Beyond Washing Your Hands
There are more things to do to prevent cold and flu and Corona virus too.
Unless you’re living under a rock, by now you’ve been inundated with information about the Corona virus outbreak. I’m not here to belittle it or to make you panic, just wanted to offer some non-toxic advice that might be of help.
Yes, we all need to wash our hands more. And we need to do it the right way. I appreciate John Oliver turning me onto this groovy Vietnamese video about handwashing. It’s fun and catchy, enjoy!
There are plenty of things to do to build your immunity that will give you better odds to avoid this bug or lessen it’s intensity if you do get sick. Nothing too exotic, but certainly things that your doctor might not know about. Sadly our physicians do not have a good Food IQ because nutrition is not taught in medical school. Here’s my favorite five things for strengthening your resistance to colds and flu.
- Cut back on sugar. Among other things, refined sugar impairs your immunity. The immune-suppressing effect of sugar starts less than thirty minutes after ingestion and may last for five hours.
- Get more sleep. Just like cutting back on sugar, good sleep habits can do a world of good. Get serious about creating healthy sleep habits.
- Vitamin D. Most people are deficient in this one, due to living most of our lives indoors combined with our diets. Optimal D levels will optimize your immunity. Get a good quality Vitamin D supplement and take it at meal time. Get your D levels checked. Harvard School of Public Health is a great resource to learn more about Vitamin D
- Astragalus herb can help support lung Qi. My family and I have been using Astragalus as a tonic for many years with good results. Astragalus is an herb that has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. Its got a good track record!
- Mushrooms can also support immunity. Fungi are fascinating and Paul Stamets is the guy to learn from. Check out the movie Fantastic Fungi I’m taking Stamets 7, a mushroom blend designed to support immune function, I urge you to do your own homework on these recommendations.
