Bulletproof Your Immunity
by Elizabeth Rotoff. Published November 12, 2020.
This year boosting immunity is something we should be considering more than ever. There is more at stake than just your average cold and flu. If anything, the pandemic has shown us how fragile we are.
As the winter months approach so does cold and flu season. As a singer, I can tell you getting sick can be a nightmare. As opposed to other musicians who can still perform if they get a sore throat or runny nose, singers are well advised to go on vocal rest. In fact, voice specialists say that most of the vocal injuries they see coming into their offices started with an upper respiratory tract infection.
Of course, a bad case of the flu or a fever can lay flat any musician. And with the dangers of COVID-19 any sniffle can be seen as threatening, so you are asked to stay isolated and get tested.
Getting sick means missed rehearsals, performance, audition opportunities and teaching time. It can cost us thousands of dollars in lost income. We just can’t afford to get sick. Especially now when those in the arts are struggling as it is.
The winter months can see a proliferation of common viral infections that can put a damper on our music making. There are a number of reasons for this:
1. We are more likely to take to the indoors to avoid that cold air. This confines us with other people, so this higher concentration of contact can increase the spread of germs.
2. Central heating can dry out our noses, which are usually a filter to these germs, however with the dryness the germs are not trapped as usual and can infiltrate our weakened defenses.
3. Getting a chill, though it won’t give you a virus, will lower the effectiveness of your immune system to fight off infection.
Fortunately, with the use of masks, physical distancing and frequent hand washing or sanitizing, we may see a decrease in the spread of these common viruses, just as it helps against the spread COVID-19.
However, being proactive is always better than trying to come up with a solution once you’re already showing symptoms.
So what can we do to optimize our immune system and not lose our livelihood?
The answer lies in these four pillars of health: stress management, physical exercise, nutrition, and sleep.
Make Time to De-stress.
Psychological stress is a risk factor for illness. However, stress management techniques can be effective in reducing the risk and relieving the symptoms of a mucus build up as well as the duration.
Some things you can try to get a handle on your stress are:
● meditate
● eat mindfully
● take a hot bath
● read a good book
● spend quality time with friends or family
● take a walk in nature
Commit some time each day to some activity that will help calm you and where you allow yourself to not think about any of the myriad things you need to do.
Get Moving
Physical exercise has been shown to lower the number of sick days by 25 – 50%.
So aim to do some physical exercise for at least 30 minutes every day. If you are a beginner, this might start out as a walk.
As you progress, keep challenging yourself and trying different activities.
In a study of elderly women, those who walked briskly for half and hour a day reduced their chance of contracting infection to 20%, whereas conditioned runners had even less risk at 8%.
Keep your body guessing! Even though you may be fitter than you were before, if you keep doing the same thing your body adapts and will plateau not just with physical results, but with immunity as well.
Exercise also has the benefit of offering a sense of well-being, which is so important through the short days of winter when so many people succumb to Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Eat Your Fruits & Veggies
Have a green smoothie every day. Just throwing in a handful of spinach or kale can make a huge difference. You are getting a burst of nutrients in an easily absorbable form.
Increasing vegetable intake to 5 to 7 servings a day has been shown to boost immunity, yet only a third of adults in the Western society consume 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
Fruits are full of vitamins such as C, A and some B vitamins, and the greens that are full of minerals such as iron, magnesium, manganese, copper, calcium, zinc and vitamins A, C, B6, and folate (exact nutrients will vary with choice of fruits and greens).
Both also contain other phytonutrients and of course, fibre (average fibre intake in adults is 19g per day, well below the recommended 30g per day).
All these nutrients are important in supporting immune function.
Nitrate-rich foods such as dark green leafy vegetables and beets is also a critical for our immunity. The nitrates are converted to nitric oxide (NO), a gas, in the body by epithelial cells which line our blood vessels. It is the body’s first line of defense against viruses. Decreased endothelial NO production has been correlated to COVID-19 mortality. So eat those greens!
Whole foods are always preferable to supplements. They have been shown to have a more beneficial effect on health.
However, there is one supplement you should be adding and that is Vitamin D. With the winter months comes less sunlight, which is our body’s primary way of getting vitamin D. So supplementing this important vitamin is essential. In fact, vitamin D insufficiency has been linked to more severe cases of COVID-19.
Also, reducing consumption of ultra-processed foods that contain high amount of sugars, refined flour and saturated fats can only help your immune system. These foods are known to contribute to systemic inflammation, which suppresses the immune system.
Get plenty of sleep.
This is the time of rest and restoration for the body. It allows for the brain to drain toxic build up and the rest of your body is healing and repairing. The toxic by-products of stress are also being removed from your system.
