The surprising way to boost your immunity this winter
The cold and flu season is upon us, and experts have warned that it’s going to be rough. Plus, RSV is surging, and Covid remains an ongoing threat. What can you do to avoid falling ill?
Doctors and public health professionals offer the usual recommendations, including wash your hands, wear a mask, get vaccinated, eat nutritious foods, and get plenty of sleep. Those are all important.
But there’s something missing from these tips—another step you can take to help boost your immune system that most people don’t think of as a health habit, even though research has consistently shown its effectiveness.
The secret line of defense is human connection.
The Value of Relationships
Because close contact with other people is typically how viruses spread, it may seem counterintuitive that connection could buffer against sickness. But rather than physical connection, I’m referring to emotional connection.
Feeling loved. Feeling supported. Knowing there is someone you can reach out to for help. Having a sense of belonging and community.
These are ingredients for social health: the dimension of well-being that comes from connection. If you think of physical health as about our bodies and mental health as about our minds, social health is about our relationships.
It’s easy to assume that relationships only matter for mental health and happiness, but that is mistaken. Relationships can also get under your skin to influence your physical health, including susceptibility to and severity of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. At the extreme, connection helps determine how long you live.
Support as a Shield
When it comes to this cold and flu season, numerous studies over the past 40+ years have found links between social support and the body’s ability to fight off viruses.
For example, when participants in one study were exposed to a common cold virus, those who were highly sociable were less likely to develop symptoms. Similarly, older adults showed stronger antibody responses to the flu vaccine—meaning they were less vulnerable to getting sick—if they were married, particularly if they were happily married. In contrast, students with small social networks who felt lonely had diminished antibody responses to the flu vaccine compared to their more connected peers.
Interestingly, having diverse social ties may be especially protective. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon asked people about their different kinds of relationships, including with significant others, family members, friends, coworkers, and community groups, and then gave them nasal drops containing a cold virus. People with more types of social ties were less susceptible to catching the cold, produced less mucus, and spread less virus.
What explains these outcomes? One theory is that we register negative social experiences, such as social isolation or exclusion, as threats. This stress triggers inflammation and weakens the immune system. Connection, in contrast, can reduce inflammation while also building up immunity over time through exposure to more viruses.
Key Takeaway
To be sure, connection is not a cure-all. Even those of us who have close relationships, often spend quality time with family and friends, and feel supported in our communities will inevitably get sick sometimes.
But as you take steps to optimize your immune system and prevent falling ill this winter, it’s worth thinking of connection as a health habit, prioritizing your relationships, and strengthening your social health. In turn, your mental and physical health may benefit too.
