Natural prevention and immune support (for virus' and more...)
General Precautions
Hand washing
Avoid touching your face
If you (or your children!) are sick, stay home
Cover your cough with your elbow or tissues (then wash your hands)
Use a humidifier at home. Viral particles cannot travel as far in moist air compared to dry air.
General Immune Support
Some key considerations for general immune support include ensuring adequate sun exposure, fresh air and healthy vitamin D levels.
Stay well hydrated - half your body weight in ounces per day. Water, bone broth, herbal teas and coconut water. If you've been considering a water filtration system, Berkey is by and far the best filter for removing virus' and a host of other contaminants present in our drinking water. Bonus: it's a gravity-fed system and requires no electricity to operate.
Avoid sugar, sugary drinks and abundance of dried fruit, empty processed carbs etc.
Nasal irrigation with a neti pot or nasal spray 1-2x daily. Viruses try to invade and multiply in the nasal passages for a couple days before you develop any symptoms. Nasal irrigation may wash away these particles before they take hold.
Keep healthy sleep habits - get plenty! Sleeping can increase your white blood cell production while loss of sleep - even just a few hours each night - can decrease immune response and increase inflammation in the body.
Laugher, friend! Watch some stand-up on youtube or Netflix! Google for kids jokes. Nothing is better than telling my kids simple jokes and watching them die in laughter. Also, kids joke books are pretty fab, if I do say so myself. Turn off the news. It doesn’t change much anyway!
Lifestyle Ideas
Foods and spices that have antiviral properties and are immune supportive include coconut oil, raw garlic, onions, leeks, ginger, oregano, fermented foods if tolerated, walnut, pomegranate, apple cider vinegar, green tea and mushrooms (turkeytail, cordyceps, shiitake, reishi)
Get into the fresh air and enjoy some exercise daily. Exercise can boost a white blood cell or immune component called microphages. The job of the microphage is to come in and eat up bacteria and virus’.
Grab an air purifier. I really love this one, and bonus, it’s not terribly ugly, is available on Amazon and has both a HEPA filter and a UV-C sanitizer for killing virus’ in your indoor air.
Rebounding and dry brushing both support lymph movement as it is the lymphatic system that carries out the waste of the body as well as helps to cart nutrients around. 5-20 minutes of rebounding a day and a dry brushing session before the shower or bath is great!
A warm foot soak to the knees or epsom salt bath also increase lymph flow. We have this little trampoline in our basement and the boys are constantly jumping on it. I do a round of jumps every time I walk past to the laundry room.
Supplemental Support
Vitamin C: 3,000 milligrams (or more) daily, in divided doses. To bowel tolerance - this causes loose stools and should be paused just before that mark, if possible. This is key and is often used to battle advance viral issues - was a key option for my severe mono a few years and recently was suggested as an anecdote to COVID-19 by the Shanghai government. Vitamin C is a bit tricky to come by, so a great food option rich in Vitamin C is Camu Camu.
Vitamin D3: 2,000 International Units daily. (Start with 5,000 IU/day for two weeks, then reduce to 2,000). Particularly key for folks with autoimmune disease as D3 keeps the immune system on track. Bonus points if you track down a D/K2 combo - I love and keep this one in my office.
Magnesium: 400 mg daily (in citrate, malate, chelate, or chloride form)
Zinc: 20 mg daily ( I like aqueous zinc lots as it doesn’t cause the stomach to feel queasy and is easier to tell if you still have a need for it by the taste.
Selenium: 100 mcg (micrograms) daily
Vitamin C, Vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, and selenium have been shown to strengthen the immune system against viruses.
Liver capsules - These were my lifeline when I was suffering with an acute mono reactivation. I was barely walking, but after a dose of these guys - literally dehydrated quality beef livers - my body would perk up and I could look a bit like normal. Essentially, they’re nature’s super vitamin.
Olive leaf extract - Has a reputation for decreasing the duration of upper respiratory illness. Works well for me, an upper respiratory prone gal.
Oregano oil - Its compounds are virustatic and virucial against several viral pathogens. Biotics ADP is my favorite version - when I’m sick, I’ll hold one in my mouth (it’s intense!) and it clears out my sinus’ in a jiffy! In a pinch a quality essential oil into a capsule, down the hatch also works. Diffusing this essential oil is a great immune boost, too.
Elderberry syrup - So long as this is honey based (we need no extra processed sugar - I’m not high on the extra honey, either, but elderberry extract is hard to find and honey has great qualities, too!), a dose a day can be wise. In those with autoimmune disease, I suggest using this at the first note of sickness and if it’s not helpful within the first 48 hours, give it a stop.
NAC - N-aectly-L-cysteine - Detox supportive. Detox is key to taking out the trash of the virus.
Anxious or Worried?
The relentless news and social chatter can just be a lot for those of us home, especially those of us out of routines, maybe dealing with kiddos at home from school with little activities and rainy spring weather keeping us home. This is also just hard! Hard for extroverts! Hard for those with hard past health histories! Hard for those with loved ones! Hard for those with immune compromised family!
Don’t be surprised or discouraged if this is bringing up worry and anxiety and get help, as you can. It's ok to distance yourself from conversation or draw a boundary that you'd rather not talk about it.
Telehealth - mental health calls though telephone or video calls are a things these days and what a gift! Grab yourself a call if you need the mental health support!
Holy basil is a calming herb. I like to drink this tea or add this tincture under my tongue or in a beverage.
L-theanine is an amino acid that I lovingly refer to as “Crunchy girl Xanax”. It is a lovely help in acute moments of stress, anxiety and panic. It’ll chill ya down real nice for a bit.
For those feeling physically tense, I recommend GABA.
When the anxiety is a bit more worry-type, for when you’re imagining the worst and are struggling to shut your busy mind off, tryptophan or 5-HTP are my go to recommendations.
If your nervous system feels highly active and you’re having a hard time resetting - a great option is the simple homeopathic Kali Phosphoricum 30c. Take them before each of your 3 meals.
