As the Corona Virus starts spreading in India , people are witnessing panic attacks and are losing sleep over it. However. it is pertinent to stay calm and follow these important steps to stay healthy :
1- If you get symptoms, dose up on vitamin C
China might be running out of oranges but there’s little evidence showing vitamin C prevents infection. What the evidence does show is that once a cold has hit, vitamin C can shorten the duration of symptoms.
2- Don’t lose sleep over it
Adequate sleep is the bedrock of your whole immune system.If you’re not sleeping, no other lifestyle measure will make such difference because while we sleep the hormone ‘melatonin’ stimulates new immune cells.
3- Exercise
Movement throughout the day is essential for your lymphatic system, which relies on movement and muscle for stimulation. It’s essential to helping your immune cells perform their surveillance function of moving around the body fighting germs that might be trying to get inside your tissues.’ And while it’s not exactly quick, strength training is essential to immunity as you age. ‘Muscle produces chemicals that work on our thymus gland [where immune cells are made – see above] and can help its functioning as we get older.’
4- Keep Hydrated
Hydration is critically important but vastly overlooked. So many metabolic functions rely on it. Indeed, if you get dehydrated, it can change the mucus layer in your respiratory tract and your digestive tract that has antibodies that trap germs and stop them getting into your cells. But tea and coffee are diuretics, so they don’t count.
5- Echinacea might help
Research suggests that this herb could work as both a preventive measure and something to take when you get symptoms.
6- Get enough Vitamin D
Collected data from 16 clinical trials involving 7,400 people show that taking vitamin D supplements reduces the risk of experiencing at least one respiratory infection including influenza and pneumonia by a third with positive benefits seen within 3 weeks. In those with low vitamin D status, the protection was even greater reducing the risk of respiratory infection by almost a half compared with placebo. Another analysis published in 2017 in the British Medical Journal looked at 25 studies and involved around 11,000 people from 14 countries. It found that vitamin D supplements reduced the risk of acute respiratory infections by 11 per cent compared with placebo.
7- Get enough Zinc
We can’t make zinc in our bodies, we have to get it from our diets,Yet it plays a role in hundreds of reactions in our bodies and is extremely important to fighting infection. There’s some evidence that taking extra zinc in the winter months is helpful at preventing infection but zinc is not something to take all the time as it can cause toxicity.
8- Add crushed garlic to your food
Those delicious bulbs of heaven contain a compound called ‘allicin’ that has been well studied for its anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial effects.But this is only released when the garlic has been crushed and left to sit for a while, before use in cooking.
