In this video, Dr. Barker explains some of the most important things you can do to protect yourself from viral infections.
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What are the best lifestyle tips to keep your immune system supported against viruses?
1. Sleep
Lack of sleep increases your chances of getting sick and how long it takes to recover. Sleep deprivation decreases the amount of cytokines and antibodies which are the immune system’s tools against viruses.
Cortisol rises with less sleep, and acts as an immune suppressant – so with lack of sleep you’ve got fewer tools for the immune system to use, and overall it’s weaker from too much cortisol.
Adults need 7-8 hours a night, kids at least 9 hours or more
It’s been noted that children are much less affected by Covid-19 than are adults, one of the reasons for this may be that they have higher circulating levels of melatonin than adults. You only need to take a very small amount of melatonin to have the same levels that kids do.
There is significant data showing that melatonin limits virus-related diseases; it’s anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory.
2. Exercise:
People who don’t exercise at all have a 50% increased chance of getting sick. It only takes 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week to decreased the chances by 50%!
But, don’t over-do it, as those who train more than 6 or so hours a week may have the same increased risk of illness that sedentary people do.
3. Diet:
75grams of sugar taken at once can depress leukocyte (white blood cell) function for 4-5 hours. Soda and candy bars have 35-40 grams. Think if you eat a lot of sugar all day long.
If you eat a bunch of sugar and then go out on one of your essential trips, you’ve left the window open on your immune system, so to speak and you can increase your chances of catching a virus that way!
Be sure to always eat a diet rich in whole foods – nuts, seeds, veggies, fruits, lean meats, etc – we need all the nutrients contained in these foods to properly support immune function.
4. Supplements:
What supplements can help your immune system? There are many but the most important that we know in terms of supporting immunity and decreasing the chances of catching, and the severity of other viral infections include:
-Probiotics
Approximately 70% of the immune system is located in the gut and probiotic supplementation has been shown to promote a healthy immune response. We know that people who take a probiotic have a decreased incidence of catching viruses that cause respiratory infections.
-Vitamin D
Multiple epidemiological studies in adults and children have demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased risk and greater severity of infection, particularly of the respiratory tract. Take your vitamin D!
-Zinc-Inhibits viral replication in the respiratory tract. It’s also been shown to reduce the incidence of pneumonia and can shorten intensity and duration of cold viruses.
-Vitamin C
Larger doses, in terms of several grams throughout the day, have been shown to decrease the severity and duration of viral illnesses like colds.
There are several other important nutrients for the immune system that you can gain in appreciable amounts through your diet – selenium, folate, B12, etc. The moral of the story is eat healthy whole foods to increase nutrient status and skip the processed shelf stable stuff – it’s full of sugar and lacking in the nutrients needed for immune system health!
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