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The Cold Truth About Respiratory Infections
Plus: long-lasting release of shoulder/neck tension
The 10almonds Team
January 06, 2024
Today’s almonds have been activated by:
❝There are no shortcuts. No magic pills or expensive procedures can replace the beneficial effects of a healthy diet, exercise, mindfulness, or a regenerating night's sleep.❞
⏰ IN A RUSH?
Today’s 30-Second Summary
If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:
Respiratory infections are invariably from pathogens that love human body temperature, but they can survive in cold temperatures for a long time
They can’t survive higher temperatures for a long time, but unfortunately, neither can we
Humidity, which can be influenced by temperature, is far more of a deciding factor when it comes to transmissibility of airborne pathogens
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Today’s sponsor The Bircher Bar is a free health, science, wellness, & lifestyle newsletter with a special focus on giveaways and discounts.
Read on to learn about these things and more…
👀 WATCH AND LEARN
Release Neck & Shoulder Tension in 30 Seconds with No Stretching (6:01)
Feldenkrais menu:
Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later 🔖
He also has a shorter video (1:37) with just the exercise explanation!
🤒 MAIN FEATURE
The Pathogens That Came In From The Cold
Yesterday, we asked you about your climate-themed policy for avoiding respiratory infections, and got the above-depicted, below-described, set of answers:
About 46% of respondents said “Temperature has no bearing on infection risk”
About 31% of respondents said “It’s important to get plenty of cold, fresh air, as this kills/inactivates pathogens”
About 22% of respondents said “It’s important to stay warm to avoid getting colds, flu, etc”
Some gave rationales, including…
For “stay warm”:
❝Childhood lessons❞
For “get cold, fresh air”:
❝I just feel that it’s healthy to get fresh air daily. Whether it kills germs, I don’t know❞
For “temperature has no bearing”:
❝If climate issue affected respiratory infections, would people in the tropics suffer more than those in colder climates? Pollutants may affect respiratory infections, but I doubt just temperature would do so.❞
So, what does the science say?
It’s important to stay warm to avoid getting colds, flu, etc: True or False?
False, simply. Cold weather does increase the infection risk, but for reasons that a hat and scarf won’t protect you from. More on this later, but for now, let’s lay to rest the idea that bodily chilling will promote infection by cold, flu, etc.
In a small-ish but statistically significant study (n=180), it was found that…
❝There was no evidence that chilling caused any acute change in symptom scores❞
Note: they do mention in their conclusion that chilling the feet “causes the onset of cold symptoms in about 10% of subjects who are chilled”, but the data does not support that conclusion, and the only clear indicator is that people who are more prone to colds generally, were more prone to getting a cold after a cold water footbath.
In other words, people who were more prone to colds remained more prone to colds, just the same.
It’s important to get plenty of cold, fresh air, as this kills/inactivates pathogens: True or False?
Broadly False, though most pathogens do have an optimal operating temperature that (for obvious reasons) is around normal human body temperature.
However, given that they don’t generally have to survive outside of a host body for long to get passed on, the fact that the pathogens may be a little sluggish in the great outdoors will not change the fact that they will be delighted by the climate in your respiratory tract as soon as you get back into the warm.
With regard to the cold air not being a reliable killer/inactivator of pathogens, we call to the witness stand…
(it was found near Utqiagvik, one of the northernmost communities in Alaska)
Because pathogens like human body temperature, raising the body temperature is a way to kill/inactivate them: True or False?
True! Unfortunately, it’s also a way to kill us. Because we, too, cannot survive for long above our normal body temperature.
So, for example, bundling up warmly and cranking up the heating won’t necessarily help, because:
if the temperature is comfortable for you, it’s comfortable for the pathogen
if the temperature is dangerous to the pathogen, it’s dangerous to you too
This is why the fever response evolved, and/but why many people with fevers die anyway. It’s the body’s way of playing chicken with the pathogen, challenging “guess which of us can survive this for longer!”
Temperature has no bearing on infection risk: True or False?
True and/or False, circumstantially. This one’s a little complex, but let’s break it down to the essentials.
Temperature has no direct effect, for the reasons we outlined above
Temperature is often related to humidity, which does have an effect
Temperature does tend to influence human behavior (more time spent in open spaces with good ventilation vs more time spent in closed quarters with poor ventilation and/or recycled air), which has an obvious effect on transmission rates
The first one we covered, and the third one is self-evident, so let’s look at the second one:
Temperature is often related to humidity, which does have an effect
When the environmental temperature is warmer, water droplets in the air will tend to be bigger, and thus drop to the ground much more quickly.
When the environmental temperature is colder, water droplets in the air will tend to be smaller, and thus stay in the air for longer (along with any pathogens those water droplets may be carrying).
Some papers on the impact of this:
So whatever temperature you like to keep your environment, humidity is a protective factor against respiratory infections, and dry air is a risk factor.
So, for example:
If the weather doesn’t suit having good ventilation, a humidifier is a good option
Being in an airplane is one of the worst places to be for this, outside of a hospital
Don’t have a humidifier? Here’s an example product on Amazon, but by all means shop around.
A crock pot with hot water in and the lid off is also a very workable workaround too 😉
Take care!
❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE
The Bircher Bar
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🌏 AROUND THE WEB
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More to come tomorrow!
📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW
Healthy Made Simple: Delicious, Plant-Based Recipes, Ready in 30 Minutes or Less – by Ella Mills
Often, cookbooks leave a gap between "add the beans to the rice, then microwave" and "delicately embarrass the green-shooted scallions with assiduous garlic before adding to the matelote of orrazata flamed in Sapient Pear Brandy". This book fills that gap:
It has dishes good for entertaining, and dishes good for eating on a Tuesday night after a long day. Sometimes, they’re even the same dishes.
It has a focus on what's pleasing, easy, healthy, and consistent with being cooked in a real home kitchen for real people.
The book offers 75 recipes that:
Take under 30 minutes to make*
Contain 10 ingredients or fewer
Have no more than 5 steps
Are healthy and packed with goodness
Are delicious and flavorful
*With a selection for under 15 minutes, too!
A strength of the book is that it's based on practical, real-world cooking, and as such, there are sections such as "Prep-ahead [meals]", and "cook once, eat twice", etc.
Just because one is cooking with simple fresh ingredients doesn't mean that everything bought today must be used today!
Bottom line: if you'd like simple, healthy recipe ideas that lend themselves well to home-cooking and prepping ahead / enjoying leftovers the next day, this is an excellent book for you.
What did you think of today's newsletter?We always love to hear from you, whether you leave us a comment or even just a click in the poll if you're speeding by! |
May the “respiratory virus season” pass without incident for you,
The 10almonds Team