5 Ways to Boost Your Immune System and Prevent COVID-19

5 Ways to Boost Your Immune System and Prevent COVID-19
Why do some people get Covid while others don’t? (Shutterstock)
Amber Yang
JoJo Novaes
1/19/2023
Updated:
3/10/2023
0:00

While the world slowly reopens amid the ongoing pandemic, confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections in China are becoming more severe including among younger people, and many have experienced the virus more than once.

How do we deal with this ever-mutating virus? Yang Jingduan, an American integrated medical expert, proposed some measures to help boost the immune system to prevent COVID-19.

A Serious Epidemic in China

As most of the world’s epidemic response is lightening and social arenas are gradually opening up, the COVID epidemic in China is becoming more serious. Compared with the current infection rate of other countries and the severity of illness among the non-elderly, China’s rates are many times higher.

Yang said “as the saying goes, a good doctor can heal the country’s problems,” and that only the correct policies of government can make the country better. Yang believes the “Dynamic Zero Policy” executed by the Beijing government is not only against the law of nature but also halts people’s livelihoods and the entire economic system.

Shanghai, a city in China, was locked down for more than a month. In addition to the humanitarian tragedies such as the shortage of food and the lack of access to medical treatment for patients, a survey revealed that more than 40 percent of Shanghai residents are depressed, and the number of people seeking help on psychological hotlines has exploded—most of these situations are related to the epidemic.
According to a scientific brief released by the World Health Organization (WHO), in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25 percent.
“The information we have now about the impact of COVID-19 on the world’s mental health is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general. “This is a wake-up call to all countries to pay more attention to mental health and do a better job of supporting their populations’ mental health.”

5 Ways to Boost Immunity 

Yang said that a major cause of human infection with viruses is a weakened immune system. Yang gave five suggestions on how to boost the immune system:
  1. Sleep early: Melatonin is considered the most potent antioxidant in the human body. However, being a night owl can lead to a decline in melatonin production. It disrupts and lowers the body’s immune function. One of the critical points of strengthening your health is to maintain healthy sleep rhythms.
  2. Manage emotional well-being: Negative emotions decrease our immunity defense. Find ways to ease your worries and reduce anxiety. Practices like walking in nature, meditation, and yoga can greatly reduce stress.
  3. Balance your nutrition: Eat green vegetables, as they are rich in both nutrients and antioxidants. Deep-sea fish is also an excellent option since it is anti-inflammatory and is rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
  4. Hydrate at night: Drink half a glass of water before bed as our blood tends to thicken during the night. People with diabetes and high cholesterol may require even more hydration. The elderly, however, should not drink more than half a cup in the evening as it may interfere with their sleep quality.
  5. Minimize alcohol consumption: Long-term alcohol consumption weakens our immune mechanism. According to the World Health Organization, alcohol intake not only causes more than 200 diseases, such as stomach ulcers and liver cirrhosis but also damages the body’s immune system and increases the risk of contracting COVID-19 and its severity.

Emotions and Physical Health Are Connected

Yang said that virus infection is not only caused by external factors but also triggered by people’s seven emotions. In TCM, emotions and physical health are intimately intertwined. This integrated mind-body approach to health and healing operates in a dynamic loop where emotions impact the health of the body and vice versa.

The seven emotions in TCM are grief, melancholy, fear, fright (sudden and unexpected, unlike fear), anger, joy, and worry. They are naturally occurring emotions without pathological consequences in many instances. However, abrupt, severe, or chronic occurrences may cause pathophysiological consequences. This excess leads to disruption of qi and blood, directly affecting the internal organs. For this reason, the seven emotions are major factors in the cause of endogenous illness.

Yang said that the Chinese Communist Party culture of “man will conquer nature” has poisoned the Chinese people, such that Chinese people don’t know how to respect the principles of the universe and have no reverence for nature. Therefore, Yang believes that from this perspective, the current counterattack of the epidemic by the government in China can also be said to be the evil result of disrespect for the principle of nature and the universe.

Amber Yang is a certified personal trainer. She met all the requirements of the American Council on Exercise to develop and implement personalized exercise programs. She worked as a marketing manager for natural skin care products for years and as a health and beauty reporter and editor for ten years. She is also the host and producer of the YouTube programs "Amber Running Green" and "Amber Health Interview."
Related Topics