Winter practices that help support the body through winter

Hi I’m Sammy,

Your Good Farm in-house nutritionist. Here to bring you essential information on nutrition, diet and permaculture gardening - in a bite size, easy to understand, science-backed way.

Winter Practices

Last week, we explored some simple food- and supplement-based remedies to support your body through winter. This week, we will explore non-food practices that may help support immune function, recovery, circulation, sleep, and overall resilience during the colder months.

The Lymphatic System

Unlike the cardiovascular system, the lymphatic system does not have a central pumping organ like the heart. Instead, lymph circulation relies heavily on movement, breathing, muscle contraction, hydration, and pressure changes within the body.

The lymphatic system plays an important role in:
• transporting immune cells
• removing cellular waste
• filtering pathogens
• maintaining fluid balance

It can be thought of as both a drainage network and an important component of immune surveillance.

Modern lifestyles can often work against healthy lymphatic flow. During winter, reduced activity levels, more time indoors, stress, shallow breathing, and increased sedentary behaviour may all contribute to sluggish circulation and stagnation.

Supporting daily lymphatic movement can therefore be particularly beneficial during colder months through gentle practices that encourage circulation, nervous system regulation, and whole-body movement.

Helpful forms of lymphatic movement include:
• brisk walking
• bouncing or rebounding
• skipping
• mobility work
• dancing
• resistance training
• deep diaphragmatic breathing
• sauna with subsequent cool exposure

Walking remains one of the most underrated lymphatic supports. Rhythmic movement, arm swing, muscle contraction, and deeper breathing all help encourage lymphatic circulation naturally.

Heat exposure such as sauna may also support circulation, sweating, and vascular function, while the cooling phase afterwards can further stimulate blood and lymphatic flow. This contrast-style approach has long been used traditionally across many cultures.

Heat Therapy

Humans have used heat therapeutically for thousands of years across cultures, most commonly through practices such as saunas, steam rooms, and hot baths.

Heat exposure may support several physiological processes, including:
• increased circulation
• relaxation of the nervous system
• support of sweating and skin-based thermoregulation
• improved sleep onset and sleep quality
• temporary activation of heat shock proteins and cellular stress-response pathways
• mild stimulation of thermoregulatory processes similar to those seen in fever

Fever itself is an adaptive immune response, and heat exposure may represent a mild, controlled form of physiological stress that engages similar resilience pathways. This is often described as “hormesis,” where short-term stress may support longer-term adaptation.

Not everyone has access to a sauna, but warm baths can provide many of the same benefits in a more accessible form.

A warm bath, particularly in the evening, can also support sleep through a well-established thermoregulatory effect. As body temperature rises during immersion and then gradually falls afterwards, this post-bath cooling phase signals the body toward sleep onset. Since sleep is one of the most important foundations of immune function, this indirect effect is particularly relevant during winter.

Adding Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) to a bath may support muscle relaxation and additions such as eucalyptus oil, lavender or lemon myrtle leaves may further enhance the therapeutic experience.

A small amount of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) can be added to bath water to help neutralise chlorine and chloramines commonly found in tap water.

Many traditional cultures combined heat exposure with rest, herbal infusions, broths, and intentional sweating practices during periods of illness or recovery. Modern lifestyles often separate these elements, but they likely acted synergistically as part of broader recuperative rituals.

Sleep

Winter is biologically a season of slowing down. Across both traditional cultures and modern research, winter has long been associated with increased rest, reduced activity, and greater attention to recovery.

Sleep is one of the most important foundations of immune health. During deep sleep, the body shifts into a state of repair, immune regulation, nervous system recovery, and tissue restoration.

Sleep deprivation may impair:
• natural killer cell activity
• antibody production
• immune communication
• recovery capacity
• blood sugar regulation and stress resilience

Immune memory and repair processes become highly active during deep sleep. This is also when the brain increases glymphatic activity, a process involved in cellular waste clearance and neurological recovery.

Supporting winter sleep may involve:
• dimmer lighting in the evening
• avoiding stimulating content and notifications before bed
• reducing phone and screen exposure in the hours before bed where possible
• wearing blue light blocking glasses in the evening if electronic use is unavoidable at night
• warming evening meals
• Foods rich in glycine, an amino acid involved in nervous system regulation and sleep support
• morning sunlight exposure
• magnesium-rich foods
• nasal breathing and cooler sleeping environments
• consistent sleep and wake times

Morning sunlight exposure plays an important role in regulating circadian rhythms. Early natural light exposure helps signal wakefulness to the brain, supports healthy cortisol rhythm regulation, and later assists melatonin production in the evening, helping support deeper and more restorative sleep at night.

