DR MEGAN ROSSI: How a quick cuddle can help you stop catching a winter cold

When people start coughing and sneezing around us, it may be tempting to reach for those ‘super’ immune-boosting supplements. But, in truth, they don’t do a whole lot for you.

Instead, investing time in nurturing the trillion of microbes – that is the bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites – which live in your gut, is the best science-backed line of defence.

The fact is that our immunity is powered by the gut, and what our gut needs to function at its best is a diverse diet alongside three other key pillars: sleep, movement and less stress.

In yesterday’s Daily Mail, I explained the vital role the colony of gut microbes plays in shoring up the immune system and how eating a diverse plant-based diet – though not necessarily plants-only – is the best way to support them.

The fact is that our immunity is powered by the gut, and what our gut needs to function at its best is a diverse diet alongside three other key pillars: sleep, movement and less stress

Today, my focus is on sleep and stress. To harness the immune-strengthening benefits of good gut health we need to get these crucial areas in check.

No amount of immune-nourishing eating can outdo a disastrous lifestyle. 

As I’ve witnessed with so many of my clients, if you’re not sleeping well or your stress levels are through the roof, your immune system is likely to pay the price.

The result? More of the joyless stuff – the sniffles, coughs and bedridden days.

Enjoy a woodland walk and keep a ‘gratitude diary’

To ward off illness, we need to increase our resilience to the stresses that life inevitably throws at us.

While a little bit of stress is healthy (without it, we’d never achieve anything), chronic stress can become a barrier to good gut health and this, in turn, results in a compromised immune system.

Research published in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that mental stress increases the risk of various respiratory infections, including the common cold, and the more stress people are under the higher the rates and severity of infection.

Research published in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that mental stress increases the risk of various respiratory infections

A study at the University of Bristol, meanwhile, found that an eight-week stress management programme notably improved the response to the influenza vaccine.

So there is no doubt that lowering stress needs to be a key part of your immunity action plan.

Allow some ‘worry time’ before going to bed

One of the most under-rated free health resources at your disposal is sleep.

This is the time when your immune system undergoes so much of the calibration it needs to work optimally. 

For example, our body increases the production of certain types of proteins known as cytokines, which are responsible for regulating our immune system and, in turn, fight infections. 

We miss out on this happening when we don’t get enough sleep.Researchers in the US put this to the test by infecting 153 healthy volunteers with a rhinovirus (cold-causing virus).

Those who had less than seven hours sleep on average per night were nearly three times more likely to develop a cold

The volunteers were then monitored for the development of a cold. Those who had less than seven hours sleep on average per night were nearly three times more likely to develop a cold over the following five days compared with those who slept eight hours or more.

Sleep deprivation can also increase stress hormones in your body, which may explain why not getting enough sleep is linked with worse gut symptoms, particularly in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Moreover, when you are tired, you are not only likely to eat more but to be drawn to the wrong types of food which do nothing to support your gut microbes (which are also, let’s not forget, sleep deprived).

A study by my colleagues at King’s College London found that people who were sleep-deprived were drawn to high-fat, lower-protein foods.

One of the most under-rated free health resources at your disposal is sleep. This is the time when your immune system undergoes so much of the calibration it needs to work optimally

Check in on how well you are sleeping by taking the sleep quiz included on this page. If your score is at the lower end, I suggest incorporating the practical strategies listed below into your night-time regimen to boost your pillow-time and strengthen your immunity.

These simple sleep-hygiene tweaks were found to significantly improve not just sleep duration but sleep quality in a trial carried out by my colleagues Dr Haya Al Khatib and Dr Wendy Hall. 

The study, which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also showed the knock-on benefit of improved sleep on diet. 

Those who followed these simple sleep strategies reduced their intake of sugars by two teaspoons a day without even realising it.

From cuddling to going for mindful woodland walks, here are the…