It is taken in the morning when you get up, naked in front of the open window, while practicing gymnastic exercises or carrying out a vigorous friction of the skin in order to combat the cold. This bath should start practicing in summer and try to continue doing it in winter. It is enough with 5 minutes, which can reach 10 or 15 if the bath resists well. If necessary, you can go back to bed to react until you feel cold.

Curiously, the body registers a decrease in temperature rather than an increase. This is due to the fact that on the skin surface there are a multitude of specialized nerve endings that only register temperature changes. But the number of cold-sensitive endings is higher (about eight times more) than heat-sensitive ones.

This detail is important regarding adaptation to cold, since cold spots are especially numerous on the face, especially on the lips, nostrils and eyelids. Thus, in the face of a drop in temperaturesit is the face that first informs the nervous center in charge of regulating body heat, which reacts by increasing the organic temperature.

How to boost defenses

The best preventive strategy is to keep the immune system in good condition. Autumn and winter are characterized by especially favoring various disorders of the respiratory tract. It is necessary to differentiate, in this sense, the common cold or coryza (caused by a great variety of viruses) from the flu, also viral, but with more severe symptoms and high fever.

The coldIt involves inflammation of some or all of the airways, including the nose, paranasal sinuses, throat, larynx, and often the trachea and bronchi. We all know its symptoms: general malaise, sneezing, a blocked or runny nose, watery eyes, a hoarse voice or a cough. The fever, if it occurs, is usually not very high.

The factors that can cause a cold are the unexpected rain that soaks clothes or shoes, the passage from a hot environment to a cold one … The fact that the spread of flu and colds is typical of winter is largely due to the cold of the skin is accompanied by congestion of the mucous membranes, poor circulation and decreased defenses.

It is known, for example, that when a cold starts, the nasal mucosa suffers a vascular spasm and, therefore, a lack of adequate irrigation and oxygenation that favors infection. But not all people exposed to these adverse conditions become ill. The propensity depends on the psychophysical state of the moment and of each person. Having more than two episodes a year – or lasting too long – can indicate somewhat weak defenses.

A balanced life

To maintain an immune system in good condition, it is necessary to try to take into account certain rules of life.

• Avoid stress, negative emotions, and anxiety, which deplete T lymphocytes. Relaxation and visualization techniques can be helpful in this regard.
• Practice some physical activity regularly, such as walking or running, without the need for it to be very intense.
• Getting enough sleep, 6 to 8 a day, is essential to balance the nervous and immune systems.
• It is advisable to drink water, one liter to one and a half a day, or vegetable juices, so that the body is well hydrated. Viruses grow best on dry mucous membranes.
• Reduce fatty foods of animal origin, since the increase in cholesterol in the blood inhibits several immune functions, including the lymphocyte capacity to produce antibodies.
• The excess of refined carbohydrates (sweets, cookies, bread), in addition to forming mucus, reduces the immune capacity (glucose and vitamin C compete to be assimilated).
• Abusing alcoholic beverages alters the purifying functions of the liver and also reduces the ability of neutrophils to destroy pathogenic bacteria.
• People who smoke are more vulnerable to respiratory infections, as tobacco irritates the mucous membranes of the nose and throat, in addition to destroying a good percentage of vitamin C (it is estimated that four cigarettes consume up to 100 mg of this protective vitamin).
• It is advisable to eat fresh and natural foods (avoiding additives and excessive refining) daily: vegetables, fruit, cereals and yogurt.

The face uncovered

Cold-sensitive nerve endings are concentrated in the face. Hence, it is a bad habit to cover up with a thick scarf or a balaclava when going out, since the body is deceived about the true ambient temperature, preventing the body temperature from increasing.

In the end it gets colder than if, with the face uncovered, the option was given to the body producing more heat.

Plants for immunity

The active echinacea production of T lymphocytes and interferon, and advised especially the flu. The licorice is a powerful immune stimulant, although it should be approached with caution if you have hypertension. Traditional Chinese medicine uses plants like ginseng or huang qi, or mushrooms like shiitake and reishi.