As the country buckles down to weather the worst of the coronavirus storm, it’s of the utmost importance to do everything in your power to prevent contracting the disease. We’ve all seen the CDC recommendations for hand washing, social isolation, and other preventative measures:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/steps-when-sick.html

****Very few experts are talking about one of the most fundamental measures: boosting your immune system.

Here are some suggestions for ramping up your immune system to ensure it’s ready to do its job if you encounter the virus:

Nasal Irrigation
Do Nasal Irrigation with saline solution, using a Neilmed bottle or Neti pot. When mucus membranes are dry (such as with indoor heating), they are more vulnerable to invasion by viruses and bacteria. Keep those mucus membranes moist by doing nasal irrigation 1-2x per day.

Control Stomach pH
Make sure your stomach pH is acidic enough to kill off anything that drips down from the sinuses. You can do that by taking apple cider vinegar in water a couple of times per day, or try using Standard Process’ Zypan, which also has digestive enzymes, pepsin, betaine hydrochloride and everything needed for good stomach pH.

Vitamin D
Make sure your vitamin D levels are sufficient — take 5,000 I.U’s per day and make sure you ingest it with some fat. It doesn’t absorb well if taken on an empty stomach.

Immune Boosters
Epimune Complex, which contains MaitakeGold 404® maitake mushroom extract, protected under U.S. Patent 5,854,404. and EpiCor® dried yeast fermentate, along with turkey tails mushroom, all of which gives a huge boost to the immune system. Preventive dosage is 2 twice a day.

Mediherb’s Echinacea Premium is vital for two reasons — it boosts the immune system with long-term use, as it combines the roots of Echinacea angustifolia and Echinacea purpurea for longer action and it manages a cytokine storm (haywire immune reaction). Dosage will be 1 tablet, two to three times per day.

Practice Yoga and Meditation

If you are feeling healthy, practice! Keeping our mind AND body strong and our Qi (vital energy) moving is the VERY best thing we can do!  

If you start to feel sick…

First, don’t panic. Statistically, it’s more likely to be a cold than the COVID-19 coronavirus. Make sure you rest and stay hydrated. But either way, to make sure you don’t get a cytokine storm, do either of these as soon as you feel sick:

• Quercetin has been shown to slow or halt a cytokine reaction, so make sure you have some on hand. If you feel sick, take 500mg 2-3 times a day. Best to have in your medicine cabinet ready to go. You can pick it up in any health food store.
• Echinacea has also been shown to slow or halt a cytokine reaction, so increase the dose of Echinacea Premium to 6-8 per day. This only helps if you have been using 2 per day for two weeks prior to prime your system. 

Our experts are on hand to answer any of your questions about the herbal recommendations above. Please contact us anytime at 818-528-1050. 

Best wishes to you and your family as we all work together through this difficult time!

We are so grateful for our community and to everyone who has continued to have trust and confidence in us. An appropriately disinfected office following CDC protocol coupled with wonderfully talented health care providers and staff will continue to be available for all of your health care needs.

Interested to learn more about how acupuncture can help your immune system? Check out our previous article on the topic here!