Boost your immune system during COVID-19 pandemic

byAPascaud

325 followers

Updated 5 years ago

The whole world seems upside down by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Corona virus pandemic, has an impact on everyone's life. I’ve been working on my blog site www.morefun2run.com to provide tips to runners all over the world on how they can tackle injuries and other runners issues. The article that I am working on at the moment is about “how runners can protect themselves and boost their immune system during the COVID-19 pandemic”. But as not everyone here is a runner, I have selected some parts of the full article, that might be useful to everyone of us: Protect yourself and others & boost your immune system! Stay healthy!

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The situation is developing rapidly, so please check reliable resources regularly, for the most up-to-date information. Recommended Resources:

• World Health Organization - general, daily situation reports
• European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Worldwide, our governments are making tough decisions and they will take disease control measures that are necessary for public health. Stay updated on what’s going on in your living area. Find out about your local restrictions or mandatory self-quarantines and check out your own governmental websites on COVID-19 news.

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While the corona virus continues to spread it is most important to do all you can to protect yourselves and others around you to avoid that everyone gets infected all at once, which would lead to exhaustion of our medical facilities and services. We’ve learned so far that social distancing and proper hand washings will lessen our chances of catching COVID-19. What else can we do? And what should we avoid?

Social distancing, self quarantine and isolation explained

Medical experts around the world say that “social distancing” is the key to slowing the high speed spread of corona virus. That doesn’t mean we all have to go into self-isolation, unless you have the symptoms. You might need to go in self-quarantine though. What’s the difference between these practices?

• Social distancing is deliberately increasing the physical space between people to avoid spreading illness. Staying at least six feet away from other people lessen your chances of catching COVID-19.
• Self-quarantine should be practiced by people who (might) have been exposed to the virus and in that case are at-risk for coming down with COVID-19. For example people who have recently returned from traveling to an area in the world, where COVID-19 is spreading rapidly, or if they have knowingly been exposed to an infected person. Health experts recommend at least 14 days self quarantine. Two weeks provide enough time for them to know whether they will become ill and be contagious to other people.
• Isolation is a health care term which means keeping people, that are infected with a contagious illness like COVID-19, away from those who are not infected. Isolation can take place at home or at a hospital. Special personal protective equipment will be used to care for these patients in health care settings.

How to boost our immune system

As long as you are not showing any symptoms and you have no reason to think you have been exposed to the virus, you can do several things to strengthen your personal health and to boost your immune system:

• (home-) Exercise regularly: Exercise promotes good circulation and can be one of the best things to do to boost immunity. It improves cardiovascular health, lowers blood pressure, helps control body weight, and protects against a variety of diseases. But we have to be careful because too much exercise is stressful on the body and can be tough on our immune system. So keep the impact of your exercise moderate (and therefor the stress on your body low) land if you're tired, then take a rest and recover! Finds the right apps or websites that offer exercises that you like to do. This makes it easier to actually do them regularly.
• Minimise emotional stress: there is a closely linked relationship between the mind and the body. A wide variety of illnesses, like an upset stomach, allergic reactions and even heart disease, are linked to the effects of emotional stress. Find a way to relieve from stress situations. Meditation or yoga could help, or talking with someone. Physical exercises also helps reduce emotional stress.
• Get adequate sleep: getting not enough sleep increases stress and decreases our immunity. Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Plan your bed times and switch off all of your devices an hour before you head to bed.
• Maintain a healthy weight: Body mass index (BMI) is one of the most popular ways to calculate an ideal weight range. It is a measure of body fat based on your height and weight. Between 18.5 and 24.9 means you're in the “normal” weight range for your height. If your result is under 18.5, you're considered underweight. Between 25 and 29.9 means you're considered overweight. Consider changing your diet if your BMI isn’t in the healthy range. If you need help, please don’t wait until “later” and consult a professional dietitian, a nutritionist or a lifestyle coach. There are many professionals that can help online as well!
• Reduce inflammation: When tissues are damaged, the inflammatory response is initiated, and the immune system becomes active. Try to avoid injuries, other inflammations or skin irritations to keep your immune system at full strength in case of COVID-19 infection.
• Don’t smoke: Smoking harms the immune system and can make the body less successful at fighting diseases.
• Drink alcohol only in moderation: Alcohol disrupts the gut barrier, allowing more bacteria that cause sickness and viruses to pass into the blood. Excessive drinking reduces the strength of your immune system.
• Breathing-techniques: deep belly breathing and other breathing techniques not only reduce mental and physical stress, but when performed correctly and regularly they can be an enormous immune system booster. There are many apps and websites to be found to teach you breathing techniques. Just try!
• Immune system boosting nutrition: eat more citrus fruits, garlic, broccoli, and spinach. If your immune system is already weak, it can be helpful to use supplements that may have become depleted like Vitamin C, Vitamin B, Vitamin D, and Zinc.

Powerful food items that will boost your immune system

Feeding your body with the right foods may boost your immune system. Put these items on your groceries list:

Fruits:

• Citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit): rich in vitamin C which stimulates the production of white blood cells. These white blood cells are most important to fighting infections and diseases.
• Kiwi: rich in many essential nutrients, such as folate, potassium, vitamins K and C.
• Papaya: high concentration of vitamin C and a digestive enzyme: papain, which has anti-inflammatory effects. Papaya contains great amounts of potassium, B-vitamins and folate, for overall health benefits.

Vegetables:

• Red peppers bells / Capsicum/ Paprika: contain twice as much vitamin C as citrus and are rich source of beta carotene, for healthy eyes and skin.
• Broccoli: very rich in vitamins A, C, and E,many other antioxidants and fibers. Best is to cook it as shortly as possible (or eat it raw).
• Spinach: rich in vitamin C, antioxidants and beta carotene, which increases the infection-fighting ability of our immune system.

Herbs, spices, tea:

• Garlic: is very helpful to fight infections and it helps lower the blood pressure.
• Ginger: helps decrease inflammation, nausea and chronic pain and it possesses cholesterol-lowering properties.
• Turmeric: has anti inflammatory properties and decreases (after workout) muscle damage repair.
• Green tea: is rich in flavonoids and EGCG, which are both antioxidants to enhance immune function.

Dairy:

• Yogurt: choose plain, unsweetened (Greek) yogurt, as it contains live and active cultures and it is rich in vitamin D. It will stimulate your immune system to help fight infections and diseases.

Nuts & Seeds:

• Almonds: Nuts, such as almonds, are rich in vitamin E and healthy fats, which is key to our immune system. Two hands full of whole almonds provide almost 100 percent of the recommended daily amount of vitamin E.
• Sunflower seeds: very high in vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant for regulating and maintaining immune system function.

Meat & Fish:

• Poultry: high in vitamin B-6, which is important for many chemical reactions in the body and very important for production of new red blood cells. Broth made by boiling chicken bones contains several nutrients that are helpful for a healthy gut and overall immunity.
• Shellfish (crab, mussels, lobster, clams): are rich in zinc, which regulates immune cells to function properly.

I hope this article is useful to you. I wish you’ll all stay healthy. Good luck in these uncertain times of life! If you have any questions or if you’d like to add information, please send me an email at angelique@morefun2run.com or leave your comment below.