A Guide to Staying Healthy Through Cold and Flu Season

Suggestions from acupuncture practitioner Dr. Robyn Curtis to build immunity in cold and flu season:

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a beautiful and complete system of medicine which includes modalities like acupuncture, cupping, herbs/diet, massage techniques, and more. The tools and theories of TCM can help us stay balanced, healthy, and strong through the upcoming cold and flu season.

First, a word about Qi. Qi is a very small word that has a whole lot of meaning in TCM. In the briefest of explanations, we can call it our energy, life force, or vitality. When we have no Qi, we are no longer living. Qi can be felt as the heat coming off of our bodies, it is the spark that keeps our hearts pumping and the basis of how our intestines keep things moving.

There are a variety of types of Qi and for our purposes here, I’d like to mention a few. When we are born, we have a certain amount of Qi from our parents, what we are born with is a set amount. We can acquire more though, through food and nutrients for digestive Qi and also from the air we breathe. It is also worth noting a special type called Wei Qi, which is like our own personal forcefield. Just as our skin is the first line of defense of our immune system according to biomedical models, TCM takes it a step further and points to Wei Qi as our most outer layer of protection.

Stress
When life is overwhelming or our plates are too full, most of us are less likely to care for ourselves - ironically, it’s exactly when we most need self-care. Our body reacts to stressors at a biological level. While we can’t necessarily prevent stressful things from happening, we can protect our immune systems by finding ways to ease the ways stress effects us. Whether it’s meditation, outdoor walks (don’t forget a scarf!), Jazzercise, or a creative outlet, I urge you to seek the thing that helps you when the world feels like it is spinning at warp speeds.

Keep this breathing technique in your back pocket for moments when you feel tension in your body:

Place your hands on your belly and ensure you are taking full, deep belly breaths when you breathe; feel your abdomen expand and keep your shoulders down, away from your ears. Take a slow and deep breath in until your belly feels fully expanded, then take one more little sip of air. Slowly exhale. Do this 3 times in a row to quickly calm your nervous system.

Acupuncture stimulates our parasympathetic “rest and digest” system, which helps us access a calmer state of relaxation. Patients who struggle to sit still or have chronic stress tend to float out of the room after an acupuncture treatment – it does wonders for our nervous system. And even better, most people report having a deeper sleep that same night!

Digestion

In both eastern and western models, our gut biome is essential for a healthy immune response. We ingest food and our body immediately goes to work in an attempt to break it down. This food breakdown is where many of us struggle. Some of us don’t have sufficient enzymes or acid to break down food properly – this slows digestion and makes us feel full because food isn’t moving thru us as fast as it should or is passed through partially undigested. According to TCM, we lack the “digestive fire” or digestive Qi, needed to “cook” the food before it is moved through our systems and absorbed. This tends to happen primarily with foods that are raw, cold, or fatty.

To get a sense of how cold food reacts in our systems, try to imagine how our bodies react to a polar bear plunge. We jump into cold water, and our bodies immediately contract and seize up; blood is quickly shunted to our core to keep us warm, and it takes energy to get ourselves back up to our previous temperature. Something similar happens when we put cold food, like ice cream, into our stomach when it’s chilly outside and our system is already working hard just to stay warm. The stomach must pause to warm up our food, and in doing so, it taxes our precious digestive fire before moving food through.

Fortunately, there are several ways to keep our digestive fires stoked! For example, I love salad as much as anyone, but I also make sure to add warming ingredients like spicy peppers to help balance it out. Cold fruit smoothie? Add cinnamon. Raw sushi? Add plenty of ginger to your meal. A big bowl of Edalene’s Fudgie Wudgie…consider following that up with a cup of hot tea.

Because we know gut health is a starting point in our immune system, a diverse microbiome, healthy digestion, regular bowel movements, and nourishing food is key to staying well. As the weather turns colder, TCM encourages a focus on warm meals, well cooked food, soups, and stews as a wonderful means to support our immune system.

Acupuncture can support the whole of your GI system. Specific needling points help stoke our digestive fires, get things moving smoother, and help us absorb nutrients from our food more efficiently – all creating more ease in our digestive system, more resilient bodies, and stronger immune systems.

Herbs

I consider food as medicine and, when possible, I prefer a change in diet over herbal supplements. One major exception to my rule of food first is an herbal formula called Yin Qiao. Yin Qiao can be found in the medicine cabinet of every acupuncturist, and we keep it handy because it is pretty fabulous.

Yin Qiao can be used in the short term for prevention. If someone in your house comes down with a cold, you can take a minimal dose to keep yourself well by strengthening your Wei Qi, helping to push your energy outward, like a protective bubble. However, if you begin to have telltale symptoms of sore throat, fever, or sinus inflammation, it’s time to take Yin Qiao like it’s your new best friend. While you have “heat” symptoms such as inflammation, body aches, sore throat, or fever, take the recommended dose every few hours until symptoms fade. Once the “heat” symptoms are gone and you are left with just the phlegm or lingering cough, stop taking Yin Qiao - it’s done all it can do. Generally, if an illness takes you down, Yin Qiao will help you get through it faster and avoid advancing into other issues like sinus infections, pneumonia, or tonsillitis. Yin Qiao can be found at both Super Supplements and the local Bellingham Food Co-op.

NOTE: At higher doses, Yin Qiao may cause loose stools. Back off of Yin Qiao if it causes any discomfort. Check for any contraindications before using and ask your acupuncturist for dosing specific to you.

Hydrate and Rest

If you do find yourself fully in the ick, the best thing to do is hydrate and rest. Period. TCM focuses on making sure your Qi, or energy, is both strong enough to fight the good fight as well as recover without depleting yourself more. If you are sick, your Qi is depleted and needs to recuperate. Focus on clearing off as much of your schedule as you possibly can and get yourself some coconut water (nature’s Gatorade without the sodium, sugars, and dyes).

It is also important that Qi not get stagnant, hence the importance of moving your body to help things not get stuck or settle in. Nap often but no matter how cozy your bed is, make a point to get up and stretch or do a couple laps around the house every hour or so. This keeps the blood pumping, the lymph flowing, and the tissues lubricated. And then drink more water.

If you tend to struggle with specific symptoms every time you get sick, such as sinus pressure or sore throat, ask your acupuncturist at your next visit to demonstrate pressure points you can use at home until you are well enough to come in for a visit.

Sweat it Out

If you’d like to kick it up a level, drink a cup of strong green tea, take a hot shower, put on your warmest cozy clothes, then go to bed and sweat it out. It is crucial to give pathogens a clear exit route; the pathogen found its way in, make sure there is no blockade for it to be escorted out.

TCM theory says that if pathogens are stuck inside, it will damage your Qi and take longer to recover. Acupuncture is helpful in making sure your body is functioning to the best of its ability by keeping these exit pathways open and available in times of illness.

Acupuncture

Once you start feeling better, consider seeing your acupuncturist to help you rebound and strengthen your immune system. Acupuncture is effective in the prevention of future infections and is especially important for any lingering symptoms from an existing infections like a cough that just won’t clear, fatigue that won’t let up, or a cold that has transitioned to a sinus infection. There’s no need to suffer - with the support of your acupuncturist and some of these TCM immune boosting strategies, let’s get you feeling well asap!

Join us at Northwest Life Medicine’s Acupuncture Pop Up Clinic on October 10th from 2-5 pm for a quick session to help decrease stress and give your system an immune-boosting nudge.