I don’t think anyone can disagree that it has been a rough and uncertain week! The weather in LA has been grey and rainy for a week and will ironically continue for another week! As someone who is immune-compromised since Lyme disease, co-infections and mold decimated my immune system almost 10 years ago, I am not panicked about Coronavirus COVID-19. To learn more about my journey, here’s an in-depth look at the steps I took to recover from Lyme and how I have been able to stay in remission since 2017.

This may come as a surprise considering all the panic and hysteria, but here’s why: a strong immune system is crucial, especially in light of our current situation.

The Importance of Immune Health

Keeping my immune system healthy is a full-time job, and something I must do whether it’s cold and flu season, a pandemic or just a normal day. Ultimately, there are no days off when it comes to taking care of my health. Even if you are perfectly healthy and have a strong immune system, we should all be proactively working on our immune health to stay resilient and healthy as we can be.

The reality is no one knows what is really happening. COVID-19 could be just another flu or cold, or it could be much worse, but I refuse to let the panic and worry wear my immune system down even more. Instead, I will continue to love and support my body and keep it healthy, as I always do.

It’s a responsible step to incorporate social distancing and precautionary steps to protect those more susceptible. I might be ok, you might be ok if we catch it, but our parents and grandparents may not. We also need to think about our infrastructure and hospitals that are already full. I am sure we have all gone to the emergency room on a normal day and waited for 4,6,8 maybe even 10 hours to be seen. Imagine if thousands of people go to the emergency room at once on top of the daily cases and traumas that need help, too?

We are in this together and need to think of those more at risk, and not just ourselves during these uncertain times. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, but here’s rule #1: don’t panic in the process. Be prepared and do the best you can.

With that being said, here is a round-up of the steps I take EVERY DAY to stay healthy and optimal, especially in the winter during cold and flu season.

Don’t Stress and Panic

Stress and panic are killers for the immune system and set us into flight or fight mode. The result? All of your body systems get worn down and make you susceptible to getting sick. If you tend to be a more stressed person, try to incorporate some sort of stress release each day whether it is HRV, mediation, deep breathing, yoga, a hot bath or long walk. Whatever gives you peace and calms your stress, make time for it every day. Many yoga studios are offering free online classes to do at home and get back into your body or check out meditations on Headspace.

If your adrenals are already stressed make sure you are supporting your body to not stress your adrenals even more. Remember that you can only control your immediate environment and choices. There is no need to add extra stress and panic. Whether its COVID-19 or just life and general stress, try to keep it down so it does not affect your immune system.

I also want to point out that as everyone in the Lyme community unfortunately knows, the CDC isn’t exactly the most trustworthy resource, so you really have to discern which information is relative to your health and make your own choices. These two articles do a really good job of breaking down some of the issues with the CDC and Lyme disease. You can’t help but wonder if this same level of dismissal happens with all the other diseases affecting us, including COVID-19.

Forbes: Lessons From Lyme Disease: Six Reasons The CDC’s COVID-19 Failure Was Predictable

The Greatest Cover-up By The CDC – Lyme Disease – What They Don’t Want You To Know

Turn Off The TV, News, and Stay Off Social Media

In 2008 I made the decision to get rid of my TV and I haven’t owned one since. I also stopped watching the news and reading news or media on a daily basis. I can’t tell you how liberating this has been. If you ever listen to TV or news programs, the tone that they disseminate information to you is underlined by intensity and fear. Who needs that in their life? Sure, staying up-to-date on relevant information is important, but you don’t need to inundate your daily life with fear and panic from the news.

It has been a sigh of relief to not have that put into my head on a daily basis. Now don’t get me wrong, I have a projector and love a good Netflix binge, but there is something so empowering about being able to choose and CONTROL what you watch and listen too, instead of being forced to watch something on a particular station. If something is a big enough story or event, don’t worry, you will hear about from your community and you can then choose where you get your information from.