Though the odd late night may not be of consequence, chronic sleep loss can have detrimental effects on the immune system.
If you are getting your flu shot, it’s good to know that if you’re short of sleep at the time of receiving the shot, the effectiveness of it will be compromised.
The average adult requires 7 – 9 hours or sleep, though it’s been shown that elite performers get an average of about 8 and a half hours.
Making sure you have a good bedtime routine will help ensure you are getting the Zs you need.
Following these few tips will keep you playing and singing with much less worry of getting sick and you will feel a renewed energy.
Making lasting lifestyle changes can be difficult, but so rewarding. If you are struggling in any of the above pillars of health, I highly recommend getting the help of a health coach or trainer.
Resources:
1. http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2014/the-reason-for-the-season-why-flu-strikes-in-winter/
2. S. Cohen, DA Tyrrell, AP Smith AP, “Psychological stress and susceptibility to the common cold,” N Engl J Med, 325, no.9,(August 1991):606-12.
3. Sheldon Cohen, William J. Doyle, David P. Skoner, “Psychological Stress, Cytokine Production, and Severity of Upper Respiratory Illness,” Psychosomatic Medicine, 61, no.2, (March/April 1999):175-180
4. Michelle R Reid, Laurel T Mackinnon, Peter D Drummond, “The effects of stress management on symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection, secretory immunoglobulin A, and mood in young adults,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 51, no. 6, (December 2001): 721-728
5. DC Nieman , “Moderate exercise improves immunity and decreases illness rates,”American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 5 no.4 (July 2011): 338-345
6. DC Nieman, DA Henson, G Gusewitch, BJ Warren, RC Dotson, DE Butterworth, SL Nehlsen-Cannarella, “Physical activity and immune function in elderly women,” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 25 no.7 (July 1993): 823-831
7. Boris B.Pinchasov, Alexandra M.Shurgaja, Oleg V.Grischin, Arcady A. Putilova, “Mood and energy regulation in seasonal and non-seasonal depression before and after midday treatment with physical exercise or bright light”, Psychiatry Research,94 no. 1, (April 2000): 29-42
8. http://healthsurvey.hscic.gov.uk/data-visualisation/data-visualisation/explore-the-trends/fruit-vegetables.aspx
9. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/phe-publishes-latest-data-on-nations-diet
10. A. Gibson, JD Edgar, CE Neville, SE Gilchrist, MC McKinley, CC Patterson, IS Young, JV Woodside, “Effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on immune function in older people: a randomized controlled trial,”Am J Clin Nutr, 96 no.6 (December 2012):1429-36.
11. Penelope A. Bryant, John Trinder & Nigel Curtis, “Sick and tired: does sleep have a vital role in the immune system?” Nature Reviews Immunology4, (2004): 457–467.
12. Luca Imeri & Mark R. Opp , “How (and why) the immune system makes us sleep,” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, (2009):199–210.
13. https://sleepcouncil.org.uk/how-much-sleep-do-we-need/
14. K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Th. Krampe, and Clemens Tesch-Romer, “The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance,” Psychological Review, 100 no. 3, (1993): 63-406
15.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7276137/
16. https://www.healthing.ca/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus/vitamin-d-a-supplement-and-covid-19-treatment
BIO
Elizabeth Rotoff is a voice teacher and healthy lifestyle trainer for singers from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She is certified with Canadian Fitness Professionals (CanFitPro) as Personal Training Specialist and nutrition coach
She is an active member of The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and the Manitoba Registered Music Teachers’ Association.
As a mezzo-soprano, Elizabeth has performed across Canada and in England in opera, musical theatre and recital. Some of her favourite roles include Nicklaus in The Tales of Hoffman, Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito, Dorabella inCosi fan tutte, Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus, and Baba in The Medium.
In 2009 Elizabeth trained for her first triathlon and found it to help her musical performance immensely. Since then she has continued to be an active athlete, which motivated her to get her certifications as a Personal Training Specialist and nutrition coach. She now helps singers and musicians beat stress and boost immunity with a holistic approach to health at The Fit Singer.
She has been a presenter at the NATS National Conference in 2016 and 2020, is featured in the book Just One Voice: A Book About Vocal Sustainability and Injury Preventionby Kate J. Doucet, has been a returning guest on The Full Voice Podcast, and been the Wellness consultant at Resonanz Opera in Cleveland, Ohio.
For more info visit www.elizabethrotoff.com
And follow Elizabeth on social media
Facebook: @thefitsinger
Instagram: @thefitsinger