Now that winter is upon us, it’s time to take our health seriously. We know that preventing illness is the most effective action – and we all can avoid illness from the respiratory viruses we’re exposed to.
It’s easy to get caught up in the “Tripledemic” scare that is hyped in the media. Unfortunately, the only advice you’re given to prevent illness is to take shots and avoid contact with others. That is NOT the answer. The path to good health involves a few simple measures. They all come down to making sure your immune system is functioning properly.
As an aside, covering your face and taking shots are counterproductive to health. See my other posts for details on those topics.
First: Keep your Vitamin D level up. It’s best to know your blood levels and then supplement. There are many companies that offer online ordering of lab tests, you can go to your medical provider to ask for a test, or (if you’re in one of the less repressive states) you can go in to a cash pay lab an get your own test done. Being within the lab reference range is not optimal. Get yourself to a measured Vitamin D level of 50ng/mL.
Second: Eat good food. The simplest way to make sense of that is to keep in mind that the more processed a food product is, the more likely it is to be bad for your immune system. After the artificial chemicals in our food, seed oils are the most injurious. Do your best to avoid canola, soybean, corn, and hydrogenated oils.
Third: Get good sleep. We all need about 7 hours of quality sleep per night. Sleep deprivation is guaranteed to hurt your immune function. That extra show at night or the last check in on social media is not worth the disruption to your sleep.
Forth: Get out and move. Good exercise is not running 3 miles a day or going to the gym 5 days a week. Too many people set themselves up for failure with unrealistic goals. Instead, try getting outside for a 20 minute walk a few times per week. Once that is a solid habit add more of what you like to do.
If you do get ill take commonsense steps to allow your body to get better on its own. Rest, hydrate (water and electrolytes), and eat easy to digest foods like soups and meat broths. If you don’t have a fever and can breathe without difficulty, you are fine to get better at home. Over the counter medicines may help with symptoms but they get in the way of your body’s ability to heal so avoid those.
My last piece of advice is based on the fact that it doesn’t much matter which viral respiratory illness you may have. RSV, Influenza, COVID-19 all respond to self-care and similar early treatments. DON’T DO TESTING – it accomplishes nothing. If you do have concerns for your recovery, your local medical professionals can offer you advice and treatment.
Boom, as Paul Alexander would say.
Celine Gounder is such a disappointment.