Practice Self Care

Self-care is an everyday practice. I now think of my body as an energy bank account. There are things that fill me up and give me energy and there are things that drain and exhaust me. It’s all about doing as much as you can to keep that account full and thriving. For me self care is working out, resting when I am tired, going to the beach, Disneyland, traveling, and spending time with friends and family, and of course my two puppies.

Eat Clean & Healthy

Diet was one of the first things I changed on my health journey and it continues to be a key piece of how I stay healthy. I stick to a mostly Paleo diet and avoid grains and sugar as they seem to weaken me the most. I do incorporate some rice and healthy carbs in my diet and for the most part stick to organic, non-GMO ingredients such as wild fish, grass-fed meats, veggies, and healthy fats. To be honest, I eat most of the recipes in my cookbook, Wandering Palate and that keeps me optimized, satiated and healthy. (Order grass-fed meat from Butcher Box (discount varies) or US Wellness Meats (15% off first 2 orders) with code TRAILTOHEALTH)

Keep Your Gut Optimized

Your gut makes up 80% of your immune system so keeping your gut healthy keeps you healthy! Some of my favorite ways I keep my gut healthy are with probiotics, grass-fed collagen, gelatin, bone broth, and fermented foods if tolerated. I also really love using BPC 157 orally as it can help to keep your gut lining intact.

It’s so important to reduce inflammatory foods from your diet that cause leaky gut like grains, gluten, dairy for some, lectins, processed foods, sugar, and toxic seed oils. It’s also imperative to limit antibiotics unless absolutely necessary.

Modulate Your Immune System

The key to a healthy immune system is supporting it and using immune modulation tools. Some of my absolute favorites are Thymus Therapy, which I do 2-3 times a year, Beta Glucan and Colostrum. Thymosin Alpha and Beta is finally making some bigger headlines and more and more people are getting onboard with peptide therapy.

Up Your Immunity Supplements

During the regular cold and flu season, I always like to up my immune building supplements like Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Selenium, Zinc, and NAC. Your Vitamin D levels should be around 80-90ml, and most of us are much lower than that in the winter months.

Utilize Healing Plants, Herbs and Homeopathics

Healing herbs and plants can be a great accessory to staying healthy. Elderberry, ginger, turmeric, and olive leaf extract are all great for your immune system and staying healthy. Adaptogens like ashwagandha are great for supporting your adrenals. Mushrooms have all sorts of healing properties to support our immune system and body systems like Reishi, Lions Mane, and Cordyceps. If you want to learn more about herbal support for COVID-19, I highly suggest checking out Stephen Buhners Protocol and herb programs. His herbs helped me immensely when I was sick with Lyme.

Get Labs Done Every 3-4 Months

This might be overkill if you are not immunocompromised, but I like to keep tabs on how my body is doing. In the event anything is off with my levels, catching it early suits me up to proactively address it before symptoms arise. It can be helpful to get labs done to see if you need any supplemental support or need to optimize your thyroid or adrenals. Often, we take supplements that we don’t even need, so this can really help you hone in on what your body needs.

Get Supportive IVs As Needed

I have gotten really good at listening to my body and knowing when something is off. I didn’t obtain this overnight, it has come with years of chronic illness. If I am feeling under the weather or depleted, I usually get an ozone IV or Meyers IV to give my body a little boost. I tend to do more IV therapy in the winter months to ward off any impending sickness, and to give my body an extra boost during cold and flu season.

Exercise

Getting some sort of exercise is so important to our health and vitality. Find a workout that you love and makes you feel good! Some days I feel super strong and do Soul Cycle, Cold HIIT or weight training. Other days when I feel more tired I might do a chill yoga class or take a long walk with my dogs on the beach. It’s all about listening to your body and pushing yourself when you can, and taking it easy when you need to. Above all, please move your body every day if you can, even if it’s a short workout video at home.

