How to keep colds and the flu at bay

As a society, there’s a consensus that common cold or flu is a yearly occurrence. As soon as the temperature drops, we all seem to come down with it, coughing and sneezing away. However, there are preventative strategies that will put you in charge of and on top of your health.

Wellness isn’t an elusive state to reach. There are the main pillars: good sleep, a wholesome diet, and exercise. Beyond this, an understanding of your body’s specific requirements will allow a life full of energy and health. Test-based nutritional supplements personalized to your needs are one such example. When it comes to warding off that annual cold with wellness, vitamin D is a top choice for our bodies’ first line of defense.

Get personal with the sunshine vitamin

Vitamin D is truly an essential nutrient to normalize our immune system. It contributes to important functions within the body and helps us to regulate the absorption of calcium. Keeping a sufficient amount of vitamin D in our body is important for the normal growth and development of our bones and teeth. It’s especially important to check our levels in the colder months as the sun is our most natural source of vitamin D. The ultraviolet (UV) rays spark vitamin D synthesis when they strike the skin, contributing to 80% of our required intake.

There are many other influences affecting our ability to get enough amounts of vitamin D. Factors such as being in an area with high pollution, using sunscreen, the amount of time we spend indoors, whether we live and work in big cities where buildings block sunlight, even the color of our skin, all play a part in how our bodies respond to the sun and produce the ‘sunshine vitamin’. Our body weight needs to be taken into consideration as well. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and as such, the more overweight we are, the more we need to produce and consume in order for us to reach and maintain sufficient vitamin D levels in our blood.

Boost your vitamin D during the winter months

So, it’s safe to say that our vitamin D needs are unique. Like most nutritional and health factors, there is a significant amount of individuality when it comes to addressing our vitamin D needs. And they are not constant. Our levels vary throughout the year, depending on who we are, where and how we live. This is why we need to get screened regularly so we can top up with extra sources of vitamin D whenever necessary. Does your lifestyle change in the colder months? Do you spend more time in the gym than walking outside and perhaps seek more comfort foods and easy meals? That is why this essential nutrient is the most important vitamin to watch during these months, but make sure to monitor your levels throughout the year to keep on top of your health in case your levels start to drop.

Let science reveal your vitamin D status and nature take care of it

According to the US National Institutes of Health, approximately one billion people across the globe are currently known to suffer from vitamin D deficiency, especially during the sneezy and chilly season. A lot of times this is a deficiency most of us are not even aware of. The good news? You don’t have to see a doctor to check your vitamin D levels. It can be done in the comfort of your own home with a simple blood test.

Zinzino’s VitaminD Test is an at-home, dried blood spot test that reveals your individual results in a completely confidential manner. Designed to take the guesswork out of healthier living, the VitaminD Test is the precursor to ZinoShine+, a boost of vegan vitamin D₃ from wild-harvested lichen and broad-spectrum magnesium whenever you need to top up your levels.

Customize the dosing based on your VitaminD Test results, to get your levels back on track and experience how good it feels to go through winter (and all seasons) with your cold-fighting vitamin D levels right where they naturally should be.