7 Ways to Support Your Immune System to Avoid Getting Covid-19
With the numbers of Covid-19 cases surging around the country, more and more people are looking for additional ways to protect themselves to avoid getting this potentially deadly virus.
Of course wearing a mask, staying at least six feet apart from others, avoiding indoor spaces and washing your hands are all essential tools in reducing your chance of getting the virus. But if you want to increase your odds of staying healthy even more, you need to protect your body on the inside as well as on the outside, and that means taking whatever steps you can to bolster your immune system so you can fight off the virus if you come in contact with it.
The immune system is a complex bodily function that works best when we are consistently living a healthy lifestyle. So if you can do several of these on a daily basis, you’ll be giving yourself the best shot at staying healthy.
Here are the top 7 things you can do to support your immune system.
1. Get Enough Vitamin D
Many studies have shown that having adequate levels of Vitamin D makes you less likely to contract Covid-19, and also less likely to die from the disease. In an ideal world, the best way to get vitamin D exposure is by spending 30 minutes a day in full exposure in the sunlight (i.e. exposing your arms, legs, face, etc.) However, if you live in Illinois or Wisconsin in the winter, you may need to take a vitamin D supplement (unless you plan to sunbath in sub-freezing temperatures).
For proper dosage levels, get your vitamin D levels checked, and then ask me or another healthcare provider how much you should take per day. For most people, your vitamin D levels should be about 40-50 ng/ml. If you’re in that range, you should take about 1,000-2,000 IUs per day during the winter to maintain that level. If your levels are lower than that, ask your healthcare provider how much vitamin D you need to to bring your levels up, and then get it checked again.
Be aware, however, that with regards to Covid-19, taking too much vitamin D can be dangerous. Vitamin D is involved in producing something called interferons, which are proteins that the body makes during the immune response to fight off viruses. Normally that’s a good thing, but Covid-19 works by suppressing the body’s initial interferon response, and then later it produces a lot more interferons once the virus has entered the cells and started replicating. If you have too much vitamin D levels in your body, your interferon production can go into overdrive, causing a cytokine storm.
2. Maintain Good Gut Health
Did you know that your immune system is largely regulated in your gut? That’s why having a healthy gut microbiome that has the proper balance of good and bad bacteria is so important in helping our body fight foreign invaders, such as viruses. Maintaining good gut health basically comes down to having a healthy diet and eating lots of healthy proteins, healthy fats and high-fiber, nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, instead of loading up on refined sugar, grain-based carbohydrates or processed foods that are made with chemicals and other toxins. You can also try taking a spore-based probiotic or allicin (a supplement derived from garlic), to support a healthy bacterial balance in your gut.
3. Reduce Your Stress
Have you ever noticed that when you’re under a lot of stress you’re more likely to come down with a cold? That’s not just a coincidence. It turns out that when our bodies are under stress, we produce more cortisol, which suppresses our immune system, making it more likely that we will get sick. Plus, stress can also increase your blood pressure, and studies have shown that having high blood pressure can put you at an increased risk of developing severe complications from Covid-19.
To calm down, you can try turning off the news, breathing, and meditation, or you can add a few supplements to your diet, such as ginseng or ashwagandha, or you can drink some decaf green tea to help you relax.
4. Get Enough Vitamin C
Everyone knows that getting lots of vitamin C is a great way of staying healthy. That’s because vitamin C encourages the production of white blood cells, which protect the body against infection, making it a powerful part of the immune system. Our bodies don’t make vitamin C naturally, so we have to get it either through foods or in a supplement form. Foods that are high in vitamin C include citrus fruits, tomatoes, red and green peppers, broccoli and more. I suggest taking about 1,000 mg of vitamin C once a day if you are feeling well, and increasing it to about 1,000 mg twice a day if you start to feel sick.
5. Take Elderberry
Elderberry is a popular alternative to taking a regular vitamin C supplement, because it high in vitamin C and can help both balance and support your immune system. Plus, elderberry has antiviral properties and can actually block the virus from attaching to the receptors due to it's high caffeic acid content. I recommend taking 300 mg per day if you’re feeling well and increasing it up to 300 mg three times a day if you know you've been exposed to Covid-19.
6. Take Zinc
Zinc is a key component of a healthy immune system because it aids in the production T-cells and white blood cells that help fight off infection. And many studies have shown that taking zinc supplements can help ward off infections such as the common cold. With the original SARS virus (which is similar to the Covid-19 virus), zinc supplements were shown to inhibit the replication of the virus. I recommend taking 20 to 30 mg a day, however be sure to take it with food or it will give you an upset stomach. Or you can suck on zinc lozenges, instead, to coat the mouth and throat.
7. Get Enough Sleep
Skimping on your sleep not only makes you more tired and grouchy during the day, but it can also make you more likely to catch a virus as well. Studies have shown that people who don’t get adequate sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus, and lack of sleep helps you fight off infections, too. According to the Mayo Clinic, when you’re asleep, your immune system releases proteins called cytokines, which helps fight off inflammation, and when you don’t get enough sleep, your body may not produce enough of these, making you more likely to get sick. To help you fall asleep, I recommend taking 3 to 10 mg of melatonin, which has the added benefit of helping to reduce inflammation and is a free-radical scavenger that also helps protect the lungs, which is especially helpful in fighting Covid-19.