As Coronavirus is spreading across the globe, and it’s unknown when pharmaceutical companies will have a vaccine or cure, people are waking up to what the Functional Medicine community has known for some time: your immune system is the key to your health…and your actions can have a significant impact on that. In a culture where there is a pill for every ill, this is a wake-up call to take back some of our power and to do what we can to boost our immune system.

Have you noticed that some people get very ill from Coronavirus, yet others don’t? The answer likely lies in the strength of their immune system whose job it is to fight off foreign invaders. More than 80% of our immunity is in our gut, which is home to more than 100 trillion bacteria. 

The gut isn’t just in our abdominal region with the intestines, it’s the entire digestive tract that extends from the nose and mouth at the beginning to the anus at the end. Strengthening our gut microbiome, and refraining from substances that harm it, can help defend against disease. If you want to read more on improving gut health read here.

Here are some things we can do to boost our immune system by strengthening the body and calming the mind.

Strengthen the body

1. Breathe clean air, drink clean water, and eat clean food: Dr. Mark Hyman’s new book, Food Fix, is an excellent resource for information about nourishment that’s good for you and good for the planet.
2. Rebalance the bacteria in your mouth: ProBioraPlus can help
3. Daily saline sinus rinse
4. Vitamin C
5. Vitamin D-3 with K-2 work as a team to boost the immune system

Calm the mind

1. Limit your exposure to news media: bad news stresses the central nervous system, and toxic stress lowers the immune response. 
2. Listen to music that lifts your spirits
3. Get out in nature: listening to birdsong and being around trees remind us of our humanity and connection to all that is
4. Nurture your spirit by connecting with your higher power, whatever that is for you
5. Express gratitude to those around you and in a nightly gratitude journal: gratitude opens us up to recognizing and receiving more good in our lives.

The body has an extraordinary capacity to heal itself. When properly supported—with clean air, water, and food, as well as proper movement and rest—our bodies do a better job of getting back into homeostasis, or balance. And when we boost our immune system have a better chance of staying healthy and happy.

To learn more about boosting immunity during the pandemic—and all the time—see the Institute for Functional Medicine’s Boosting Immunity: Functional Medicine Tips on Prevention & Optimizing Immune Function During the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Outbreak; share it with your friends and loved ones if you think they can benefit from the information.