As always, there are many actions we can control and take immediately that can have a major impact on our health. Here are several that can improve your resilience and increase the probability of an infection being mild. Remember to work with your personal medical team to reduce your risk of contracting COVID-19.
1. Avoid all non-essential travel and non-essential meetings.
2. Improve the quality of your diet by removing added sugars, white flours, and pasta.
A high sugar diet dumps a lot of glucose into your bloodstream, which decreases your immune cells’ ability to protect you from illness. Focus on vegetables and meat (legumes and gluten-free grains for vegetarians and vegans) and get rid of sweet desserts.
3. Get enough sleep, preferably 7 to 9 hours. Sleep is vital to keeping immune cells ready to fight viral infections. Sleep deprivation suppresses your immune system’s innate ability to act as the first line of defense. (More to come regarding how Melatonin levels protect our body.)
4. Wash your hands with soap and water vigorously for 20 seconds. Avoid shaking hands to minimize the spread of the virus. I recently saw a great infographic that said: “Wash your hands like you have just chopped hot peppers and are about to put in your contacts.”
5. Monitor your temperature. If it is above 100 degrees F. (37.7 Celsius) self-quarantine for 14 days.
Stay home if you become ill. If you develop a cough, sore throat, or shortness of breath, do not go to work or frequent public places, which will spread illness, perhaps to an at-risk individual for whom an infection could be deadly.
6. Check your vitamin D level. If your vitamin D level is below 20 ng/ml, you are at increased risk for infection. Even at levels below 40 ng/ml, the risk for a wide variety of poor health outcomes goes up. If your levels are low, work with your personal medical team to increase your vitamin D level to get to the optimal range (top half of the lab’s reference range).
7. Consider Thymosin Alpha-1 This is a 28-amino acid peptide that has a positive effect on your immune system by helping your body fight disease. It is FDA approved and has been shown in studies to stimulate one’s own immune system in fighting against diseases and various viruses. Because this peptide has the ability to “nudge” your body’s natural fighter cells into action it is a choice used by many providers in treating Lyme Disease, chronic fatigue and a variety of autoimmune disorders.