The best way to face the Coronavirus alert is to keep your immune system healthy

The best way to face the Coronavirus alarm is to keep your immune system healthy, vital and strong. We should always make sure that our immune system is healthy, but now even more than usual. Washing your hands well and often and follow the social rules is necessary but does not contribute to strengthen your immune system. The New Scientist recommends in this article to wash your hands, eat well, sleep well and do sports to strengthen your immune defenses. A bit vague. I will give you more details and a few useful references to get more hints to strengthen your immune system starting from now.

There are many things we can do to keep our immune system strong and healthy, such as:

  • If you feel you are worried or afraid, find solutions, make choices; breathe, meditate and laugh with your friends (even though on the phone or one meter away!). Being afraid, worried or angry will weaken your natural defenses.
  • Limit your consumption of meat products and eat more vegetables, especially raw vegetables, beans and raw cereals. Follow mostly a Mediterranean diet, many times defined the healthiest diet by most of scientific trials. Follow Dr. Berrino’s diet recommendations I summarized in this article.
  • Overall, consider that your immune system is linked to a double delivery with the health of the intestinal microbiome (billions of bacteria, 10 times the number of cells in the body, 150 times the genes of the human species, 500-1000 species of microorganisms residing in the intestine and perform important functions). To keep it healthy, the most useful tips are to limit sugars and industrial or too refined foods to the maximum, as well as consume prebiotics (for example fermented foods) and probiotics.
  • Make sure you drink more than usual, even 1,5/2 l/day.
  • Make sure you eat enough food rich in Vitamins C and A, among the nutrients with the most antiviral impact. Take advantage of sun rays any time you have the chance, so as to produce your precious antiviral Vitamin D.
  • Use your spare time to relax, read, meditate (here is a meditation to strengthen the Immune System) or walk in the country or by the sea in order to recharge yourself with good quality pure and fresh air.
  • Make sure you use good sleep, here is a guide to enjoy high quality sleep.
  • Stay fit and consider to try short intermittent fasting, as recommended by Dr. Veronesi, Dr. Mosley, Dr. Dhalke, Dr. Fontana and many others. If you wish to try, read at least one of their books on this topic. I am myself following the 16/8 fasting type, which is I do not eat for 16 hours and I eat during the 8 hours left (it can be breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner). In so doing, the stomach and intestine can rest, any inflammation is calmed and your mitochondrion, that is your energy centers, can thrive.
  • If you are brave enough, take a cold shower in the morning, every day in this period. This practice, a sort of hydrotherapy according to the tradition of Kundalini Yoga, has the power to cleanse and energize the glandular system and strengthen the immune system. Here can you find a few tips to know how to do it.

To have a more extensive and accurate guide about the science of Coronavirus and recommendations to deal with this alarm, refer to this article by Dr. Roberto Gava (sorry, in Italian!)

Alessia Tanzi