Artificial light exposure at night, particularly from phones and screens, may interfere with circadian rhythms and melatonin production. Creating better “phone hygiene” in the evening can therefore be a surprisingly powerful support for sleep quality, recovery, and immune resilience during winter.

Even small improvements in sleep consistency and sleep quality can have significant downstream effects on immune function, nervous system regulation, recovery, energy, and overall wellbeing during winter.

Glycine is found in higher amounts within collagen-rich foods such as slow-cooked meats, bone broth, cartilage, skin, and stock-based meals, which is why traditional cooking methods like slow braising and cooking meat on the bone tend to provide significantly more glycine than lean muscle meats alone. Some of our glycine-rich meals include the Primal Ragu, Chipotle Beef Brisket with Garlic Butter Rice.

Saline Rinses and Nasal Support

The nasal passages are one of the body’s first lines of defence against inhaled viruses, allergens, pollutants, and environmental irritants. Supporting the health of the nasal mucosa during winter may therefore play an important role in respiratory and immune health.

Saline rinses and nasal irrigation have been used traditionally for centuries, particularly through practices such as the neti pot in Ayurvedic medicine. More recently, nasal saline irrigation has gained attention for its role in supporting sinus health, mucus clearance, and upper respiratory function.

Saline rinses may help:
• support normal mucus clearance
• mechanically remove particles, allergens, and pathogens
• maintain hydration of the nasal tissues
• support the integrity of the mucosal barrier
• reduce nasal congestion and irritation

Emerging research also suggests saline irrigation may help reduce viral load within the nasal passages and potentially interfere with the early stages of viral attachment to mucosal surfaces. While not a guarantee against infection, regular saline rinsing may offer a simple supportive strategy during periods of increased viral exposure.

Important considerations:
• always use sterile, distilled, or previously boiled water
• ensure devices are cleaned properly between uses
• avoid overly aggressive rinsing if nasal tissues are already irritated

Other supportive practices may include:
• humidifiers in dry indoor environments
• steam inhalation
• adequate hydration
• fresh air and ventilation where possible
• essential oil diffusers using oils such as eucalyptus, peppermint, or lavender

Connection With Nature

Humans evolved in close relationship with the natural world. From an evolutionary perspective, constant exposure to soil, plants, animals, microbes, sunlight, fresh air, and seasonal environments helped shape both the immune system and the human microbiome.

Modern living has dramatically altered this relationship. Increased indoor living, reduced environmental diversity, excessive sanitisation, urbanisation, and lower contact with natural environments may all contribute to reduced microbial diversity and immune dysregulation.

Emerging research continues to highlight the important relationship between environmental biodiversity, the microbiome, and immune health. Exposure to diverse natural environments may help support:
• microbial diversity
• immune tolerance and regulation
• nervous system regulation
• stress reduction
• overall resilience and wellbeing

This may be particularly relevant following antibiotic use. While antibiotics can at times be necessary and life-saving, they may also significantly alter the gut microbiome. Alongside nutrition and targeted probiotics, reconnecting with diverse natural environments may represent another supportive strategy for microbiome recovery.

Supportive practices may include:
• walking barefoot on natural surfaces
• gardening or spending time in soil
• swimming in the ocean
• bushwalks and time in green spaces
• outdoor movement and exercise
• regular exposure to fresh air and sunlight
• reducing unnecessary over-sanitisation within normal daily life

Nature exposure also influences the nervous system, helping shift the body away from chronic stress states and toward greater parasympathetic activity, which is closely linked to immune regulation and recovery.

While modern medicine and hygiene remain incredibly important, reconnecting with the natural environment may be one of the more overlooked foundations of long-term immune and microbiome health.

Next week, we will explore how to support the body through illness rather than simply suppressing symptoms, and why responses such as fever, mucus production, and a runny nose are often protective and adaptive parts of the immune process. We will also look at how some commonly used medications may interfere with these natural defence mechanisms and, in certain situations, potentially prolong aspects of recovery.

Aside from being The Good Farm in-house nutritionist, I also help people one on one. I'm currently still on maternity leave but you can find me at: www.sammytruswell.com.au

References

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