Easy At Home Proactive Self-Care

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure... Everybody is going to be exposed to the coronavirus, whether next week, next month or next year. With omicron, being so transmissible the timeline for that exposure has been greatly accelerated, which is a GOOD thing!

This is what changes a pandemic to an endemic: a virus that is always with us. So, we need to adopt strategies where we can look after ourselves, let our natural immune system do its job so as to not overwhelm our wonderful NHS.

Chronic diet & lifestyle led health conditions such heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, respiratory disease and some specific cancers are now the dominant sources of morbidity & mortality worldwide, and thus by far place the greatest burden on our NHS.

These striking rates indicate that the primary determinants of these diseases are not genetic but environmental factors, with our diet and lifestyle choices leading the way.

NOW IS the time to adopt at home self care principles and for the vast majority of us to take responsibility for our wellbeing, being proactive rather than reactive to protect our community and NHS. 

Prof Pollard, the head of Britain's vaccine body, today has warned that a fourth Covid jab should not be offered until there is more evidence they are effective, as he said giving boosters to the whole population every six months was "not sustainable".

Here are my easy at home proactive prevention tips:

Healthy Diet

A healthy diet is vital to support a healthy and robust immune system's nature response; the one thing everyone can do for the next 5-6 weeks is give up the grog! It suppresses the normally acute inflammatory response to infection, resulting in the defective recruitment of additional innate immune cells.

Add More Vegetables to your Diet

Why? To provide fibre, keeping you fuller for longer, they increase your immune balancing microbiome diversity and are a great source of anti-inflammatory phytochemicals. How?

• Make veggie-based soups. Soups are an excellent way to consume multiple servings of vegetables at once
• Add extra veggies to sauces and casseroles
• Make a cauliflower pizza crust
• Blend into smoothies
• Cook a veggie omelette

Move your Body

Move that body, sedentary lifestyles increase all causes of mortality, double the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity, and increase the risks of, osteoporosis, lipid disorders, depression and anxiety - sign up to a park run its free. Walk or run - at lease you are moving and being proactive!

Support your Natural Immunity

Vitamins and minerals:

• Vitamin D deficiency not only impairs immune function but also promotes excessive inflammatory reactions. A daily dose of 5,000 iu with the goal of bringing lab ranges above 40-60ng/ml
• Vitamin A - Low levels impair antibody response, decrease helper T cells (part of the adaptive immune system) and impair the integrity of the muscosal lining of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts! 5,000IU for 4+6 weeks
• Vitamin C - An essential nutrient for immune cell function of both the innate and adaptive immune responses. 1g a day in divided doses
• Zinc - Intracellular zinc has been shown to inhibit RNA synthesis by suppressing the SARS-CoV-1 replication and transcription complex. 30+50mg  a day

Anti-viral and support natural killer cell and innate immunity:

NK cells drive the main response to viral infection, the following nutrients are powerful antivirals, activating NK cells and down-regulating high amounts of inflammation:

• Reishi mushrooms 400mg 2x day
• Andrographis 400mg 2 x day

 If you become infected with Omicron (or the next variant) there is plenty that can be done to manage and mitigate its severity & support your natural immunity to do its job.