It has been about one year since we started to hear about Covid-19. In that time, we have amassed tons of data on the disease. One thing is clear: the average person who dies from it has 2.6 underlying illnesses. Since most of our modern ailments are rooted in inflammation, I want to suggest six things you can do starting today to decrease it.

 Destress

Chronic stress causes special immune fighting chemicals in the body called cytokines to become imbalanced, resulting in low-grade inflammation. It also causes our immune-boosting T cells to malfunction, leading to an increased risk of cancer. Lastly, it causes the stress hormone cortisol to rise, which dampens our immune response.

On the other hand, short-term stress enhances our immune system by boosting our cytokine functionality. It also increases the effectiveness of neutrophils, macrophages, and dendritic cells that help protect us. (1)

 Some quick and easy ways to reduce stress are: listening to music, calling a good friend, laughing, deep breathing, and pausing to drink herbal tea. The next section covers one very effective way to increase your short-term stress and, in the process, lower your long-term stress.

Exercise

Moderate to vigorous exercise for less than one hour is a potent immune system booster. It specifically boosts macrophage activity while increasing antibody, anti-inflammatory cytokines, neutrophils, Natural Killer cells, T and B cells in circulation. Additionally, it helps improve your metabolism, which further boosts your ability to fight disease and lower inflammation. (2) There is an infinite number of ways to exercise for short but intense bursts. The general term for this kind of workout is High-Intensity Interval Training or HIIT. One of the best HIIT methods is called Tabata. You can choose any movement you like and go as hard as you can for twenty seconds, followed by ten seconds of rest. Once eight rounds are done (four minutes), you rest for one full minute and do another movement for eight rounds. A typical Tabata session features four different activities and takes fifteen minutes total. Watch this video to get an idea of what you are trying to achieve. Also, there are several Tabata timer apps for your mobile phone! 

Nutrition

The most common cause of a weak immune system is poor nutrition. A widespread form found worldwide is protein-energy malnutrition or PEM. Low protein levels in the diet cause too many problems to list, especially in babies and children. It causes the immune system to weaken, causing susceptibility to disease and infection. The best sources of protein are animal-based; however, you can get enough from plants. If you don’t eat animal-based foods, be careful to track your intake using an app like My Fitness Pal. The app can help you determine your specific need.  

Even mild deficiencies of single nutrients can also hurt the immune responses. The following is a list of the most essential nutrients you should monitor:

• zinc

• selenium

• iron

• copper

• vitamins A, C, D, E, and B-6

• folate

Obesity is also well known to hurt immunity. Too much food, especially processed carbohydrates like bread and pasta, are things to keep an eye on. I promise I have no investment in the company, but My Fitness Pal is an easy way to track our calories and nutrients and set limits for low-quality foods. (3) 

Sleep

Adequate sleep is vital for a fully functioning immune system. On the other hand, too little sleep ruins our metabolism and increases C-reactive protein, a blood marker for inflammation. It also causes other pro-inflammatory substances to rise, like interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). (4) 

Of all the items I wrote about today, sleep may be the most important but overlooked one. You can find out more about sleep here, here, and here. Sleep is so important, I have started Connecticut Sleep Center to help patients sleep better. If you suspect you have an issue, you can take a quick self-assessment on my other website CTsleepcenter.com.

Sun

 Inadequate sun exposure results in colorectal cancer, breast cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer disease, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, statin intolerance, macular degeneration, and myopia. Regular non-burning sun exposure is not harmful to you. On the contrary, it helps diminish all of the diseases I just mentioned. You can read more about it in my posts here, here, and here. Interestingly, the sun's effects are independent of your vitamin D status. (5) You should be aware that you still need to get some sun even if your vitamin D levels are adequate. 

Gut Health

Your microbiome reflects all of the germs living in and on you. A stable and healthy microbiome is essential for proper immune system development. Studies show that when the microbiome is wiped out in lab animals, they fail to develop a fully functioning immune system. (6) Having a complete lack of gut bacteria is not something we need to worry about. Still, an altered microbiome can lead to disease. Most westerners eat processed carbohydrates that alter the germs' behavior in the gut, including the mouth, that lead to disease. Researchers have found our plaque and gut germ composition changed and became more virulent due to the introduction of dense carbohydrates like flours and sugar into our diets. (7) The more virulent germs lead to inflammation. The inflammation in the mouth is called gingivitis; in the gut, it is called dysbiosis. Both conditions occur in tandem and are linked to many diseases and shorter lives. For more on the subject, read this post.

A fundamental way to maintain healthy plaque and intestinal germs is to avoid processed carbohydrates. Another critical factor in maintaining less inflammatory germ populations is by eating fermented foods or taking probiotics. Humans have had a long history of eating unsterile foods that are fermenting and accidentally ingesting soil. We had no need to take probiotics. Today, our food is mostly sterile, except for fermented foods like yogurt and Kombucha. If you don't regularly eat fermented foods, you may want to consider taking probiotics. There are too many on the market to just recommend one. I suggest rotating a variety of them and try to include soil-based ones as well. I am a big fan of Dr. Ruscio, and he has a list of reputable brands on his website here. 

I could go on all day writing about the ways to lower your inflammation and boost your immunity to diseases, including Covid-19. But the six things I mentioned today are some of the low hanging fruit. You can do a quick self-assessment to see if any of my suggestions can help. If you are doing all of them adequately, good on you! Feel free to search my other blog posts for additional ways to boost your health. Just type in a topic in the search feature to get started.