Shingles Nutrition Prevention & Support - Ask a Nutritionist

Transcript:

Amy: Hello and welcome back to “Ask a Nutritionist”, our weekly mini episode of Dishing Up Nutrition. I'm Amy Crum, a registered dietitian with Nutritional Weight & Wellness, and today we're diving into a topic that many people don't think about until it happens to them. Shingles. If you've ever had something like a shingles outbreak or you're worried about it coming back, you know how much it can rattle your confidence in your day-to-day life.

Maybe your doctor treated the rash and pain, but you're left wondering, okay, what can I do with my food, my sleep, my daily habits to support my body so this doesn't keep happening.

That's exactly what we're going to talk about today. The everyday choices that keep your immune system strong and resilient. So think of today's episode as your simple, doable plan to support your immune system, so it's less likely to get overwhelmed.

What is the shingles virus & how does it develop?

Let's just briefly cover the basics. What is the shingles virus and how does it develop? Shingles is a painful rash that develops from the same virus that causes chickenpox. If you've had chickenpox at any point in your life, the virus never fully leaves your body.

Instead, it goes dormant in your body. For many people, it stays asleep forever, but in some individuals it can reactivate years or even decades later as shingles, so you don't catch shingles from someone else in the typical sense. You only develop shingles if you've previously had chicken pox.

Shingles happens when the virus reactivates, but unlike chickenpox, shingles usually appears as a painful, blistering rash that shows up on one side of the body or face. And this isn't something that goes away easily. In some cases, shingles can lead to complications leaving lingering nerve pain that last months or even longer after the rash clears. So preventing shingles is something we want to take seriously.

Risk factors for developing shingles

So what are the risk factors for developing shingles? Several factors increase your risk of shingles. First is age. Risk rises significantly after age 50. As we age, immune function naturally declines.

Anything that suppresses immune function increases risk, so things like chronic stress, autoimmune disease and other chronic illnesses, cancer treatments, or longtime steroid use; nutrient deficiencies also impact the immune system. Deficiencies in key immune supporting nutrients such as vitamin D and zinc may weaken the body's ability to keep the virus dormant.

How can you stop shingles before it starts?

So you may be wondering how can you stop shingles before it starts? There are two primary prevention strategies. The shingles vaccine is currently the most effective prevention strategy, especially for adults over 50. But strengthening the immune system through diet and lifestyle is also important.

You can't guarantee shingles prevention with food alone, but you can support immune resilience with strategies like prioritizing sleep, but seven to nine hours per night, managing stress effectively, eating a nutrient-dense diet, avoiding excess sugar and processed foods, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels, and exercising moderately without overstressing the body.

The stronger and more balanced your immune system is the lower the likelihood of virus reactivation. It's really about the daily habits, what you eat, how you sleep, how you manage stress, and the rhythm of your days. So if you're trying to prevent another outbreak of anything your body struggles with, the question becomes how can I build a strong foundation so my immune system isn't running on fumes?

From a dietary perspective, first we have to talk about sugar. Sugar weakens immunity. In fact, sugar competes with vitamin C at the cellular level. Chronically high blood sugars can reduce vitamin C uptake in the immune cells, leaving them depleted. So if you're eating a high carb and sugar diet, you're basically suppressing your immune system all day long.

If your body already has a history of getting run down, or your immune system is a bit overwhelmed, that constant sugar hit can be a big barrier to staying well. A balanced real food diet of protein, colorful vegetables and natural fats lay the foundation for a resilient immune system.

In fact, protein is especially helpful for the immune system, especially as we age, low protein intake is associated with impaired immune response in older adults. So every time you eat, include a protein source like eggs, poultry, fish, and seafood, yogurt and grass-fed meat.

A good quality protein powder like from grass fed whey can increase your total protein intake to fill the gaps. Aim for 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, which is about 0.5 to 0.7 grams per pound. So take your body weight in pounds and multiply it by 0.5, and then again by 0.7.

This is the range in grams you should be aiming for per day. So, for example, 150 pound person should aim for about 80 to 110 grams of protein per day. And know this is just an estimate. Your nutritionist or dietitian can give you a more customized protein goal based on your activity level, age, height, weight, and goals.

And always pair those high protein foods with vegetables and smaller amounts of fruit packed with immune boosting antioxidants. Ideally, we'd want to see a couple cups of vegetables with each meal, plus a couple servings of fruit per day.