Prioritize Sleep

A good sleep routine is instrumental to your health, and you need to make an effort to get your body’s optimal amount of sleep every night. I use an Oura Ring to track my sleep health and it helps me know when to slow down and when I can push myself. I know sleep is a pain point for some people, which is why I created a blog post dedicated to tips and hacks to optimize your sleep.

Keep Your Environment Clean

Our environment is almost as important as what we are putting in our bodies. To ensure I’m not living in or exposed to mold, I use Molekule air filters throughout my house to keep the air clean. Additionally, I use non-toxic cleaning products like Branch Basics and try not to wear street shoes in my house. I also limit any chemicals and fragrances in the home and stick to only using essential oils for non-toxic scents. This also means drinking and cooking with clean, filtered water.

Detox Your Life Everyday

Having a regular detox habit can be great to support your body with everything that bombards it on a daily basis. I like to do a relaxing detox bath each night before bed and also love to sit in my infrared sauna, especially if I’m feeling under the weather. Our environment is constantly hitting us with toxins, so the more we can clean up and stay resilient, the healthier we will be. You can check out my blog post, 10 ways to detox your life, for more detoxing tips.

Prioritize Hygiene

I’m not going to lie — I’m surprised about people just now jumping on the hygiene bandwagon — but you should always wash your hands every single day, multiple times a day to kill bacteria and toxins you come into contact with! It’s common sense that when you’re out and about there are dangerous germs floating around everywhere, especially during cold and flu season. You don’t have to be paranoid and rub toxic hand sanitizers all over yourself. Instead, stay smart, wash your hands and live your life, and for the love of mankind, you only need one pack of toilet paper at a time.

Value Connection & Community

Humans are social creatures and we crave community. Connection is a critical part of the human experience. There have been multiple studies on loneliness and how it can really affect our health and cause depression. In the winter we already tend to be more isolated when it gets dark at 5 p.m.; we can go into a pseudo hibernation mode. It’s critical to ensure that, no matter what the circumstances are, you still feel connected.

With the COVID-19 scares lately, it can make connections a more daunting task, but make sure you stay close to your community. Facetime or call a friend you haven’t talked to in a while, have a friend over for dinner while things are not that crazy yet, join an online community that you can swap ideas and stories with. Do something that fills your connection cup. As soon as this blows over, make an effort to see your people in person MORE OFTEN. If there’s anything we can learn from this virus and mania, it’s that staying connected with our community is paramount to our health and happiness.

Visit Your Happy Place

We all have a place in our lives that makes us happy, calm, content and relaxed. Visit that place often. For me, it’s the beach. I love to put my feet in the sand, listen to the waves, and soak in the sun. My happy place helps to reset me from any stress of the day. I also absolutely love going to Disneyland because it makes me unplug from my daily grind and feel like a kid again every time I go, (0f course, I’ll have to wait on that for now, but luckily the beach never closes). The point is: find your happy place and go there to reset often.

Get Sunshine Every Day If You Can

I often joke that I am solar-powered, but humans really need sunshine! Not only does it help our bodies with our circadian rhythm and sleep, but it also helps with our vitamin D levels and just overall wellbeing! Do you notice how you barely get sick in the summer when you get sunshine and your days are longer? The sun is our lifeline. Get out there and soak it in when you can and beware of toxic sunscreen!

Need more convincing the sun is good for you during a viral pandemic? Check out this article about sunshine and the Spanish Flu.

Conclusion

As you can see, staying healthy when your immune system is compromised is a full-time job, but honestly, these are tips that ANYONE can and should implement to make themselves healthier and more resilient! Using these tools can help PREVENT you from becoming chronically ill, and hopefully keep you healthy year-round, not just during cold and flu season.

If you need tips on how to be more prepared make sure to check out my blog all about Emergency Food On A Restricted Diet.

Book A Coaching Session

If you need some additional guidance and support during these difficult times, I am available for virtual coaching sessions to help support you. I can help you implement all of these tips into your lifestyle and how to stay healthy year-round. We will make it through this together and come out stronger than we were before. Stay safe and stay healthy friends!