.Everyone is scared that they are going to get sick with Covid-19, the illness caused by coronavirus.
In the summer months when it is easy to get plenty of fresh air and be outside, it is easy to forget that the coronavirus is not the only thing that can make us sick. We are constantly being exposed to viruses and pathogens. Yet, when we have a good strong immune system, our bodies quietly take care of these things in the background and we are completely unaware that we have even been exposed to them.
Something else that people don’t realize is once you get a virus, that same immune system keeps the virus locked up tight so that we do not feel the effects of it. I perfect example of this is the varicella zoster virus. As a child, our body may react to this virus by showing up as chicken pox. When I was a kid, this was a fairly common childhood illness. For most of us, we would feel like crap for a few days and then be back to lives. As adults, this same virus can come back as a painful illness known as shingles. Shingles occurs when we have some kind of physical or emotional stress enter our lives which is just enough to weaken our immune system and allow the varicella zoster virus to come out of hiding and reek havoc.
In my last blog, I talked about 5 things that you can do to strengthen your immune system.
We are going to look at 5 more ways today.
1. Consume nutrient dense, organic whole foods whenever possible. Whole foods are foods that appear as they would in nature. They do not come in a box. Also, because organic foods have not been sprayed with pesticides, they are forced to take care of themselves. This means that when you consume them, they provide more nutrients that can be converted to vitamins and minerals in your body which are needed to help build a good, strong immune system.
Not everyone can afford organic food. Every year the Environmental Working Group (EWG) puts out a list of the foods that carry the heaviest pesticide load and those that carry the least amount. You can sign up to receive that list here and use that list to decide how to spend your grocery budget in the wisest manner.
2. Expose yourself to fresh air. The air quality in most people’s day to day environment is very toxic. There is outgassing from upholstery on the furniture, from the carpets, paints, and commercial cleaning products. Also, many things have flame retardants and stain repellants on them. All of this contribute to the quality of the air that we breathe. We trade a lot of stale dry air in the winter for very dry, cooler air in the summer when we use air conditioners. All this dryness can dry out the mucus membranes and make us more susceptible to being exposed to viruses and bacteria.
Open your windows on a regular basis. Yes, even in the winter. Breathing in fresh air helps keep our mucus membranes moist and helps reduce the number of toxins we breathe in.
3. Have regular bowel movements. Is this something that you struggle with? The liver is the second largest detoxification organ in the body. (The skin is the first!) When our liver is working optimally, we should be having at least one bowel movement per day. Toxins tend to build up in our body over time and eventually the body is triggered into a disease dynamic.
If constipation is a problem for you, take magnesium citrate before bed. Typically this will cause someone to have a bowel movement within a day or 2. If it doesn’t, up the amount gradually until you do. Alternatively, put 2 tablespoons of chia seeds in a glass of water and drink that before bed. It can have the same effect as the magnesium citrate.
Also, no matter how clean you eat and how water you drink, we are all being constantly exposed to toxins in our food, water, and environment. It is suggested that you do at least two cleanses a year.
4. Do regular exercise and, if possible, combine it with being exposed to nature, without a mask. Too much exercise can promote an inflammatory response in the body and increase stress hormones. Our body, after all, does not recognize the difference between running for fun and running because a wild animal is chasing us. However, a good balance of exercise can be a great stress reliever and, when we do it in nature, we are exposing ourselves to viruses and bacteria that can actually train our immune system to respond appropriately.
Some great ways to exercise to reduce stress and anxiety including going for a walk in the woods, riding your bicycle away from traffic where you are breathing in a lot of toxins, or combining your breath with movement such as in yoga or tai chi.
5. Getting regular, deep, restful sleep. In today’s society, it is so easy to not prioritize sleep but sleep is the time that our body restores tissues and builds hormones and is so necessary for optimal health.
To help get a good night’s sleep, turn off your t.v. at least an hour before bed and treat yourself as you might a small child – take a bath, read a fun book, keep the lights and temperature low, and the noise level soft.
It is more important than ever to keep our immune system strong and healthy. If you have any trouble doing any of these things, please, feel free to reach out to me.
