Have you ever wondered why we often come down with the dreaded lurgy during winter? Have you ever pondered what you can do, naturally, to help? By using natural and nutritious foods, supplements, and essential oils and optimising your hydration, gut health and rest… Eating winter foods, that specifically fuel your natural immune functions… You can assist your body’s natural immunity and improve your energy, ability to move easily and your risk of getting sick

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Winter Foods That Fuel Immunity:

Foods, supplements and natural aids

If winter generally comes with multiple colds doing the rounds in your family, boosting your immunity is key. Hi I’m Alexis Weidland, osteopath and cofounder of BlossomingMe and healthy learning lounge, join me as I discuss why winter can weaken your immunity and what to do about it.

So Why does winter weaken immunity?

Outside, the cold air and wind

can dry your nose, eyes and throat. Inside, the stale heated air can do the same. When your nasal passages and sinuses dry out, your first line of immune defence becomes compromised. This allows germs to enter more easily. 

Less sunlight lowers your vitamin D,

which is crucial for all sorts of metabolic processes, including your immune system and fighting infections. 

When your gut lining is inflamed from stress, sugar or heavy winter foods,

your digestion can become sluggish and your nutrient absorption may become affected, reducing the ability of all your cells to function optimally. Plus your immune system stays busy fighting low-level inflammation instead of real invaders, including those pathogens that your inflamed gut let through. This means you might catch colds more easily and take longer to recover.

Plus going from hot to cold and back again,

which happens in between seasons as well as from warm cars to cold outsides back to warm offices, shops and homes can add extra stress to our body as it constantly tries to adjust and balance body heating mechanisms. The increase stress, can negatively impact our immune system 

So what can you do?

✅ Eat real, warm, nourishing foods:

Broths,soups and slow-cooked stews. Adding garlic, ginger, herbs and spices and root veggies. These are warming; the minerals in bone broth nourishes your gut lining, the good gut microbes, and help calm inflammation; and these foods directly support immune cells and their function.

✅ Prioritise Vitamin D:

Studies show Vitamin D reduces the risk of respiratory infections. It is crucial for activating killer T-cells that destroy infected cells. Low vitamin D levels has been linked to higher risk and severity of colds and flu.Sunlight is lower in winter, so consider a quality D3 or even D3K2 supplement. Also enjoy eggs and mushrooms which naturally contain some D

✅ Zinc:

Supports the communication between immune cells and helps them replicate quickly to fight invaders. Zinc also stabilises cell membranes to stop viruses getting in. In winter, or at the first sign of a virus, adding a zinc supplement may help. Foods rich in zinc include pumpkin seeds, oysters, beef, lamb and chickpeas.

✅ Vitamin C:

A powerful antioxidant that helps white blood cells work more effectively. It can reduce the duration and severity of a cold. Top up with citrus, kiwi, capsicum and fresh herbs like parsley, and of course a quality supplement can help too.

✅ Feed your gut daily:

Add fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut and natural, unsweetened yoghurt. These boost your good gut bugs, helping your body fight infections naturally.

✅ Hydrate with warmth:

Drink plenty of warm fluids — broth, herbal teas — instead of cold water. Warm hydration supports circulation and keeps your mucous membranes moist and resilient.

✅ Sip my ginger & brown sugar tea: An Eastern favourite especially for those with cold, damp tendencies in the eastern tradition, who often suffer cold extremities and noses that run in winter. This gentle and delicious Eastern remedy is wonderful for warming the belly, stimulating digestion and thinning excess mucus. 

✅ Essential Oils to Boost Immunity and “sanitise” your space naturally:

essential oils like tea tree, oregano, eucalyptus, rosemary, thyme, cinnamon and citrus oils too can combine to create potent air mists, roll ons and sanitising sprays/lotions to help reduce the number of unhealthy bugs in your environment and sanitise when out and about.

Broth vs Soup — What’s the difference and why use both?

Broth:

is made by simmering bones, meat or vegetables for many hours. Bone broth releases minerals like calcium, magnesium and collagen, which nourish your gut lining and support immunity from the inside. Vegetable broth is lighter but still mineral-rich. When you drink Bone broth, you are just having the liquid. Bone broth is a quick and easy drink to warm and nourish you on the run, adding nutrients for immune health and healing the gut lining.

Soup:

Can have the same base ingredients as broth, but isn’t cooked for as long. Or broth can make the base of the soup, but extra ingredients are added… making a soup a full, hearty meal. Adding ingredients like root vegetables, garlic and ginger, herbs and sometimes grains or legumes. A hearty soup provides energy, fibre and extra immune-boosting compounds. Together they warm you deeply and feed your body what it needs to stay strong.

You can have either or both as part of your winter immune boosting ritual

So…

Winter immunity isn’t just about avoiding germs, or popping pills — it’s about nourishing your body so you can fight off bugs more easily and recover faster 

If you want all my nourishing recipes, daily planner and my gentle warm-up and breathwork video to keep you strong all season, grab my Winter Wellness Kit — it’s just $7.

Interested in further reading?

1. 1. Immune Support for Winter
   2. Winter causes stiff muscles and joints 
   3. Broccoli for arthritis!
   4. Winter as a cause of pain

About Blossoming Me

BlossomingMe offers a fully integrated approach to your wellbeing. Located on Sydney’s Upper North Shore. Sarah is our Cranio-sacral and Remedial Massage Therapist and health and lifestyle coach. She can help relieve those problematic knots, tightness and other specific ailments to promote a healthy recovery. These complementary massage therapies can be combined to suit your needs, and include: craniosacral therapy, shiatsu, acupressure, reiki, remedial, swedish, and body-mind-massage. 

Our qualified Osteopath, Alexis, offers a drug free, minimally invasive, “hands on” treatment focusing on the musculoskeletal system with its associated muscles, tendons, ligaments, membranes, bones and joints. Alexis takes a functional approach. This means that she focuses on the way a component (body part, tissue or group of tissues) performs its role, as well as the way the body works, performs and integrates as a whole. Our team can support you to improve your posture and therefore your overall health.