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It is a cold morning in the depths of winter. And I feel like I’ve left my sanity as well as my warm clothes in the changing room as I stride out to the edge of a reservoir in my swim shorts. A brightly-coloured chalk sign informs me that the water temperature today is a chilly 3.9C, as one of the regulars tells me this is not cold water swimming, it’s “ice” water swimming.
How did I end up here? Well, I’ve become enthralled by the idea of enhancing or boosting the immune system. My body has been the living embodiment of the “quademic” that the NHS spent all winter warning us about. It’s been a relentless stream of cold and coughs and one explosive tummy.
…
Can a cold water swim stop you getting ill? And that’s why I find myself wading out and pushing off for a chilling blast of breaststroke. The icy water is like fire on my skin and all my brain can think of is making it to the pontoon without needing help from the lifeguards.
…does this mean I’m more protected? Within a few hours that all goes back to normal, says Prof Eleanor Riley, an immunologist at the University of Edinburgh.
…can be difficult for people to stop or to reverse, but they are probably the most modifiable ones, says Dr McCartney.
Destress if you can. Being constantly stressed raises levels of the hormone cortisol in the body. Yet, cortisol dampens the immune system which may leave you more prone to infection.
…you’re less stressed, less cortisol, so therefore your immune system is more fit for the role it is trying to do, he says.
Squirt some salty water up your nose. You have probably seen products in the shop that you can spray up each of your nostrils at the first sign of a cold…
So can the immune system really be boosted? If you are already doing all the usual things to look after your health – not smoking, eating healthily, exercising regularly – then your immune system is already in the “best possible condition” to respond to an infection, says Prof Riley. Can you do anything to boost above being a normal, healthy person? There’s just no real evidence that you can, she says. But there are things you can do to improve your immunity against particular individual infections and that is to be vaccinated.
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