Supplements can help fill in nutrient gaps

But since we often fall short in fruit and vegetable intake, we'd like to utilize immunity supplements to fill in those gaps. While no vitamin can guarantee shingles prevention, several nutrients are essential for immune regulation and may help reduce risk if levels are adequate.

First is vitamin D. Vitamin D plays a crucial role in our immune system, and low levels are associated with increased susceptibility to infections and viral reactivation. Here on Dishing Up Nutrition, we are always stressing the importance of vitamin D for immune function, and in older age it's even more important.

We suggest supplementing with 5,000 IU per day so that when you do a vitamin D blood test, the levels get to around 50 to 80. Supplementing vitamin D is a top strategy to support immune health because we just don't get enough from food alone.

Next are zinc and vitamin C. Zinc is critical for antiviral immune response and help speed up healing and recovery from infections. Even mild deficiency can impair immune defense. You can get zinc from foods like grass-fed beef, shellfish and pumpkin seeds, but we find that older adults and those with low animal protein intake tend to be low in zinc. So you can also temporarily add in a zinc supplement up to 50 milligrams per day.

You want to limit high dosing like this to no more than two to three months at a time, or you can take zinc every other day because too much zinc over time can interfere with other minerals like iron and copper.

When you think of immunity supplements, chances are vitamin C comes to mind. Vitamin C supports immune cell function and helps reduce oxidative stress, and adequate intake supports overall immune health to fight infection.

A good combo of immune supplements is our Nutrikey Complete C one to two times a day, along with 5,000 IU of vitamin D, plus zinc every other day as a preventative routine. Food and supplements are key pieces, but not the whole story.

Lifestyle factors play a big part in immune resilience

Lifestyle factors are a big part of immune resilience. Sleep is one of the biggest foundations of a healthy immune system. Sleep deprivation suppresses T-cell function, which is critical for keeping the shingles virus dormant. Even one night of poor sleep can reduce your immune response.

You want to aim for seven and a half to nine hours as the gold standard for optimal sleep. So if you're someone who's often at five or six hours of sleep and thinking, I'm fine, your body might not agree, especially if you are trying to avoid getting run down.

Helpful habits are to aim for a consistent sleep and wake time. Get outside and expose yourself to light, even if just for five minutes. Avoid alcohol and caffeine afternoon and reduce screen exposure before bed. This is something to take really seriously because chronic sleep restriction is a known viral reactivation trigger.

Another factor that can suppress the immune system is chronic stress. Being chronically stressed and sleep deprived makes your immune system more likely to be suppressed, which can put you at more risk for shingles. We can't always fix external stressors, caregiving, grief, busy seasons, but we can reduce the physical stress on the body by keeping blood sugar balanced.

A diet high in carbs and sugar, skipping meals or not eating enough healthy fat and protein keeps you on a blood sugar roller coaster, which is stressful for the body and not great for the immune system. Eating every few hours with adequate protein, vegetables, or fruit, and healthy fats is a way to lower that physical stress and support your immune resilience.

So remember, high blood sugar impairs immune function and increases inflammation. Stable blood sugar supports healing. So when we bring this back to someone who's trying to avoid repeat infections or flares, the question is, am I giving my body enough rest and steady fuel to feel safe and supported?

None of this is extreme. It's not a cleanse or a fast or a punishment. It's a pattern of eating and living that your body can rely on to help prevent a shingles outbreak and support recovery. Shingles isn't about catching a virus like a cold or a flu.

It's about immune balance to fight the virus from activating. Most adults carry the varicella virus. Only some develop shingles. In addition to vaccinations, the difference often comes down to immune strength, stress levels, age, and overall health status. You can't eliminate all risks, but you can nourish your body consistently, correct nutrient deficiencies, prioritize sleep, and manage stress to the best of your ability.

Prevention isn't about perfection. It's about stacking the odds in your favor. In wrapping up this conversation, if you're over 50 or have risk factors for immune suppression, consider having a conversation with your healthcare provider about shingles prevention and consider meeting with a dietitian to make sure you're getting your diet and lifestyle meats met.

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Proper nutrition supports immune resilience, which helps keep dormant viruses quiet. Thank you for tuning in today. If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone who might benefit. And to learn more about meeting with a dietitian at Nutritional Weight & Wellness, visit our website, weightandwellness.com. Until next time, take care and have a great day.