Prone to Sinus Infections or Ear Infections? Listen to This | Ep 395
The Funk'tional Nutrition Podcast
Erin Holt
4.8 • 788 Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If your “normal” winter cold has a habit of spiraling into a full-blown sinus or ear infection, this episode is your prevention wake-up call so you can stop the cycle. Erin is sharing her favorite strategies that are simple and unglamorous, but will keep things moving.
You’ll learn why dry air is not your friend (hello winter and airplanes!), how a humidifier can help keep mucus thin, and why nasal a neti pot or even just saline spray is one of the easiest ways to physically rinse out irritants and pathogens.
Erin also offers an important PSA on humidifiers you won’t want to miss.
In this episode:
- Why dry air can slow your sinuses’ natural clearing system and let pathogens linger longer
- The nightly habit Erin forgot to do, and why it matters so much for keeping mucus thin and drainage moving
- Neti pot vs. saline spray and how each option can help physically remove viruses, bacteria, allergens, and pollutants
- The “helpful but can backfire” list of add-ons to consider when you’re prone to infections after a cold
- The humidifier warning most people miss and the quick way to spot when humidity is getting too high
Resources mentioned:
Erin’s Honeywell Germ Free Cool Mist Humidifier and Miro Humidifier
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A sinus infection is when the lining of your sinuses become inflamed, swollen, they trap mucus, |
| 0:05.7 | and it makes it hard for the sinuses to drain properly. |
| 0:08.9 | And then when that mucus gets stuck, bacteria, viruses, or fungi can grow, and that's what |
| 0:14.4 | leads to an infection. |
| 0:16.0 | And this can sometimes lead to an ear infection because when the nose and the sinuses are |
| 0:20.6 | inflamed, the |
| 0:21.5 | station tube in your ear can't open well. Fluid will get trapped behind the eardrum, |
| 0:26.9 | and that fluid becomes a growth medium for bacteria. So this is how a cold or a sinus |
| 0:34.4 | issue or something viral can turn into a bacterial infection. |
| 0:39.9 | Welcome to the functional nutrition podcast, spell it with a K, |
| 0:42.9 | because we do things a little differently around here. |
| 0:45.3 | I'm your host, Aaron Holt, and I've got 15 years of clinical experience |
| 0:48.3 | as a functional nutritionist and mindset coach, |
| 0:51.0 | creating a new model that I call intuitive functional medicine, |
| 0:54.9 | where we combine root cause medicine with the innate intelligence of your body. |
| 0:58.9 | This is where science meets self-trust. |
| 1:01.5 | Your body already knows how to heal, and this show is going to show you how. |
| 1:06.0 | If you're looking for new ways of thinking about your health, be sure to follow and share |
| 1:09.8 | with a friend because you |
| 1:10.8 | never know whose life you might change. Hello, my friends. If you are prone to sinus infections |
| 1:17.0 | or ear infections, I want you to listen to today's podcast. I am coming to you hot, live and direct, |
| 1:25.5 | on antibiotics. |
... |
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