The coronavirus. Is it media hysteria or is it something we should be legitimately alarmed about? I believe we should be alert but not alarmed but not just about the coronavirus but for many of the viruses around. You personally can’t control the spread of the coronavirus or other viruses around the world. However, you can influence how your body can cope with viruses if you take some of these steps now…
It all comes down to taking steps to boost your immune function and also avoiding things that don’t impair your immune function.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Don’t skimp on your sleep. Research suggests that missing out on just 90 minutes of sleep can lower your immunity by around 500%. Click here to learn how to get immune-enhancing sleep.
Exercise
There’s an abundance of research that shows that regular aerobic exercise improves your resistance to infections. Don’t go overboard with the exercise as too much can impair your immunity but it won’t be an issue for most of us. By too much exercise, I have found that professional and amateur ( but competitive) triathletes are the ones that can place their health at risk through overtraining.
Handwashing
The best defence of infections remains to handwash with normal soap and water. You don’t need the antibacterial washes but some portable hand sanitizer is convenient for when you are out in public. I do caution against overuse though as it can adversely impact the natural healthy bacterial balance of your skin. Some people choose tea tree oil or colloidal silver as natural disinfectants.
Probiotics/Fermented Food
Chances are you are going to come across people who may be germ-phobic, workplaces who may be over-cautious regarding the coronavirus. It may mean that you are exposed to lots more spraying of antibacterial sprays in public places or other people’s homes and workplaces. This can impact your own bacterial balance and gut microbiome which is responsible for a major part of your own immune response. Ensure a healthy balance of bacteria in your gut through the consumption of fermented foods and drinks like miso, kombucha, kefir, non-flavoured yoghurt or a good quality probiotic like Mercola’s Complete Probiotics.
Chiropractic Care
Not many people know that chiropractic rose to prominence in 1918 as a result of it being able to help to massively improve the survival rate of people during the 1918 flu epidemic. It wasn’t until 1997 that scientists discovered the mechanism of how chiropractic spinal adjustments can influence the immune function.
Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake
Fruit and vegetables (especially vegetables) provide the bulk of the nutrients your body requires to heal, repair and protect itself from infection. You can’t eat enough of this food. If you want better immunity, eat more fruits and vegetables. For an added boost and peace of mind, my family and I take Juice Plus fruit and veggie supplements which have been shown to help boost immune function and reduce the severity of infections in healthcare professionals, athletic men under extreme training duress, law students under exam pressure, and importantly also in the elderly.
Keep Your Mouth Shut and Breathe Through Your Nose
Not only is nose breathing the most effective way of breathing but the nose is also home to cells that filter a lot of the viruses, bacteria, rubbish that could be in the air. The mouth and throat have none of these types of cells. This reduces your chance of airborne infections by nose breathing.
Stay Calm
Be alert but not alarmed. If you want to drastically lower your immunity and increase your susceptibility to all diseases start freaking out and stressing out. That will harm you way more than any virus will. And by the way, the common flu virus has killed way more people this year than the coronavirus and we’re not freaking out about that.
The Reality About Viruses
Just because you come across a virus does not mean it is going to overpower you. I can’t grow wheat or barley inside my house if I throw the seeds on the carpet because for those crops to proliferate they need certain conditions. It’s the same with viruses. A virus needs certain conditions to thrive and those conditions are often found in a weakened or immune-compromised host. The more steps that you and your family take to improve your own immunity the greater confidence and peace of mind you will feel.
For any further questions on natural ways to boost your immunity feel, please call Be Healthy Chiropractic at (07) 5457 0657.