With a quarter of the world’s population living under some form of lockdown (including almost 200 million American inhabitants), New York is just one of many cities adjusting to life under severe restrictions. All non‑essential businesses are closed, while non‑essential travel and group activities (including sport) are banned.
Given this is the case, how can you stay as healthy as possible during these unprecedented times? Here are some tips to keep yourself in the best possible condition while you’re waiting for the outbreak to recede.
Keep Up Your Levels of Strenuous Exercise
The long‑espoused myth that strenuous exercise weakens your immune system has been debunked by scientists re-examining the available evidence. Their review into the older studies (that started the spread of misinformation in the first place) has uncovered that the studies were deeply flawed and relied on testimony from marathon runners who frequently misdiagnosed themselves as being sick when they weren’t.
In fact, according to one study in the Frontiers in Immunology Journal, strenuous exercise has the effect of moving immune cells around the body via the bloodstream. But what’s really interesting is what happens afterward. By dyeing and tracking immune cells, researchers discovered that these newly‑distributed immune cells didn’t die off, rather that they congregated in areas of the body that might be expected to need extra help after laborious exercise. The gut, lungs, and even bone marrow (where they are thought to spark specialized stem cells into creating new immune cells) saw an uptick in immune cell numbers.
Therefore, make sure you keep up your exercise routine despite the restrictions. We recommend running solo, which is not only a full-body workout, but it can also easily be strenuous enough to develop a positive immune response.
Practice Social Distancing
Social distancing can seem like such a vague term that doesn’t mean much to you on a personal level, but it should. As this is a novel virus, social isolation is the best weapon we have against it, while research is carried out on methods to treat and eventually cure the disease.
If you’ve thought that social distancing perhaps isn’t for you, just take a look at the following charts and statistics which should instantly change your mind:
As you can see, by implementing a reduction of 50% of your usual social contact, you limit the spread from 406 people per person to just 15. Notch that up to 75%, and you only infect a few other people. This is why the measures taken by many states and cities are so vital.
Look at the vast difference in the trajectory of the virus, even after thousands of active cases have already been confirmed. Demonstrating that it’s never too late to introduce social distancing measures.
We would advise you to observe the new rules enacted within New York City, because not only will they protect you and your fellow citizens, it will increase the chances of breaking chains of transmission. You can help to keep hospitals operating within their capacity, saving thousands of lives.
Get an Accurate Picture of Your Immune System
As mentioned, we advise keeping up with your exercise programs and social distancing to boost your immunity and reduce your chance of infection simultaneously. But not knowing the current condition of your immune system effectively leaves you trying to prepare your body for war totally blind.
By undertaking an immunity test, you can lift the lid on your internal operations and take action to fix any deficiencies before the pandemic spreads to an insurmountable number of communities. By taking a test of this nature, you can find out how critical immune factors such as levels of vitamin D, cortisol, and glycohemoglobin within your system. Better still, you can find out what shape your immune system is in without having to venture to the doctor’s office. Just send your finger‑prick blood sample in the mail, and we take care of the rest.
Why not buy it as a present for loved ones who may be at a higher risk, so they know what action they need to take ahead of time? That’s exactly what Jenny did for her father who is in his 70s and suffers from chronic heart disease:
Given Dad’s age and condition, I knew I had to take action to shore up his defenses in case he had the misfortune of contracting a bad strain of the virus. While he has already willingly put himself in self-isolation, I ordered the immunity kit for extra peace of mind. He found the kit instructions extremely easy to follow and sent off his sample in the mail.
The results came back and showed that he needs to bump up his vitamin D intake to get his immune system firing on all cylinders. Thank god we ordered the test otherwise we would have never have known! He’s already on vitamin D supplements, and we will order another test in a few weeks to get another useful snapshot of how far he has improved his immunity levels.
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/chart/21198/effect-of-social-distancing-signer-lab/
https://www.statista.com/chart/21146/why-social-distancing-measures-are-so-important/
https://www.statista.com/chart/21295/estimated-number-of-averted-deaths-due-to-covid-19-intervention/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/25/well/move/how-strenuous-exercise-affects-our-immune-system.html
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.00648/full
